Review: Novint Falcon
By Tim Hage on Apr 3rd, 2009 at 7:04PM
The Novint Falcon is one of those computer accessories that is most gamer’s fantasy. Sure, it has some awesome technology built into it and it offers a whole new dimension in gaming, but to most gamers, it will remain a fantasy rather then a reality partially due to the price, but also because it’s hard to believe that something could replace the mouse in some games. I am one of those gamers that was given the rare opportunity of testing a Novint Falcon. For those of you that have no idea what a Novint Falcon is, it is a highly advanced input device that uses similar technology as current driving wheels, to provide force feedback in games. It takes the mouse’s role as your primary pointing device, allowing you to actually feel the kick of shooting a gun.
The first game I tested the Falcon on was Crysis. In the beautiful world of Crysis, the Falcon flourishes. It takes a few hours of gameplay before you are comfortable with the layout and feel of the Falcon, but once you get the hang of it, it is actually quite fun. Surprisingly, your reaction time is slowed a bit because it is harder to perform more precise tasks with the Falcon. Sure, another few hours of play and you’ll get close to the same reaction time and precision you would achieve with the mouse. Novint was nice enough to ship the pistol-grip attachment with the Falcon and that helped quite a bit to make games feel more natural. This attachment is not included with the Falcon, but you buy it from them too. I strongly suggest you get one if you buy a Falcon.
As one would expect, a device as advanced as the Falcon is bound to have its bad points and the Falcon is no exception. While it does perform its job rather well, I can’t help but think that it could be vastly improved if the part that you hold onto was on a ball-joint. Rather than up, down, left and right, you would have full circular motion allowing for even more movements that would feel very natural and believable. It can become very easy to become disoriented, especially in FPS games. You will naturally want to bring the controller to the center of it’s range when you want to stop looking around, but often that will move your crosshairs slightly, throwing you off target. Also, if you push directly forward, or pull back on the arm, this will yield no movement on screen. Only when you move the arm up or down will you get a response in-game.
Surprisingly, the Falcon still only offers a small collection of big games to its supported list. For a device that has been on the market for a few years now, I expected a larger list of games that I would be able to test on. They are, however, offering a large collection of in-house developed games that display the Falcon’s feedback abilities quite well. And on top of that, they have a large list full of big-name titles to be supported in the coming months.
In all reality, it was a very fun and interesting experience, but I don’t think any input device could replace the mouse at this point. Sure, the Falcon only aims (no pun intended) to takeover the mouse’s job in a few games, but quite often if/when you die in said game, you can’t help but think “If I was using my mouse….”. It is very hard to get past that fact, especially when you also factor in the price of the Falcon. But you have to keep in mind, you’re not buying a new mouse, you’re buying a very advanced piece of technology that is still rather young in its life cycle.
Scores
- Price: 7
When directly compared to the price of high-end gaming mice, the Falcon is very expensive, but when you look at it like a highly advanced piece of technology, the price is still high, but nearly justified.
- Setup/Install: 9
Setting up the Falcon is as easy as setting up any gaming mouse. Install the software, plug in the device and you’re ready to go. You will also have to install the support patch to the game you’re planning to play.
- Ease of Use: 8
The Falcon is very easy to use. The problem you will run into is that it takes some practice to get as fast and precise as you would be with your mouse of choice.
- Performance: 8
The Falcon performs perfectly and flawlessly in the games that have the proper support.
- Features: 7
Although Novint was nice enough to include their pistol-grip attachment, the Falcon doesn’t offer a whole lot of features. One thing it does offer is a collection of free mini games that display exactly what the Falcon is capable of.
Overall: 8 Olives
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What games did you test it with Tim?
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Crysis, Half-Life 2 (and Episode 1) and several of the little games that are included for free with every Falcon. I was hoping their support for Portal would be available before my review went up, but no luck.
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Does it have CoD4 support?
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Sadly, no. They are working on loads of big games, check their site to view the list http://home.novint.com/games/release_schedule.php
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I almost totally forgot about this. I kind of wanted one before, but I didn’t like the price. The maker of garry’s mod has one and he’s thinking about adding support for it that would be pretty neat.
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Tim, thanks for having a look at the Falcon. I have a couple comments – One of the things we have been finding (which you mentioned, but which I want to emphasize), especially with current releases like the current beta release of Team Fortress 2, is that when people spend enough time with the Falcon they report they are actually more effective with it than a mouse. I’ve personally crossed that threshold where I’m much better with the Falcon than a mouse. In fairness, the hours on the Falcon are often 2-3 compared to thousands of hours on the mouse when people report their initial experiences. Generally, I think it is 10-20 hours before you really get as proficient as a mouse, and with more time you’ll surpass your mouse skills.
