Insert Coin – Star Wars Battle Pod

Some of the very best Star Wars games ever made have been the ones that didn’t have you swinging a lightsaber around or using the Force to choke yourself for horrible, sexual reasons. Games where you piloted an X-Wing starfighter, hopped into a TIE interceptor or went on a suicide run in an A-Wing. Games like Rogue Squadron, TIE Fighter and that opening level from Shadows Of The Empire. Star Wars games have been in arcades before, but you’ve never done a Death Star run in this kind of cockpit before.

Unlike previous arcade iterations, this particular Star Wars game is aiming for a more immersive experience. Key to all of that, is the dome screen technology that wraps the game visuals around your head and body, like an oversized Stormtrooper helmet that actually has peripheral vision. According to Bandai Namco lead producer, this will allow players to dive straight in:

Using the dome screen, with it’s revolutionary capability of letting you of letting you dive straight into the image, you can fully experience the Star Wars’ world’s sense of realism without impediment.

It looks like an absolute coin-guzzler of a machine, one that will allow fans to replay the classic Death Star runs from A New Hope and Return Of The Jedi, as well as the Hoth evacuation from The Empire Strikes Back. Just like in other Star Wars games, you’ll be swapping vehicles for missions, as you jet around in the classic X-Wing Fighter, Darth Vader’s personal TIE fighter, the Millenium Falcon or a speeder bike.

The arcade unit itself clocks in at a hefty 1200 pounds, or 544 Kilograms. That’s almost as heavy as yo momma. Speakers are positioned all around you, while the chair vibrates with the intensity normally reserved for first class air travellers. You could say that this unit is strong in the force feedback.

Last Updated: January 29, 2015