Japan gets another shmup: Otomedius Gorgeous, or, Why we need to have another Steel Battalion
by Terrence Stasse 
{ Jul 1st 2008 at 1:00AM }
While the news that the 360 as a platform is seeing more support from Japanese developers, we do wish that that support was coming to these shores. In a move that reminds us of the good old days of large and unnecessary controllers with even more unnecessary features (hit eject or lose you game save!) the release of Otomedius Gorgeous! will be accompanied by a, ahem, Hyper Stick Pro. Otomedius Gorgeous! is a port of the partially touch-screen controlled popular Japanese arcade shoot 'em up, and to emulate the touch screen the Hyper Stick actually includes a built in touchpad just for this game.
As we said, it seems rather unlikely that this title and its crazy controller will hit western shores, but the above picture reminded us heavily of some of the best overblown controllers of our happy memories. True they are totally unnecessary for most any other game, but these things had a charm all there own, and practicality is not one of them. *Sigh* Oh well, you can still check out the hilariously awesome trailer after the break.
As we said, it seems rather unlikely that this title and its crazy controller will hit western shores, but the above picture reminded us heavily of some of the best overblown controllers of our happy memories. True they are totally unnecessary for most any other game, but these things had a charm all there own, and practicality is not one of them. *Sigh* Oh well, you can still check out the hilariously awesome trailer after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JustinB @ Jul 1st 2008 1:36AM
Another great thing about odd controllers: Homebrew! Just yesterday I heard about the repurposing of the Guitar Grip peripheral from Guitar Hero: On Tour DS game, as a set of quick-select buttons for a painting program. The DS itself has been an immensely popular platform for homebrew, in no small part due to the novelty of the dual screens mated with buttons, touch screen, microphone, and the surprisingly versatile GBA slot (see guitar grip above)
The Wii controller (and lately, Balance Board) has also spawned some truly innovative applications (on the PC much more so than the Wii, where the homebrew scene is still in its infancy (and may stay there, considering how easy it is to interface the hardware with PCs))
Hafk @ Jul 1st 2008 7:11AM
Man, just like Parodius, not going to see this.
Konami needs to stick to just making Gradius games, because those aren't too raunchy and wacky. I love Parodius, and Sexy Parodius is one of my favorite Gradius games.. but damn. I want Gradius VI. Not Gradius + Boobs AKA Otomedius. I wouldn't be angry if this game was easy to import... but it won't be. I'll have to wait 10 years to play this.
Actually, I am suprised that out of all the consoles, the American Xbox 360 is getting quite a bit of the japan shooters.
mike @ Jul 1st 2008 2:07PM
I would probably buy that just for the arcade stick. it would be really insane for mame and other such things. plus a touch-pad would be insane to hook up to a computer!
NukeAssault @ Jul 1st 2008 1:42PM
I wish there was a Steel Battalion for 360...
Any who, game looks fun. Id buy it if it ever came here. The controller? Not so much. Even though it would be awesome.
SovietSpartan @ Jul 2nd 2008 1:05PM
Oh man, I remember when my friend got Steel Batallion and then promptly sold it when he couldn't figure it out. Meanwhile, I was playing Mechwarrior 4 which to this day looks worst than Mechwarrior 3. Even chromehounds is a better game than MW4... Fasa was on a dying streak since MW4 imo.