‘World Of Warcraft’ Dance Pad Challenge: Rudeism Reaches Level 100 — By Dancing [Video]

World of Warcraft is one of the oldest online phenomena gone viral, and it’s still attracting regular gamers. Much like Super Mario Bros. speed runs, WoW has received an incredible amount of attention for gameplay videos related to it, including the infamous Leeroy Jenkins rush.

Twitch user Rudeism has taken gameplay to another level, using a very different kind of controller. He’s already beaten several games this way as well, such as Superhot and Minesweeper, and still others using unusual means. He’s even beaten Mirror’s Edge using a steering wheel, and plans to do the same with its sequel. The challenge in this case was to reach level 100 in World of Warcraft using nothing but a Dance Dance Revolution dance pad.

As you can imagine, Rudeism has gotten quite a bit of exercise doing this. He spent three weeks using a dance pad to play the game, with a strict set of rules he challenges others to use. No keyboard, mouse, or any kind of hand-based controller was allowed, except for “Alt Tabbing” and logging in or out. No special items or professions could be used, and all dungeons could only be played once with no boosts. The full rules are listed on his Twitch video page for those interested in literally following in his footsteps for the World of Warcraft dance pad challenge.

Alternative control options are nothing new to video gaming, as the Atari 2600 even had different kinds of controllers, like track balls and dials. Some of the most famous forms of alternative control (some for not so positive reasons) began with the NES. Technically, the NES did have their own version of the dance pad, possibly the first ever commercially made for a console. It also had such commercial failures as the Power Glove, which was based on workable technology, but suffered financial and technical problems in production. The U-Force was another which attempted to take control literally with your hands, but the sensors didn’t work as well as advertised.

The Angry Video Game Nerd, James Rolfe, made some videos about these failed peripherals, showing just how horrible it is to use them.

One type of peripheral which has been successful for years is almost anything used for music games. Just as the World of Warcraft dance pad challenge has shown, they can be used for other games, as well. In fact if you’re looking for a good PC microphone for things like Skype chats and such, the PlayStation 2 USB Rock Band microphone has surprising quality.

Rudeism has also used a Guitar Hero guitar to beat Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Portal, and Rocket League. The World of Warcraft challenge was only the latest done with a music-based controller. He’s also planning to beat Rocket League again with the dance pad, and take on the notoriously difficult StarCraft II the same way.

Congrats to my fellow dance pad buddy @rudeism for reaching Level 100 in World of Warcraft with 2 dance pads! https://t.co/uIyLD01IiO

— Nick Nario Hagman (@DJNario) April 3, 2016

As seen in the video above, Rudeism used two dance pads, arguably much more difficult than just one, and streamed the whole thing. He’s had plenty of practice if you watch his footwork, so his dance proves it can be done after you get used to it.

Rudeism did the World of Warcraft dance pad challenge for the fun of it, as evidenced by his Twitch page. He doesn’t expect donations, and even appreciates art, and gives credit where it’s due on his live stream, or as a credit under the heading “Tip Jar.”

If you’re interested in seeing more from Rudeism, or simply want to chat while he’s dancing away his next big challenge, he encourages positive behavior. Just like with his World of Warcraft video and others, his moderators will ban users who abuse the chat.

Do you think you can do it better? Show him on Twitch and give the world a taste of your gaming skills with an alternative controller.

[Image via World of Warcraft/Blizzard Entertainment]