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PAX East: Steel Battalion Freeplay
Maradine
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
And so it was that eleven fully functional Steel Battalion rigs, complete with Line of Contact, were carefully packed into crates and sent into the great unknown that is the US private domestic shipping system. Their value immense, their lifespan limited to a few weeks by the Great Off-lining of Xbox Live v1 - who knew when or if we would ever see them again.
But, on the off chance they show up . . .
PAX East 2010: Steel Battalion Freeplay
Room 303
Brought to you by the Hai Shi Dao Disco Appreciation League
That's right. What the Internet of 2004 couldn't do, we bring to you with unhealthy levels of enthusiasm - Line of Contact for 10 simultaneous players. Veterans might recall the sorry state of affairs those many years ago. American domestic broadband was spotty, the netcode was, er, not optimal, and getting a stable 3v3 match was an accomplishment. To get a full 5v5, you needed to be in Tokyo.
With the other 9 players in Tokyo.
But, through the magic of some eBay sniping, a few Enforcer loans, and a lot of CAT5, you too can participate in the mecha combat simulation that has enough buttons for eight hands.
This is not like a standard Console Freeplay room. No checking out required - all units will be active for the entire show with someone on hand to assist you. You are free to come, play, and learn which button washes your windshield. Or why you don't want to turn off your Oxygen Supply System in the middle of combat. Or why you do.
Event Schedule
Friday
2pm - 2am Steel Battalion Freeplay
Saturday
10am -5pm Steel Battalion Freeplay
6pm - 12am Steel Battalion FFA Tournament
12am - 2am Steel Battalion Freeplay
Sunday
10am - 4pm Steel Battalion 5v5 Tournament
4pm - 6pm Steel Battalion Freeplay
If you haven't managed to tl;dr by now, you probably saw the word 'tournament' up there once or twice. A few details need to be jiggered a bit - timings are subject to change until showtime. Signups for yourself or your team of 5 will be accepted on-site. You can do mara a favor by indicating some tentative interest here - I'd hate to shortchange you on prizes.
If there were any prizes.
Which there aren't.
For the rest of you, please come by and sample one of the most unique experiences in console gaming history - one that ate lives, shattered marriages, made people buy all new living room furniture. Twice.
M
Githon, this one's for you.
Post-post Edit Roll
=======
A video Tutorial for what you're getting into.
But, on the off chance they show up . . .
PAX East 2010: Steel Battalion Freeplay
Room 303
Brought to you by the Hai Shi Dao Disco Appreciation League
That's right. What the Internet of 2004 couldn't do, we bring to you with unhealthy levels of enthusiasm - Line of Contact for 10 simultaneous players. Veterans might recall the sorry state of affairs those many years ago. American domestic broadband was spotty, the netcode was, er, not optimal, and getting a stable 3v3 match was an accomplishment. To get a full 5v5, you needed to be in Tokyo.
With the other 9 players in Tokyo.
But, through the magic of some eBay sniping, a few Enforcer loans, and a lot of CAT5, you too can participate in the mecha combat simulation that has enough buttons for eight hands.
This is not like a standard Console Freeplay room. No checking out required - all units will be active for the entire show with someone on hand to assist you. You are free to come, play, and learn which button washes your windshield. Or why you don't want to turn off your Oxygen Supply System in the middle of combat. Or why you do.
Event Schedule
Friday
2pm - 2am Steel Battalion Freeplay
Saturday
10am -5pm Steel Battalion Freeplay
6pm - 12am Steel Battalion FFA Tournament
12am - 2am Steel Battalion Freeplay
Sunday
10am - 4pm Steel Battalion 5v5 Tournament
4pm - 6pm Steel Battalion Freeplay
If you haven't managed to tl;dr by now, you probably saw the word 'tournament' up there once or twice. A few details need to be jiggered a bit - timings are subject to change until showtime. Signups for yourself or your team of 5 will be accepted on-site. You can do mara a favor by indicating some tentative interest here - I'd hate to shortchange you on prizes.
If there were any prizes.
Which there aren't.
For the rest of you, please come by and sample one of the most unique experiences in console gaming history - one that ate lives, shattered marriages, made people buy all new living room furniture. Twice.
M
Githon, this one's for you.
Post-post Edit Roll
=======
A video Tutorial for what you're getting into.
Maradine on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
I'll try to make it over so I can fling a Vitzh or two into the meat grinder.
I wonder if any of the old community superstars will be there, like KingLeerUK, Parias, Pippin or, uh, that guy who was obsessed with Garpikes. We can all hold each other and cry.
XBL - Follow Freeman
I'm very interested in this. I always wanted to play Steel Battalion but couldn't justify the price at the time. Now I totally could, but who would I play with?
Thank you for neatly solving both problems.
My NES blog and my Pokemon Snap tumblr.
What's interesting is that the price has not gone down since then - getting even a well-worn rig these days is often as expensive as the launch price. It was a real impediment to gaining a larger audience at the time.
And now we shell out $$$ for rockband sets and (shudder) Ion drum kits. Truly, 2004 was too early for the $200 controller setup.
That, or more people like music than giant robots. Really, what's the world coming to?
I finally get to play this without having to blow $200 on it and dragging my xbox out of my closet!
The only problem is I bet I'll love it and thus want to find it on ebay ...
Red B/Gold Professor
[15:53] <+juju-work> ArsonIsFun is one of the best people I know.
Organizer of the Post-PAX Party. You should come!
Satellite Theater for life!
And for the rest who haven't heard of it, here's Jeff Gerstmann reviewing it.
And, of course, permadeath.
All rigs at PAX East (and Prime 2010, assuming this little experiment is successful) will be running Line of Contact. I will be running both team-based and free-for-all scenarios for attendees all weekend. I will have copies of the original Steel Battalion on hand, but they will not get a ton of system time.
A better reference to get you prepared for the experience is here.
We'll be coming by this room for sure
Steam: Chagrin LoL: Bonhomie
The coaching from both team leaders was phenomenal, and it was fun to reminisce about garpikes and the glorious HSD. I wish I'd had more time to kick it with you guys.
Step 2) Play really late at night
Step 3) Kick it into fifth gear, run away scared in overdrive from the battle, say "Oh what does this do?" and press the eject button.
It was awesome to finally get a chance to play this. The guys coaching us noobs who had no idea what we were doing did a great job. They really had a good grasp on the 100 button monster of a controller.
I KISS YOU!
Bring it back next year?
Barring a virulent plastic-eating epidemic, I don't think they could stop us if they tried.
Thank you everyone for coming out and making this the most epic gaming event I've ever had the privilege of running. As far as PAX moments go, it's right up there with the '07 Halo3 reveal at the final round of the Omegathon. People noticed. You can be sure we'll find a way to top this and get you more stick time.
M
You know you've got a good room when we're considering skipping a panel to come play another round. I also liked the "on deck" chairs that we used to queue up. 15 minutes of sitting, followed by 15 minutes of sitting (and playing) were awesome.
Luckily I was able to get in on some freeplay, I've never touched this game before.
Definitely a lot of fun. Thanks for putting this on! I hope to see it again at a future PAX!
[ XBL: NemesisFuzz | PSN: Deefuzz ]
I don't think that can ever happen.
XBox Live shuts down in April and with that goes the ability to play this game online. I think PAX was the last time this will ever happen on planet Earth and in our dimensional plane of existence.
I KISS YOU!
They didn't use Xbox Live. It was played in LAN mode. Also, further down the post, he already said it was coming back. ( thanks for that by the way )
if its back next year then i'll definitely be stopping by again.