You can play all three of those "classics" at the arcade. o.o;
Why would you buy multiple games just to play the same songs?

*comes back from Basic Training*
GAH! Sexy songlist is sexy! Friggin 777, 100sec, deltaMAX, Para Rebirth... I don't even have a 360 and I may end up getting this just to play it at the community center's 360, provided I can kick the other players off GH2 long enough o.o;

So if we have C-mods, players can find out exactly when to step on tempo-changing songs. Why would that make those changes pointless? They are making the tradeoff of not having a score recorded. Some players do not care about their score, and just want to play the song with as few interruptions as possible. This is an extra option for them that doesn't affect you. Other players do care about their scores, and want to focus on song timing before reading. C-mods at the arcade would mean they wouldn't have to shell out big money for a home setup. They would still have to play with the speed changes if they want a score recorded, in which case the speed-change songs would still have a point. So what if it takes people less time to learn speed changes?

Also keep in mind that not everybody plays Stepmania or ITG (or IIDX, where it really originated), so this will be a new concept in DDR. I suggest you find something constructive of your own to add, rather than just trying to bash ITG.

It reminds me of Ivy from Soul Calibur kinda! =D

You're not alone, haha.
THIS VICTORY STRENGTHENS THE SOUL OF... BABY-LON.

It's time for dance.

"Show me your hottest moves!"
Good luck with that new job - I'm going to be getting one myself pretty shortly (Air Force basic in 10 days).

My only tournament experience was at a Best Buy on EXUS. The matches were arranged based on player age (or maybe it was height), all of the songs were random, and the three age groups played on Light, Standard and Heavy respectively. Also, before it started people were warming up, and since it was on Event Mode the right side was still on 3x when the tournament started. My best friend ended up with the bad luck of playing first and on the right (plus it was his first time playing on pad) so that was good times. I still remember explaining what was going on to the organizer (who figured modless would be fair); I think he was watching the players rather than the screen before I pointed it out. There were also issues with players on Light getting higher scores than players on Heavy, so then they decided that the next rounds would have everyone on at least Standard and then everyone on Heavy. Those poor Light players, lol. Anyway one of my other friends (one of the best players I know in person) won the tournament both days, and got two $100 gift certificates. He kept complaining about how bad the pads were lagging (not that I noticed because I was still playing on Standard at the time and got my *** kicked by Para Eternal). So this was with no Timing checks, on soft pads liberally taped to the floor.

So, I'll support EvilDave's ideas since he knows what real tournaments are like.

Oh and maxninja: freezes have had the same weight as perfects since SN1 came out, and noncombos have the same effect as goods. Scoring's emphasis is a lot more about lowering your Greats than worrying about pad NGs/misses.

I really like animated videos like A Thing Called Love and Raspberry Heart; they add a lot of personality to the songs. Bringing in new videos (say EX2's, for those used to EX) is a great incentive for getting players to replay old songs, too.

Generic dancing stages can get pretty dull, but they are getting a lot better. Pizza Box was a really cool stage that I'd like to see return along with PiX. It's fun to watch my favorite characters dancing, too. (Go Baby-lon! Rising rattle strike!)

I use speed mods and Solo almost all of the time since I play for score, but since I have experience with 5th Mix I can still play modless if need be (say if the machine could use more Oni clear scores). Sometimes I'll mess around and see how well I can PA modless; it's a fun exercise for my patience.

Cmods would be great for beginners and experts. Disqualification on speed-change songs would encourage them to learn the speed changes/stops so they can play it normally. As for allowed songs, the entire point of speed mods is to make the arrows scroll at a comfortable speed. If (say) 400 is your optimal scroll rate, a Cmod would greatly improve your PA and would require fewer trips to the options menu.

As for me, I'd like to see either Hallway or Mini. Both of these allow for more arrows on the screen at once, which makes it easier to read at even faster scroll rates. In case someone isn't familiar with these ITG mods: Hallway changes the scroll perspective so the arrows start further away and come closer as they near the top (like looking down a bowling alley). Mini makes the arrows and targets much smaller, which puts a lot more space between each arrow.

Also, I agree that Note really needs to be opaque. A darker outline would help distinguish it better, too.

Slackbot: Extreme AC looked like its japanese home version, here. Scores only showed at the arcade if you had a memory card inserted.

Oh man, I'm gonna sleep better tonight hearing that.

I imagine for the 16th jumps, you would have to heel-toe them somehow. Also this is me trying to overcome an obstacle rather than complain about it =P

Well, a lot of DEGRS involves knowing when to stay crossed over and when to switch feet. You can minimize a lot of the double-stepping with prior planning, so it's certainly not a good sightread song. I'd still rather play it than Daikenkai Heavy/Oni.

Well it could be the other way, too. You can turn on Jumps Off 1 and still get full points without needing to jump; it's an easy way to AAA NGO Oni, haha. (I admit I haven't tested this at the arcade yet, but I'd expect it to work.)

Holy Guacamole was another cool mine chart. 

I have to admit that I was expecting hands before mines, but I'm happy by principle that we're finally getting a new arrow type. The Shock arrow description still seems ambiguous to me from the translations I've read, so I'll mention (again, haha) that it might follow the past DDR precedent and only activate when tapped. But yes, hopefully they will be used tastefully and the interface will show (say, on the groove radar) which songs have them. If they were used in regular mode, I imagine there would be a Shocks Off like with freezes, anyway.

At any rate, I've seen ITG charts with mines that were also fun. Then again, I like Zodiac and Pick Me Up & Tango. With arcade edits, there will be more exposure (at least in Japan where there's e-amuse) to community steps.

And I can understand being worried about boss charts after SN2's "needs more jumps" theme and SN1's "let's max the chaos with yellow-arrow syndrome".

We're getting an arcade gameplay update for the first time in 7 years, and you're going to turn it down before even hearing exactly how it works? Even if they do make poor charts at first, they would get lots of input from edit data and make better charts in the next mix.

I think dancers add a lot of personality to the game. Speaking of PiX, it would be amazing to see one of them in X AC. Well that and the Pizza Box stage, haha.

As far as "mines" go, I know that the kind in Mario Mix only activated if you tried to tap them. (They also scrolled twice as fast as the other arrows, for that matter). I'm all for seeing a new arrow type because the last time that happened was Max1, and it will at least give us something new to work with.

I'm really hoping this "Dance Drill Course" is like PIU's Training Station (select your lessons), because long-*** singular tutorials don't keep beginners' attention very well.

EDIT: OK I read some more now that I got back from the gym, and it does sound a bit like the IIDX Dan system. That also sounds pretty cool =P 

No one cares about scores on Standard in DDR; if you add another difficulty level over Heavy then no one in the competitive scene will care about Heavy.

And that's why the new charts should be introduced as... S-Maniac! :D