Yall may not realize it, but you have all played a game based on a FASA work.  They created analog games for two decades and there titles live on in both video and analog game forms.

FASA stands for Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration.  Which if you know your classic films is the country in Duck Soup.  For those of you who dont know their Marx Brothers films:

Its kinda like how two of Queens albums are named after Marx brothers films.

One of the greatest films of all time aside, FASA created or fostered a lot of classic American game series.  Their analog games and RPGs are top notch  Battletech, Crimson Skies, Shadowrun, Earthdawn, and the shortlived Doctor Who and Star Trek RPGs.  FASA closed their doors in 2001 and their properties were scattered to the four winds.  Luckily, Smith and Tinker have obtained a lot of them and have been bringing them back in full force (Sorry Wizkids, you had your shot). 

However there have always been videogames based on FASA titles.  Those videogames run the gamut of good to unplayable.  Out of those we are going to concentrate on their three biggest titles:
1.   Battletech
2.   Crimson Skies
3.   Shadowrun

1. Battletech
Battletech is probably the best known of all FASA series, however not in its original form.  Battletech provides the universe for Mechwarrior.  While Battletech was more cartoony, Mechwarrior was more gritty.  The two coexisted mostly sharing the universe until one fateful day in 1990 when the first Battletech Center launched.  Battletech Centers were arcades that ran large pods that were pretty much Mechwarrior cabinets: the newest model  Tesla IIs, run a modified version of Mechwarrior 4 distributed by Mektek.  There is no good way to describe a Battletech pod.  You get in it, there is a throttle for your left hand, a joystick on you right, five monitors infront of you, lots of buttons and switches, and you are piloting a big robot.  It is worth whatever the cost to play it atleast once, regardless if you like the game or not.  I would easily consider it in the top three gaming moments possible.  A couple months ago I interviewed the guys that run Mechcorps in Texas for the Racketboy Podcast, itll go live in a few weeks with lots of pictures, but you really just have to play it.  (it went live without pictures last week)

But to get back on topic, Battletech is Mechwarrior, and Mechwarrior has some great games (Mechwarrior 2 and 4) and some horrible ones (Mechwarrior 3050 and MechAssault Phantom War).   Overall the Battletech video games are stellar and span several Genres.  From Simulation, to RTS, to Arcade.

2. Crimson Skies
Ok Ill admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for the 30s styled pulp and noir.  Crimson Skies is a boardgame that takes place in an alternative history 1930s where the USA has become nothing but an area for air pirates to rule.  Aptly described by the creator as 16th Century Caribbean in the skies of 1930 America.  Essentially, you build your squadron and try to take out the enemies.  It is a lot of fun, but very expensive to get into (all lead minis twenty years out of print does that).  Wizkids did a reboot that was ok, but like the Mechwarrior one it only survived for a short time (much shorter than Mechwarrior though). 

Crimson Skies was turned into four pc games.  Two arcade games: one of which I have NEVER seen in the wild, the other is in one of those rotating pods made by Microsoft.  There was a soso PC game and an excellent Xbox game also released.  I would go so far to say that Crimson Skies is in my top three exclusive titles for the original Xbox (under Halo and Steel Battalion). 

3. Shadowrun
Futuristic D&D with magic and guns is all one of my friends had to say to sell me on the concept of Shadowrun.  Rolling fistfuls of six sided dies would have sold me faster - I am one of those gamers who would play a game about growing plants if it means I can roll 40 dies at once.  Shadowrun is an RPG set in a future where magic coexists with technology.  So elves that blend into the building walls while they sight their prey in their sniper rifle.  And dwarves that command radio controlled helicopters with machineguns on them.  If that sounds up your alley, yes it is a lot of fun if you have the right group playing it.

Shadowrun was turned into three specific videogames (there are more but we are looking at three).  An RPG for the Genesis, an RPG for the SNES, and a FPS for the 360/PC.  The RPGs are fun little titles but apart from the universe have little to compare to the actual game.  Dont get me wrong, Shadowrun on the Genesis is a fantastic rpg, just not as good as a campaign.  But Shadowrun on the 360 is terrible.  It is Counter Strike with magic and the ability to let PC players play against console gamers.  Well thats sounds great on paper, but with no auto aim and having to rely on sticks to turn around instead of a mouse, well the servers that let both types of players play were shutdown for obvious reasons. 

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