Falcon Joystick

September 2, 2010 Brownweb 5 comments

Falcon Joystick

3D Touch Workspace – 4 x 4 x 4
Force Capabilities – > 2 lbs
Position Resolution – 400 dpi
Package includes – Novint Falcon Game Controller, Standard Novint Falcon Grip, USB cable, Newton’s Monkey Business Game Pack
Minimum System Requirements – 1.0 GHz Processor,OS – Windows XP Service Pack 2, Windows Vista, Graphic card

The Novint Falcon is an entirely new type of game controller. Replacing your mouse or joystick, the Falcon is, essentially, a small robot that lets you experience true virtual touch unlike any controller in history. The Novint Falcon lets you control a game in three dimensions, and also lets you feel high-fidelity three-dimensional force feedback. The Falcon controller moves right and left, forwards and backwards, like a mouse, but also moves up and down. When you hold the Falcon’s detachable G

Rating: (out of 24 reviews)

List Price: $ 165.99

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Computer Hardware Falcon, Joystick

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Written by P. Adams about -22161 seconds ago.

Review by P. Adams for Falcon Joystick
Rating:
First off, this thing is NOT a Wii type controller. What it is, is something completely new with enormous potential. The company is still in it’s early stages in terms of games and “grips”. The grip is the ball at the end of the 3 arms. There’s a lot of development going on right now with creating new grips that are more ergonomic and useful, and there are about 40 games in development too (some of which look to be AWESOME btw).

The device does come with some mini games bundled, some are good, some aren’t so good but really show off the Falcon’s potential. My favorite is the snowboarding, the feedback and the gameplay in this one are awesome.

It comes with a tutorial, which will leave you giggling and your jaw on the floor. One part of the tutorial has a globe in the middle of the screen; you have a hand that you control with the Falcon and the Falcon won’t move when the on-screen hand comes in contact with the edge of the globe. You can feel the contour of the globe, in THREE dimensions! The globe demo has about 8 or 9 different “textures”; one is “bumpy” where you can feel the hand bouncing over the bumps as you run it along the globe, another is “molasses” where you can put the hand through it and you feel the give…and it pops out the other end. Another is “magnetic”, where you get your hand close to the globe and it pulls you toward it. It’s completely realistic, you will NOT believe it until you try it. It also has a few other tutorials, like catching a baseball where you feel the ball from whichever direction you catch it from; swinging a ball around on a rubber band, the ball’s momentum swings you around as it goes; and a slingshot where you feel the give as you pull it back.

One thing I was worried about when I saw a picture of this online was that it didn’t look like it would hold up. There are motors in this thing, and most motors in electronic devices don’t hold up very long. But, I gotta say, I’m impressed. This device is VERY sturdy. It looks cheesy, but the thing weighs about 30 pounds. It’s built to last, don’t worry about that.

PLUS, the customer service seems to be top of the heap. I had one minor problem with a game not working, and the CS rep asked to call ME to resolve the issue. Not only that, but the CEO of the company makes it a point to answer any question asked on the official Novint BBS.

Only a few gripes. First, the controller takes up a lot of space. It also needs more games and a better grip, but these ARE in development, so I’m excited to see how it plays out. There’s a mod for Half Life 2, if you have this game; I don’t, but heard it’s amazing with the Falcon. The base is also a little bit of a concern because the Falcon can move due to the strength of the internal motors; again they’re working on new bases to attach to the Falcon. The only other gripe, is that the games are download only; games have to be programmed to work with the Falcon due to it’s revolutionary capabilities. Another thing that’s in development now is a mod to use the Falcon as a mouse, so you could use it with anything that you would use a mouse for. Check out this device, you won’t be sorry!
Written by J. Schoen about -23902 seconds ago.

Review by J. Schoen for Falcon Joystick
Rating:
The FPS genre has been using essentially the same controls since the start. Flying games, driving games and so on have adapted and allowed gamers to approach an otherwise typical driving or flying game with new immersion with the advent of steering wheels and joysticks. After having played the Falcon with Half-Life 2 (called Haptics-Life 2, a mod of HL2) I truly feel that the FPS genre has found a legitament contender to replace the mouse. The force feedback his astounding. The first time you feel the recoil of your gun, or trying to drag a heavy object with the gravity gun just forces this big grin on your face. The overall feel is sturdy and durable, this baby weighs a solid 14 pounds. The foot print is approx. the same size you need for a mouse pad, so it fits perfectly where your mouse did. A great product that just needs some more games supported by it (there is a growing list of good games, and big announcements in the future are coming!)
Written by Ryan about -25635 seconds ago.

Review by Ryan for Falcon Joystick
Rating:
The device itself is incredibly well designed, that much is clear from the first time you get to use it. It works beautifully, and while it takes a little bit of getting used to, its really changes the experience of any game you can use it in. The downsides currently – obviously its a pricy product for the current uses, tack on the cost of several new games and enthusiasts are the most likely to buy. Also its still in the early stages of game development support, but the Novint team does actively involve themselves and the community in their work, so its good to know progress is continually being made. I definitely enjoy mine, and have a blast showing it to family, friends – anyone really.
Written by Brian R. about -26015 seconds ago.

Review by Brian R. for Falcon Joystick
Rating:
This is a very new product, but it is built very well and offers an experience that no other device can offer (not even the wii). While some of the software doesn’t really use its full potential, there are titles out now that begin to showcase what this can do and I bet that even better software will be coming shortly. The company making this clearly believes in what they are doing and offer some of the best customer support you can find anywhere. The more people that get this the more support it will get and it deserves it, so what are you waiting for?
Written by E. Phillips about -28073 seconds ago.

Review by E. Phillips for Falcon Joystick
Rating:
I’m a big fan of arcade shooters with a lot of recoil (operation wolf, LA machineguns, etc) The added recoil really adds immersion. The falcon is a great way to add that immersion to PC games. You could call it a force feedback device, but that doesn’t really do it justice. It’s definitely, as the maker says, a haptic device: able to generate several pounds of force. It can be used for all sorts of games, but I normally use it for FPS. Which is good that most of the upcoming haptic supported games will be shooters. This is a great peripheral and a ton of fun to play.

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