Gizmodo: Novint Falcon

Novint Falcon Force Feedback Controller Gets Valve Support

Jason Chen — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 15:40:00 EDT

The long-in-development force-feedback PC game device Novint Falcon is a good idea in theory, but without actual support from games there's not a whole lot you can do with it. Good news though, since Valve just announced support with the controller for PC versions of The Orange Box, Counter-Strike: Source, the Half-Life 2 series, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Left 4 Dead. With the pistol grip accessory it'll be fine for every game, but what we really have hopes for is fiddling around with that gravity gun and feeling the force feedback with it. [Novint via Crunchgear]

The Novint Falcon Sex Toy

Jason Chen — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:00:10 EDT

So this is why the Novint Falcon force feedback controller was delayed so long? So they could work out the Fleshlight integration? All is understood and forgiven, Novint. [Slashdong via Fleshbot]

Novint Falcon 3D Joystick Finally Shipping

Brian Lam — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 21:03:18 EDT

We hear that the Novint Falcon 3D haptic joystick, originally due over a year ago, is finally shipping. It's always good when products emerge from the vapor.

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

Touchy Novint Falcon Finally Coming in June

Louis Ramirez — Tue, 01 May 2007 16:34:14 EDT

We've been following Novint's Falcon controller since its birth, and now the folks at Novint tell us their pasty white baby is ready to make its debut. The Falcon will be out June 18th for $239. In a nutshell, the 3D controller lets you play games via a handshake-like grip that offers a more realistic experience via force feedback and tactile sensation. The Falcon will come with 24 mini games and a four-game sports pack, which will include titles like air hockey and tennis. So how does it play/feel? For the most part, it's pretty smooth.

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

Hands On with Novint's 3D Game Controller

Louis Ramirez — Mon, 15 Jan 2007 10:30:10 EST

We saw a lot of controllers at CES, but Novint's Falcon stood out from the pack. It's a force feedback 3D controller designed for PC games. Users hold the grip handshake style and can then move it up/down, left/right, or backwards/forwards.

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

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