Daming ([info]daming) wrote,
2005-07-20 06:11:00
  • Mood: nostalgic
  • Music: Drifting Away

No sleep for Ming

For some reason I can't sleep at all. Tried to go to bed, ended up watching the first 30 minutes of Madagascar, then I started wandering over to Stepmania. Downloaded all the mixes and started playing. God 3rd mix really was the crest of the giant wave.

Alot of emotions tied into it all. I realize that I'll never stop loving that game, even though I might not play it in the arcades as much any more.

Seriously, when is the happiest time you can remember in your life?

For me it's when we had a DDR family, when we were all friends. Before the drama, before the rivalries, before the emo/goth kids, before the DNCs, before ALL of that bullshit. Back when it was Box, Me, and Austin trying to figure out how we were going to put together a group of people into a social unit. XS, Miami, Wauburg.

I really think that that was when I was most happy. It's strange how it was such a short period of time but it influences me so much still and I have very vivid memories of specific events.

I think "Drifiting Away" affects me the most, it's not just the song it's the step pattern with the song. I heard the song the other day in Marty's car but it wasn't a big deal. Tonight stepping out the pattern on SM really brought it all back. I think it remind me of HER alot, and that's fine. I'd rather be reminded of her, than have to forget about DDR. :)

Bleh, I'm getting old and senile, rambling about shit that happened way back when. In the future, I can see my kids giving me grief for liking such a simple game.
Tags: ddr

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  • 21 comments

[info]menchigod

July 20 2005, 12:14:17 UTC 6 years ago

Well, high school kind of sucked for me socially. I got the home version of DDR when it came out, played it pretty hardcore for a few months, but only got into it heavily at the arcades half a year later. I met a lot of people in South Florida, many of which I don't like so much today. Then I came up here, found the group, and suddenly had a bunch of people to hang out. I crawled out of my shell somewhat and became more social. Sure, the drama and other bullshit broke the group apart. Time marches on, though, and you can't change that. Drama or not, the game would've still died off (well, at least in Japan...but I think you understand what I mean), people would still graduate and leave, and there would still be plenty of goobers around to fuck things up.

What I know for sure, though, is that I would NOT have the wonderful friends that I do now if it was not for my involvement in DDR. For all the DNCs out there I loathed, I made some really good friends to make the pain worth it. And, daresay, I wouldn't be with Hali, either.

I can NEVER erase my time in the DDR Community from my memory because, even if only for a few years of my life, it influenced me THAT much.

[info]tiney

July 20 2005, 12:15:23 UTC 6 years ago

Whatever, your kids can get over it!

My kids, they're not getting the fancy schmancy video games until they master all the early systems from Pong to Super Mario Bros. to Toejam and Earl to all of the Final Fantasies to um, everything else. ::grins::

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 13:29:55 UTC 6 years ago

lol, gonna make them watch your classic cartoons too? :)

[info]tiney

July 20 2005, 14:20:22 UTC 6 years ago

You know it!

[info]sugoihoshi

July 20 2005, 12:44:01 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, here in NYC we have a DDR family, and we do tournaments. We got kicked out of our favorite arcade when a bunch of wanna be emo kids came in, and were making fun of some kids who were doing songs on light. Hell, most of my DDR family learned how to play on standard, but everyone has to start somewhere, and everyone is different. Anyway, it started when I called out one of the guys and called him a "DDR snob" and when they went up to play, we had almost the whole area chanting "BAR RAPER!" constantly because for most of the heavy songs like Paranoia Survivor , they held onto the bars for dear life. Needless to say, it started a fist fight and both groups were kicked out. Oh the many memories.

Oh about the kid thing... I plan to raise my kids to be DDR slayers. lol Instead of being a pageant mom traning them to walk prissy and look made up all the time, I'll be yelling "Dammit! you keep messing up on that part! It's so simple!" LMAO

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 13:38:12 UTC 6 years ago

LOL, you sound like my kind of people. :) I saw you on my friends list the other day so I added you. So, hi my name is Daming, but most people just call me Ming. There, proper introductions.

Anyways, I was getting all nostalgic for my DDR family days. Me and some friends started an unoffical club down here at the University of Florida a few years ago. Basically tried to teach a bunch of people and just get people to give it a try. It became a really tight social group.

I used to do the same thing you used to do, it never really broke out into anything mainly because we were on campus all the time. But I have straight up stared people down and gotten on their case for heckling newbies are messing with my friends when they were playing. At a university with 40,000 people you tend to get assholes who will try and trip people who are playing alot. Me and few others were the enforcers. :)

If you're wondering about the DNC term, it's a codeword we came up with to refer to certain undesirable players. Stompers, little-fish-with-big-fish-complexers, and people who liked to intimidate people/flash without any real skill. It stands for Dicks N Choads, but one my friends was like "Democratic National Caucus"?! :)

Anyways, sorry for the rambling. There are 2 things I could take about forever. DDR and Food...oh and alcohol...and video games..ok I'll stop. :)

[info]instantamish

July 20 2005, 16:49:50 UTC 6 years ago

I never understood why people would heckle newbies.

Just seems so middle-schoolish.

Heckling newbies because they can't play a video game as good as you....

