Ever want to touch your games? Don't answer that. In January, Shoes and I stumbled upon possibly one of the coolest things to hit gaming in some time. A company called Novint plans to bring a technology previously only available in the private sector to the consumer level and their primary target is gamers. That's right, what was previously quite an expensive piece of technology is now available to the public for around $240.

While walking the floor today, I ran into them again and was eager to actually be able to sit down for a long period of time. The gentleman who helped me was very patient as I quite literally took over the Half-Life 2 station and proceeded to go through the levels. If you haven't read our coverage from CES 2007 allow me to inform you on the innovation that is the Novint Falcon.


Previously, the most immersion we could attain was a mouse, keyboard, 5.1 audio, and force feedback. Now imagine if the force feedback was more than just a little vibration, but something that impacted you directly according to the environment. As you can see from the picture, your handle is a sphere with mounted buttons. The center button was your fire and as the bullets flew, the Falcon would pull the sphere away and up as if there was actual recoil. While driving the hover boat in HL2, there was significant resistance and glide while using the Falcon. For example, while driving along the water and taking a sharp turn against the water, I would have to apply quite a bit of pressure. However, once the boat spun the way I wanted and maybe started to glide a bit, I would feel a release in the direction I was turning and incredible force to counter steer due to the water.

This is one product that you simply can't describe without getting your hands on it. It brings a whole new dimension to gaming and immersion. Novint has motors inside that actually work against you and control the sphere as much as you do. For instance, one demo has a big ball in the center of the screen with different textures on its surface. You can use the Falcon to run your hand along the surface and feel the textures. They turned the sphere to a rubbery gel consistency and I would feel resistance while pushing forward, but it would bounce back like rubber would. If I pushed hard enough, it would actually pop through and the resistance would disappear. It truly is a unique experience.

What's the catch? Well, unfortunately due to the level of immersion and the control this baby allows, it has to be programmed for each game. To play HL2 with the Falcon, you must install the Haptics mod. Haptics, from what I gather, is the name they are using for this type of physical interaction. Mods are quickly being developed for many games and they are working closely with as many developers as they can. Come mid-October, you will be able to purchase the Falcon at CompUSA.

Personally, I would give this some time to mature and support more games, but definitely something I would purchase when and if it becomes a standard.