Everyone wants to control his or her own giant Mech, and in 2002 Steel Battalion on the original Xbox made that possible. To make the title more like a realistic simulator than a game the developers decided to release it alongside a control panel unlike any other. While it does have a small devoted following, the Steel Battalion controller is more of a hassle than anything else: it is heavy, cumbersome and complicated. With three foot pedals, two joysticks and over 40 buttons and switches it would probably be easier to learn to fly a plane than pilot a Mech, or perhaps to learn the technology to build a Mech, then learn how to drive it. What ultimately makes this controller useless though is that it could only be used with Steel Battalion, which makes it essentially a £100 accessory that most people cannot use.
