Forums FAQForums FAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister   ProfileProfile   Login to check your private messagesLogin to check your private messages   LoginLogin 

Konami Arcade-Style Controller
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3  
This topic is locked you cannot edit posts or make replies    DDR Freak Forum Index -> Bemani Controllers
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Agent J
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 29 Feb 2004
Location: Dimension X
40. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 7:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DefaultGen wrote:
Why can't anyone make a clone of this pad? Cobalt Fluxes, IMHO the best pad at the moment, sell for $300 + $50 shipping yet, they don't offer an arcade like experience. Even with the arcade mod, the best sensativity easily comes from the center of the arrow.

If someone started hand-building insanely high quality pads like this and selling them for $1500-$2500 a pop, why the hell wouldn't he get business? I'm sure people would go for the $2000 arcade replica than a beat up arcade machine for 2 or 3 times the price.

I can't speak for everyone, but i'm willing to spend much more than $300 for a DDR platform if it gives me a real arcade experience.


*WARNING! Long Post!*
Believe it or not, someone actually did try this a few years ago. A guy who I only remember as "Derek Leu" set out to build DDR pads that were as close to the arcade as you could get without actually buying a machine. He called them "Beat-Gear" pads and he repeatedly sought feedback from DDR forums throughout the design process. They were supposed to cost $400 or $500, with the possibility of the price actually going down as the manufacturing process got more efficient. However, the whole thing ended disastrously. I can't remember how it happened, but the first and only shipment of pads ended up stuck in a warehouse somewhere in Florida. Neither Derek nor the customers were able to get them.

As I recall, somehow at least some of these pads were freed from the warehouse eventually, and some people, like Stepmania coder Chris Danford, actually got them. I remember seeing them on eBay for around $500 a piece at some point as well. Some people were beta testers for them, and they received pads, too. I wish I could remember the whole story, as there's very little information about this on the internet, but it's pretty crazy. It might have been an elaborate scam, or a guy with good intentions who just happened to have everything blow up in his face, or something else entirely. Nevertheless, someone has tried the whole DDR arcade replica business, and it didn't go well at all.

All that being said, I'm not sure I see the same market potential you do for an uber-expensive arcade replica pad. Konami themselves already tried it and couldn't really find a market for it. They only built a few hundred DDR ASCs. Admittedly, the situation might be different here. Japan has a huge otaku population that will buy almost anything if it appeals to their hobby. However, there are two things that probably hurt the DDR ASC in Japan. It was released in late 2000, putting it around the time 4th Mix Plus was the current mix. I'm pretty sure DDR was already on the decline in Japan by then. Also, the DDR ASC is huge. If you're living in a tiny Japanese apartment, it doesn't matter how hardcore you are if you don't have enough space for something like that. Heck, I'm not sure some Japanese houses have room for something like that. The Beatmania ASC is also rather big, but it can be set on a table or something. So from that angle, it might actually be more successful here. I still have my doubts, though. Maybe the problem is I'm biased in the fact that I am neither willing nor able to spend $1500-$2000 on an ultra high-quality DDR pad.
Back to top
View users profile Send private message
DefaultGen
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 06 Nov 2005
41. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 6:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Wow that was an awesomely informative post thumb.gif

Some major company like Cobalt Flux should take it up rather than 1 person then so they could do it efficently. CF sells those commercial industrial mechanical residential.... well... they sell some awesome pad thats over $2000 if I remember correctly but its STILL on a wooden base and it still uses the 2 metal plate contact system... it doesn't even have recessed arrows or anything. Its a hard thing to other hand.

Maybe RedOctane could make an arcade-style Afterburner that doesn't suck.
_________________
Back to top
View users profile Send private message
videoCWK!
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Location: http://videocwk.myfreebb.com/
42. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DefaultGen wrote:
Wow that was an awesomely informative post thumb.gif

Some major company like Cobalt Flux should take it up rather than 1 person then so they could do it efficently. CF sells those commercial industrial mechanical residential.... well... they sell some awesome pad thats over $2000 if I remember correctly but its STILL on a wooden base and it still uses the 2 metal plate contact system... it doesn't even have recessed arrows or anything. Its a hard thing to other hand.

Maybe RedOctane could make an arcade-style Afterburner that doesn't suck.


Not even in my sweetest DDR dreams have I come across a RedOctane pad that didn't suck.
Back to top
View users profile Send private message Visit posters website AOL Instant Messenger Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
DefaultGen
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 06 Nov 2005
43. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the Afterburner is the closest thing I can think of to the arcade (Even though the arrows are much too recessed, give too much, and there isn't any bar)

They've got the basic design, now they just have to make it not suck and add a bar.
_________________
Back to top
View users profile Send private message
videoCWK!
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Location: http://videocwk.myfreebb.com/
44. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 8:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

DefaultGen wrote:
Well the Afterburner is the closest thing I can think of to the arcade (Even though the arrows are much too recessed, give too much, and there isn't any bar)

They've got the basic design, now they just have to make it not suck and add a bar.


Or the CF could get a lower price and a bar.
Back to top
View users profile Send private message Visit posters website AOL Instant Messenger Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
DefaultGen
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 06 Nov 2005
45. PostPosted: Mon Jul 24, 2006 9:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

videoCWK wrote:
DefaultGen wrote:
Well the Afterburner is the closest thing I can think of to the arcade (Even though the arrows are much too recessed, give too much, and there isn't any bar)

They've got the basic design, now they just have to make it not suck and add a bar.


Or the CF could get a lower price and a bar.


Or a higher price, an awesome bar, and arcade sensors.
_________________
Back to top
View users profile Send private message
videoCWK!
Trick Member
Trick Member


Joined: 03 Nov 2005
Location: http://videocwk.myfreebb.com/
46. PostPosted: Tue Jul 25, 2006 4:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DefaultGen wrote:
videoCWK wrote:
DefaultGen wrote:
Well the Afterburner is the closest thing I can think of to the arcade (Even though the arrows are much too recessed, give too much, and there isn't any bar)

They've got the basic design, now they just have to make it not suck and add a bar.


Or the CF could get a lower price and a bar.


Or a higher price, an awesome bar, and arcade sensors.


I really don't think the price needs to be any higher. If they got a bar it'd probably be sold seperatly, like the arcade style modkit. If someone baught a CF and didn't want the bar, but got one anyway, that'd be another $50 they spent on it so they could have a bar that they weren't gonna use.
Back to top
View users profile Send private message Visit posters website AOL Instant Messenger Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
This topic is locked you cannot edit posts or make replies    DDR Freak Forum Index -> Bemani Controllers All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3
Page 3 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB 2 © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group