I've been waiting for Dance Factory to come to the U.S., but it's still not here yet. I'm really excited about it because, like you, I do get tired of hearing the same songs all of the time. I don't mind dancing to them, I just get tired of hearing them.
If you do get Dance Factory let us know how you like it. I didn't know that it had come out in the U.K. already, so I'll go try and Google up some reviews on it. I'm curious how satisfied people are with the game.
I should be getting it soon, just need a little bit more money hehe. Finally a game comes out here before the US, we always get things second, I think its a British made game which probably explains it.
I'll be interested to see what they do with the dance mat and the playstation 3, I wonder if there's anything else they can add into it.
My daughter went down from a size 11 to a size 9 over the summer with DDR extreme. She plays every day for an hour or so. I on the other hand can't get near the game. With 2 playstations in the house, they are usually busy between the three kids and the hubby. I think once my pool goes down it will be mommy playstation time for an hour after work instead of mommy pool time for an hour after work.
I have Dance Dance and love it, can play for hours and hours and really sweat. I love with my whole family and very addicting. Sad this I have to limit it to a few times a week, since my six year old would play it everyday if I let him. I play it once or twice a week for a change in my exercise and really love it. I tried a few other types of this game and only really like this line of dance games.
I bought Dance Factory and hated it. I may be the only one. The reason I hated it is four reasons:
1. The arrow are too small and way too many things going on the screen too
2. The dance moves are not as much fun, very boring and don't really work with music.
3. I have a few CD, you can use the burned Cd’s but they don't come out while with the music and steps. It works better with a CD. I prefer to mix up my music more and get bored on only one person to listen too.
4. The control and way it set up is hard to get around to playing the song you want, and I personal need it easy to use since my 6 year old get upset and can't get a song to play easily.
I would also recommend maybe buying the game and pads on eBay, also I bought it their and was cheaper. Also would get the higher end pads, some of the pads slide and don't work that great on the game.
I like the thick padded one since your feet hurt after a while on the thin ones. I have had a few pads now since we use them so much. I have both the thin one and 3 other thick ones. I broken one out of good use and had to replace them.
Thanks for the review of Dance Factory, April. All the reviews I've found are similar to yours - DF has been disappointing to just about everyone. That's really unfortunate because there's nothing I'd love more than to dance to songs that I prefer from from back in my day and age instead of the more current tunes.
Oh, well. I hope that the company who designed the game takes the bad reviews to heart and makes an attempt to perfect the game into a second version.
Oh, yeah, and I gave up on the soft pads a while back and bought a metal pad made by Cobalt Flux. It was expensive but a very good investment since the pad doesn't slide around and has helped me get better and better ... I'm now dancing to songs in 'Heavy' mode (DDR Extreme 2) which I'm pretty sure I never could have done had I stuck with a soft pad.
Thanks again for your review. If they ever come out with another version of Dance Factory that gets better reviews, I'll be first in line to buy it!
DDR is one of the few workouts that i can hardly get enough of, although i haven't been consistent enough to report dramatic results (due to living in a 2nd floor apartment, and then having knee problems... ugh!). GOTTA get back to it!
another video "game" i would recommend is Yourself!Fitness. it's available for the PS2, Xbox, and PC... i absolutely love it. it's a more "normal" workout, but the fact that it's customized to your preferences makes it a LOT less monotonous.
and to answer your question, jtammy... there is a DDR game for the Nintendo Gamecube. it's the Mario Mix... it's good for beginners, but for experienced DDR fans, it tends to be boring. to start out, you only have a few unlocked songs, and you have to play through the Story Mode to unlock more. i don't recall if there's any sort of workout mode... i don't think there is, but i could be wrong.
Wow, I think I want this for Christmas!!! I get so extremely bored with normal exercise videos, and I just hate them! Maybe this would be more my thing....although I can't dance to save my life.... HAHA! I'll have to check DDR out, and see what it's like.
another video "game" i would recommend is Yourself!Fitness. it's available for the PS2, Xbox, and PC... i absolutely love it. it's a more "normal" workout, but the fact that it's customized to your preferences makes it a LOT less monotonous.
