Dear Konami:

This is an open letter to you, from me... I don't claim to represent the gaming community in any way, shape, or form, but I truly hope that you will listen to what I have to say.

Regarding your recent BeMani releases for PlayStation in the USA (Dance Dance Revolution USA, and Dance Dance Revolution Disney Mix), I would first and foremost like to thank you for finally listening to your fans, and bringing them over from Japan. However, I've got a small question for you -- it is not a question that you need to answer to me, or to anyone except yourself and your stockholders. Just who are your target market for these games?

I'm bringing this question up because of something that's been troubling me: the comparatively low quality of your releases in the US, as opposed to your releases in Japan. I have purchased the US versions of DDR and DDR Disney, as well grey market original CDs of the Japanese DDR 1st Mix, 2nd Mix, 3rd Remix, 4th Mix -- all of them had MUCH more in the way of fun stuff to deal with, and much more in the way of music to play with, than the US versions. In the US version of DDR Disney, you didn't even include more than 6 songs with a rating of 6 difficulty steps or higher for a single pad. Plus, the voices were much less entertaining than in other versions of DDR. Not to mention that it wasn't anywhere near as configurable.

Also: I cannot find any store that has un-bundled versions of the Konami Dance Dance Revolution Controller pad. Since I already own a copy of DDR USA, I don't want to have to purchase it -again- to get a branded pad -- and I certainly don't want to have to purchase two additional copies in order to get the pads suitable for dual-mode play.

So, I ask again: Who's your target market? Kids who will pester their parents for money? Early to mid to late teenagers with money to burn? Or how about the people who essentially created and maintain the fan organizations for your games -- the early 20 to 35 year old crowd, who maintain places like ddrfreaks.com, and who are the most passionate evangelists for the Bemani series of games in the USA?

Sincerely,

Winged Wolf