7-1-I-Search-Dimitri

= Dance, Dance = by Dimitri

**Introduction**
I have seen people playing Dance Dance Revolution. What's the big deal with it, anyway? The music is horrible (if you can hear it over all of the foot stomping), the graphics are just plain weird (I once saw a song with people who looked like Hogwarts teachers in it), and playing it causes physical pain after two minutes. But still, it's loved by most people. It's even being used by some states for phys ed. How does this happen?

**Body**
 I found several newspaper articles describing how schools are using Dance Dance Revolution as a form of exercise, with some states (like West Virginia and Hawaii) making all of its middle schools use Dance Dance Revolution in their physical education programs.  One person who decided to put DDR in physical education programs was inspired to do this after seeing kids actually wait in line and pay money for an arcade game that made kids use energy.  A bunch of studies also show that DDR makes kids use a lot more energy than other video games do. Kids seem to like this game as much as any other game, but the game helps them stay fit.

Dance Dance Revolution consists of using a plastic or metal mat that senses motion and has arrow buttons that the player steps on in gameplay.  The game usually has two of these dance pads, so two people can play the game at one time.  You have to step on the arrow buttons when the arrows on the screen come up. Missing enough of the steps will result in you failing the song. There are lots of versions of the game, usually with different songs.

I interviewed someone who I know plays video games for this. His name is Dorian and he's in stream 7-2. This is how the interview went.

" So, Dorian, do you like Dance Dance Revolution?" "Yes, I do." "Why?" "I like it because you have to move around and be interactive, you might get to hear good songs, and you have to be good on your feet with it." "How often do you play it?" "Not that often. I get to play it at my friends' houses and as demos." "What do you not like about it?" "Some songs are stupid, or I don't like them, and sometimes it gets very hard." "What do you think about those graphics?" "I think the graphics are fine, buy they're not good or bad. I don't think most people pay attention to them because they focus on the arrows." "How do you think the game could be improved?" "By putting in better (or more) songs, more game modes, and I think that's it.

**Conclusion**
So, I think I have found why people would like Dance Dance Revolution. They like how it can help you stay healthy and schools use it for P.E. classes. They also seem to like many of the songs on it, but other people dislike the small selection of songs and the songs themselves. People also like to play it because it's a video game. I now know why people like it so much.

**Works Cited**
Schiesel, Seth. "P.E. Classes Turn to Video Game That Works Legs." The New York Times 30 Apr. 2007. 1 Apr. 2008 <[|http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/health/30exer.html>.]

"Dance Dance Revolution - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia." __Wikipedia__. 22 Dec. 2001. 21 Mar. 2008 <[|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dance_Dance_Revolution>.]

Smith, David. "IGN: Dance Dance Revolution Review." __IGN__. 4 Apr. 2001. 21 Mar. 2008 <[|http://psx.ign.com/articles/161/161525p1.html>.]