steel battalion

[danny_galaga]

went to the Game On exhibition currently showing in Brisbane. Good stuff. where else can you play spacewar! on the closest you will probably get to the real thing? lots of fun playing games in the original cabs (ive never played missile command in an arcade, that huge trackball is awesome!)

anyway, one of the exhibits is steel battalion. damn that s a cool game. it never made it to australia. i couldnt get over that controller. every one of the forty or so buttons actually does stuff. more controls than a piper warrior! i got stuck at one stage and couldnt move anymore, so i flipped the safety and hit 'eject'. how cool is that?

so anyone here ever play it? i saw some old thread about it. the thought that crossed my mind crossed others too- that it would make an awesome sit down cab  

ebay link with youtube clip for those that dont know steel battalion.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=320321381333#

[SithMaster]

I've always wanted it but the original price was too steep for me.  Wasn't there a Heavy Gear Simulator for the arcade or something?  For me it could only ever be a sitdown cab if you could work in hydraulics somehow.

[versapak]

Awesome game.

It really was more of an experience though. The way that controller integrated so well into the gameplay gave it an immersion that I have yet to see paralleled.

It was definitely a costly investment, but worth every penny.




The online expansion was excellent also. Though it came out with insane bandwidth specs for the time here in the states, and most people (of an already very limited userbase) were not able to actually play it to its fullest.

[DantheApe]

i will have this game at some point...but not today =/

[danny_galaga]

Awesome game.

It really was more of an experience though. The way that controller integrated so well into the gameplay gave it an immersion that I have yet to see paralleled.

yeah, thats what really impressed me when i finally sat down to have a crack at it. like just starting that beast up, those toggles on the left. flip each one and a different function comes online on the screen...

[Mauzy]

I only saw it in a store once actually for sale. A local gamestop had one sitting high above the store in a sweet box that looked like a military munitions crate. I always wanted it but it was still $150 at the time...

[severdhed]

i own steel battalion and it is awesome.  i dropped $150 for a used one at eb a few years ago, and while that was alot of money, as a video game collector, i just had to have it.  i never picked up the online only, line of contact version though, becuase by the time i found that, i had already cancelled my xbox live account (i'm not one for online gaming).

it was a very immersive experience to play this game.  I haven't played it in a while, now that i am married and have kids,  i just don't have the time to play games like i used to when i was single.   but i remember spending hours in my old apartment playing this game.  nothing quite compares to steel battalion on a 102" screen.  it is an experience.

if you ever see it for a reasonable price, get it..it is worth owning.  even for thing else, just being able to say you have one.  I have not seen anyone who has seen the controller and not been amazed.

[danny_galaga]

Well, I did finally get a controller a few months ago. Thought I posted here already, but I guess not. Like a lot of things, I gave it a good hammering for a little while, and then sorta forgot about it. Part of the reason is I've been meaning to make a dedicated console room. I got started last weekend by picking the 68cm telly off the floor 
While I was at it, I tried SB sitting in the chair I use for my PC, a plastic garden chair. Wasn't bad. That got me thinking. Here's the result 

[danny_galaga]

19mm dowel, 350mm long. Mud guard washers screwed on the end, with felt glued on the washers first. Works a treat!

[HaRuMaN]

Ghetto-fabulous!

[dstone]

I picked up a controller at Goodwill a while back, still haven't nabbed the game. Going to add that to my 'to-do' list. Gotta repair or replace one of the switches, though, since it was broken off.

[danny_galaga]

Ghetto-fabulous!

Isn't it just

dstone, damn good score getting it in any condition from a goodwill store!

[danny_galaga]

Oh, and a couple of pics of the controller. I thought it would be cool to show its size in relation to my cocktail cab (",)

[versapak]

Nice, a version 2. 
 

I always wanted one with the blue buttons.

[dstone]

dstone, damn good score getting it in any condition from a goodwill store!

