Yes, now there's an official Hawken controller.

While the Razer Artemis didn't exactly sell me right off the bat, this thing has WANT written all over it, especially since that left stick appears to have 2DoF like the right stick (unlike the Steel Battalion controller). It's also rife with indicators, dials, switches, and even a little keyboard.

$250 be damned, I'd still buy it if it's reliable, well-built, and the drivers are highly programmable (I'm not talking about Logitech or Saitek-level here; at this price point, you're in Thrustmaster and CH Products territory, and that means logical programming at a bare minimum, ideally a scripting language).

I'm sorry, $250 for a mech controller? For Hawken, no. Maybe for BattleTech (MechWarrior Online?).

I'd definitely rather use this to play MechWarrior Online instead of the Razer Artemis.

They don't have the Steel Battalion excuse of being a console game, where limited peripheral support is expected. (And even then, with a simple cable adapter and the VTCHID drivers, you can even use that controller on a PC.)

It's a PC peripheral, so I expect no less than full-blown DirectInput support, and the ability to map physical inputs to DirectInput axes and buttons (along with keyboard and mouse inputs) as needed at the driver level. With that capability, it can work with any game you want.

Then again, it's too early to tell, and it's not like I've seen huge oversights in that department before. *glances at Logitech with the G940 being split into three different DirectInput devices that can't be merged with the official drivers*

Realism be damned, Mech games are fancy fps, and for competitive games, Mouse is just better. I'm a joystick and mouse kind of guy, but I just can't imagine two sticks being faster or more accurate than one stick and a mouse.

I like the direction they are taking though... a lot of you build pits in your house, wouldn't mind a pit setup just beinhg handed to me. (for a big fat price tag, apparently)...

The mouse is better for accuracy without a doubt, but it's kind of an immersion killer at least for me.

Well, for PC mech games, I definitely prefer mouse aiming for obvious reasons.

But that's assuming that they all fit the MechWarrior or Heavy Gear style of combat. Mouse aiming wouldn't help much in something like the original Steel Battalion because most projectiles are painfully slow and everyone can just slidestep right out of the way...also, everyone effectively has a built-in aimbot every time they lock on to someone. It's more about not getting hit than hitting the opponent more times in just the right places.

In other words, not all mech combat games are fancy FPSs.

I would HOPE that using a mouse would not be an advantage in a mech game. I'd expect a certain cap on movement and targeting, as well as some kind of auto-aim or assistance as you'd expect in a huge futuristic walking tank. If you target as fast as you can move a mouse, I don't want any part of that mech game. A good mech game should be about tactics, teamwork and of course good mech building. Not reflexes.

That controller is pretty cool, would be very immersive, much more so than that kinect crap. It's like a jr. size Steel Battalion controller.
But not at $250 unless I saw a major future for mech games with it.

There is no AutoAim in MechWarrior Online.
Your Torso twist is tied to your Chassis. ability.
Your Arm Speed (there are two reticles with a pipper!!! Not your father's Mechwarrior) is also controlled by your Arm/Hand Actuator Chassis speed.

That being said, a mouse is just easier than thumbstick/Jstick in my opinion. Its not "faster" or "more accurate", but I sure am!

So, I control my mech with the stick, and the arms/Torso with a mouse.

MechWarrior Online actually limits your turning/aiming speed based on what the actuators in the torso and arms are capable of, unlike prior titles?

That's an interesting way to not totally unbalance things in favor of mouse users, and come to think of it, Steel Battalion does the same thing. (You have a box that indicates where the aiming lever is positioned, and the reticles for your main and sub weapons more or less try to catch up to it if you make quick, large movements.)

For that matter, it also makes the arms not completely useless. Back with MechWarrior 2, you might as well just use the arms for holding ammo because they'd get blown off anyway, and a common strategy was actually to strip all the armor off the arms so that it could be distributed across the rest of the 'Mech. MechWarrior 3 tried to alleviate this by increasing your firing arc toward a given direction for weapons mounted on the corresponding arm, but it didn't really feel like enough.

Oh, and while I'm on the topic of MW3, it had a free-floating reticle mode for mouse users. Kind of like Steel Battalion, except without the slew rate limits. Assault Tech 1: Battletech also uses it, surprisingly enough for a fan work based more on MW2. Unfortunately, MW4 removed it. Is MWO bringing it back?

Looks interesting

I'm just hoping that The Razer Artemis and this are capable of controlling other games properly...

I have a feeling that the software will be... er... crap :P

I sure hope not.

Unfortunately, after using the likes of the TM HOTAS Cougar's Control Panel + Foxy (never tried T.A.R.G.E.T. with it) and the CH Products Control Manager, everything else seems like crap by comparison. Total control over which physical inputs are mapped to which DirectInput buttons and axes, along with programming/scripting capabilities.

The Razer Artemis' touchscreen complicates things immensely, since we don't know if it'll actually serve as a second monitor yet, or if only certain supported games will use it as such.