Why no American Mech Series?

[Ryujin]

Ouch... I meant crotch nosecones. Gotta watch my choice of words. If you look closely enough, though, you'll see that one or two earlier mechs actually had bubble canopies in that area. Definitely Macross holdovers.

Are you referring to the Valkyrie look-alikes? The LAM feature introduced in Aerotech makes it pretty much a necessity (along with the exact transformation sequence & GERWALK mode).

As I said before, the earlier battlemechs that were FASA originals utilized many design elements from the 'unseen' 'mechs, in order to achieve some continuity in the overall aesthetics, since every 'mech in the original edition was 'borrowed.' This, of course, evolved over the years as different art directors took charge.

IMHO 0083 isn't particularly gritty. Now VOTOMS, that's gritty (and it greatly influenced one of my favorite Western mecha franchises, Heavy Gear, too).

[Ascension]

I personally prefer the 'mech designs from the middle... after the Unseen but before the Protomechs and especially before the "Look, the CJF mechs look like birds and the Wolf mechs have dog heads, isn't that CUTE?!?" WizKids original designs. Don't get me wrong, I don't despise WK like some people do, but... yeah... the bird-mechs were weird...

I would say the VOTOMS/Battletech comparison is pretty good. I'd love to see a VOTOMS-quality show using BT/MW designs.

That reminds me... it's about time to switch back to my Votoms avatar...

[Recon 5]

Nope, BT has GOT to be CG. And they GOT to have Atlases, maybe some Daishis and Kodiaks as well. Scratch that. A battle of Atlases vs. Daishis+ Kodiaks would be the most awesome thing in mecha history.

[Ascension]

I wouldn't agree on the necessity of CG. I mean, that would link it more closely with the videogames and with the old BT series, I suppose, but you could do nice looking mechs in 2d if you just had a good animation team.

The necessity of Atlases, THAT I agree on. I love the Atlas. I love the original Atlas. I love the "Hockey"/"Lego" Atlas (the latest redesign). The only Atlas I don't love is the Spiky Atlas. It looked like somebody was trying to Zeonify the Atlas. Zeon Atlas... Do Not Want!

I'll agree with you on the Kodiak too... nothing like 100 tons of clawed metal flying through the air... but not on the Daishi. That thing's just overrated. I don't like it one bit.

[Recon 5]

The Daishi isn't really overrated. With the right loadout (my all- ER Large monstrosities) it literally broke BOTH MW3 and 4 in terms of difficulty (1 shot kill on another 100- tonner? Don't tell me that isn't broken).

But it still pales in comparison to the Atlas, I'll give you that. The MW 4 last battle with 2 Gauss Rifles and a PPC was EPIC. Say, I'll bet they actually meant to make ol' skull- face some sort of lostech or something.

The Kodiak (with the loadout mentioned in the novels- UAC20, 8 MEDIUM LASERS and ONE Large Laser? PLEASE! Who's going to get that close, anyway?) is the one thats overrated, but thats just in terms of performance. I like the design as much as I like the Atlas. The Kodiak is good for animation only as far as it looks really cool, and thats what counts in a show. As a war machine its somewhat behind other designs.

[Ascension]

Sure the Daishi can bring the pain, but it has very weak armor for an 100-tonner, and it's even less manuverable than the Atlas. If you're in anything with any agility, the only chance the Daishi pilot has is to get in a lucky shot.

Granted, if he DOES get in a lucky shot, you're instantly dead, but anyway... that doesn't help my argument, so I'm going to ignore it...

The fact I think that the Daishi is as ugly as sin is probably playing a big role in this...

[Recon 5]

Hey, I'm all for Victor Davion, man. I wish he'd used an Atlas or even a Zeus, but if a Daishi was good for him its good for me.

Bias aside, however, the Daishi is far from the ugliest of mechs (even excluding Protomechs). From your last line you probably think the Gladiator looks better... (I'm not trying to insult you here).

[Dark Jackal]

I thought US got something called Mechwarriors...

There is a mechwarrior show?

Not really, it was Battletech: First Somerset Strikers or something of that nature. Really shallow storyline compared to actualy indepth Battletech universe. Some wierd non-canon stuff to like 'Enhanced Imaging' as a way to transition between drawings and computer graphics. IIRC, only in more recent times could we have cell-like cartoons with computer graphics. A good example of this evolution is the Initial-D series.

[SulliMike23]

Being a Battletech fan, thanks in part to the previously mentioned television series, I've come to notice things that made the series unlikeable to most BTech fans. But I would like to argue that kids do like robots. But let's just face it, American giant robots aren't exactly up to the same specs as Japanese robots.

Out of all the American giant robots, the only ones that seem to catch people's attention is Battletech. All the 'mechs in Battletech have a wide variety of uses. As for Exo-squad, I really saw a lot of potential in that series. I'm just upset that it was cancelled just as it was getting really good.

