Cheap DDR pad?

[Reflectivity]

I'm broke at the moment, and don't really have any options to play DDR at the moment. (Surprise! My local machine is broken. Again. -.-)
I remember seeing a reasonably cheap pad somewhere that only required taping wires to the floor. This seems like something I could afford at the moment to satisfy my DDR craving.
Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[Merk]

How cheap are we talking here? Do you have a budget?

[Reflectivity]

I'm a broke 12 year old so let's say $50

[MonMotha]

Are you trying to play double or just single? There are decent soft pad options at that price.

What interface do you require? I happen to have a couple old RedOctane "Ignition" pads that I have no use for nowadays. They're the good ones, in terms of physical construction, but that means they only have a Playstation [2] interface on them.

[Reflectivity]

Are you trying to play double or just single? There are decent soft pad options at that price.

What interface do you require? I happen to have a couple old RedOctane "Ignition" pads that I have no use for nowadays. They're the good ones, in terms of physical construction, but that means they only have a Playstation [2] interface on them.

That's my problem. I only have beware's stepmania running on my computer at the moment. The only adapter I own is GC > USB, so I wouldn't be able to use that =c

My birthday is relatively soon, and my mom said she'd buy me a set of pads (from her and my stepfather.) These were what I was going to get:
http://www.ddrgame.com/pcensoft.html

[DAVE101]

I saw the ddrgame link and instantly knew you were in good hands. You can't go wrong with those.

/sarcasm

[Reflectivity]

I saw the ddrgame link and instantly knew you were in good hands. You can't go wrong with those.

/sarcasm

I don't know much about buying. Could you point me in the right direction?

[Merk]

Welp, I can't comment on how bad/good the DDRGame soft pads are but the rule of thumb for soft pads is that on their own they are generally pretty bad unless you do some modification. There's a really old school article on this topic on DDR Freak - http://www.ddrfreak.com/library/faqs-modding.php

If you don't worry about score so much then whatevs, a soft pad taped down to the floor will suffice but expect a lot of pad misses.

The Ignition pads that MonMotha has were the gold standard for home softpads back in the day. If you can get your hands on a PS2 -> PC adapter then I'd highly recommend going the Ignition route.

[MonMotha]

I regularly played 9-footer single on the Ignitions back in the day with no real complaints. No, it's not arcade-quality, but no soft pad is going to be. 10s were a little tricky, mostly because even with a non-skid bottom (which the Ignitions have), they tended to move around. Since the Ignitions have a fairly dense foam insert, they don't bunch up, at least. I even played double on them, though they were only good for easier/simpler doubles up to maybe level 7 or 8.

Of all things, the Radio Shack Playstation->USB adapter is the gold standard for hooking these things up to a PC. They're low-lag and map the arrows as buttons, rather than a joystick, so you don't have problems with left-right or up-down jumps.

[DAVE101]

I had this DDRGame foam pad (from where you linked), and the plastic arrow risers migrated out of position.

There's a really old school article on this topic on DDR Freak - http://www.ddrfreak.com/library/faqs-modding.php

I did this actually and was really satisfied. I learned how to play up to 12s with shoes on this, can't say that about any other soft pad. I ended up doing it with my PIU soft pad as well, but I was able to mimic arrow recession by nailing 1/8" blocks on top of the plywood in between the arrow positions.

[Reflectivity]

I regularly played 9-footer single on the Ignitions back in the day with no real complaints. No, it's not arcade-quality, but no soft pad is going to be. 10s were a little tricky, mostly because even with a non-skid bottom (which the Ignitions have), they tended to move around. Since the Ignitions have a fairly dense foam insert, they don't bunch up, at least. I even played double on them, though they were only good for easier/simpler doubles up to maybe level 7 or 8.

Of all things, the Radio Shack Playstation->USB adapter is the gold standard for hooking these things up to a PC. They're low-lag and map the arrows as buttons, rather than a joystick, so you don't have problems with left-right or up-down jumps.

If I can get my hands on such a converter, how much would you want for the pads? I have $50 but I can get more.

[MonMotha]

Do you want one or both? ...And let me find them before I commit to selling them. I think I know where they are, but they haven't seen the light of day in probably 5 years.

[Reflectivity]

Do you want one or both? ...And let me find them before I commit to selling them. I think I know where they are, but they haven't seen the light of day in probably 5 years.

I'll take both depending on the price.
Please run a test on them before sending them to me. I'd hate to have them shipped up here and then find out that they don't work.

[MonMotha]

Do you want one or both? ...And let me find them before I commit to selling them. I think I know where they are, but they haven't seen the light of day in probably 5 years.

I'll take both depending on the price.
Please run a test on them before sending them to me. I'd hate to have them shipped up here and then find out that they don't work.

I just noticed you're in Ontario... Shipping these will not be cheap. They're quite bulky due to the stiff foam inserts. I may still have the original boxes.

[Reflectivity]

Do you want one or both? ...And let me find them before I commit to selling them. I think I know where they are, but they haven't seen the light of day in probably 5 years.

I'll take both depending on the price.
Please run a test on them before sending them to me. I'd hate to have them shipped up here and then find out that they don't work.

I just noticed you're in Ontario... Shipping these will not be cheap. They're quite bulky due to the stiff foam inserts. I may still have the original boxes.

Can you give me an estimate?