Dance Dance Revolution (ダンスダンスレボリューション Dansu Dansu Reboryūshon), abbreviated DDR, is a game that was released in arcades by Konami on November 21, 1998 in Japan. Dance Dance Revolution is a unique music video game involving dance and rhythm that defined the genre. The game involves timing and balance by having players use their feet instead of their hands like typical video games. In March 1999, the game was released to the Asian and North American arcade audiences. It was also released to the European arcade audience under the name Dancing Stage. Players and game critics were caught off-guard by the game's addictive qualities winning the new franchise many merits to its design.