DDRX cabinets not all they are cracked up to be?

Konami’s most recent arcade release, DDRX is available for purchase and can be found at a number of locations around the US and Europe but how has the game held up to both fan expectations and scrutiny? I was contacted by Eddie Lehecka of BeamniStyle.com and it appears that all is not well for DDRX as fans have found that the game is not living up to the hype created for it. Now they do not wish to see the game tank – these are dedicated fans of bemani gaming and in particular DDR and they would prefer to see the issues with the game addressed quickly so that support for the DDR name doesn’t wane with both hardcore and casual players in the market.

It’s not just the fact the game isn’t meeting expectations – there are some changes in the cabinet that are different than those advertised, such as the fact that the game uses USB ports as opposed to SD card slots, the floor sensors are very flawed, screen lag is a common complaint and there are issues with the sound system on top of that as well. Of all the things that should not be a problem is the dance pad itself – if this doesn’t work correctly then the rest of the game will suffer no matter how well it has been programmed. But as Levar Burton is known to say, don’t take my word for – an extensive amount of fan backlash can be read at the links below, attesting to these problems.

Feedback from fans and general users regarding DDRX

A review of DDRX arcade written by a BemaniStyle.com staff member and 10 year DDR player

I have personally seen the game once at ASI but I did not get to take a detailed look at the cabinet itself. If you have seen it and played the game extensively, what are your thoughts on it?

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10 comments

Phil Arrington (Phil ver0) July 16, 2009 at 12:35 am

Yea, the game is pretty much a fail. From the cabinet to the lag game play to the HOME DDR pads. I didn’t get a chance to review it since I been busy up the ass, but in a way, the game is not worth reviewing.

bacon July 16, 2009 at 3:17 am

The cabinet at ASI is not the same cabinet that has been released http://i28.tinypic.com/jicm6x.jpg

Also USB was actually favored, it was just surprising not to see SD after it was announced.

There is supposed to be some fix that Betson had started doing on some of the machines, but no one has seen any differences in quality of the sensors or latency of the monitor.

It would have been nice if announced location tests were done with these machines, though they decided build a completely new machine and start selling before it was ever shown to the public, as far as i’m aware.

arcads4ever July 16, 2009 at 8:56 am

this isn’t good for konami, if theres one game that draws players to the arcade it DDR series. I hope konami sorts it all out because if they don’t they could be at risk of loosing fans, casuals and new comers of the series because its one game that cannot be player properly at home and DON’T EVEN GO THERE ABOUT THE DANCE MAT as they are very crap. I have a mat myself and think its shit as you cannot tell where your stepping and the matt often slips under your feet when on the carpet.

Bill July 16, 2009 at 1:17 pm

If the repair policys of this game follow suit of the Super Nova series, we are also in trouble with upkeep. On Super Nova, when a hard drive fails or other board problem, the box has to be sent to Betson for a flat rate 1000.00 repair. They will not sell us hard drives and other parts. When we discovered this, we swore to never buy any Betson distributed Konami product due to that expensive problem. Not sure if that policy will continue for this new series?

arcads4ever July 16, 2009 at 2:53 pm

I thought hardrives were better than CD rom based arcade systems. arcade companies need to come up with a solution to arcade systems so they will last longer for years to come. konami should maybe use sega’s naomi system or another of sega’s arcade system like ringedge since sega lincence their naomi and chihiro systems.

konami should sell spares though like sega’s total solutions and if they don’t there only going to give there company and the arcade as a whole a bad name and will make them look like arcades are really dying when there not

Eddie July 16, 2009 at 3:05 pm

Konami BEMANI PC (all games now run on this) boards are leaps and bounds better than the old 573 boards (CD Based), but SuperNOVA 1 and 2 ran on straight up PS2 hardware, I have one of the PCBs sitting in my bedroom right now, it’s a PS2 in a metal casing with a custom control board hooked up and VGA out. The HDD problem that SN and SN2 had were based on the way Sony HDDs worked, not that it justifies the cost at all.

What betson really needs to do is release PCB only upgrades for X for arcades that have the old machines, as the new cabs are outright not cutting it, and after seeing the inside of the new pads, I’m not sure they ever will. They are literally worse than home soft pads.

I’m surprised that Konami allowed these machines to go untested, DDR is their biggest arcade property in the US, and being that it’s virtually dead in Japan, they need it to continue to be successful over here. Especially since it’s more than clear that Betson has no intentions on distributing beatmania IIDX, pop’n music, GFdm or Jubeat in the US.

nestlekwik July 16, 2009 at 6:13 pm

It’s all because the US cabinets didn’t come with the light bars on the side of the cabinet. Those lights were the foundation of the entire cabinet working properly.

In seriousness, I never know what Konami is thinking any more. I know the machine and US distribution falls on Betson, but there’s no way Konami wasn’t made aware of what was going on. Personally, I’ve felt the overall quality of the series dropped significantly after MAX2, but at least the standard machines were usually of fair quality. Then again, I’ve never liked Betson. I’d much rather take my business elsewhere after the one time I dealt with the company.

editor July 16, 2009 at 10:44 pm

I managed to get a detail shot of the ASI system:

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_TQjIMnTuvK4/Sl-sHUj3m4I/AAAAAAAAD6s/YkEiTdHhm18/s400/DSC02132.JPG

As you can see the game was the JP system so the only time we saw the new ‘Betson’ version was at Openday:

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_TQjIMnTuvK4/SjJddVjiHwI/AAAAAAAAD28/zbrraNKI9J4/s400/DSC02569.JPG

We are working on a feature for the Stinger Report as we speak.

bacon July 17, 2009 at 10:25 am

Yes and Openday was after the machines started popping up in Gameworks locations.

If you need any information details from players please email me: singer at dasbacon.org

terrarbites June 13, 2010 at 2:20 am

Someone snapped the 1p down arrow in half on our machine today. IN HALF. I replaced it with an older style floor mat, which is not only thicker but more durable. These new cabinets are pieces of shit. The sensitivity on the sensors is wacky, the plastic sheets they put in between the pad and sensors is poorly planned.. they’re just all-around examples of shoddy game design.