[quote name='Kendro']This guy puts your guy to shame though it isn't DDR (he's playing Pump It Up).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3bzVFRrekc[/quote]
You and
[quote name='kainzero']But I digress. It isn't centralized now, but it WAS.
In the early days of DDR, there was nearly no domestic support. There was "1.5," but that was it. All the latest DDR mixes had to be imported from Japan. And of course, thanks to a little importer arcade known as Ultrazone, (later becoming Arcade Infinity,) Cali became the center of Bemani in the US. I've met people from Texas and Detroit that flew in just to play, even met some people at E3 who went to check it out. Most of Cali got later DDR versions because they bought it from AI.
Because Cali had all the latest versions, it established the scene first. Anyone interested from anywhere in the US on DDR had to get their info on the internet from Cali, from DDRfreak or visualshock/bemanix. As for guyuk, he won 2nd place at the second Arcade Infinity tournament in 2001, which was huge. It was the biggest tournament for DDR ever (50-60 strong for FS, numbers that would look good TODAY), and that was big news because the concept of tournaments for DDR didn't even take off yet, there was one every 7 months. Any FS video you grabbed back then from the US had to come from Cali because we were the only ones who had tournaments and posted videos.
These "legends" you speak of came way after guyuk, they're even playing on a freakin' MAX2 machine when we were playing on 4th+ and 5th. I've also entered some tourneys and after looking back on my videos, I'm pretty embarassed at how idiotic and stupid it looks (along with some of the other high-placing routines), so for him to actually have routines that STILL look good is saying something. People from other states used to complain if a Cali guy wanted to fly over to compete in a tournament, even if he wasn't that good!
I thought this routine of his was much better, although I think the camera angle just might be off in JEKKI's video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSMVTnUkWuU[/quote]
you win. Best DDR videos of the thread and way better than the other ones.