Patriot  Baron

 Dance-Dance Revolution

The music video game Dance Dance Revolution (otherwise known as DDR) is clearly superior to the game Guitar Hero.

Let’s compare the most important features:

Q: Which video game is more popular and influential?

A: Released in 1998, Konami’s classic, Dance Dance Revolution, was the original music video game. Guitar Hero only came 8 years later, with sales less than DDR. To this date, DDR machines are still used widely in homes for entertainment as well as in schools and gyms for a fun, active way to exercise. Today, the music game industry brings in $1.4 billion dollars annually, and it all started with Dance Dance Revolution.

Q: Which video game’s experience is better?

 A:  DDR is the premier video game in active fun, introducing a game that not only requires skill, but also style. True Dance Dance Revolutionists must not only place their feet in the correct places, but do it with style and flair. Guitar Hero experts merely memorize a list of button presses and repeat them. DDR also features an actual dancing person, and this feature allows DDR to be entertaining for spectators as well as players. DDR clearly excels in skill, style, and entertainment.

 Q: Which game offers a wider variety of content?

 A: Today’s Guitar Hero can only offer songs that feature guitars, while DDR offers any song that can be danced to (hint: all of them). Guitar Hero players must buy songs from a list of limited, individual songs. New DDR technology allows anybody to use their own music to make a dance, freely and easily. This expands DDR’s library to every song, ever.

 Q: Which is better, Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero?

 A: Dance Dance Revolution, no question.

vs. 

 

Guitar Hero

Although Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) is fun for many, it is inferior to Guitar Hero (GH). Unlike DDR, GH has a very large collection of fun and modern rock songs. DDR has a meager collection of Japanese pop and techno, which doesn’t have much worldwide appeal. In GH you could download extra songs and other downloadable content, whereas DDR has no option for adding other custom songs. In DDR, you can only be a dancer.

GH has so many more options to play with. In one version, you could invite friends to be vocalists and drummers in addition to being a guitarists. This helps develop teamwork, cooperation, and friendship. 

Although GH doesn’t provide as much exercise as DDR, the button pressing may improve your hand-eye coordination. It’s easy to use, so the average person can play it and have fun, but it’s difficult to master. There is much art to the simple but fast-paced and musical moves. GH’s console is a sleek, shiny, and ultramodern guitar that involves skill and nimble fingers to press and strum the guitar accordingly. DDR’s console is a crumbled mat that doesn’t have any well defined controls. Meaning, if you don’t look down onto the mat, you could easily step on the mat’s “left” control when what you really wanted was the “select” control.

DDR is physically exerting, and people stop playing as soon as they are tired. You don’t get very tired when playing GH, thus it provides a longer and more entertaining experience.

The DDR mat also takes up a lot of room, as you need enough elbow room to step and stomp around. GH is riveting and fun, but not in a space-requiring way. Most importantly, in Guitar Hero you can be a ROCK STAR!