Especially since it was $10! I don't think they had any idea what it was other than "more electronic stuff." Our local Goodwill is a complete mystery with what they put out and how they price it. At one point they had a 52x CD-ROM drive behind glass for $99. 

Can't wait for the game to come in so I can go a few rounds on it.

[HaRuMaN]

I picked up an upright Atari Battlezone at Goodwill for $25.   

[danny_galaga]

I picked up an upright Atari Battlezone at Goodwill for $25.   

*Puts fingers in ears and says "Lalalalalalala" really loudly*

Damn you 'mercans with your second hand stores full of actual interesting stuff!

[amendonz]

they're making a sequel for kinect if anyones interested...

[Gorotsuki]

Just won a controller on e-bay last night.
Looking forward to trying it out.

Boo on the Kinetic version.

[severdhed]

that can't be a kinect game...how can they go from a special ridiculous 40 button controller, to no controller at all?

[amendonz]

Yeah not Sure maybe you choose which part of the panel you bring on screen.. Or possibly a hybrid controller / kinect game

[danny_galaga]

Someone on another forum suggested you will be walking in slow motion on the spot to make it move

I have read the premise will be that tech has gone backwards. This will be to explain a simpler control scheme. Of course, if tech has gone backwards, would they really be running mechas?

Anyway, Steel Battalion IS the controller! It's part of the charm (",)

[SiLeNt_NiNjA1]

I picked up a broken one for $50. The guy had just yanked the right segment's ribbon cable and broken a couple pins. 10 minutes of solder, and it was back up n going. Definitely interesting.

As for a kinect version, unless its full of 90% voice commands, and just hands for the aiming (and lets your arms aim independently, with the different weapons), it will suck.

[Mikezilla]

JEsus that thing is AWESOME. What a beast! I have never even heard about it before. Is it compatible with the 360? I have never seen anything like that for the home...

There used to be a place that my friends dad took us to, it was sort of like an internet cafe, but it had a bunch of pods that you can sit in and play a Mechwarrior type game. Had awesome controls, hatch, made you feel like you were sitting in the cockpit of a mech. It was awesome, this reminds me of it.

[SiLeNt_NiNjA1]

JEsus that thing is AWESOME. What a beast! I have never even heard about it before. Is it compatible with the 360? I have never seen anything like that for the home...

There used to be a place that my friends dad took us to, it was sort of like an internet cafe, but it had a bunch of pods that you can sit in and play a Mechwarrior type game. Had awesome controls, hatch, made you feel like you were sitting in the cockpit of a mech. It was awesome, this reminds me of it.

Controller wont even plug into the 360 unfortunately

[Mikezilla]

Damn it.  My old Xbox crapped out and I got rid of it. What a bummer. Well, if anyone that has this lives in San Diego, feel free to invite me over to play! Ill bring beer! And pizza! Beer AND pizza! Any takers?

[danny_galaga]

JEsus that thing is AWESOME. What a beast! I have never even heard about it before. Is it compatible with the 360? I have never seen anything like that for the home...

There used to be a place that my friends dad took us to, it was sort of like an internet cafe, but it had a bunch of pods that you can sit in and play a Mechwarrior type game. Had awesome controls, hatch, made you feel like you were sitting in the cockpit of a mech. It was awesome, this reminds me of it.

It is a USB device, and I have heard that people have adapted it to a particular mech game on the PC. If the Xbox 360 is USB (i have no idea) I guess it could be adapted, but the game itself won't run on it. I think I know the game you mean from when you were a kid, just trying to think of it now. Come on google, do your thing...

Is this it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleTech_Centers

[Mikezilla]

Haha yeah DG that was it!!! The pods were cooler though, it was like sitting in a real cock pit though. I dont recall the crotch shooting though. Hm.

Yeah, Mechwarrior 2 was probably one of the coolest games ever. I remember the intro to that game with the mechs and everything. Man. Good times.

[ark_ader]

They had one at the last R3play.  Fun but it was real complex.

I see it on sale locally from time to time, just do not have any room to play with it.

Cool game though.