Thursday, September 16, 2010 at 7:47PM



See that monstrosity in the header image? You remember it, don't you? That is an actual control, for an actual game. Steel Battalion for the original Xbox cost a shitload of money, but for the price you pay, you get a piece of gaming history. One of the most complex pieces of game hardware ever made, next to the Atari Jaguar controller.

A hardcore game needs a hardcore controller, and that's exactly what you got in Steel Battalion. A game so gangsta, that as your mech was about to explode, if you didn't flip the safety glass and slam on the flashing red eject button on your control's dashboard, your save file was permanently deleted. Gangsta.

Now that Capcom has announced a sequel, Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor, we're all awaiting the needlessly complex control scheme. Except we're not getting one. I am disappoint. Heavy Armor will function solely with the Kinect system. So, the most complex control scheme ever created becomes the most simplistic in one fell swoop. How do they plan to market the hardcore mech action to the casual gamer Kinect focuses on? Who knows man, who knows.

Rest in peace, Steel Batallion controller. We hardly knew ye.