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Engadget emblem in Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor makes uncontrollable VTs more stylish
Fans of the Steel Battalion series will remember fondly showing off that massive, 40 button controller to their friends and, for a time, feeling like the most hardcore gamer on the planet. Those days are sadly gone, that amazing controller not compatible with the Xbox 360, but of course these days you are the controller. Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is the latest, Kinect-powered entry to the series and if you look around you'll find the above, your very own Engadget logo that you can plaster all over your Vertical Tank. While we've had limited time with the game, we have to echo the sentiment of our friends over at Joystiq who conclude that the controls are, well, broken to put it mildly. But hey, dig that logo!%Gallery-159880%
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor uses Xbox 360 controller and Kinect simultaneously
First announced at TGS last year, the Kinect-based Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor is finally revealed in its first trailer. Like the original game, Heavy Armor has players jump into huge, unwieldy robots called "Vertical Tanks." The above trailer reveals an oppressive World War 2-plus-robots style world in which computers have all been destroyed, and then everyone goes to war. As revealed by Capcom's fact sheet, Heavy Armor maintains the series' legacy for complicated controls by using two forms of input: both Kinect and the standard Xbox 360 pad. The controller is used for movement, aiming, and firing, while the Kinect camera picks up "upper body gestures" used for starting the engine, using the scope, or operating a turret-mounted machine gun. You can also communicate verbally and nonverbally with your crew members. High fives are specifically mentioned. Steel Battalion will engage your whole body in robo-warfare next year.%Gallery-130736%
Miyamoto 'mortified' by Steel Battalion, has wanted to make similar game
"I always wanted to make a flight-simulation game," designer Shigeru Miyamoto confessed in a new edition of Nintendo's Iwata Asks column. The Nintendo president seemed confused by that admission, reminding Miyamoto that he had worked on Pilotwings. Apparently, Pilotwings wasn't the kind of flying game Miyamoto had in mind. "That game was about you enjoying the flying experiences," he said. "It's a bit different from the kind of flight-simulation game I wanted to make." Instead, the designer has wanted to create what gamers would consider a realistic or hardcore sim, not unlike Microsoft Flight Simulator. "The difficulty level is high with these simulators when we see them as video games, but that difficulty is one of the greatest charms for them," Miyamoto added. Although Nintendo's games typically appeal to the mass market, Miyamoto expressed his long-standing desire to make a complicated game. "I wanted to make some kind of simulator where you would control something huge, but they beat me to it," he said, referring to Capcom's Steel Battalion game on the original Xbox, which included a controller with about 40 buttons (pictured above). "I felt so mortified when that was released." Steel Diver may not be Miyamoto's long-desired flight simulation game, but it's a close approximation of his original vision. "Controlling a submarine is like a slower version of a flight-simulation game," he joked. The game may not include its own Steel Battalion-esque controller, but Nintendo can at least "put lots of dials" on the 3DS touch screen. [Photo credit: John Tregoning]
Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor goes button-free on Kinect
Well, this is ... unexpected. The "Steel Battalion" franchise, perhaps best remembered for its 1,980-button controller, is coming to a platform that requires none. Microsoft has just announced that From Software will bring Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor to the 360 via Kinect. Well, technically, Microsoft just said the game will have "Kinect Enablement," so we guess there's still a chance you'll be able to play with a standard controller, we can't say for sure. Now those of you who already own Steel Battalion controllers ... well, you're probably out of luck. Maybe a job for Ben Heck? %Gallery-102396%
Two joysticks and 40 buttons: Steel Battalion controller as VJ tool
It might be silly to keep a giant Steel Battalion controller around for use with two games (Steel Battalion and ... the other Steel Battalion). But to use one for those two games and a custom VJ setup -- that's ... well, it's still kind of silly, but it's also pretty awesome. One "visual performance unit" called Bonsajo rigged up one of Capcom's indulgent Xbox controllers to control an audiovisual display. It turns out that with all those crazy, light-up buttons, the controller is well suited to use for VJing in dark environments! And it also looks really cool, in a way that we wouldn't expect of a mech game controller at a party. See the controller in action after the break. [Via Kotaku, GSW]
Rumorong: Steel Battalion Wii collapses like so many downed mechs
Our hearts were briefly aflutter this morning upon seeing news of a Steel Battalion port for the Wii. Could it be? Were we about to get a second chance at buying that insane 40-button, $200 controller/dashboard that shipped with the Xbox original? Well, no, we weren't -- and for two reasons. Reason one: Capcom was planning to develop the game with support for the Wii Remote, the Nunchuk, the Wii Wheel, and the Balance Board, and sell it for a mere $45, sans amazing controller. Reason two: the story isn't actually real. That's right: this was all a prank by Spanish site Vandal.net, which has now posted a disclaimer at the top of its article stating that the story was merely "a joke similar to the English April Fool's Day." Gutted. On the bright side, some sites are still reporting this as the real deal, which makes us feel a bit less stupid for believing it in the first place. [Via Balance Board Blog]
Mammoth Saturn controller takes custom console crown
There are larger gaming enclosures out there in arcades, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a controller this big for a console game at home.