[WingZero20xx]

you think roughnecks: starship trooper chronicles could count

[SulliMike23]

I've only seen one episode of that and I barely remember it.

[Sanjiro]

Hi everyone, yeah, I'm new.
Just wanted to start off by saying that, in my opinion, a war thriller mecha movie is plausible.
Something like in the near future some comet or something comes too close to the earth, enveloping it in what further research will reveal to be....."Minovsky Particles"....and boom! The war in Iraq suddenly takes a turn for the worse, due to the fact that we can no longer use long-range warfare. (Hopefully no one who is in the military takes offense to this-I have great respect for the military, not knocking how they do things)
Anyway,
Fast forward to, say, ten years in the future. China, and various middle eastern nations have united, and things are most definatly bad for the U.S and NATO. Coalition forces are being hammered by a new, behemoth of a weapon....a......*suspenseful music*.......Mobile Suit......
And boom, add some kickarse special effects, plenty of mobile suits (preferably OYW era types) an all star cast, and hey, lets throw in a Pearl Harbor love story, we have a movie that both appeals to most of the American public and puts mechs back in the spotlight.

[mecha-wheels]

yeah, an american mecha show is hard to come by.

The only one i can think of (and the only one in ever) is Megas XLR.

[Imaginary Number]

Yes there is a battletech cartoon, there were 11 episodes before it was cancelled.

In Japan all the Super Mecha and Robots are the American equivalent of super heroes.

and there is a massive US Mecha fanbase only its a tabletop game played with miniatures not an anime or manga, its called battletech for those of you who are not familiar with it, its like warhammer 40k only with very brutish styled mechs it uses a D&D style ruleset and its insanely complex if your not used to it.

heres some helpful links if you would like to learn more about mechwarrior

http://www.solaris7.com
http://www.mektek.net
http://www.battletechuniverse.org
http://www.lordsofthebattlefield.com

[Ascension]

Just to be nitpicky, there's really nothing "D&D style" about Classic BattleTech. If you play the MechWarrior spinoff RPG, maaaaaaybe, but I'm not familiar with the BattleTech RPG rules. Most people who play just play it as a straight strategy game, not as a role-playing game.

Also, I wouldn't describe the CBT fanbase as massive. Even if we include MW: DA/AoD players, it's not massive. Even if we include players of sorta-kinda mecha-related tabletop wargames, we might be getting up to sizable, but not really massive. Tabletop wargaming is niche. Mecha-based tabletop wargaming is a niche of a niche.

I'm still crossing my fingers for the probably-nonexistent but oft-rumored MechWarrior move, though... we can always dream...

[Ryujin]

No discussion about mecha-related tabletop gaming's complete without mention of Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles & Gear Krieg...oh, wait, DP9's Canadian.

Oh well, there's always Mekton. If we count the fantasy genre, there's also Warmachine/Iron Kingdoms & Dragonmech.

As for hybrids, there's the oft-delayed-soon-to-be-released Cthulhutech, which may have gone just a tad overboard with nods to Evangelion, such as Engels & the NEG.

[Gadget]

As for hybrids, there's the oft-delayed-soon-to-be-released Cthulhutech, which may have gone just a tad overboard with nods to Evangelion, such as Engels & the NEG.

NOOOOOO!!!. Lovecraft will come back as a Flying Polyps and hunt you!!

In US entertainment, most robots do not look bipedal. A famous exaple is Robot from Lost in Space. Where as japanese is facinated with hummanoid robots.

I'm getting lost with all the Battletech/Meachwarrior arguments. Beside the cartoons and games, they have more impact in the gaming culture, rather than the overall amine mecha culture.

[Kurando]

Heavy gears and Megas XLR where the best mecha series from outside japan. (Yes I know Heavy Gears is canadian and is a board game, But it did have an okay TV show.. Megas XLR just rocks)

[Ascension]

Also CAV, AT 43, and arguably Warhammer 40k show mecha influences as well. If you throw in everything with powered armor, that tosses in a few more games as well.

[GruntyBalboa]

Also AT 43, debatably Warhammer 40k, and a game they've got at a local store whose name I have forgotten show mecha influences as well. If you throw in everything with powered armor, that tosses in a few more games as well.

Not to mention tossing in the old cartoon "The Centurions", or at least I think that's what it was called. When I was younger, I used to watch a lot of Boomerang, the old cartoon channel. Well, one day, this show came on and it had these three guys that fought with, well, essentially, power armor. They each had a different specialty; water, ground, and air combat. They'd get different components transferred onto them at different times, for different reasons. I'm pretty sure it ran for about 50 or so episodes back in the 80s...

Again, I could be wrong, and it's only mecha kinda. But it was American...