So I was looking through the archives here at the lair, and I ran across this video from 2015. It was extolling the virtues of the Star Wars Battle Pod by Bandai / Namco, and it was unveiled at the New York Comic-Con on October 8, 2014. Being the fan of Combat Flight Sims that I am, and veteran of many trench runs from the original Atari arcade Star Wars game through the last version of X-Wing vs TIE Fighter, this appealed to be as both a Star Wars adventure and a full on Sim.
Ever since the day I discovered my first sit-down style version of the original polygon Star Wars game I dreamed of climbing into a full enveloping cockpit experience. Sure, now we can put on a set of VR goggles and get the same visual feel, but I want the sensation of climbing into a cockpit, grabbing the flight yoke & throttle and flying my first sortie. I’d image that combining this with a VR headset would bump up the immersive gaming experience even more. These Pods are still available today and will set you back $31,000 (USD). It’s no wonder why I have never seen one in person.
Star Wars has a long history of both bad to great games, while I can only judge this one via video clips, it seems like a worthy successor to the first X-Wing game for the PC that was, and still is, a delightful play. With the news about a new sim coming out in October, Star Wars: Squadron, there is no sign of slowing down by the corporate machine that is Disney / Lucasfilm om cranking out games that allow us to live out our fantasy of defending the Empire or resitting fascism in the Rebel Alliance.
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