Event featuring popular arcade game raises money for children's hospital

Loud, thumping techno music blasts through the arcade of the Indiana Memorial Union as Jim Halliday dances. Yellow and pink lights shine down on him as he steps on red and blue squares with arrows on them, lighting them up like a disco floor. While stepping on the four squares, he keeps his head up, focused on the arrows on the TV screen in front of him. His feet move to the beat, but his arms stay close to his side. He starts to draw a crowd with his performance. Halliday isn't just dancing, he's playing a videogame called Dance Dance Revolution. This weekend, he is going to combine his interest in the unconventional video game with his interest in raising money for Riley Children's Hospital with a fundraiser at Lazerlite, 4505 E. Third St. The DDR-A-Thon will happen from 4 p.m. to midnight on Friday, and from 1 p.m. to midnight on Saturday.\nHalliday has been playing Dance Dance Revolution since about March of last year, he says. He first tried it while at Lazerlite with his seven-year-old daughter. \n"I tried it out, liked it, and probably two weeks later I tried it again and was hooked," says Halliday, a software analyst for UITS. After that, he played four times a week for about thirty minutes at a time, but now doesn't play as much. He describes Dance Dance Revolution as "the video game that's good for you." \n"Basically, it's a physically-oriented video game involving dancing," he says. "You have to be good at dancing, rhythm and stamina, and not be embarrassed easily." \nDance Dance Revolution, or DDR, is a video game by Konami. It was originally released in Japan, but has developed a large following stateside. Players step on colored arrows in beat with the music and arrows that appear on the screen in front of the machine.\nAfter seeing a fundraiser use DDR in Georgia, Halliday decided to use the video game to raise money for Riley Children's Hospital, a cause near to his heart. \nBoth Halliday's son and daughter were born with neonatal alloimmune thrombocytopenia (NAIT), a blood condition in which there are no platelettes in the blood, and which causes a risk of hemorrhaging. It is a rare condition that had to be treated, so his children were referred to Riley in Indianapolis to get the care they needed, Halliday says. When his daughter was born with the condition, his medical insurance maxed out so he had to apply for medical assistance, which comes from people who donate money. After his daughter got better, he decided to give back to Riley. \nHe asked his friends if they thought a fundraiser using DDR would work here and he says he received positive reactions. His first DDR-A-Thon was in Indianapolis and raised $2,000 with about 70 participants and no corporate sponsors. \nSam Hammersley, a Danville High School student, attended the Indianapolis fundraiser and will be attending this year. He says he had a lot of fun at last year's event.\n"It was well organized and there weren't any problems," he says. "Everything went really smoothly." \nHammersley was also happy to see they collected a lot of donations. This year he designed flyers promoting the event, collected donations and worked to get the word out. \nLazerlite, which is hosting this year's fundraiser, has two DDR games, a 4th Mix and a 6th Mix machine, meaning there are different songs and combinations to keep players interested. An $8 minimum donation is required and a $15 donation recommended to have unlimited access to play DDR. For the donation, all of which goes to Riley, the participant will be given something to represent them and the longer they stay, the longer they can play DDR, Halliday says. All the other Lazerlite games will be open, but will not be included in the donation. \nDonations to Riley Children's Hospital are key to providing the children with excellent care, says Deanna Pucci, the schools and associations officer for the Riley Children's Foundation. Riley is a referral hospital that provides specialty care for injured or sick children and works in partnership with local community hospitals and physicians to determine if a child needs to receive care from Riley, Pucci says. \n"Without individuals raising money, Riley Hospital wouldn't be able to survive," she says. "We don't receive direct state aid or tax dollars to keep open and we rely tremendously on donors." \nParticipating in the DDR-A-Thon is important because Riley touches everyone in Indiana, even if they don't have a sick child there, she says. \n"For people who want to do something bigger than themselves, checking out this event, giving a little bit of their time to help out the kids, is tremendous," Pucci says.\nSusie Wolfgong, owner of Lazerlite, was very excited about the fundraiser and willing to give Halliday use of the whole facility and free play for two weekend days, Halliday says. Wolfgong says she supports DDR and normally goes along with anything having to do with it.\n"To be able to play DDR, you can't really be drunk or high," Wolfgong says. "You really have to be paying attention to it. The kids that do it are straight kids and I like that in my facility."\nRyan Schwenk, a junior, is going to the fundraiser this weekend. He says he is participating because the money is going to Riley. \n"It's going to be nice to donate money to help a worthy cause," he says. "It's free DDR and I can play as much as I want." \nSchwenk says he also wants to compare his skills with other players in Bloomington. The DDR-A-Thon will have a technical and a variety tournament, and a freestyle exhibition, where players can add their own moves in while they dance. \nSchwenk started playing DDR in December when he was at home in South Bend and played it for the first time against his brother. He says his brother beat him pretty soundly so he decided he wanted to eventually outperform him. He likes playing DDR because it tests his coordination, is a lot of fun and is good exercise. \n"Since I'm a white guy, it makes me feel like I have rhythm," he says. \nChad Wagner, a sophomore, is also planning on going to the DDR-A-Thon. He's been playing since December as well, although he started for reasons different than Schwenk. \n"I've always liked dancing," Wagner says. "I'm a big fan of techno music. That's what is featured in it." \nWagner says he is going to the fundraiser even though it is the same weekend as Little 500 because it's better to go to Lazerlite and play DDR than to go to a party that could potentially get busted. He expects a big turnout for the fundraiser despite it coinciding with Little 500.\n"Being Little 500 might hurt it, but since it's all weekend, the people who really enjoy DDR will make some time for it," he says. \nHalliday says he hopes a lot of people will come out to the fundraiser, even if they've never played before. \nHe says it's a good chance for people to make new friends and learn how to play in a non-threatening environment. If someone is just curious to see people play the game or just want to make a donation without playing, Halliday wants people to stop by during the weekend. Halliday says the best time for people to come to watch would be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, which is when the freestyle competition will happen. He says freestyle is the most fun to watch. \n"We encourage the general public to stop by, watch and perhaps make a donation," Halliday says. "It's to help out a good cause"