Cobalt Flux Pad

File:Cobalt Flux Doubles.jpg

The Cobalt Flux Doubles Pack, from the Official Cobalt Flux online store.

Cobalt Flux is a company that makes metal dance pads for use with home versions of dancing games like Dance Dance Revolution.

Their mats are noted for their very durable construction and high price; among the videos featured on their website is one demonstrating a Cobalt Flux mat being run over by several automobiles (including a sport utility vehicle), only to be subsequently plugged into a video game system and used to achieve a very high score ("AA"). Additionally there are also many videos of players attempting very difficult songs that would otherwise not be possible on lesser platforms. Because of its durability, the Cobalt Flux is widely regarded by the DDR community as the best home platform available, some players even preferring it to the original arcade dance pads due to the acute sensitivity of the panels. With proper care, some customers have reportedly made their pads last for well over two years in some instances.

Keen arcade players often dislike the flatness of the Cobalt Flux pad, in contrast to the slightly indented panels found on arcade machines. They may find it difficult to know where their feet are in relation to the panels. It is however possible to adjust the height of unused panels by inserting a piece of cardboard or a similar object underneath the panel, and currently an arcade-style modification pack is available directly from the manufacturer, raising the panels around the buttons to mimic the arcade platforms.

Recent versions have nine usable foot panels (center, left, right, forward, back, and corners). This is unique for hard pads, and makes them compatible with both DDR style games using four side arrows, and Pump It Up simulators using five (corners plus center), though the corner square panels are smaller than their rectangular equivalents in Pump It Up.

At this time, the Cobalt Flux is only available for purchase with a Playstation 2 control box, and thus will not be compatible with Xbox, Gamecube, or USB platforms until a new control box is introduced. However, according to posts by employees on the Cobalt Flux forums, a new control box supporting Xbox, PS2, and USB platforms will be introduced in the future. Impatient players can alternatively purchase an adapter for their platform of choice, though such adapters usually introduce problems. The Xbox versions of Dance Dance Revolution, for example, will not recognize a Cobalt Flux as a DDR pad when used with an adapter, causing the extra buttons to be activated undesirably during gameplay and interfering with step accuracy. USB adapters tend to either have issues registering two directional buttons at once, and/or introduce an unacceptable amount of delay or lag into gameplay. The Trio Linker USB adapter seems to work well with Cobalt Flux pads.

It is possible, with knowledge of the pad-box connector's pinout, to build your own control box. This is especially popular for the Xbox, as a control box built with the electronics from a soft dance pad will be properly recognized as a dance pad, not a controller. This same technique can also be used to adapt a Cobalt Flux for PC use.

Cobalt Flux is based in the greater Salt Lake City, Utah area of the United States.

External links

• CobaltFlux.com
• Official Cobalt Flux forums
• Review of the Cobalt Flux dance platform at Netjak