After the release of DDR EXTREME back in Christmas of 2002, there were no DDR arcade releases back then. There were no press releases on why they halted the series. In 2006, Konami shocked the gaming community when they announced that DDR will have a comeback, ending the absence in the arcades.
 |
| DDR Party Collection ~ STR!KE! for PS2 |
It took them four years for the ninth installment. Many gamers would have thought that DDR EXTREME is the last arcade game and DDR will be more of a video game console. Because one of the pop-outs found on top the screen, "WE ARE STARTING OVER!" assumes the end of the series. In the same year, the original beatmania and beatmaniaIII made its last hurrah of the series.
 |
| A "WE ARE STARTING OVER" pop-out on top the screen. screenshot: Konami website |
During hiatus, Konami continues to release console versions of the franchise in different regions. In Japan, for example, they have released DDR Party Collection (2003), FESTIVAL (2004), and STR!KE (2005) for the PlayStation 2. The difference between Japanese and North America and Europe releases is that American and Europe released console DDR in different consoles at the time, whereas Japan focused mostly on PS2. During DDR's absence, RoXor Games, an American game developer, released In The Groove (ITG) for the arcades and later for PS2. ITG was the answer for gamers who are longing to play the freshest songs and step charts at the time. In The Groove uses DDR's gameplay and cabinet, but resulted in a lawsuit by Konami. The lawsuit resulted in favor of Konami and acquiring intellectual property of the game.
 |
| BeForU members; Riyu and Noria at the back cover art of DDR FESTIVAL |
The last DDR console game produced was released in 2011 as DDR II (North America) /DDR hottest party5 (Europe) for Nintendo Wii . Right now, Konami is in the works for the DanceDanceRevolution game for PC, similar to other BEMANI games such as IIDX, pop'n, and SOUND VOLTEX.
