Stick It To Me (June 14, 2007)

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
LeHah has sent along the first picture of the upcoming Xbox 360 Flightstick/Throttle Combo. This setup will be included with a special edition of Ace Combat 6, which is currently set for a November release. It will retail for $149.99 and can be pre-ordered in brick-and-mortar stores now. Picking up one may very well enhance the Wing Commander Arena experience... though, hopefully, Arena will have been out for a while before these show up:





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Original update published on June 14, 2007
 
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Interesting. Looks like it's a modified Saitek x45. Quite a markup though, considering that the x52 (the x45's replacement) for PC can be had for just over $100 these days.
 
If only I didn't have to get ace combat 6 to get one...

A *lot* of people have tried to get me to play an Ace Combat game but all of those people are gigantic jerks, which automatically turns me away from them. Does anyone here have any experience with them?
 
Looks like the one that came with Ace Combat 5 for the PS2 as well... which I believe was basically an OEM'ed Saitek x45.

(No surprise, since it was Ace Combat).

There will be slight differences, namely to support the Xbox360, so it won't be like the PS2 version which basically was an unmodified stick. Kinda plasticky, and has me reaching for my Cougar, honestly.

As for Ace Combat, it's an arcade flight sim. If you're the kinda guy who plays X-Plane or MS Flight Sim for realism, and anything less is worthless, then you won't enjoy Ace Combat. If, however, you don't mind inaccuracies in the flight model and don't care too much for realism in the name of fun, then Ace Combat will be fun. (It's basically a game where the main point is to go around shooting stuff - the planes look great, but they can fly identically other than a few basic parameters).
 
A *lot* of people have tried to get me to play an Ace Combat game but all of those people are gigantic jerks, which automatically turns me away from them. Does anyone here have any experience with them?

Well, I already talked about it on another thread,

But Ace Combat games are the BEST arcade combat plane sims EVER.

They have good stories and the perfect balance of fun and "realism"... The plane moves as it should (i.e. it rolls instead of just turning), and everything *looks* very real... But it's quite arcadey in the stall tolerance, damage and the amount of missiles you carry.

The games have a LOT of real planes, and a couple of completely fictional ones (which are unlocked only after finishing the game once or twice). They looked gorgeous on the PS2, and blew my mind on the Xbox 360 trailer. Each place flies differently and has different special weapons, so it actually matters.

For instance, the Mirage 2000 is a really fast dogfighter, while the A-10 is a tank with wings.

I'm actually playing through the 3 PS2 Ace Combat titles, and I'm having a blast. The missions are really well designed and fun to play, and the controls are damned perfect.



BTW, concerning the AC6 Saitek controller: aside from the "immersion" factor of using a HOTAS, I really can't see that this controller will be any good for Arena, considering it plays on a 2D plane. Full sized joysticks suck for that kind of twitchy gameplay. I really think that the default xbox360 controller will be a hell lot better.

At least the HOTAS is USB and will work on a PC... which is awesome.

EDIT: PS: I hope I'm not one of the "gigantic jerks" :)
 
BTW, concerning the AC6 Saitek controller: aside from the "immersion" factor of using a HOTAS, I really can't see that this controller will be any good for Arena, considering it plays on a 2D plane. Full sized joysticks suck for that kind of twitchy gameplay. I really think that the default xbox360 controller will be a hell lot better.

I don't know, that's quite possible... but it might also make the maneuver system quite interesting. It's not a 2D plane in the sense that you move in four directions - you still pull back on your stick to loop up and down and such.

I'm willing to give it a shot... after all, I'm the guy who figured out how to play WCP GBA with a flight stick (GameCube + European Flight Stick + Gameboy Player addon).

For the record, I played Ace Combat... 3?... for the PS2 and never managed to get beyond the silly setting (modern aircraft in made up fantasy world). It seemed like an okay arcade game, and I can understand it having its own fans.
 
I don't know, that's quite possible... but it might also make the maneuver system quite interesting. It's not a 2D plane in the sense that you move in four directions - you still pull back on your stick to loop up and down and such.

I'm willing to give it a shot... after all, I'm the guy who figured out how to play WCP GBA with a flight stick (GameCube + European Flight Stick + Gameboy Player addon).

Well, it's sure worth a shot. Anyway, WCP GBA plays just like other WC games, unlike Arena. I think a shorter stick (like the analog stick in the 360's controller) is better for the quick changes in direction.

For the record, I played Ace Combat... 3?... for the PS2 and never managed to get beyond the silly setting (modern aircraft in made up fantasy world). It seemed like an okay arcade game, and I can understand it having its own fans.

Well, AC3 was on the PSX, but it doesn't matter. The gameplay and story are really great, it's quite immersive, and I'm not bothered by real planes on a fictional world, just as I'm not bothered by the opposite (i.e. fictional vehicles on the real world, like in Command & Conquer, for instance).

The fictional world makes it easier to set up whatever stories and plots they want, without stepping on anybody's toes. And it also lets them place any craft against any other craft on the missions, i.e. F-22s against F-35s.
 
I wonder if the stick would work well with my old xbox BSG game.. I frakking hate playing that game (or any flight sim style game) with a controller..

Also, I'd like to punch the designers who worked on that game.. its crazy hard! Or I just suck.. one of the two..
 
Also, I'd like to punch the designers who worked on that game.. its crazy hard! Or I just suck.. one of the two..

Wasn't 'the BSG Xbox game Warthog? You already wanted to punch them. :)
 
Hmm.. not sure..

There were some good people in the office when I was over there during my stint on P2.. but yeah.. at the end of the project, when they removed me from the credits without so much as a word, I admit to being a little pissed.

All things considered, I did get about a 2 month all-expenses paid trip to England out of the deal, so.. you know.. I can live with it..
 
It must not have been 3, then - the one I played was for the PS2.

Well, AFAIK, they are all in the same world, so it doesn't make a difference which one you've played.

I wonder if the stick would work well with my old xbox BSG game.. I frakking hate playing that game (or any flight sim style game) with a controller..

Also, I'd like to punch the designers who worked on that game.. its crazy hard! Or I just suck.. one of the two..

Arcade flight and space sims play very well on gamepads... At least a hell lot better than FPS games. :)
 
I've found that any games type can be excellent with a gamepad, be it flight sim, real time strategy or first person shooter, if the developers understand they have a large gamepad audience and put in the effort to make the controls work well.
 
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