A fairly odd request

[Ford Prefect]

Recently, so recently that I can still legitimately measure it in hours, I bought Armored Core 4. That I bought this game reminded a friend that he had played this on a sit in arcade console with twin joysticks. The experience was so moving that he has decided that he's going to work towards getting one, some time in the future.

The thing is, I've no idea how to go about finding such a thing - nor am I sure he's not talking about Virtual On. However, the idea of a two seater for one-on-one AC duels is pretty goddamn badass, so I've decided to try and help him out in this quest. Anybody know where to go for this sort of thing?

[Stark]

In AU there are a number of Virtual On cabinets floating around. You could chase one down (either to buy it or just measure it up). Half the guts would be useless anyway, like the CRT and the SEGA hardware board.

I'm not sure if a) AC4 supports two-stick Virtual On style driving or b) a game made of really easy 45s levels is worth the effort.

[Uraniun235]

Didn't they have enclosed Battlemech cockpits for certain arcades a long time ago? I wish I could have played in one of those, it would have been so incredibly awesome.

[chitoryu12]

I tried Virtual On many years ago. I'm actually quite shocked I made it more than three battles through, as I played it at the age of six.

I remember that they made a mech game for the Xbox that had a $200 controller that was supposed to resemble a cockpit layout. Twin joysticks, a couple dozen switches, windshield wipers, and an eject button (if you didn't eject, you would die and lose the save).

[Stark]

Can I play 'Chitoryu thinks he's good but doesn't understand the stage-four jump in 90s arcade difficulty'?

Steel Battalion was such a giant white elephant. Why bother making the game interesting when you blew a huge pile of money making a giant controller with only slightly more buttons than your average hotas setup?

[GuppyShark]

Didn't they have enclosed Battlemech cockpits for certain arcades a long time ago? I wish I could have played in one of those, it would have been so incredibly awesome.

Yes, they were called "Virtual Worlds". That was what FASA was going to be about initially, but when they started out it was never as feasible as tabletop gaming.

I suppose now that the only surviving part of the company is FASA Interactive, you could say that original vision has been achieved.

[Uraniun235]

I remember playing a two-stick head-to-head mech combat game in this one arcade several years ago... but I don't think it was Virtual-On, the 3D graphics were much more basic than the screenshots I've been seeing on the internet (lol textures?) and they behaved more like hovertanks than mecha.

That was a fun game but the annoying thing is that half the time at least one of the sticks would be wonky/broken.

Steel Battalion was such a giant white elephant. Why bother making the game interesting when you blew a huge pile of money making a giant controller with only slightly more buttons than your average hotas setup?

But, but, but, but... but the buttons lit up!


Yeah, Steel Battalion was a gigantic gimmick. One of my friends got it and now his controller just sits in the closet.

Yes, they were called "Virtual Worlds". That was what FASA was going to be about initially, but when they started out it was never as feasible as tabletop gaming.

I suppose now that the only surviving part of the company is FASA Interactive, you could say that original vision has been achieved.

I still want an enclosed cockpit though.

[Ford Prefect]

II'm not sure if ... a game made of really easy 45s levels is worth the effort.

I'll have you know that some of those missions can take almost sixty seconds! *waves fist*

More seriously, it's not for single player. It's for deciding duels of honour, and larking around with th boys on a personal arcade console.

[Mad]

I remember playing a two-stick head-to-head mech combat game in this one arcade several years ago... but I don't think it was Virtual-On, the 3D graphics were much more basic than the screenshots I've been seeing on the internet (lol textures?) and they behaved more like hovertanks than mecha.

There was a 2.5D hovertank game called T-Mek a long time ago that used dual joysticks, but that's not what you're referring to, right?

[Lisa]

you might check ebay and I know there are arcade auctions in places from time to time. My late partner used to restore them in better health...

[ThatGuyFromThatPlace]

Didn't they have enclosed Battlemech cockpits for certain arcades a long time ago? I wish I could have played in one of those, it would have been so incredibly awesome.

There's a game store near my uni in Richardson Texas that has eight of them, great fun if you can get about four to eight people together for a couple of games.

[Mad]

Didn't they have enclosed Battlemech cockpits for certain arcades a long time ago? I wish I could have played in one of those, it would have been so incredibly awesome.

I played that once. The system had an operator and he entered the parameters for the play session. Unfortunately, he set everyone for "novice" control settings so I couldn't torso twist (thus leaving me confused for half the game). The system also printed out a battle aftermath report detailing the events of the match, which was neat.

