I like the Mario Kart wheel. My 8 year-old still kicks my ass, but the wheel helps.

The Stealth Hippopotamus: I see your power glove and raise that little robot that only worked with one game.


OK, do you remember its name? Because I think it had something to do with a sports game.

Also, I had a Game Genie, which kind of defeated the point ... all the points, actually.

Also, the only peripheral you do need:

Wii accessories are prime suspect



You need these like you need a DVD rewinder

Best accessory ever.

/oblig

EvilJordan: [i2.listal.com image 600x240]

Best accessory ever.

I had one of those when I was in the 5th or 6th grade. I played the fark out of the bundled games that came with it. Now that I think back on it, it is probably the reason I have so many neck and back problems.

/It was awkward as hell to play with for extended periods without serious neck strain.

Mike_LowELL: I sucked at the game, so the controller sucks.Pretty much sums up the modern console video game experience.

Steel Battalion does not belong on the list at all. It isn't intended for most gamers. It's only for the niche audience that wants to play a complex and detailed mech simulation and intend to put hours of play into it. It's the same with flight and train sims on the PC. Personally I am very happy to see that sort of game done on a console, even if it isn't specifically to my personal taste. I always applaud new ideas.

What I do agree with from the article is the recommendation for Wii owners to add a Gamecube controller. For a £10 investment you have a great way to work with games that support it plus Virtual Console games. Add another £5 for a memory card and you instantly have access to the Gamecube library, including many very good games, most of which are now very affordable.

Stile4aly: [www.joystickdivision.com image 331x262]

I can't wait for his movie to come out.

64K (new window)
Loading Ready Run old but still makes me smile.

cman: List sucks without joysticks

/They are only useful if you have a flight simulation program

*snerk*

You don't actually play many games, do you?

/almost anything where analog control is a good thing
//why yes, I play driving games with a stick and pedals
/also mechwarrior, air-whoring in FPS, and yo mamma.

I was like "Holy shiat I didn't know there was a warp whistle BEHIND the F'ing scenery!" but yeah that movie suckered me into getting a Power Glove, which sucked. I modded it out with spike studs but it still sucked.

no u force?

// for me, the steel batallion controller just reminded me of how much of my time and money I spent in my youth experiencing battletech in a tesla pod.

// and now that I'm an adult with six times the income I had back then, I think that's it's probably a good thing that there's not a virtua lworld center close to me because I would basically be living in the veterans lounge in between sorties.



//interesting to note, girls tended to play red planet

Also, for battletech, IIRC it was $10 for a 15 minute sortie (so $40/hour), the price of steel batallion pales in comparison.

// at the peak, I probably spent $100-$200/month on sorties.

Gordon Bennett: Mike_LowELL: I sucked at the game, so the controller sucks.Pretty much sums up the modern console video game experience.

Steel Battalion does not belong on the list at all. It isn't intended for most gamers. It's only for the niche audience that wants to play a complex and detailed mech simulation and intend to put hours of play into it. It's the same with flight and train sims on the PC. Personally I am very happy to see that sort of game done on a console, even if it isn't specifically to my personal taste. I always applaud new ideas.


Now now, you didn't really expect the article's 23 year old vegan-cupcake-loving video-game-aficionado author to know much about video games older than 4 years ago....

Confabulat: Actually, reading this article, I wondered, how many game nerdboys will get upset this is written by a young woman instead of one of their aging male peers?

Answer: One, so far.

Hope you're not counting me - I didn't poke fun of the author's gender.

However, put me down for being anti-hipster, because reading the bio at the end it was the first thing I thought of.

Confabulat: I would really like to give Steel Battalion a try. That seems so ridiculous I couldn't help but enjoy it at least for a few minutes. Wouldn't spend $200 for it though

Yeah, this sounds like a lot of fun to me.

gonjie: 64K (new window)
Loading Ready Run old but still makes me smile.

That was terrible.

Let's replace that with the much superior Hey Hey 16K (new window).. which always brings a wee nostalgic tear to my eye at the end with the baby.

So it's an article that's 3 actual things you don't need, with 1 that you need for a specific game, and one that could easily get lumped in with another category.

