A lot of information has come out about Bandai Namco Amusement’s Star Wars Battle Pod so far, but there is always a little bit more to uncover with these arcade games.
In checking in with Sam Ven of BNA, here is some additional information I uncovered about the game. My questions/comments are in italics, his answers are in bold:
–How long are the missions?
The time varies by each mission but the numbers seem to be in line with Mach Storm.
-Do any of the internal hardware features differ from Mach Storm (air blower, seat vibration, etc)?
All pretty similar. The only thing I really noticed was that rear speakers are now on the seat back as opposed to the side of the cabinet like the ones in Mach Storm.
-Can units link together for any sort of multiplayer?
The version that was shown cannot be linked. (Ed. note: That doesn’t mean the final won’t be the same but Mach Storm was not a linkable game)
-Will this allow for updates either online or via USB so BNA can add stuff like Episode VII content when the next movie is released?
Updates can be made through a USB stick. I have no other information on future content as well as delivery methods at the moment.
-What is the hardware that this is running on? A PC-based board like the ES3, a PlayStation based board or something else?
I’m not quite sure on the exact system but I do know that it is the first arcade game to be using Unreal Engine 4.
-Do you know what resolution this is running at?
I know it is running at least at 720p but I will try to get a more accurate answer for you. (Ed. note: All of the screenshots below are at 1080p. Given what the videos have shown, it is safe to say this game runs at the equivalent of 1080p@60FPS; some variance in the resolution is probably present due to the dome screen curvature so the DPI would be on par with 1080p in that case)
-Will MSRP be similar to Mach Storm?
I do not have informaton on MSRP at this time.
-Are there any plans or discussions to make a “standard” version perhaps with a curved screen instead of the dome projection that would allow smaller budgets to consider the game? Will there be an upgrade kit for Mach Storm units?
I cannot comment on other versions other than the one being shown. I don’t know about update kits for Mach Storm..
Thanks to Mr. Ven for taking the time to answer these questions.
In case you missed it, here is the official trailer for the game:
Videos are great so you see how the game is in action but in case you want to pause all that for some higher resolution analysis, screenshots are good too. Thanks to the person who answered the questions above, we have these shots below. Most of them came in 1920×1080 resolution (with some jpeg compression) so I have to size them down on the page here but if you use The Force of your mouse click you can see them in full big screen glory. There is a lot of detail in this game, the backgrounds, the color, the lighting and the framerate help this stand out as one of the best looking games on the current arcade market.
This one is from the special bonus mission where you play as Darth Vader in his TIE Fighter.
That’s all for now, we certainly will have more info when it becomes available!
seems the one question not answered (or asked) was if Mach Storm can be updated to Star Wars – Bandai seems to be dodging that one!
I did ask that, very last question “Will there be an upgrade kit for Mach Storm units?” but he wasn’t able to say yet :/ Granted, Namco has not been huge on kits but they did have Tekken Tag 2 and Deadstorm Pirates SE I believe. Seems like it would be prudent to do this, guess we’ll find out at IAAPA!
DeadStorm Pirates SE is not available as kit format in Europe. However, Namco offers the ability to exchange your old DeadStorm cabinet for a DeadStorm Pirates SE cab for a price.