I read somewhere that the controls for Steel battalion are getting pretty rare, since not that many were shipped to the US. Hopefully they'll release it again for Steel batallion 2. Probably the most realistic set of controls to date - if you don't hit the EJECT button as your mech melts down you die...along with all the saved games up to that point on your xbox (harsh!).
Hmmm, you can still find the control with the game for the same price you've always been able to get it for. I've been watching ebay. I've seen a few go cheap I just haven't jumped in.
Steel battalion 2 is mostly adding stuff that should have been included in the first release, like multiplayer play.
I think they went to far in making it to realistic. If they would have made the controller a little more generic they could run multiple games on it and it would be more attractive to drop that kind of cash on.