Gaming blog Joystiq, speaking with Novint CEO Tom Anderson, reports that the haptics gaming device will be on consoles by the end of 2009 if he has anything to do with it. While a far cry from "the Novint Falcon haptics gaming device is definitely coming to consoles this winter," the declaration had moxie, dammit, and that's good enough for me.

The holdup is, unsurprisingly, the console manufacturers (Wild guess: Likely just MS and Sony), who were wary of supporting the device until a good number of developers embraced the technology. From Anderson's viewpoint, that support has materialized, somewhere, and companies are now "piling on" the Falcon.

So, a console version is more likely now than it was in September, but it's still a ways from being a done deal.

Update@7:36 a.m.: Kotaku has some Novint Falcon hands-on impressions from CES up today. Synopsis? Feels good after a short introduction, but the force feedback from gunfire is disorienting, to say the least. [Joystiq]

If you don't remember, the Falcon is a 3D joystick that actually lets you "feel" textures and surfaces by moving the ball around. We've been hearing about it for years now (I tried it at the last E3), but it's good to know that this thing is definitely solid and shipping, and not vapor. We never doubted ya, Novint. – Jason Chen

Thanks Tristan!

Product Page [Novint]

If anyone gets their hands on this thing, let us know. –Brian Lam

Both the air hockey and Half Life 2 demos were glitch-free. The grip is a little awkward at first, but nothing you can't get used to after a few minutes of play (Novint mentioned they're planning additional grips, like a pistol grip for shooters, for about $4 a pop). My only complaint is that it's pricey at $239. You could buy a Wii for that (if you can find one). And without the proper support, you essentially have a $239 paperweight. My advice: wait to see what games will support it (the Novint reps said they'd have a full list closer to launch) and decide on that. – Louis Ramirez

The cool thing about the Falcon is...

that it reacts depending on the app or game you're playing. We demoed it with Half Life and after a few seconds of adjustment found it was both easy to use and accurate. The knob has 3 buttons you use for firing, and each time you fire, the Falcon provides a push backwards. The bigger the gun you're shooting, the stronger the jolt backwards. Another demo had us pushing an object on the screen. Again, the Falcon provided resistance when pushing on the hand grip. Our only complaint was the Falcon's size. It stands pretty high and requires a bit of desktop space. It also has this weird dental machine/space robot look to it. It's not the prettiest controller out there.

Otherwise, it's expected to come out in June for $239 and will ship with a few micro games. – Louis Ramirez

Product Page

How it works: you grasp it with your fingertips in a handshake-like grip, then move it in any direction inspace and it will feel like you're actually interacting with the item on the screen. Example: If there's a rough ball on the screen, the Falcon will vibrate around the surface of the sphere and prevent you from putting your hand through the actual ball itself.

Retailing in '07 for a target price of under $100, the Falcon is geared towards FPS games, sports games, and other games where force feedback is key.

Product Page

Two videos after the jump.