I don't know if people go here for DDR, but I come here just because there's beer and burgertime... and it's just such a convenient location. I hear the DDR machine's not so good anymore as far as sensors go. But aside from that, it's an awesome place! Especially if you're 21+... which it becomes exclusive to after 5.

I'd say if yer going to Ground Kontrol for DDR exclusively, yer gonna be disappointed.  The machine has always been a bit odd (background animations don't work right) and if you go on a Rock Band Tuesday or when they have a DJ, their sound system tends to drown out DDR.

The pad quality is always hit or miss.  DDR is playable, but you're gonna get pad misses.  They've removed all the casters on the pads so it's sitting right on the ground.  Also ever since they moved the cab, they've put the pads right up against the screen.. ugh


I give it a 3/5 based on going there for DDR.  I'd rate it 4/5 if you're going their to play some serious games (due to their maintenance problem where they keep stuff in working order, but neglect less popular machines so that it only effect hardcore/knowledgable players), or 5/5 if you're casual and just looking for a place that's a nice classic arcade with a bar and don't care how well you do on the games you play.

That's actually a really good analysis.  My only disagreement is that if the DDR's still as it was last time I was there, it's only 2/5 if you're there specifically for it.  Not even Avalon or Tilt let their pads get that bad, and it's not a super exciting mix either (although I'd rate Extreme 4/5 for mix quality despite its age).

An update on the new Extreme cab.  I played some sets last night at GK, gave my feedback to Anthony, and even had him watch me on a song or two.

-1P is pretty bad.  The down arrow usually misses unless you stomp on it, and the up arrow was also iffy.  I had it drop a few freeze arrows on me from me barely shifting my weight on my foot.  Anthony has been made aware and is going to look into it. He said that all the sensors were responding in test mode.
-2P is good.  One arrow gave me concern but I didn't note which one it is and am so out of practice that I was unsure if it was the arrow or me.  I played a majority of my games on 2P and it worked well for me.
-I didn't see any credit lag issues all night. I think that was an isolated incident.
-I did see the delay in loading the songs.  It was pretty random and would take 10-20s for the song to load up. All the songs performed fine, it just took a little longer for them to start up.
-Volume is just slightly higher than the old machine, and that might be due to all the working speakers.  I could barely hear the songs over Rock Band, but on the old machine I would've heard nothing at all.  The volume will be fine if you play when there isn't Rock Band or a DJ, but Anthony still seemed interested in turning up the sound some.
-Also pointed out to Anthony was how the pads are right up against the screen.  He seemed willing to move the machine back to its old location and put Area 51 & HotD where DDR is now.  I hope it does get moved because I definitely played it more when the pads were at least a foot from the screen than I do now.
-Lastly the casters on the pad are still removed and the pads are sitting directly on the floor.  I used to think this'd be an issue with shock absorption, but after last nights games I don't really think there's a difference at all anymore.


I'm keeping my rating for GK's DDR the same until the pads are moved away from the screen and 1P's Up & Down arrows are fixed.  Things are looking promising though

Played on the new cabinet at free play night. I didn't test all the arrows on 1P side but yeah it doesn't seem good at all. I should have tried to test to figure out which parts of which arrows were problematic but I didn't. 

As for 2P side, the Up arrow definitely has a weak sensor on the south part of the arrow (closest to the pad center). Had quite a few misses and even a dropped freeze or two because of it.

And yes, I would love for the machine to be back where it originally was. Even with my relatively bad eyesight, I don't like having the monitor right in my face at all.

Pfft bad eyesight.  You're not the one who has to wear corrective lens all the time.

I ended up going again two weekends ago and I was having problems with the left arrow on 2P if any.  I'm going to GK for Rock Band tonight but wasn't gonna bother at all with DDR this time.

Does anyone from Oregon still visit this arcade?

I believe they have moved out of their old location, and are remodeling.  However, I hear they are still operating in a different spot until the remodel is done?  This is unconfirmed, just something I heard last week.

Yeah, looks like that's true. Ran into code issues while remodeling.
http://groundkontrol.com/wordpress/?p=2260

Upcoming Tron & Discs of Tron tournament at GK? UH OH BBH

So I was here recently, and I just want to update that the pads are in utterly abysmal condition. Like, unplayable. That is all.

That said the renovations are great, the bathrooms are super usable and have doors on the shitter now. Plus there's tons of fighting games which I now love, and I swear up my butt I'll go and play 3rd Strike again at some point.

I was in Oregon over the weekend and popped in here for the first time.

MAN, the place is small! I was expecting something 2x as spacious, but the machines were packed really close to each other that you almost couldn't play if the person next to you was playing too.

Restrooms were really dark, which was kinda weird. I didn't end of playing DDR, but played a lot of older games and sucked at some pinball.

Last time I was there, which is was unfortunately over a year, I really appreciated their DoubleDragon & MortalKombat2 cabs--two of my favorite classic arcade games.

I went there over the weekend. The expansion didn't make the place nearly as big as I thought it would, but it does have a cool Tron-like look to it now.

Sadly the DDR machine is now in the corner and the pads are flush against the wall...meaning the right pad isn't even fully-in-front of the machine.  The pads themselves were in atrocious condition, both the up and left arrows on the left pad were sticking and dropping as well.  The machine still takes around 20-25 seconds to load a single song. =(


It's really a *horrible* layout, here's a craptacular picture that illustrates the basic layout there, the yellow boxes are all other random arcade games that are right next to the DDR machine. (which means people playing said games are standing inches (not feet) away from the pad when you're trying to play.



I like Ground Kontrol, but I hope they get rid of the Extreme machine and sell it to someone who will take care of it and put it in a decent location.

You should organize players in the area to purchase it and place it in someone's garage.

had a really great time playing tonight, twas fun to meet some good players. The player one side is still in bad shape. The up arrow sticks, and the left and down arrows were having trouble as well but if you stomp you can get some good scores. Right side was pretty good.

For the last couple of weeks, I've been playing at Ground Kontrol a few days a week during my lunch break (12-1 or 1-2).  Anybody else still playing here?  I've found that the 2nd player side is great, but I have yet to try the left side since there are (old) reports that it's bad.  It is still a little slow loading some songs (but not all the time) and it's still shoved in the corner.

Hey Aimee

My names Andrew Burns (Andy on the scores of the machine)
My roommate plays on his break a lot and one of my other friend likes to play there as well. So mainly just those guys for the most part.
My roommate has an ITG2 upgrade cab that we've worked magic on. Great pads(for the work that has been done) and 90% of DDR is on there and a bunch of other custom stuff.
I'd be happy to meet up for a session sometime( i'll bring some more people) and if you find me on facebook I can add you to our ITG/DDR community known as FourPanelFriday or 4PF

Find me on facebook and we can chat more.

Played at GK around the 4th this month and the up arrow on P1 was being terrible.

Don't ever go to this place to play seriously, its the worst. It used to be a good machine like four years ago

Yes. Seriously, this machine is so bad that even after being "completely disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt," the machine still went bad after a few days. Not to mention the monitor and the game OS that freezes every so often.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151296820016447&set=a.228679501446.144328.94947801446&type=1

This is probably the best solution to the problem at this point: https://www.facebook.com/GroundKontrol/posts/10151314404236447

Can't even go to play this casually or seriously, sound became busted 2 days ago from some girls playing beginner. Was hoping to start getting serious into the game too since softpads aren't cutting it for me and GK is cheaper than tilt.

How could "some girls playing beginner" be responsible for messing up the speakers?

Not responsible, just described the situation and try to show how bad the condition of the machine is at the moment. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

I am a girl and I play beginner and I am offended.





I'm also lying.