I need real (in depth) feedback on the US DDRX Cabinets

[June.H]

Double actually works fine. Problem is, it's off-synced from the get-go on the regular machines. Of all the upgraded versions of DDR X I've played, every one had a problem of arrows being late on double, but single play was perfectly fine. The lag actually offsets it very well on the dedicabs, it's kind of funny really. I mean heck, 980k on Freeway Shuffle double expert with casual dress shoes?

Looking inside the pad now, it really looks like the designer had a great idea, but when it was put into practice, worked if you played maybe 1 or 2 footers, but would fail or start failing fast if you played anything higher than a 6 rating. The design is really flimsy, it needs constant fixing every couple days otherwise even if you're over 200 lbs, the pads will barely register.

The huge metal sheet over the pad is a NIGHTMARE for technician repair. On top of that, the torx screws have a tendency to either strip or dismount the washer underneath the pad (which is not accessible). This means if the washer gets dismounted and stuck (which happens quite often), you have a screw stuck in the pad that you won't be able to remove. I unlodged a washer while a screw was halfway out, and this resulted in a screw that was half-removed and now jutting out of the pad. I need a saw to remove it (unelss I can find a way to get under the pad).

This is insanely bad design and very much encourages techs to leave machines in bad condition. Granted it's cheaper to use a large piece of metal rather than cutting smaller squares, but this is ridiculous and really counter-intuitive.

The sensors are also just straight up cheap. It's a cheap pressure sensor encased in a thick open-ended rubber hosing.

Basically, the thin pad design could work if 1)it didn't use a flimsy piece of plastic to activate the pads (rather than a large metal bracket), 2, better sensors and sensor housing design was used (they're held in with cheap glue that doesn't even work!), and 3, using small squares for each arrow panel rather than a huge metal sheet that takes forever to remove and has a very high chance of getting screws stripped, stuck, bent, or messed up.

Doesn't help the base of the pad is a cheap plastic or acrylic.

[Ashura96]

Be sure to mention Betson's product page for DDR X, as it is currently a complete misrepresentation of the actual product they are currently selling.

[Kσn]

Originally Posted by Betson Webpage

DDR X is also housed in an electrifying NEW cabinet with a 37" LCD monitor, LED lighting effects and a thundering sound system to enhance play. Look for a new Shock Arrow and upgraded graphics.

The game is e-Amusement ready, player cards will allow on-line ranking and data collection with Internet connection. There is also a Step Chart Edit Mode where players can edit game step charts on their home PCs and bring the data back to the arcade via SD Memory Card.

Lets point out whats wrong here...
-LED Lighting (Partially wrong, sounds like they were talking about the Japanese cabinet)
-Thundering Sound System
-e-amuse (Not out, and no word about if and when its going to happen)
-and most importantly SD card slots. They also said they were going to implement SD instead of USB at a trade show

Lets call it false advertising.

Oh and the picture...

Its completely wrong too.

[Empathy]

Originally Posted by ΩOMEGAΩ

Lets point out whats wrong here...
-LED Lighting (Partially wrong, sounds like they were talking about the Japanese cabinet)
-Thundering Sound System
-e-amuse (Not out, and no word about if and when its going to happen)
-and most importantly SD card slots. They also said they were going to implement SD instead of USB at a trade show

Lets call it false advertising.

Oh and the picture...

Its completely wrong too.

I also don't know if this is true for all arcades, but I did see the DDR X machine at MGL booting up and it failed the IC Card check with "NO UNIT" so I take it they actually aren't eAmuse ready at all! It doesn't even have a card reader unit installed at the moment!

[June.H]

No American DDR X machine have the e-amuse router available supposedly, which would probably explain why the card readers don't even work yet.

[Swors-k]

Originally Posted by Ashura96

Be sure to mention Betson's product page for DDR X, as it is currently a complete misrepresentation of the actual product they are currently selling.

This is actually a very good point. This borders on false advertising and bait and switch on Betson's part.

[ranatalus]

Here is a really good example of the pads quality out of the box versus their quality after heavy modification by high-level players: YouTube - Dance Dance Revolution X - Day 1 of Pad Repair . The right side is how the pads were shipped, the left side is after repair.

The player in the video is Bader, who has over 200 AAAs.

[Empathy]

Originally Posted by June.H

No American DDR X machine have the e-amuse router available supposedly, which would probably explain why the card readers don't even work yet.

They still should show up during the machine's self-test though, rather than saying NO UNIT, never mind them working at all, right?

Also, I took the time to really watch while someone was playing Polyrhythm (fuck that stupid romanization) on the MGL machine on thursday, and noticed the timing between the bass drum kick in the song (on-beat) and the arrows flashing on the screen was about a half-beat off. This equates to somewhere around a quarter of a second delay? I think Polyrhythm is 130 bpm or so right? I do believe the LCD screen they're using has a delay of 16-30ms.

[Kσn]

I got a video of how the panels slide in the pad tonight. I will upload it and edit this post when its uploaded.

EDIT: I got the video up here is the link...
YouTube - DDR X Dedicab (US) Flaw - Sliding Panels in pad

Not only can you feel the panels sliding, you can also clearly hear them sliding when you play.

[ranatalus]

uh

the old ones did that too

[Kσn]

Originally Posted by ranvlm_zkatalus

uh

the old ones did that too

These are quite noticeable however though, They feel clunky when you play. Its sort of hard to explain unless you have played on one of the DDR X pads and then go to another older machine and play. I mean these slide quite a bit more then the other pads, make more noise, and this is just one of the many problems with the pads.

[Empathy]

Originally Posted by Kσn

These are quite noticeable however though, They feel clunky when you play. Its sort of hard to explain unless you have played on one of the DDR X pads and then go to another older machine and play. I mean these slide quite a bit more then the other pads, make more noise, and this is just one of the many problems with the pads.

THIS. The new pads also seem to make my legs get incredibly tired because they almost feel like pounding my feet into concrete (even though those panels slide around like that, and cause me to slip sometimes, they have no give). The feel doesn't have that same rebound as the older pads or even PIU pads.

[robbie.]

Originally Posted by Kσn

These are quite noticeable however though, They feel clunky when you play. Its sort of hard to explain unless you have played on one of the DDR X pads and then go to another older machine and play. I mean these slide quite a bit more then the other pads, make more noise, and this is just one of the many problems with the pads.

considering we have a dedicated ddr x cabinet in our gameworks, and he has already said that he has played on it, i am pretty sure he can tell the difference.

the panels on our pads move the same amount as that and they are not any more distracting than the panels on the supernova, or extreme machines.

[June.H]

The small spacing around the panels are on the old design as well as the new JP cabinet design. That has nothing to do with the feel of the pad.

The current systems on IIDX and GFdm run the test regardless of whether or not it's connected. Since the machine runs on the new e-Amuse system, perhaps it doesn't runs the IC card test on the same startup module?

[Kalek]

Originally Posted by Empathy

I do believe the LCD screen they're using has a delay of 16-30ms.

if that were true, one could adjust to it much more easily

it's probably closer to 160-300ms of lag. if it really does equate to a quarter second, it would be 250ms.