Sounds interesting. Could you explain a bit more about what sort of workout(s) the game has you do? Does it involve weights at all? (i hate weights!) And what sort of customization does it allow?
Well, I have now officially lost 25 lbs in just over 3 months strictly through Dance Dance Revolution and a slightly reduced calorie/fat diet. Only 5 lbs more to go. Yay, me!!!
If anyone else here is really into DDR let me know and maybe we could chat about our progress. I'd love that!
okay... here goes my attempt at explaining it better
it's a more conventional workout, than DDR, but i think it's got some great perks!
when you first start out using it, you can either sign in as a guest, and go straight to the workouts, or you can set up your profile.
when you set up your profile, you enter in your name, height, weight, gender, and age. then, before your first workout, you do a general fitness test, to approximate your flexibility, and strength. the program uses the information from this test, to make a suggestion on what your overall focus should be (of course, you don't HAVE to follow the suggestion), and to build your program. you'll do this evaluation again, after the first 10 completed workouts, and your progress will be charted.
you can also choose the focus for each workout... of course, the program will make a suggestion, but you're free to choose.
as far as the workouts go, you work with a computer generated personal trainer, named Maya, who does the exercises along with you. most of the warmup exercises are the same, no matter what your focus is, but the core routine changes day to day, with your focus. you can choose the "scenery," and the music (the tracks are, unfortunately, a little bit hokey, but at least there's more than one. variety helps!). when you're preparing to start the workout, you can enter in the type of equipment you own, and want to use, such as a heart rate monitor, hand weights, a step bench, and a yoga ball. the good thing is, you don't HAVE to have, or use, any of these for the workouts.
it does give you the option to fill in a calendar with what days of the week you'll work out, and for how long, but i tend to leave mine blank because my schedule is always changing. if you schedule a workout, and then don't do it, Maya will lightly "scold" you, the next time you sign in, just like a real personal trainer (although, probably a lot nicer... haha!).
anyway, they do have a website... i'm not sure if i can link to it or not, but if you like, i can PM you the address.
I got Dance Factory yesterday, I quite like it, if you chose your songs carefully it works really well. I have a question though, how do you guys record what you dance off in Fitday (if anyone does), I don't do the workout section of the game because it insults you when you go wrong, so I need a way of working out how many calories I burn. Any ideas?
I could never get into DDR, but it was fun. I just didn't like it as a part of my work-out.
However, I lllllooovvveee Yourself!Fitness. It's so perfect. It's just like a work-out video but the exercises you do change each time you start a new work-out session. Then it's divided into groups; Cardio, Upper Body Strength, Core Body, Lower Body, Flexibility, and Weight Loss. I really enjoy every time I use it, it was a great way to spend $30 since I got it through eBay.
I heard they're making a second one for the XBox 360 called Yourself!Fitness Lifestyle, and it supposedly has a section for those of us that own treadmills, stationary bikes, etc. You'll be pedaling, walking/running, while Maya does the same on screen.
Diem: that sounds great! i hadn't seen anything about that... of course, i don't have an Xbox 360. yet. guess that gives me another point of persuasion, to convince DH to let me get one... haha!
Oh wow, I finally broke down and got a Playstation 2 just for DDR. I have the latest one, forget what it's called. The mat's okay but still skids, I might have to get something non-skid to put underneath it.
But it's been pretty fun. I've only tried it twice, and I think I'm hooked. I have a heart rate monitor and I move between 65 and 85 percent. So I seem to be getting at least a decent workout. I still lift weights and I probably will have days where I walk or hike or bike, either in addition to or instead of DDR.
But I must look really, really dorky. I mean, I'm 35, overweight, and really have no sense of rhythm, plus limited coordination. But I sort of get into it after a while, and do these little arm moves and half-spins and just think I must be oh so cool. While my cats stare at me like I'm insane, hee.
*LOL* i actually have to put my cats in the bedroom, sometimes, to do my DDR workouts... Karma likes to lay on the mat. if i ever pause, to get a drink, as soon as i step away from the mat, she's on it - dead center.
I think its a British made game which probably explains it.
Yourself!Fitness
guess that gives me another point of persuasion, to convince DH to let me get one... haha!
