Dance pad

A dance pad, also known as a dance mat or dance platform, is a flat electronic game controller that lays on the floor. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions within the game. Some dance pads also have extra buttons outside the main stepping area, such as "Start" and "Select". Pairs of dance pads are often joined for certain gameplay modes.

Popular arcade games, such as Dance Dance Revolution (DDR), In the Groove, Pump It Up, and StepManiaX, use large steel dance platforms connected to the arcade cabinet, whereas versions for home consoles usually use smaller (often flexible) plastic pads. These home pads are made for systems such as the GameCube, Wii, Dreamcast (Japan only), PlayStation, PlayStation 2, and Xbox, but can also be used in computer simulators, such as StepMania, through the use of adapters.

"Soft" pads are thin and made of plastic. They generally cost $10–$20 USD. They are intended for light use in a casual setting, and have been known to wear out easily. Manufacturers of soft pads include Konami, BNSUSA, RedOctane, Intec, Mad Catz (Beat Pad), MyMyBox, Naki International, and Nintendo (Action Pad).¹ OEM manufacturers include Futime and Topway (manufacturer of RedOctane pads).

Some soft pads contain stiff foam inserts to provide more stability and durability. The inserts usually ship as three or six puzzle pieces (to allow for a smaller box) which fit together using a dovetail joint and slide into the dance pad, which then zips closed around the foam. Certain brands of foam pads put raised plastic sections under the directional buttons to allow them to be more easily felt by a player's feet as well as to keep them centered on the pad. These pads generally cost between $40 and $100.

It is also possible to modify a pad by attaching it to a hard surface and optionally covering it with clear material; this can increase pad life and keep it from slipping.

"Hard" pads are usually constructed with metal (and sometimes wood) for durability. They typically come with a raised bar behind the player. Arcade machines use very durable metal pads that are designed for heavy use. Other hard pads can be purchased for home use with a video game system; the prices can range from anywhere between $100 and $1,000. Manufacturers of hard pads include DDRgame, Cobalt Flux, L-TEK, MyMyBox, Brown Box, RedOctane (ceased production as of February 2010), and Naki International.

Hard pads are used in all arcade versions of music games that employ dance pads and often serve as the nec plus ultra for DIY gamers who attempt to construct "homebrew pads". Homebrew kits often consist of instruction guides for converting soft pads into hard pads, although they often feature additional functions such as additional inputs (see below).

• 
  Dance Dance Revolution mats with buttons in orthogonal axis
• 
  Pump It Up mats with buttons in diagonal axis
• 
  StepMania mats with buttons in both orthogonal and diagonal axis

"Solid State" pads replace the usual mechanical switch and contact used in other hard pads. A proximity sensor is used to detect a player's steps on the pad. The advantage of a solid-state design is that it does not require pressure to activate, eliminating moving parts that might break down and keeping dirt from getting into the mechanism.

Problems are often encountered when attempting to use a PlayStation pad with a computer simulator. Most PlayStation-PC adapters will not register all of the directions on the pad simultaneously because normal PlayStation games do not require such input and D-pads are not designed for it. StepMania's website has a section concerning adapter compatibility.² Although these devices may work on a PC, the adapters will not work with consoles that have built-in USB ports, such as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360.

Purchasers of home pads should be aware of the number and arrangement of active arrow panels that are required by the game(s) they want to play. Although most commercial pads have four arrow panels (DDR/In the Groove), some have five (Pump It Up), six, eight (MC Groovz Dance Craze), or nine.

Some players construct their own pads due to durability and cost concerns. Using common materials (such as plywood, sheet metal, and acrylic glass or polycarbonate) found at local hardware stores, they are able to construct a pad that is often more durable and authentic-feeling compared to commercially built hard pads. Some homebrew pads have extra features such as additional arrows, menu switches, pushbuttons, and bars. These are often made to be easily repaired and disassembled at home.

While some homebrew pads use custom electronics built from scratch, most homebrew pads make use of a circuit board from a standard controller to simplify the process of interfacing the pad with a gaming system. The controller used depends on the system that the pad is intended to be played with (GameCube, PlayStation, Xbox, or PC).

Homebrew pads use a variety of technologies for designing the arrows that the player is supposed to step on. The most common design uses metal contacts that sandwich together when the player steps on the pad or arcade button switches, but some ideas have been proposed, such as the use of optical, pressure, vibration, or proximity sensors.³⁴

Due to the amount of work needed to create a custom metal pad, some players instead opt to modify existing soft pads. Most of the time, players will sometimes take plywood sheets, acrylic, or office chair floor protectors and staple it to their soft pads. This prevents wrinkling, making the pad more durable to use while wearing shoes.⁵

A dance pad has also been used in experimental systems for navigating through virtual environments, such as those reproducing historical buildings.⁶

Some games that can be played with dance pads do not involve pressing the arrow buttons on the pad to keep with the rhythm of a song:

• Many games developed for the NES Power Pad
• Breakthrough Gaming Presents: Axel
• The minigames of Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (GameCube)
• Active Life series for Wii (Active Life: Outdoor Challenge, Active Life: Explorer, Active Life: Extreme Challenge, Active Life: Magical Carnival)
• Kraft Rocking the Boat
• Kraft Soccer Striker
• Kraft Virtual Dojo
• Exult - uses a Dance Pad Walking controller mod
• DDR-A-Mole, a game similar to Whac-A-Mole⁷
• Various mini-games in Dance Praise 2: The ReMix (DanceTris, a Tetris simulator, is included).
• The 2014 rogue-like rhythm game Crypt of the NecroDancer and some other games on Steam like The Metronomicon: Slay the Dance Floor (RPG elements in addition to dancing) and Vectronom⁸