NY Times reports on DDR usage in PE Classes

[ZeoStar]

[Timotei Fortress 2]

[Juppy]

Well, it's great and all, but us DDR'ians aren't special now because we play DDR, since it's in the curriculum now and a majority of people are going to play it. It's sorta mainstream now. Mainstream sucks.

[wschmrdr]

First mallrats...... then alleyrats........

NOW SCHOOL RATS?!?!?!?

Well, hopefully their n00b-ness will just gave way at the schools. Or maybe they start putting machines in youth centers or leave the schools open so that kids can stay and play. Maybe the older mall-rats (a lot of us) will then experience better pads.

[messenger]

[sherl0k]

Wow you people are missing the entire point of this. The schools are trying to solve an extremely pressing issue - childhood obesity - and all you people can think about is OMG THEY'RE INVADING MY ARCADE NOOOOOOOOOO



Seriously, grow up already will you?
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[TRPX_Mudkip]

[Standard Girl]

unfortunate for me, i go to private school . sometimes they have ddr at like school parties and stuff, but not in PE. and they use the soft pads. maybe this article will manage to sway the mind of our extremely un-mind-swaying athletic director.

[AceJay]

[Ghettobarney]

[ddrfan1022]

Well...why don't we fight the "epidemic" all over the country now? I could teach the kids how to freestyle...hahah

[Dawgbowl]

[PMG]

You know, it's really hilarious reading a lot of these responses. As a DDR player for the past 9 years, it's been interesting to see the trends that DDR has taken. From the arcade boom of the new millennium, to the decline of arcades in the past few years, DDR's culture has dramatically changed.

With that said, I've been doing some work for Konami promoting DDR in public schools here in California. I've gone to the National Association for Sport & Physical Education Conference and the Los Angeles County Office of Education Vendors Fair telling my story and demonstrating the cardiovascular properties of DDR to our educators here in California. (For the record, they were astounded that I lost 70 pounds) I've heard nothing but good things of putting products that make our youth today get up and exercise.

Let's face it. Not all of us like basketball, or baseball, or football or whatever. There's an increasing number of youth that are becoming more and more lackadaisical when it comes to the physical health in school. Yet, these people will get up for hours at a time on a DDR machine, increasing their fat loss, cardiovascular activity, eye/foot coordination, and rhythm/tempo.

Being a true Old Schooler in the word, I've seen the dramatic effects DDR has on individuals that use it for their physical gain. Some markets focus on DDR in just their local arcade/bowling alley/etc. I don't need to explain that those areas won't be around forever. Seeing that DDR can truly be beneficial in a classroom setting is what got me onboard this bandwagon, because losing a significant amount of weight myself, I know the positives of regular activity, even if it's in the most unorthodox method.

Soft pads, hard pads, machines or not, I find it horribly cheap to attack schools who don't have a large budget yet still want their students to feel the benefits of DDR. In a best case scenario, I'd love to see 10 dedicated arcade cabinets in every school, but reality is that's not going to happen for everyone.

As a "community," I'd rather see more positive input, especially for those thinking of going into the Physical Education field, so that we might have more people with influence in seeing a game that we're so passionate about being a difference maker in the obesity of children in America today.

But what do I know? I'm just an old guy.
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[Da-Risin-Smoke]

This is actually cool.

If people are worried givin DDR a bad rep, then I'm keeping ITG a secret!

Yeah, I tried promoting in my school, but it's almost impossible.

We're only a 2B school, and there's nothing here but sports, so obesity hasn't reached the neighborhood, but people are competitive about sports.
Plus, you try to get a wanna-be gang banger to play.

We should be thankful schools even have DDR.
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[ddrmamiof3]

You are absolutley right. Don't forget children with mild autism, children with adhd and other similar disorders. I think it's great for them too. Not only for weight loss but to help them to focus and concentrate better in school. I know this is gonna sound crazy but I tell my kids to play for 10-15 minutes before school on the days they have tests. BTW you are not old. If you're old then I'm ancient.

[Mistletoe Angel Magic]

[PMG]

Personally, I think on most 7 footers, both the Aerobic and Anaerobic workouts are great.

I think on most 10 footers, it's absolutely terrible for your body to do that consistently.

Then again, you have to work for months to get to the 10 foot level. Que sera sera.
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[LIL J]

OMG! Today at my school they had career day and one of the people there to speak was a phys-ed teacher and guess what he brought with him DDR! It was awsome because I got to play and everybody was so impressed because I'm pretty good at it. I was the only fifth grader allowed to do this because career day is really for 6th graders but my teacher remembered that my mom had told her I was really good at the game so she let me play and everyone was really amazed at my skilz.
I hope this means that they might be thinking about getting DDR at our schools. I can only dream.
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[Marq(uistadorous)]

[PMG]

Uh, didn't Konami buy the rights to ITG? So probably never ever gonna see it again.

Back on subject, who else has DDR in their schools?
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