Konami pitches DDR to phys ed teachers [update 1]

by Vladimir Cole { Apr 29th 2006 at 7:55PM }

Back when most of us were in high school, our Phys Ed teachers preached against sedentary lifestyles and warned us that playing video games would lead to obesity.

Times have changed. Konami attended this week what they call "one of the largest gatherings of health and physical educators in the nation" to encourage use of their popular Dance Dance Revolution product. According to a company press release, Konami wants to teach teachers how DDR can contribute to physical health, a line that at least one state (West Virginia) evidently believed enough to make DDR a part of the public school curriculum.

That's cool and all, but what we're more excited about is the inevitable flood of Youtube and Google videos created by mean kids using cell phone cameras to record clumsy classmates tripping over themselves on DDR pads.

Click "read" for the full press release.

[Update 1: Thanks for the sweet link, Radjago! Check it out, folks, in paragraph three.]

Tags: ddr, ghislain raza, Konami

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Dustin @ Apr 29th 2006 9:26PM

I already have it at my school it keeps the fat kids sweatin

nojok3 @ Apr 29th 2006 9:29PM

atf487 @ Apr 29th 2006 9:49PM

Yeah, my school does this too. It's for the kids in gym class who don't really want to play sports.

Rhine @ Apr 29th 2006 9:59PM

We have a DDR club in our highschool does that count. Im to bad at the game to go there though. Let say it wouldn't be pretty.

Michael @ Apr 29th 2006 10:20PM

I find this recent surge in DDR interest quite interesting, with Mario Mix for the GameCube for example, given that DDR was only popular here in Vancouver four or five years ago in the arcades and the fad seems to have died down almost completely. I used to play at the arcades and on my friend's PlayStation, mashing away at the crappy mats that came with import version of the game, but it doesn't "excite" me, so to speak, anymore. Am I the only one that feels this way? Or is it just slow to catch on in areas that don't have a large Asian population that imports games (and other cultural things) from China, Japan, Korea, etc.

A little off-topic, but I was always more into the the Pump It Up from Andamiro (Korea) than the DDR series from Bemani-Konami (Japan).

Orb @ Apr 29th 2006 10:27PM

^#5 Michael, you might be interested in In the Groove ( www.inthegroove.com ) it's basically DDR to a whole new level, where you use your hands and your feet, and such. It's great fun and its difficulty goes way beyond what DDR has to offer.

In the Groove 2 came out in the arcades last year and maybe you can find one in your area.. look at http://itg.ddrfreak.com and click "Machine Locations" on the left nav bar =)

ITG is available for the Playstation 2 and is published by RedOctane ( www.redoctane.com ).

benjamin @ Apr 30th 2006 10:10AM

If an obese child were too embarrassed to play basketball or the like in gym, what on earth makes anyone think that he'll be less embarrassed to dance around on a mat while all his classmates watch?

Mullet @ Apr 30th 2006 11:14AM

DDR makes you sweat if your obese or skinny as a rail. If your good at that game and play on the fast Standard songs or on Heavy, then your sweatin after like 2 or 3 go's.

But yea, why hasn't this been implemented at my school. >:O If it was mandatory, it would make an outbreak of like, 100's of kids who could play on Heavy and thus going pro. Yus, you can go pro.