The Razer Artemis is a “concept controller” designed exclusively for use with the upcoming Mechwarrior Online.
Back in my old Registry days, I played Mechwarrior 2 with a sweet CH stick/throttle/pedals setup that was originally intended for flight simulators – Air Warrior 2, in my case – but that turned out to be perfectly suited for giant robot combat too. Believe me, nothing goes further toward creating the feeling of “being there” than a complex, cockpit-style control setup that means you never have to take your eyes off the screen or put your hands on the keyboard.
With that in mind, Razer has joined with Piranha Games and Infinite Game Publishing to develop something very similar in function but much more purpose-built: The Razer Artemis, a “concept controller” that combines a force-feedback joystick, an integrated mini-keyboard and an LCD screen. The stick boasts multiple buttons and two hat switches and everything is fully programmable, with “inter-device communication” allowing for a high degree of customization.
“Fans of MechWarrior know how important precision controls are for their Mechs and we think this is going to be a great option for them,” said Piranha Games President Russ Bullock.
There’s not even a suggestion of a price for this bad boy yet – it’s still in the “concept” stage, remember – but you can bet that it will be somewhere north of “expensive.” For fun, let’s call it $300, which for the record isn’t that terribly much more than my old CH rig cost all those years ago, and assume that Mechwarrior Online is the best thing to happen to the franchise since Activision picked up the license. Would you fork over that kind of cash for one? I’d love to play with one of these things, but I’d kind of like to be able to pay my rent this month, too. Decisions, decisions.
Published: Jun 5, 2012 09:09 pm