Other Stages
- Stage 1: Arcades Today - Earnings & Introduction
- (You Are Here) Stage 2: Dance Dance Revolution - The Peak and Valley of the Arcade.
- Stage 3: Big Prize Games, Big Money Gains. I Love It!
Dance Dance Revolution was trouble for arcade earnings, despite its popularity.
Dance Dance Revolution, or DDR, was one of the worst-earning games we had in our arcade for two main reasons: Earnings and Repairs. Even then, it did one important thing we reap the rewards of today.
Earnings
Earnings in arcades are basic economics in practice: You don't want to charge so much that folks are dissuaded from purchasing, but you want to hit the maximum value that players are willing to pay.
My short-lived (not dead) mentor taught me to think about how many credits the game could earn per hour if played non-stop, estimating on the amount of time players are on a single credit. It's guesswork, but you can watch and feel some things out.
So you'd get a rough equation:
- ([cost of 1 credit] * [# of players]) * (60 min./[est. mins. for a credit]) = Earnings Per Hour
Using Time Crisis 3 as a guestimate example:
- 50 cents per credit. 2-player game. Estimated 4 minutes to game over.
- (.50 * 2) * (60/4 minutes)
- $1 * 15 credits an hour = $15/hr.
This is where DDR struggles.
For those who aren't knowledgeable about DDR: At default settings, most players are playing 3 songs. With DDR's songs averaging 1 minute 30 seconds and ~30 seconds for song selection, we're at ~2 minutes per song and ~6 minutes per game.
While that's 10 games per hour, this is being very generous.
Other common things that add time:
- Pre- and post-game setups (e.g moving personal items, adjusting fans, wiping down pads/shoes, stretching, etc..)
- Human exhaustion (Song selection timer defaults to 60 or 99 seconds and folks use that time to recover.)
- Folks who play strictly single-player (locks off 2-player credit earnings*)
- An additional song if the players are skilled enough (more time)
- Game overs are prevented in the first song on Beginner difficulty (fastest game over is 2+ minutes)
*Someone who is knowledgeable about DDR may bring it up: This is referring to folks who only play alone and machines with Joint-Premium on (1 credit for Doubles mode), which was common in my state.
So now we're ~10 to 15 minute games; six to four games an hour!
Using a median of 12 minutes
- $1 per credit (premium game allowed for premium prices). 2-player game. Estimated 12 minutes to game over.
- ($1 * 2) * (60/12 minutes)
- $2 * 5 = $10/hr; 66% of Time Crisis 3.
Compared to Time Crisis 3
- Allows players to quickly continue playing after a game over.
- Is designed to take credits quickly.
- Player skill level stays relatively low, meaning a sustained amount of game overs/credits.
- Doesn't require preparation.
- A second player is always allowed.
- Forced difficulty increase in later stages, meaning more game overs and credits.
To summarize, DDR's lower earnings are a result of:
- A slower gameplay loop.
- Prolonged credits/fewer game overs due to beginner and advanced skill levels.
- Adjustable difficulty to avoid game overs.
- Less random plays due to clothing worn, embarrassment, etc.
DDR is arcade-unfriendly when it comes to video arcade earnings. Heck, you might've already applied some of DDR's issues to other video arcade games. All these assume DDR is working properly, which is the second half of our DDR conundrum.
Repairs
DDR takes a pounding (😳) but DDR pads are resilient!
Folks without DDR experience will stomp and jump on the pad, wear improper footwear, and/or have a lack of self-awareness such as holding their drinks while playing the game. This day-in and day-out treatment eventually destroys sensors, cracks arrow panels, loosens bars, blows out speakers, etc., which isn't a problem with most other video arcade games.
Many games share the same parts with one another. For example, the optic lens inside the gun of Time Crisis can also be used in Jurassic Park's guns. This was great for troubleshooting and buying spare parts in bulk.
Fortunately, I played DDR competitively so I could source what was wrong easily without troubleshooting with other machine parts. Unfortunately, it was pulling teeth to get it repaired because of costs.
We had a Namco hotline for over-the-phone assistance to troubleshoot and repair games. If it was a serious issue, we'd ship the part to their HQ for repair and they'd send out a working part to minimize downtime.
DDR is a unique, Japan-centralized game so parts aren't common or cheap. It's also large and doesn't ship well, even when broken down into parts.
Any major repairs had to go through a lot of troubleshooting because they didn't want to pay. Additionally, higher-level players wanted a Perfect experience or they'll play elsewhere. For a game already struggling to earn what it could, its popularity made it extremely competitive... but that was DDR's biggest positive.
DDR Kept Arcades Relevant
DDR brought foot traffic to arcades... figuratively and literally.
This is more speaking as lived experience: DDR kept folks coming to the arcade who would've long preferred to be at home. It was an experience that was nearly impossible to replicate at home and the home solutions were not as satisfying as the arcade.
A squishy home pad could not provide the satisfying tap of a metal behemoth.
DDR exploded in popularity. It was featured in
- national news
- popular television
- movie cameos
- And is the core plot of multiple movies and a webcomic
It brought multiple generations into the arcade and kept them there for years, maybe even earning its investment back over time. It fostered a community excited to gather around a game. It pushed for exploration of the arcade while folks waited for their turn. Personally, I wouldn't have ever tried games like Outrun 2, Time Crisis 4, Pump It Up (ironically), Initial D, or Derby Owner's Club(!) had I not been waiting for DDR's lines.
I understood why we had regulars here after playing and getting my own horse cards, similar to Initial D cards.
While I think Barcades* were an inevitability, I don't feel they would have the same popularity if arcades didn't continue to attract folks with DDR and create nostalgia for '90s to '10s kids. Round 1 might not have tried the U.S. market if rhythm games weren't at their backbone.
*Barcades are arcades with an alcohol bar in it, helping attract a 21+ crowd with nostalgia for video and pinball arcade games.
DDR may have not brought in money, but it brought in bodies. Something arcades battled since the NES came out in 1986.
Using DDR as an example, we have a number of reasons why arcades shied away from video arcade machines. Between limited earning potential and repair costs, it made sense to focus on games that are the opposite of that: Prize and Redemption games.
Next Stage: Big Prize Games, Big Money Gains. I Love It!