[info]tiney

July 20 2005, 19:51:35 UTC 6 years ago

One of the main reasons why people would heckle newbies or why people are jerks in general are because they're insecure about themselves so they need to put others down in order to feel good about themselves. At least I think so. Those people need to grow up.

[info]the_tay

July 20 2005, 21:14:21 UTC 6 years ago

YOUR MOM NEEDS TO GROW UP

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 22:21:56 UTC 6 years ago

You're totally right.

[info]mastergode

July 20 2005, 13:34:34 UTC 6 years ago

Dude, those were the fucking days. My story of college is basically gravitating back and forth between a few different friend groups. But the times that I spent with the DDR Gators were fucking awesome. From forcing our way into restaurants in Ft. Lauderdale to having everyone sing 'Cafe'.

And god damn, dude. We looked like such fucking badasses when we all rolled into TB2K2 with those t-shirts.

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 13:39:23 UTC 6 years ago

Indeed....Cafe! Cafe! Cafe! Cafe! CAFE!!

[info]zeostaryu

July 20 2005, 15:38:42 UTC 6 years ago

"For me it's when we had a DDR family, when we were all friends. Before the drama, before the rivalries, before the emo/goth kids, before the DNCs, before ALL of that bullshit. Back when it was Box, Me, and Austin trying to figure out how we were going to put together a group of people into a social unit. XS, Miami, Wauburg."

FUCKING AWESOME!

Those really were the days. Even if I was rather quiet. Everyone got along and we just had fun. heh But you all really did look like some sort of army coming in to take over. It was a tad intimidating for me. haha

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 16:21:45 UTC 6 years ago

LOL, we totally should have came in with army fatigues or maybe trenchcoats? :) j/k

[info]pfcottontail

July 20 2005, 16:26:50 UTC 6 years ago

If it wasn't for the DDR Gators my friends list on LJ would be like, 5 people. Those were some really good times.

[info]instantamish

July 20 2005, 16:51:00 UTC 6 years ago

Did you guys get group discounts?
I'd think playing hours of DDR would get really expensive after a while.
Somewhere in the range of $50-$100 a month?

[info]grunzen

July 20 2005, 17:30:51 UTC 6 years ago

You know, it wasn't really all that long ago. "Way back when" is about 3-4 years. I had some amazing times in the DDR Gators and met a lot of cool people.

But seriously, I have just as much fun playing In the Groove now as I ever did then. It's all about having the fire to play and some people who'll go with you. We play on what are probably the best pads in FL (thanks to Rich), and when we go we roll like 7-8 people deep. Here joint premium is on, double takes one credit (YES!), and it's like 80 cents to play in the first place. Not to mention ITG 2 is coming next week.

And there's some people there who play even the craziest shit on ITG. There's these double songs where you plant one hand on the right side right arrow, and do splits and shit on the other side. ITG has some truely great steps if you get the chance to check it out.

All I'm trying to say is DDR can be just as alive as it was if you have the opportunity. And most of the people I roll with have been playing almost as long as we have, so you can't tell me you're jaded or something. :)

(And yeah, DDR was an expensive hobby)

[info]daming

July 20 2005, 17:50:02 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah it wasn't that long ago, but things are very different now then they were then. So different that it feels like alot longer than it was.

Oh I wasn't debating the fun of DDR or ITG, I think you misunderstand me. I was talking about the end of an era, which included DDR, and the social group that we had. That's gone. Like I said I'll always love DDR, but alot of that feeling is gone man.

I know what you mean, need people around me with the drive to play. But nowadays it seems like alot of people are burned out.

I'm not really jaded regarding DDR, but I am kind of disappointed the group didn't last.

[info]grunzen

July 20 2005, 18:00:45 UTC 6 years ago

Yeah, it's unfortunate. Box left, I left, the Union's pads started sucking and so did Tilt's. They didn't upgrade forever, and the old group didn't always get along so well with the new group. Then you missed out on the newest wave of people playing.

It's too bad. If people would give ITG a chance, they'll see it's got as much going for it as DDR did. Mines, hands, crazy mods, a wide variety of steps, types of music that've never been in DDR, and marvelous grading out of the gate are pretty sweet. The step charts are also more freeform and experimental, since DDR was limited by its past and by convention.

The end of an era always means the start of a new one. I bet Bob would go play with you at least. ;)

[info]cboz

July 21 2005, 00:19:19 UTC 6 years ago

I remember Wauberg. I remember you owning me with that massive gun of yours.

I remember the first time i came to the reitz...and you were all there...wearing your blue T-Shirts...

I remember Speed Park. And everyone behind the 5th mix Shadowing Petit Love.

I wont forget the DDR Gators ^^

[info]gtrracer

July 21 2005, 14:15:47 UTC 6 years ago

You can't not remember everything. Hell, most of the people I know stem from the DDR Gators and even to this day I owe a lot of shit to you all. I wouldn't be the import gaming freak I am without you or Jon or Cav. :P

It's a part of our lives that will remain forever in our minds. It's just a shame how all the drama, DNCs, and other shit kind of tore the 'club' apart. Yet, we all have moved past the club and simply become close friends.
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