[VF5SS]

Cyberseld might be the twin stick arcade game your friend is referring to. Recently, Japan made aGundam game with an enclosed cockpit.

[chitoryu12]

Can I play 'Chitoryu thinks he's good but doesn't understand the stage-four jump in 90s arcade difficulty'?

I take it you missed the part where I said I was six and shocked that I got past three stages?

[Uraniun235]

Cyberseld might be the twin stick arcade game your friend is referring to. Recently, Japan made aGundam game with an enclosed cockpit.

Cybersled! That was it. Fun game.

Man, if I ever get rich, I'm going to take a garage and make it into an arcade.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Recently, Japan made aGundam game with an enclosed cockpit.

Schatten would kill to buy one of those and for them to have online capability....

[VF5SS]

Cybersled! That was it. Fun game.

Yeah it was a fun game. The Playstation port had an option for better graphics. Basically it applied some texture mapping with the kind of quality an early PSX game could muster. Once you beat the game once you unlocked more playable sleds from the boss roster. You can get it for about two or three bucks nowadays. Sadly, it kinda loses its luster without the twin sticks and becomes kinda dull.

Schatten, those Gundam pods do have online capability. They're all linked so you can play against people in other arcades. That Gundam game looks genuinely fun too and not broken and unbalanced like what Virtual On became when they made Virtual On 4 Force and Virtual On Marz. Those games fucking killed the series.

[Ritterin Sophia]

Correction, I would kill to have my own personal pod hooked up to arcades across the world

[Chardok]

I would like to find a working (none are known to exist anymore) Sonic Blast Man stand-up. See, the way it woks is there's an arm with a pad on it, and you put a boxing glove on, then, whatever creature or object is on the screen has a certain amount of hitpoints. You rear back and SLAMSMASHBOOM! Punch the holy howling hell out of the pad. The faster the arm falls, the more "Power" in your hit and the more hitpoints you drain. (in the case of the giant crab, you make knock off a claw or crack it's armor and knock off an eyestalk. the mugger might get a black eye, etc.)

AFAIK, the company who made it was sued because it was unsafe (cry me a river) and people were breaking their fucking wrists and hands trying to flatten the arm. I played it all of three times. Greatest arcade game I ever played.

Except maybe Operation Wolf. I loved that game....

[Stark]

I take it you missed the part where I said I was six and shocked that I got past three stages?

Great. It's -still- hilarious that you don't know about the stunningly easy early levels in 90s arcade games and the massive jump in difficulty around level 3 or 4. It's most pronouced in SNK games, but it's common to all the games I've played. It's -definately- in Virtual On, because you can stumble through the first three levels drunk without any idea what's going on and get totally raped in the later levels.

Since arcade games are for kids, and the early levels in 90s games were far easier than the rest of the game, it's not very surprising is it? Seriously, grab an emulator (or the PC version) and play it: hopelessly easy, then BAM incredibly hard. No prodigal gameplaying skillz required.

[VF5SS]

I have to agree with Stark. Dorkas (VO stage 4) was a fucking beast. If you dared jump in the air, Dorkas would smack you down with a hammer and if you tried to hide behind the buildings he would just use his Phalanx attack, which went though obstacles. Bal Bas Bow was a bitch too. Not as bad since he was slow and his arena was totally open. Never mind the fact that if you were too slow beating the first five opponents you'd have to face the nearly impossible sub boss, Jagurandi. Then the game slammed you with an Apharmed, Fei Yen, and Raiden combo of pain. Admittedly, if you could pass Jagurandi, the last three Virturoids weren't as bad. Z-Gradt is a fucking cheap boss right up there with the cheapest SNK bosses. One of the biggest sins of Virtual On Marz was that it made you fight multiple Z-Gradts in the same stage. Christ that game is broken.

[Stark]

Playing the PC version (since the Virtual On cabinets in Brisbane are looooong gone) you can kill the first few guys just using one attack. Depending on your character choice, the start is laughably easy, and then you die on bloody Dorkas until you run out of money.

[VF5SS]

Same thing on the Sega Saturn version. Even if you set it to the hardest difficulty, the first stage Temjin will still run around with little interest in fighting. The next two get a fair bit nastier but that only makes Dorkas into the devil incarnate. Oratario Tangram only gave you the first stage to goof off (pretty sure, haven't played in months) and let the retarded mid boss try your patience.

[Vejut]

As a side note from further up the thread...the battletech virtual cockpits are still around. Information is Here, the Virtual world Website. Also, Dave and Busters used to have them if I recall correctly.