In my previous blog, I discussed my experience with the 2002 XBox game Steel Battalion. At the end of that blog, I mentioned that I had read that Microsoft and Capcom are developing a new Steel Battalion game, and that I would give my opinions on such a game in a future blog.
Well, I didn't wait long to write that "future blog".
Here it is!
According to this Joystiq article, Capcom and Microsoft are developing a Kinect-enabled version of Steel Battalion for the Xbox 360. The game is titled Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor and looks more like a remake/reboot than a true sequel. [More]
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Tags:Steel Battalion, Ring of Red, Microsoft, Capcom, Kinect, Guitar Hero, Activision, Rock Band, Mech, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Star Wars, Star Trek, Tony Hawk: Ride, XBox 360, XBox
After almost 10 years of curiosity, I finally had a chance to play the 2002 XBox game Steel Battalion. If you're not familiar with Steel Battalion, it's a very unique, niche-market game about piloting giant mechs (which the game calls “Vertical Tanks” - or “VT” for short). The thing that makes this game unique is that it comes with a massive, cockpit controller, that contains approximately 30 buttons, two joysticks, and a set of foot pedals.
As you can imagine, the game did not sell terribly well 10 years ago. It was released with a very expensive $200, distributed in very limited amounts, and could only be played with the included behemoth of a controller. That's right, the game did not support the standard Xbox controller. This was before Microsoft's controller support mandate. So it's resale practicability was limited - it was an all-or-nothing package. As a side note, I'm kind of curious now to know if Steel Battalion's controller was a contributing factor for Microsoft's decision to mandate that all Xbox 360 games and peripherals support a mapping to the standard Xbox 360 controller. I'm sure that Guitar Hero was probably the primary catalyst, but Steel Battalion may have played a part in it too.
Anyway, a friend of mine was able to find a fully-intact and functional copy at a local used game reseller for a very reasonable price, and he picked it up without hesitation. Good move, friend! He invited me over today to try it out, and I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to play this unique game. [More]
The Dark Souls pre-order Collector's Edition includes a soundtrack, behind-the-scenes DVD, art book, and mini-game guide, along with the standard version of the game.
Despite it's insane difficulty, the PS3-exclusive RPG Demon's Souls became one of my favorite games on the console. Unfortunately, after my PS3 died on me and I had to have it replaced by Sony, I lost my save file for this game and never completed it. I was damned close too! I had cleared at least the first two levels of each world, and had even killed the Dragon God at the bottom of Stonefeng. I was pissed when I found out that save file had not transferred onto my replacement system.
With the sequel, Dark Souls, due out in less than a month, I figured I'd go back to Demon's Souls and try to finish it before I pick up the sequel - not going to be an easy task...
Hopefully, I'll have the game beat in time for the "sequel" to arrive. Although, as far as I can tell, Dark Souls is considered a "spiritual successor" to Demon's Souls, rather than a strict sequel (similar to the relationship between Shadow of the Colossus and Ico).
My excitement for Dark Souls has even inspired me to break my year-long boycott of game pre-orders and "special edition" purchases. [More]
Earlier today, I published my first real mod for Sid Meier's Civilization V. As you may recall, I had previously uploaded a mod as an April Fools joke. But this new one is for real!
The mod is titled "Code of Laws (Version A)(v. 1)".
As the title indicates, this mod's primary function is to add a new technology to the game, called "Code of Law", and to move the Courthouse building into that technology.
What the mod does
My primary purpose for doing this was to deepen the Classical Era of the tech tree. As it stands, the Classical Era of the game's tech tree is only one technology deep. This means that era goes by exceedingly fast! I've seen players and AI tech to the Medieval Era as early as 1000 B.C. in some games.
UPDATE (August 8, 2012): Mod no longer available
This mod is no longer available since Civilization V has switched to using the Steam Workshop for mods. I plan to eventually upload an updated version of this mod, and will update this post if/when that happens.
A new version of this mod designed for Gods & Kings was just released on the Steam Workshop. This version is only compatible with the Gods & Kings expansion, and does not work on the base Civilization V game. I apologize for the inconvenience.
UPDATE (October 18, 2012): Update to Vanilla version now on Steam Workshop
Due to a request by Steam user The Octopus Creating New Worlds, I went ahead and published an update to the original version of the mod (for the base game) onto the Steam Workshop. [More]
I came across some interesting articles today relating to video games, and I'd like to share my thoughts about them with you.
[More]
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