Breakin' Borders

[Oompa Star]

Would I be missing much if I were to play Oratorio Tangram before the Saturn Virtual On?

[Isuka]

Oh God, does it get any better than this?... I'm totally getting myself a HD rig and a 360 as soon as Microsoft quits their fagottry and finally starts giving the system official support down here.

As for the differences between VOOM and VOOT, it doesn't look like much besides added depth to the game mechanics. And speed, lotsa it.

[Baba O'Riley]

In terms of story? Well, at its core, it's a fighting game, so... no.

OT is much better, in my opinion. I think action games should be ridiculously fast paced, and OT manages to do that without sacrificing complexity.

[G.Silver]

The only reason I would really recommend playing OMG first is so you can be eased into the speed and complexity of it, because OT is faster and more complex. Also, if you want to play OMG at all, you should play it first, because--for me at least--going back to it after the sequel is kind of depressing. I have fond memories but I don't really like playing it anymore.

[Arcade]

I bet that when the game goes to USA, they will try to sell it as a new "Robotech"...

[Isuka]

Arcade, this game has already been published in America by Activision with its original name, characters and plot unchanged, go eat glue somewhere else.

Here's the official site: http://vo-ot360.sega.jp/
And the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmWXztfP74g&fmt=18

[gr4yJ4Y]

I lucked out and got VO:OT on ebay for under $10 last fall. I didn't see as good of a deal for it now though. It's a fun game, with a relatively steep learning curve with the controls.

It was a cult-classic too, and people willing to forgive its minor shortcomings had a blast, although not everyone got to experience it, as the arcade renditions were somewhat pricey and weren't widely distributed in America.

I don't know about anywhere else, but they were all over the place in the Detroit area. I can think of them being at a Pizza Hut, an ice rink, and at least 3 different arcades in the late '90's. There's one that's still operating at my college's gaming area too. I'd be surprised if I walked over to Dave and Buster's and there wasn't one there.

[Isuka]

Back to BB: http://borderbreak.com/movie/bb_aou.wmv
It's 227 MB because someone at SEGA deemed the audio important enough as to be losslessly coded, so if you don't mind shit quality: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfZYq3CZ3cQ

It sports a touchscreen interface to communicate with the other blast runners and you use IC cards to customize your unit, among other things.

Oh, and here are the specifications for the RingEdge's hardware: http://sega.jp/corp/release/2009/0220/
It seems quite weak compared to the Europa-R, but still a step above Lindbergh.

[Isuka]

An interview with some Japanese dude who's apparently the game's development director:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRoD53eFlQQ&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yiyxK0cmEU&fmt=18

[Isuka]

Third "chapter": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXswexwr6zo&fmt=18

Gettin' hotter 'n hotter.

[Isuka]

The remaining three:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZISXnFP154&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwXtNBPtNWY&fmt=18
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqSHPDbvdQA

The last one is pretty much the game in all its fast-paced, deliciously chaotic glory.