Ever seen those crazy arcade games where people dance on metal pads to Korean techno music?
For under $100, I can play DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) at home on my PC -- and I can dance to crazy Korean music or Disney songs or whatever I want.
As a recent convert to this particular fad, I thought I'd share my PC DDR setup story with you. Here's what I did:
1. Download Stepmania -- www.stepmania.com
2. Buy two pads -- www.buynshop.com
(They have other pad sets as well -- the extra $30 for the 1" thick pads is probably an option I would take, realizing now how fun the game is. It was not an option when I ordered my pads, though.)
3. Buy an adapter -- www.ebay.com
(Make sure to get one that matches your pads -- I needed a PlayStation2 to USB version)
4. Download songs (SMZIP files -- Google has a bunch!) and put them in the Songs directory of Stepmania
5. Put on some good socks and turn the volume up
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I'd have a hard time playing this in public; I tend to fall over quite a lot. But in the privacy of my living room, the game gets amazingly intense. And it really is a good workout!
The coolest advantage (for tech weenies like me, anyway) of Stepmania and doing this all on the PC is that you get as many songs as you like. If you go for the XBox or PS2 version, you are locked into whatever songs came on the DDR game you bought. On the PC, you can even make your own new "step files" for songs!