DDR world championships are this weekend, here’s where to watch them live

The sixth annual Konami Arcade Championship Finals take place this weekend in Japan, and it will feature some of the very best arcade rhythm game players in the world. For the first time, North America’s best Dance Dance Revolution players have been invited to compete. Here’s how you can cheer them on.

The KAC brings together the communities that surround 11 of the most lavish arcade games around including Gitadora DrumMania, Gitadora GuitarFreaks and Beatmania IIDX. Perhaps the most high profile game in the competition is DDR.

Small communities of DDR players around the U.S. gather on a regular basis to compete locally. This year, however, Konami connected North American players to its larger eAmusement system, which enables players to compete globally. Preliminary competitions took place at Dave & Busters and Round1 locations in the U.S. late last year, and it turns out we’ve got some pretty great players.

Reader Aaron Teplitsky sent Polygon a quick roundup of some of the very best competitors that traveled to Japan for the competition, which will be broadcast live on YouTube starting Friday.

“The first player to represent North America, and the number one seed, is Chris "iamchris4life" Chike of California,” Teplitsky wrote in an email. “Chris has accomplished some unbelievable things in music gaming. He was the first in the world to earn a 100 percent score on a level 17 (out of 19) DDR song ... and, way back in 2008, the first in the world to hit 100 percent of the notes in Guitar Hero 3's infamous ‘Through The Fire And Flames’ on expert difficulty.”

Other competitors include Jeff “fungah” Lloyd and Hudson “KAZE.573” Felker. You can find more on the tournament structure, and the international slate of competitors, on the official page. The full streaming schedule is also posted online.

The first round kicks off Friday at 11:15 p.m. ET, while the finals air Saturday morning at 12:35 a.m. ET.