Battle of the Periscopes: Battlezone or Seawolf?

Phetishboy

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Sure, both are tall, both have periscopes/viewfinders and both have steps, but which is the better game? Which would you rather own? Do you have both? (If you do, and they are next to each other, post a pic.) Would you if you could? I choose Sea Wolf, but only because I own it and it is one of my favorites from the Silver Age. As an aside, would Sea Wolf have been better as a vector game? Also, if Sea Wolf would have been an Atari game, do you think they would have made a cabaret for it?

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I have a Battlezone and have a pending deal on a Seawolf.

Both are very cool games and quite unique in their own way. One thing I like about Seawolf is the short duration of the game where you have to make key shots to maximize your score and there is little room for error, wheras Battlezone can go on forever if you are good enough. Seawolf also has some cool EM aspects to the game like the lit up information in the periscope and the cool sound effects. What would have made battlezone a bit cooler would have been a movable turret instead of a shroud with a viewing box.

I am not sure Seawolf would have been cool as a cabaret. For one thing, you would not have the periscope and the game would have lost quite a bit of its immersive experience. It would have been like playing Target Fun on your Atari.

For me Battlezone does not really work as a cabaret game. You lose the immersive experience.
 
I have a Battlezone and have a pending deal on a Seawolf.

Both are very cool games and quite unique in their own way. One thing I like about Seawolf is the short duration of the game where you have to make key shots to maximize your score and there is little room for error, wheras Battlezone can go on forever if you are good enough. Seawolf also has some cool EM aspects to the game like the lit up information in the periscope and the cool sound effects. What would have made battlezone a bit cooler would have been a movable turret instead of a shroud with a viewing box.

I am not sure Seawolf would have been cool as a cabaret. For one thing, you would not have the periscope and the game would have lost quite a bit of its immersive experience. It would have been like playing Target Fun on your Atari.

For me Battlezone does not really work as a cabaret game. You lose the immersive experience.

I agree with you on that aspect. How about taking it a step further, along the same lines as Sea Wolf II, would Battlezone II have worked? Maybe you each view toward the others tank? Or maybe you both run the same missions in co-op mode with some kind of goal?

seawolfII.png
 
I prefer the Sea Wolf periscope even though it's way too low for adults. I always hated the BZ scope on the UR 'cause it really serves no purpose and it's in the way. And I never would rest my fore-head in the thing... yuck. I kinda' like the open-face BZ... There was one at CAX '10. But even that seems a little too much in my face. And, well BZ is just plain boring...

And the movement of the Sea Wolf periscope actually is part of the game play...

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I prefer the Sea Wolf periscope even though it's way too low for adults. I always hated the BZ scope on the UR 'cause it really serves no purpose and it's in the way. And I never would rest my fore-head in the thing... yuck. I kinda' like the open-face BZ... There was one at CAX '10. But even that seems a little too much in my face. And, well BZ is just plain boring...

And the movement of the Sea Wolf periscope actually is part of the game play...

2011-08-24_200257.png

I wondered how you'd respond, as you are such a whiz at Battlezone. (I took a whiz ON a Battlezone once, but that's about as far as I got.) No, that's a lie, I did play Brentradio's Battlezone back in '07. I thought the game was cool, but stark.
 
I would have to choose Battlezone, and I don't have a Seawolf but used to play it BITD. Maybe it's my armor background that makes me prefer it, plus I do like the old vector games better. I do agree that the cabaret takes away from the experience, but I am actually used to my cabaret and I just didn't have the room for an upright. I would have to say that the reason I prefer BZ is that the player had to think in term of 3-D as opposed to 2-D for Seawolf. With Seawolf what you see is what you get, where with BZ there is a bunch going on off screen that the player has to be aware of.
 
For me Battlezone does not really work as a cabaret game. You lose the immersive experience.
Just personal opinion... I prefer the cabaret for marathonage. Much easier on the neck and shoulders. But, obviously the cabaret is not as flashy. I can do without the immersion.;)
 
Are there any other periscope/view finder games from between 1976-1986? Not EM, I'm taking video only. I'm sure there must be, but I can't think of any right now.
 
I've never played Sea Wolf. I was never a big fan of Battlezone mainly for the reason mentioned about the germy feel.
 
I agree with you on that aspect. How about taking it a step further, along the same lines as Sea Wolf II, would Battlezone II have worked? Maybe you each view toward the others tank? Or maybe you both run the same missions in co-op mode with some kind of goal?

seawolfII.png

Or like a real tank...one is the driver... and one operates the turret?
 
I wondered how you'd respond, as you are such a whiz at Battlezone. (I took a whiz ON a Battlezone once, but that's about as far as I got.) No, that's a lie, I did play Brentradio's Battlezone back in '07. I thought the game was cool, but stark.
Yeah, one of my faves BITD. But it was difficult to argue against or defend, back then and now, it's complete boringness...
BZ just happened to be 1 of 3 games at the lanes. So, not much selection pre-1981...

Our paths crossed again... I played BZ at Brent's, Gawd how long ago now?.. Summer of '07. 500k on the dot with tanks left over.

I WANT A SEAWOLF... NOW!!
 
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Are there any other periscope/view finder games from between 1976-1986? Not EM, I'm taking video only. I'm sure there must be, but I can't think of any right now.

There was Up Scope, Never played it, and Subrock-3d which was fun but Sea Wolf is still my favorite.
 
There are actually a few cool military themed games still in arcades such as the game where you wear a virtual reality helmet and have 3D perspective (forget the name) and also there is a tank battle game where you sit inside, the LCD screen comes down and you play a WWII tank simulation as though you are sitting in the tank. The tank game has some force feedback I think.

And there are the Silent Scope games. Always wanted to pick up one of these, with the code 11 error fixed...
 
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