Comments on: The Greatest $199 you'll ever spend.

The Greatest $199 you'll ever spend.

hughbot — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:20:55 -0800

Have a spare $199 lying around? Steel Battalion Central is your one-stop Steel Battalion source. For those of you not in the know, SB is the $199 Xbox game with it's own custom 40-Button controller. It's also one of the most intense hardcore Video Game experiances of the last few years.

By: hughbot

hughbot — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:24:30 -0800

One of the fourty-odd buttons is the eject button. If you forget to hit it when your giant robot starts to explode, the game deletes your save file off the hard-drive. This game is so tough, after you pay two hundred dollars for it, it slaps you around. It's probably the closest any of us nerd will ever get to really piloting a ten-ton robot. Incidentally, I had to trade in 23 other Xbox and Gamecube games to afford it.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:38:16 -0800

Brian Van Hoose (of The Knights of the Dinner Table) had something similar. When playing one of his net games, if your character lost hit points, the game starting deleting files from your drive. If your character died, the game formatted your disk. It brought an element of actual pain and loss to computer role-playing. The idea never caught on, for some reason...

By: Flat Feet Pete

Flat Feet Pete — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:39:14 -0800

A copy of this was at work briefly when it first came out. I can honestly save I have never felt more like a nerd than when I was playing the game. The controller is huge. Really big. about 3 foot across when assembled. Truly bonkers. It took us 10 minutes to find the ignition (it was a 5-8 button sequence). I was bad at the game. I've never really been into the giant robot genre though.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 21:58:59 -0800

Ooooh... I'm not really into video games (except old school nintendo ones) but... this is good.

By: vorfeed

vorfeed — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 23:56:06 -0800

Oh, wow. Someone please tell me they have Patlabor skins for this. < /nerd>

By: salmacis

salmacis — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 02:20:49 -0800

ADOM deletes the save file when you die as well. I thought about how ridiculous it is to spend $200 on a game, then I considered... I like racing sims on the PC. When you factor in the force-feedback steering wheel, 3D glasses and the graphics card updates, etc, I hate to think how much I've spent on getting the perfect F1 experience. I just wish I was any good at it.

By: cedar

cedar — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 04:51:43 -0800

Thanks, hughbot. Thank you very much. You have just made my life a living hell, soon to be a hell furnished with a three foot control pad. I made the mistake of looking at the site with the kids around.

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 04:55:50 -0800

I want the same thing in a flying ship like Descent 3, and I want it for my PC or PS2. I'd like it better for the TV, if only to get me out of my desk chair. And I have surround in the livingroom, but not my office (yet).

By: CrunchyFrog

CrunchyFrog — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:26:09 -0800

Two cartoons on Steel Battalion on Penny Arcade.

By: snarfodox

snarfodox — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 07:52:08 -0800

Still cheaper than an actual coin-op cabinet. Certain members of the MAME community would probably consider this cheap and low-end without a decent 29" CRT attached.

By: taumeson

taumeson — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 10:32:48 -0800

my brother is totally getting this tonight...he's wanted it for....ever.... or so. thanks for the site!

By: tomplus2

tomplus2 — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 11:21:14 -0800

If I had an xbox, I'd have to have this game and controller. I'm not sure I'm a big enough geek to really get into the game, but I sure like to try it out a bit.

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 19:26:34 -0800

The greatest game ever, Nethack, also deletes your save file when you die and when you load it. And you can only save by exiting. IE: When the wizard kills you on level 1after harrasing you all the way from 50 (the end game) you start over again.

By: shepd

shepd — Fri, 05 Mar 2004 20:24:44 -0800

Wow, they've finally figured out a way to stop people pirating games... Make them rely on special controllers! Brilliant!

By: Goofyy

Goofyy — Sat, 06 Mar 2004 01:38:51 -0800

Interesting point shepd. Then, like, the price should go down, right?