An orange bar... you mean those hula-hoop freezes? You have to put the Wiimote and Nunchuk at your sides and move your hips in circles. The Gamefaqs FAQ doesn't go over all of the menus (so I'm not sure where to turn off the motion-sensing gameplay), but I expect Free Play and Training Mode would have them off.

Though I haven't played HP3, I remember seeing in videos that Reversed freeze arrows were finally fixed, and show their heads on the bottom! (Now I can finally read Reverse! Why haven't they put that feature on the PS2 yet?) This comes along with awesomeness like HP1&2 megamixes, interactive dancers with new stages, simulated tournaments, and overall a continued interest in improving the animation. When I look at X2 I see the same dancers, the same stages and the same dance routines as in X1! Yes they added some dancers (and "Boom! Boom! Boom!" is an awesome stage, and those full combo splashes are really Marvelous!!) but nothing really got updated animation-wise like in the Hottest Party series. I mean good grief, the Hottest Party megamixes got unique backgrounds with different sihlouette effects on your chosen dancer! The PS2 dancers still don't know to stop dancing when the song ends, and every stage features the same dance routine! And on top of that, HP3 got the new arcade-style speed mod increments before the US PS2 games did, which had the head start of using the same engine as the AC versions! As the X announcer would say: "Way. To. Bring it!"

On the down side though, I am extremely disappointed in the continued lack of Doubles and of Edit Mode. Yes not too many people play doubles on soft mats, but you could continue doing what PS2don't by making the controls default to "one pad hits both sides". This eases the poorer/cheap b*stard players into doubles, which as I always say gets its name because it's twice as fun as singles. Some Lesson Mode-style training showing players how to cross over/move on doubles would be a very appropriate addition, so doubles awareness isn't just limited to arcade newbies going "he's using both pads AT ONCE?! D:" And what better chance do you guys have to show up the PS2 version than revamping Edit Mode, an area that's basically gone untouched aside from the odd freeze arrow bug fix? Throw in some hand-holding interactive tutorials (say, with Rina) so players unfamiliar with Stepmania aren't scared stiff of using it! Give it Export to USB functionality so players can take their steps to the arcade! (Set the standard and put in 24th/32nd support!) There's lots of fun extra content you can add like this, so please don't skip these two in the next installment.

These are all in US version.

PS2:
DDR Konamix
DDR Max
DDR Max2
DDR Extreme
DDR Extreme 2
DDR Supernova
DDR Supernova 2
DDR X
DDR X2

GCN/Wii:
DDR Mario Mix
DDR Hottest Party
DDR Hottest Party 2 (haven't played though)
DDR Hottest Party 3 (haven't played though)

My Mario Mix pad isn't with me either, so I can only pad the PS2 games. I wouldn't mind a controller challenge, though!

Also on the subject of the DDR X bundled pad, I had some issues with the sensors but didn't notice a size difference. Actually, I returned the pad same-day because the Left and Down arrows were already starting to not respond. I had times when they wouldn't register for 6, 7 arrows in a row and then finally started working again! After getting another one the Down arrow sometimes doesn't register, but it's infrequent enough that I didn't think it justified going all the way back again.

My bundled DDR Supernova pad has a pretty big quirk too - the Down arrow is smaller than the other three (the area that registers is about 2/3 the size) so I have to step back further than normal!

But my Mario Mix pad doesn't have any issues, haha... maybe I should find a way to play my PS2 games with that!

It doesn't put the songs into the game, it just unlocks all songs for HP1. So if you hadn't finished unlocking all the songs in HP1, they will now be there next time you play HP1. Hope that helped.

Whaaat? I can finally unlock frickin' tokyoEVOLVED?
And here my HP2 had been sitting in my closet box waiting for me to play it for the first time... Thanks, I wouldn't have found out about this for a long time.

 ...Well, hopefully this is for the US version, and not JP-only like the feature is on the PS2 games >_>

I haven't played U3 in awhile, but I'm pretty sure you just hold the confirm button when picking your song.

PiX loves pizza... I wonder if there will be any pizza in this game =o

Pie-kun saw it listed in a fact sheet provided by Konami at their latest appearance. You can see his post here.

Oh, and I'd like to extend a huge "THANK YOU" to the HP3 staff for finally making freeze arrows face downwards during Reverse. This was one of the issues I've had with DDR that I mentioned here, and I'm pleased as punch to see it fixed for the first time. I'm really hoping HP3 has Edit Mode too!

hanic, you 78%ed a 12 in middle school? Geez!

Also note that the Universe 1 pack has some Xbox-exclusive Challenge steps. Here's videos for all of them (well, just the Singles steps), in case you're interested.

AM-3P Oni
Ecstasy Oni
Candy* Oni
KMALN Oni

You know, if you import DDR Supernova JP then you can play Golden Sky at home. It just comes down to how badly you want it =P

My only two issues with the announcer is the time he sings ("we're dancin', we're groovin'"), and how since SN1 he interrupts himself. I don't mind him interrupting to call out the combo, I just don't like him interrupting the combo to say something else.

Also, I kind of miss the old-school "Oh no, combo stopped!" X)

And while I'm on the subject, X's combo meter tracks whether you have a Marv, Perfect or Great combo. It would be awesome if the announcer could point out, "100 Perfect combo!"

Extra steps that could give extra points, huh? I would view the new chart as the max score and consider the original the "easy" version.

If it means adding replay value to songs I've already played (a la pokemon convincing me to once again catch 'em all), or putting more challenge into songs like Forever Sunshine (was going to say Keep On Liftin' but it's not in X, rawr), then I'm definitely in support of your idea.

Well once you get your PS2 working again, just go into Sound Options in the Options menu and play around with the timing. And on a different note:

Most ppl hate the X announcer, I actually like them, I lol'ed when they said "TEN HUNDRED COMBOS!"

I was like "...Did he just say 'ten hundred'?" o_0

That's funny, since I use the component cables too and my Max2 is so early it's unplayable. On X though, it was just slightly off, like +2.8. (It's too late at night for me to hook up my PS2 and check, but it was somewhere around there).

I think I heard that there was no Edit mode, so I'll be sticking with the others. The music sounds really cool and it'd be great to have Disney songs I actually know instead of all the new stuff I haven't seen, but if I can't make my own steps to them then I'll spend the time playing thinking about how I would've done the chart differently. I'm not asking Konami to make charts I like, I just at least want the chance to do it myself.

I have to admit... every time I see your name, I think "So Deep". X)
Congrats, man.

I like neoMAX (and Max Forever) too, but there are way too many fan remixes to list so I'd suggest sticking to the official ones. =P

I voted USB, since I don't have an SD card and because I like USB.

You mentioned that we will be able to transfer the edit data to our PC. One of my friends has a Mac - will he get the same support? Please don't overlook him or the Linux users, haha.