A Steel (Battalion) at $199.95
Capcom announces launch dates and pricing
Capcom has confirmed the asking price for the Steel Battalion, their ambitious Xbox mech "simulation" with a controller almost three times the size of the console itself, along with the game's release date. American fans anxious to get their hands (and presumably cranes, trucks and HGVs) on the game, which is known as Tekki in Japan, need wait only as long as November, when the game will arrive with the simply astonishing price tag of $199.95, or £129 / €203.
Given the tendency in this industry for the European price to reflect the American one in all but denomination, Steel Battalion will likely retail for £199.99, significantly more than the console itself.
That said, the 40-button controller has been designed with extraordinary attention to detail, and not just in aesthetic terms. Players will be able to control every aspect of their Vertical Tank, with trigger buttons to fire weapons, levers to overate gears and strafing, and separate foot pedals for acceleration, boosting and brakes. There are plenty of more pointless options too, and the controller actually resembles the interior of a flight cabin on a jumbo jet at times. There is even a red self-destruct button with one of those Plexiglas domes to stop you nudging it.
The only problem we can see with the controller is convincing your girlfriend that it needs to be there.