DDR TR: Cedar Point

Since the Trip Reports forum is usually overrun with Cedar Point TRs, I'm not going to write one about my trip yesterday, but here's a few comments on my DDR experiences there.

First of all, the new machine location in the middle of the arcade is not bad. The machines are far enough apart that the noise from the other doesn't interfere. However, CP has to be insane to think that a few cheesy redemption games are going to draw people inside the arcade better than DDR and Mocap Boxing, which both were in the entranceway last year and both drew big crowds of spectators.

I still managed to get a crowd of about 10 people inside, even though I played only two games. The reason for that was the arcade air conditioning was either off or not working very well, so DDR + 90-degree weather + insane humidity = near death. But since people were watching, I was forced to play hard songs :) (for the record, Saint Goes Marching; Do You Remember Me, which I FC'ed; Stoic; Ska a Go Go; Afronova; and Ordinary World, the last two of which the other player picked).

I really wanted to play Sakura and Heaven is... but for some reason the machine on the right is NOT fully unlocked. Hmph. The pads are in decent shape, a little slippery, but not enough to mess you up.

In other arcade news, I got farther on Donkey Kong than I've ever gotten before. I still have never made it to the "pie" stage, though. And why can't I ever find one of those cool "electrocution" stamina games where one of the grip handles isn't broken?

Also, I'm pretty sure the redemption game out in front of the arcade is rigged. You have to stop a spinner on positive numbers to build your score up to 5, but negative numbers bring it down. No one I was with had any problem stopping the spinner on positive numbers - UNTIL it got to the point where one more positive number would win a prize. Then, no one could do it. I guess when the prizes are X-box games and MP3 players, you've got to protect yourself.

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the arcade air conditioning was either off or not working very well

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... or it doesn't exist. ;)

I was at CP the 16th, missed you by a day. I could only play one game because of the reasons you listed. That place was so hot and humid. Plus with it raining, it was crowded.

I hope they can decide a permanent place to put the machines because everytime I'm there, they have been moved around in some way.

As for missing songs, I think it is something wrong with the machines because Burnin' the Floor Momo Mix is missing too, and there is no way you have to unlock that song. I'm sure there are more than that as well.

By the way, unique TR.

The operator has to enter codes to unlock certain songs. Aside from BTF: MM, which you mentioned, they include Sakura, The Legend of Max, Trip Machine Survivor, Paranoia Survivor, Paranoia Survivor Max, Heaven is a '57 Metallic Gray, Xenon, and a couple more.

So there's nothing wrong with the machine, it's just laziness or ignorance on CP's end.

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Den said:
First of all, the new machine location in the middle of the arcade is not bad. The machines are far enough apart that the noise from the other doesn't interfere.

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They must have moved them then, because when I played a couple of weeks ago they were next to each other, to the extent that you'd bump elbows with someone on the other machine. You couldn't hear your own at all. They were just inside to the left from the front entrance.

They're probably not out front anymore because they're going to get used constantly anyway and they did nothing but block the entrance.

Opening weekend I played the one machine a ways back from the entrance to your left, right next to the skeeball machines. I didn't see the other machine at that time, but I wasn't exactly scanning the arcade.

They must be trying out different locations? 8-}

-Tina

I hope so. Like I said, when I played you couldn't walk between the two machines if you wanted to. Not cool at all. Also hard to play when you're doing something that's 120 bpm and the person next to you is doing a song at 300+.

Yeah, now they are about a quarter of the way back into the arcade, in the middle of the room.

Speaking of games:

I wonder how CP is doing with that new virtual breeding and horse racing game (inside the main arcade on the left?) One of my friends who is the GM at Dave and Buster's in Ft. Lauderdale, FL says the horse racing game is the biggest money making game for Dave and Buster's "Midway." Pretty soon all Dave and Buster's will have them installed. I found it interesting CP put one in too...from what I understand they are not on the cheap side (even for an arcade game.)

I'm one who actually preferred the DDR machines at the front of the arcade. Now there is nothing really that catches my eye and makes me want to enter it. Neither do I see people flocking over there. I'd be kind of curious to see what kind of money if any changes + or - with different games in the front as eye candy for the pubic in the arcade.

I couldn't do DDR at CP. My feet and legs, screaming at me already from walking, would kill me twice over after playing.

Then again, I haven't been to CP in quite awhile. I'm sure as soon as I'm there my opinion would change ;)

I couldn't do DDR at Cedar Point either. . . To me the games are just a waste of time, as I just want to ride the coasters over and over again.

I have nothing against people that play DDR or other games at CP, it's just my opinion. Well. . . maybe I have a little something. . . :-D

What's funny is that, these days, when I visit CP or PKI or whatever, I get more excited about the opportunity to play DDR than riding the coasters!

I think that means I've officially switched from a coaster enthusiast to a DDR enthusiast, eh?

I look forward to both. It's all part of the "amusement park" experience IMHO.

The last time I was at PKI (day two of opening weekend) I played DDR most of the time.

I kind of wish CP would get a few more machines though, spread them out a little, unless I am missing something. :-)

Maybe put one in Camp Snoopy's arcade and the other in Frontier Town's arcade.

-Tina

*** Edited 6/21/2004 4:23:01 PM UTC by coasterqueenTRN***

Pepole that want to marathon coasters all day are generally not people I'm interested in hanging out with.

Coheed:

I used to feel the same way when I had just started travelling for coasters and before I visited my home park every weekend. A couple years later and parks are much more about having a good time with friends than about power riding a select ride or two.

Yeah i went to Magic Mountain last Saturday. And i only wrode about 5 of the coasters that day, once. The rest of the day was just chillaxin' really. We don't have a spectacular DDR hotspots here, since the USA mix is out in the open and the DDR EX is buried deep in the middle of an arcade. Meh...

Den, I'm pretty sure that's a Lighthouse prize game, right?

Those are a b!tch to fix, and yes, they are rigged. Ours is rigged so that it spits out 2 prizes every week, at around 400 taken coins. Ours is sort of crappy in a sense that it has only GBASPs, video games for the PS2 and GBASP, a few CD players, a few cameras, etc. Fun if you get it on the first time, but not if you spend about the same price just to win one.

Kel, ain't that sad? I think that they should get rid of the USA mix at the first arcade and put a Pump It Up there, hehe, or at least a better version of DDR. Yes, I like PIU better now than DDR, but Extreme still holds a special place for me.

Extreme at the arcade near Colossus SHOULD be moved to the front, but it's not that popular there as it used to be. It's actually kind of cool there in the middle, but that's just me.