10 Video Game Accessories EVERYONE Owned (Until They Didn't)

Even though dancing games have been around forever, everything changed when Dance Dance Revolution came out in 1998. Rather than co-ordinating your moves with a regular controller, players stood on a 3x3 square panelled pad and stomped the buttons to match the onscreen directions. In hindsight, it's strange it took so long for a company to make a dance title that involved the player... you know... actually dancing.

Almost overnight, DDR became the hottest ticket in the arcade, spawning tons of follow-ups. Wanting a slice of the very lucrative pie, it wasn't long before every developer churned out their own dance titles, including In The Groove, Pump It Up, and StepManiaX.

Realising gaming companies could make a killing if the technology was implemented for home consoles, DDR dance mats were designed for the Wii, PSOne, PS2, the Xbox, and other systems. These accessories became so desirable, some were sold for up to $1,000. Because every household seemed to be equipped with at least one of these dance pads, DDR seemed unstoppable.

But for whatever reason, the accessory was phased out. There's no specific reason why the dance pad went the way of the dinosaurs. One day, it was on top of the world, the next day, it was finished.

Now, that's not suggesting the franchise itself is dead. There are gaming tournaments across the globe dedicated to DDR players challenging each other in an epic dance-off. DDR is still a hit at the arcades, and the series released a new instalment this year.

But when it comes to home consoles, Dance Dance Revolution has become a relic.