Much more durable than the DDR V3 (?) metal pad
I have been playing DDR, stepmania, etc for years at the arcades before purchasing metal dance pads for home use. I have gone through two other metal pads before (I can't verify that they are the new "improved" versions of the V3's but look exactly like them) and within a few months, the plexi-glass (?), on BOTH pads where the arrows are were all cracked so that if you played barefoot you'd more than likely have a piece stuck in your foot or at least a very big cut. And I'm not a heavy person. I'm 5'0", and weigh just under 100lbs. I usually play on the hardest game mode per song, so I was skeptical buying another metal pad that wasn't the actual arcade machine itself. My worries have been put to rest with this dance pad, and I'm looking to buy another one soon, so I can play on both sides (Like how you can do at the arcade). The extra money is WELL WORTH IT for this dance pad. not a single crack in the glass or whatever material is covering the arrows. The sensors work well, although on rare occasion do miss, but again, it could be my weight (or lack thereof) combined with the fact that I do not "stomp" but step lightly when I play (again, I can't understand why the other models of metal pads I had owned previously had numerous cracks in them). I also like that this metal pad provides versatility. I own many gaming consoles, have used every one of the adapters this pad comes with and they all work. Only in the PC stepmania game does it seem that the settings need to be calibrated so that the steps register in time to the beat in the songs, but that seems to be a ROM/EMU issue, not the issue with the actual dance pad, as I've played across different gaming consoles, but it's only the PC rom that gives issue with the step timing. The only problem I did come across that IS the pad itself, is that if you leave it idle for just a bit too long, you have to disconnect and reconnect it from the console or pc so that it registers your button tapping again. Not a big deal, but slightly annoying. All in all, I'm giving it a 4 out of 5. I wish they had an option to do 4.5 out of 5 though, as that's only a minor issue.
Verified purchase: YesCondition: New