DDR:UK was a passionate community website founded by four original fans, including Colin Barker - Chair of Tokonatsu, created to bring together Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) fans across the UK. It quickly became much more than just a forum — it became the beating heart of the British DDR scene. We organized national meetups, tournaments, and events, building a tight-knit community around our shared love of rhythm games. DDR:UK wasn’t just about playing DDR — it was about fostering friendships, celebrating gaming culture, and pushing the scene forward.
One of our proudest achievements was bringing the first StepMania-run DDR machine into a major public venue — Namco Station in London — allowing countless people to experience a more expansive, customizable DDR experience than traditional arcade machines offered. It marked a major milestone, bridging grassroots enthusiasm with mainstream accessibility.
Around 2002, DDR:UK found itself part of something even bigger. Through our connections with the London Anime Club and Anime Scene, we were invited to help introduce new elements to the fledgling MCM Expo in London. At the time, the Expo — originally focused mainly on Movies, Comics, and Media — had no real presence for gaming or anime.
The Anime Scene team took charge of representing anime culture, while DDR:UK took on the responsibility of introducing gaming to the show. We built the Expo’s very first gaming zone, centered around our full DDR setup, offering free play sessions, open tournaments, and live demonstrations. It was a hit with attendees, many of whom were encountering the thrill of competitive gaming for the first time.
As part of expanding the excitement, DDR:UK went one step further. We brought over as guests two massive figures from the Japanese DDR scene — Yasu, a world champion player, and Aaron, the creator of the famous Aaron in Japan website. It gave fans a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity not just to meet these icons, but to watch them perform live.
One unforgettable highlight was witnessing Yasu’s legendary Triple-A score on “Max 300” — a near-mythical achievement at the time. Crowds gathered around, watching in stunned silence and then exploding into cheers as Yasu perfected one of DDR’s hardest tracks right there at the Expo. It was a defining moment, not only for DDR:UK, but for the entire gaming presence at MCM — proving that gaming could electrify an audience just as much as any movie or comic.
Taking on this challenge, DDR:UK established one of the first dedicated gaming zones at MCM Expo, running a full DDR setup and hosting open play sessions, tournaments, and showcases. It was a huge success and marked the very first time gaming had an official presence at the Expo. We didn’t stop at DDR either — we organized some of the earliest eSports tournaments the Expo had ever seen, years before “eSports” became a mainstream phenomenon. DDR:UK operated both the DDR:UK stand and coordinated the early MCM eSports tournaments, laying the foundation for what would eventually become a major part of MCM’s identity.
Although DDR:UK eventually closed its doors as a website in 2010, the spirit of the community endured. Many of the original team members continued their work through Tokonatsu, a unique, outdoor Japanese culture and anime festival. In many ways, DDR:UK’s legacy lives on — not just in the memories of arcade battles and Expo weekends, but in every friendship, festival, and dance step that followed.