Dan Linehan doesn't know any of their names. But after three years behind the desk at the Reitz Union Game Room, Linehan has accrued a slew of nicknames for the Dance Dance Revolution "regulars."
He's seen the dance enthusiasts wait in lines 10 to 15 people long.
And as of mid-last week, UF's DDR regulars no longer have to wait in such long lines to get their platform-stomping, techno-beat hopping dance fix as the Reitz Union Game Room installed its second dance-themed arcade game, Pump It Up 2 Exceed.
"There's this one guy, I don't know his real name, but he plays [DDR] in his socks and he brings extra socks 'cause he burns through 'em," said Linehan, student assistant manager of the Reitz Union Game Room. "He refuses to play in his shoes because he says he can't 'feel the machine.'"
Kurt Folsom, who owns the company that supplies the Reitz Union Game Room with its arcade games, expects the new dance-themed video game to perform just as well or better than the older DDR game despite the new game's 75-cent-per-play price tag.
The current DDR system costs 50 cents.
"It came out hot, and it's been very consistent," Folsom said of the dance-themed video game craze.
Some UF students and Game Room regulars describe the new dance-themed video game as something other than "hot."
"I played [Pump It Up 2 Exceed]. I'm not a big fan of it," said Melinda Hua, as J.P. Ruiz, a biochemistry major, conquered the DDR system behind her. "The music isn't as cool, and it takes away from playing DDR."
The installation of Pump It Up 2 Exceed signals a recent surging trend in the popularity of "exer-games," video games that engage the player in some form of physical activity, including DDR and Nintendo's Wii Fit.
School systems across the country are even installing DDR systems or other dance-themed video games in their physical education departments as a supplement to childhood exercise programs.
Regardless of the health benefits these dance-themed video games may provide, Charlotte Dare, Reitz Union Game Room manager, foresees increased happiness among exer-game enthusiasts with the decision to install the Game Room's second such game.
"[The regulars] were on the new game until the time we opened until the time we closed," Dare said, referring to Pump It Up 2 Exceed's inauguration last week.
Although Hua and Linehan agreed that some Game Room regulars don't like the new beat-boxing addition to the arcade, Linehan suggested a reason.
"The regulars are so good at the old machine," he said. "They don't want to be caught doing bad at the new one. A lot of them don't like that, but a lot of them see it as a challenge."
