Steel Battalion- anyone played it... with the controller?

[Recon 5]

If there's one reason I wish the Xbox had made a bigger splash where I live (so that I could have gotten one myself ), its this thing called Steel Battalion. The game itself isn't too spectacular, but nothing beats an official controller that includes:


1. Two joysticks (thats right, full joysticks- not those dinky little thumbsticks) with triggers. I think they have force- feedback too.

2. Three (or is that four) panels with all kinds of switches and buttons (most of them functional in- game or maybe all of them, I couldn't tell from the previews).

3. Pedals. Yep, pedals.


Talk about bringing the arcade experience into your living room. Along with all these peripherals is the most detailed HUD I have ever seen in a game. No exceptions.

So, if any one here has been fortunate enough to acquire the full package, care to share with the rest of us what we've missed? Should we regret missing it?

[Chris]

I played it once because a friend of mine bought it. Very immersive, and you really got the feel you were piloting a mecha. It was also a hard game, and I recall that if you died, your save file would get deleted because the pilot is KIA. The whole controller setup was pretty snazzy too, but $200 was a lot to spend on a controller that worked with just two games.

[Outlaw]

My brother picked it up with his tax return one year, we couldn't get past the stage where you were supposed to take out a battleship(?) and ended up selling it later. It was pretty tough, and whenever you called for a resupply your charater sounded like he was in fear for his life/on the verge of tears, which made me laugh more than anything else.

But overall I thought it was a blast, and the first time you power up your mech and the controller just starts lighting up is awesome!

My fondest memory would have to be goofing around for an hour, getting the mech up to speed and flipping it onto its side just to see how far I could get it to skid, so hilarious.
Ah... good times, and well worth checking out for any mecha fan.


oh! and like the boss-man said if you don't eject when shot down your character gets earsed.

[Recon 5]

The whole controller setup was pretty snazzy too, but $200 was a lot to spend on a controller that worked with just two games.

Two games? So there was a SB2?

[quasadra]

i have seen the controller, but never play it. tought of putting the money to buy the xbox for it, then i got ps2 instead and it fade out of my memories. when i found out the 360 can play old xbox game, the fire came back. but the 360 may not support the controller and i got ps3 instead. sorry, microsoft and capcom .

[Outlaw]

Two games? So there was a SB2?

SB: Line of Contact, more like an expansion as, I believe, it was online multiplayer only.

[ScornMandark]

I bought the controller and game off of EBay for relatively cheap and hacked the end to be a USB cord. It's really easy, the XBox wiring is just USB with an extra 5V and GND. Also, I did the hack past the quick release so I can still swap it back and play the xbox game if I choose to. There are a number of drivers that have been developed to allow use of it as a USB joystick setup. Mechwarrior 4 is much more interesting with a highly immersive control setup .

The game itself was pretty hard, and I'm not thrilled on the whole you died, so you can't reload the game thing. Maybe that's me whining 'cause I suck at the game. I'll go with: it smacks me too much like real life emulation. In a giant robot console game. :p


EDIT:
A quick note on a few of your points:

1. Two joysticks (thats right, full joysticks- not those dinky little thumbsticks) with triggers. I think they have force- feedback too.

Unfortunately not force feedback. There is room to put in some of the rumble motors in said joysticks, but there's moddin' to be done. Not of the easy kind.

2. Three (or is that four) panels with all kinds of switches and buttons (most of them functional in- game or maybe all of them, I couldn't tell from the previews).

3 panels, buggerton of buttons and switches. They all do something in the game (some more useful than others) and all can be mapped to unique commands or switches in the USB game controller driver.

3. Pedals. Yep, pedals.

Yep, 3 pedals.

Talk about bringing the arcade experience into your living room. Along with all these peripherals is the most detailed HUD I have ever seen in a game. No exceptions.

So, if any one here has been fortunate enough to acquire the full package, care to share with the rest of us what we've missed? Should we regret missing it?

Overall, I would suggest trying for EBay if you:

A) Have an XBox and $170 (USD) to blow.

B) Are really a fan of hardcore mecha games.

C) Want to get just the controller, do a few very simple mods and use it to control all of your mech/flight sim/whatever-needs-a-joystick games on your computer.

If none of the above apply, probably save your money and get Gundam Vs. Gundam

[Ramba_Ral]

Never played it, but Wikipedia says that you had to press the 'eject' button to avoid dying and losing your data.

Also Junji Okubo's mecha designs for that game looked pretty cool.

[Jack]

Never played it, but Wikipedia says that you had to press the 'eject' button to avoid dying and losing your data.

I remember reading in EDGE that the designers wanted to actually have a breakable piece of glass over the eject button, like on a fire alarm.

[Ramba_Ral]

Now if only they had also wired the controls with explosives, so if you lost your mech would be totalled and you could never play again (and you would have some nice 3rd degree burns - realism!)

[Ascension]

I remember reading in EDGE that the designers wanted to actually have a breakable piece of glass over the eject button, like on a fire alarm.

Man, had they done that it would've been even more awesome... you could've used it with a GaoGaiGar game for REAL Final Fusion action!

I sooooooooo want to get this game someday. It's just a matter of time. A whole lot of precious time. And money. A whole lot of spending money.

[Neue Ziel]

My best friend had that game I got to play it once,it was fun but hard,I kept falling over....

[Terrace]

Can someone please post a pic of the controller? I forgot what it looks like.

[mcred23]

Can someone please post a pic of the controller? I forgot what it looks like.

Google is your friend. That's how everything you'd get when you bought it, I assume.

Close up view, where you can read some of the wording and whatnot. Easy to see how complex it is...

[Terrace]

Can someone please post a pic of the controller? I forgot what it looks like.

Google is your friend. That's how everything you'd get when you bought it, I assume.

Close up view, where you can read some of the wording and whatnot. Easy to see how complex it is...

Ooohh, pretty. I particularly like how the eject button is under a glass cover (and marked appropriately).