Confabulat: I would really like to give Steel Battalion a try. That seems so ridiculous I couldn't help but enjoy it at least for a few minutes. Wouldn't spend $200 for it though

We had one when I was working the Game On 2.0 exhibit at OMSI. The controller really is ridiculous. In addition to what features you'd expect, there's a radio dial that allows you to select several tactical comm networks, and there's a button to clean the cockpit canopy (!)

The few times I got the thing up and running and figured out how to select weapons and independently steer the 'mech while doing a torso twist while also independently aiming the weapons, I'd usually end up going too fast into a turn. The 'mech would fall over, and I never did figure out how to get it to stand up again.

buckler: We had one when I was working the Game On 2.0 exhibit at OMSI. The controller really is ridiculous. In addition to what features you'd expect, there's a radio dial that allows you to select several tactical comm networks, and there's a button to clean the cockpit canopy (!)

Here is the inside of a battletech tesla 2.0 cockpit.



One main parabolic screen.
Six secondary Multifunction displays
Every red/yellow square you see is a button (they are backlit)
You also had a joystick on the right side, a throttle on the left side, and a pair of foot pedals.

// the key is that they started people in a mode where a lot of the controls were automatic. It wasn't until you got to veteran level that they would enable all of the controls/features for you. (like setting the seek power of your weapons higher, caused more damage, but generated more heat).

Whar kinect? Whar move?

Confabulat: And you said that was $10 for 15 minutes? May as well just get a real pilot's licence.

It was expensive, but they built these pods back during the SNES era. So while we had to settle for Super Mario World & the like at home. At the VGL, we were playing networked 8v8 battletech matches in fully enclosed cockpits. While eating meals in the veterans loung.

There was simply nothing else at the time that was that immerse (and there still hasn't been to this date IMO).

So yeah, sadly it was expensive, but it was worth every damn cent.

lordargent: Confabulat: And you said that was $10 for 15 minutes? May as well just get a real pilot's licence.

It was expensive, but they built these pods back during the SNES era. So while we had to settle for Super Mario World & the like at home. At the VGL, we were playing networked 8v8 battletech matches in fully enclosed cockpits. While eating meals in the veterans loung.

There was simply nothing else at the time that was that immerse (and there still hasn't been to this date IMO).

So yeah, sadly it was expensive, but it was worth every damn cent.

I went to the Virtual World in Walnut Creek back in the mid-90s, when I was around 12 or 13. One of the most awesome things I've ever had a chance to do. Too bad it shut down not long after that, so I never got a chance to learn what all those buttons did...

buckler:
We had one when I was working the Game On 2.0 exhibit at OMSI. The controller really is ridiculous. In addition to what features you'd expect, there's a radio dial that allows you to select several tactical comm networks, and there's a button to clean the cockpit canopy (!)

The few times I got the thing up and running and figured out how to select weapons and independently steer the 'mech while doing a torso twist while also independently aiming the weapons, I'd usually end up going too fast into a turn. The 'mech would fall over, and I never did figure out how to get it to stand up again.

That sounds so awesome I'm going to have to look for that.

/no kidding!

cman: List sucks without joysticks



Revel in its glory!

Confabulat: broadsword: Confabulat: Actually, reading this article, I wondered, how many game nerdboys will get upset this is written by a young woman instead of one of their aging male peers?

Answer: One, so far.

Hope you're not counting me - I didn't poke fun of the author's gender.

However, put me down for being anti-hipster, because reading the bio at the end it was the first thing I thought of.

Twenty-something women who are into video games are always hip, don't care what kind of cupcakes they prefer. If you don't like them, well ok, your loss I guess.

Then I bid you good hunting sir; with the white-knighting you're a shoe-in!

All this Steel Batt talk is making me hungry for Mechwarrior 2 again..... ah MW2, what red-blooded geek wasn't in awe the first time they laid eyes on the Timberwolf on the cover.......

foo monkey: I like the Mario Kart wheel. My 8 year-old still kicks my ass, but the wheel helps.

My 5 year old just made a big deal of being big enough and good enough to not need the wheel anymore. And he occasionally (Legitimately) kicks my ass. Not always. But sometimes.

Oh, and subby? The powerglove WAS mentioned....way to RTFA....yeah yeah, I know, welcomtofark.jpg.

NIXON YOU DOLT!!!!!:

Oh, and subby? The powerglove WAS mentioned....way to RTFA....yeah yeah, I know, welcomtofark.jpg.

No, no it wasn't. RTFA again.