I got my hands on some radical new gaming interfaces today and I have this to say: if you’re still using a wired game controller to play games, you are a dinosaur. Thanks to the breakneck pace of gaming technology, wired game controllers will soon be nothing more than crumbling fossils, relics of an ancient past depicted in rudimentary cave paintings. I’m exaggerating only slightly.
Most people play ‘FPS’ (First Person Shooter) games so they can shoot people, but getting shot can be fun too. Today I sustained multiple gunshot wounds without any of the messy consequences of reality, like bleeding and going to the emergency room. TN Games’ FPS Vest utilizes 8 pressure points and an air compression system to provide whole body force feedback, simulating explosions, gunshots, punches, and even G forces with racing and flight simulators.
I have to admit, I was pretty apprehensive about putting something on my body that would allow me to feel the painful consequences of my in-game actions, but the FPS Vest’s force feedback never becomes uncomfortable. I wasn’t particularly skilled with the pack in game “Third Space Incursion,” but I’m happy to report that dying actually doesn’t hurt. In addition, the feedback is context specific. Depending on if you’re shot in the back with a shotgun or in the chest with a pistol, the pressure points in the afflicted area will inflate. For example, at one point while I was attempting to familiarize myself with the game’s controls, I accidentally tossed a grenade at my feet and all eight pressure points triggered as I was caught in the ensuing explosion.
The FPS Vest is currently retails for $189 and is bundled with the concurrently developed ‘FPS’ title "3rd Space Incursion." The vest will also launch this November with the PC version of "Call of Duty 4" by virtue of a patch.
Right next door, the Novint Falcon was on display.
At first sight, the Novint Falcon looks like incomprehensible alien technology. A plastic ball is connected via a series of vastly complicated interlocking hinges to a 8 pound base crammed with seemingly arcane technology. The sum of all of this complicated engineering is best described as a ultra high tech mouse. The Falcon plunges your hand into the game space, allowing for not only control, but a wide variety of force and touch feedback within a virtual 3D space. For instance, if a game requires you to plunge your hand into a puddle of mud, you will feel resistance going in, then increasing resistance as you attempt to pull your hand out.
Aside from its obvious FPS(first person shooter) applications, the Falcon was used to fire a slingshot, shoot a longbow, and for a wide array of other functions. The Falcon retails for $239 is bundled with the original Novint titles "Newton’s Monkey Business" and the "Feelin’It Sports Pack." Mods are also available for "Half Life 2" and "Half Life 2: Episode 1."
The Falcon and the FPS vest, along with the motion game play offered by the Nintendo Wii and the Sony Playstation 3 are only a small part of the growing trend towards ultra realistic games in the industry. Millions of dollars are spent on physics engines and graphics rendering technology for the purpose of making people and environments in a game act and look like they do in the real world. This begs the question: what’s the point of spending millions of dollars to create recreate reality in games when reality is right outside the borders of your TV or computer screen?
The essential function of a video game is to offer an interactive experience that is unavailable or otherwise incomparable to those in our lives. For instance, I finally beat Twilight Princess for the Nintendo Wii last week. In the process of saving the kingdom of Hyrule from an evil overlord, I wielded the Master Sword as the Hero of Time and transformed into a wolf. After I put the controller down, I slogged through a problem set for Mathematics 31A, one of many to come. We play games not just to escape but to have new experiences. The trend towards ultra realism in gaming can only enhance our enjoyment of those experiences.
-Frank Shyong