We do have a lot of games coming up which you mentioned. Also, for reference, we have our F-Gen drivers coming out soon which will allow any game to be played with the Falcon, which will be cool. We’ll still have our high definition 3D touch games as well.
Also, the Portal beta is up now, and you can try it out within Steam (as well as HL2:Ep2, and Team Fortress 2. Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike Source, and Battlefield 2 are all very close too)
thx, tomnovint, ceo
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Tom,
Wow, Portal with one of these????!?!?!? EPIC! I might have to spend some money and buy myself one!
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Also, any date on when the F-Gen drivers come out?
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Portal is great with the Falcon – really makes you feel more like you are in the game. F-Gen drivers are probably about 2 months out. We already have the basic mouse driver implementation, but we are trying to figure out clever ways to get more sophisticated forces when we don’t have full source access. thx, tomnovint
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Thanks for the news on the added support, Tom. Sounds awesome and I’m so playing Portal with the Falcon!
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cool. Here’s how…
Launch Steam
go to File -> Settings
where it says “Beta participation”, click “Change”
in the pull-down, select “Novint Falcon – EP2/Portal Beta”
Hit OK
Hit OK again
then the games should download updates. When the updates are downloaded, make sure your Falcon is plugged in and working. Then start Portal or HL2 Ep2 as you normally would. the Falcon will control the games.
V1 release will be out soon, and it will automatically work for everyone without any extra steps, but the beta works until then.
thx, tomnovint
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I actually just got one towards the beginning of March. The game support is definitely a downside but Crysis alone is worth it. Crysis is the best example of what can be done with what’s out there for Falcon support today.
Halflife played alright, but Crysis feels natural. I have gotten further in the game then I ever got with just the mouse and keyboard because it’s so much fun… even walking over rocks provides feedback, and you feel the direction you’re being shot from, helping to imerse you in the world further.
The games that come with it are fairly bunk, but there’s a demo you must try that gives you a sphere with various textures such as bumpy, sandpaper, and others that you can feel through the Falcon.
An amazing piece of engineering that could definitely take off if game developers built this into their games. Crysis is a mod so you’re stuck for multi unless everyone has it – and I’m nervous about the prospect of having to repurchase an EA licensed version of Prostreet or Battlefield 2/2142 but otherwise I think they’re on track for their game support.
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Wow Josh, I don’t know you but it sounds like you should remove your nose from novints ass for a little while or you might suffocate!!
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Jason, Josh’s post is on par with all of our customer reviews (most actually are even more positive, actually). You should try the Falcon, and I bet you would think he’s just telling it like it is. The field we’re working in, haptics or computer touch, is one of the few technologies we’ll see in our lifetime that fundamentally changes computing (not just games). The technology, whether brought by us or someone else (though we think it will be us), will be on every desktop in the future.
Josh, BF2 and 2142 should be free support for Falcon upgrade like most of our games have been. Other games will be free also. Some games will additionally have an inexpensive upgrade (on the order of $4.95, if you already own the game).
thx, tomnovint, ceo
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Hello Tom
I have tried the falcon and I think it’s cool and all. The only thing that I like using it with (and the only thing I believe it is useful for) is first person shooters. (3rd person would be okay too if you had support for say…. dead space or ANYTHING else.) I also think that with your limited software support, and really only one good use for it, the price is completely unreasonable, as is the pistol grip being sold separately.
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Are you guys an offshoot of tech-gaming? I remember they reviewed the Falcon too.
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We are not in any way affiliated with tech-gaming nor have we even heard of it until now.
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Hello Jason,
Thanks for your question. Here’s my opinions on your comments. I think the Falcon is applicable across all games, and I think there are few games that won’t show significant improvement in gameplay and immersion with the Falcon. We have over 50 games out already, where we integrated Falcon support into the source of the game. Ironically, when we first started, many people thought FPS games wouldn’t be a good use of the Falcon. We did them, and now people believe that FPS games are great for the Falcon. Sports games are a no brainer for me, as demonstrated by our Tiger Woods game, for example, in which you can develop real muscle memory. I think our XLR8 game clearly shows how powerful the Falcon is for racing games (much better than even a steering wheel in my view). Penumbra shows a good horror/adventure game, and that type of gaming could be an entirely new genre arguably only usable with the Falcon as it evolves. There are also many puzzle games and casual games where the forces are nice. Even RTS games I think we can make fundamental improvements, as we can give users more intuitive ways to understand what is going on and how to navigate.
As far as the price for FPS games, we have support for a number of online games – Left 4 Dead, Battlefield 2, Team Fortress 2, Battlefield 2142, and Counter Strike Source. I think those could be our first killer apps, as people can play those games every day for years and stay interested. I think with the amount the Falcon increases the gameplay, for many people that is a very compelling purchase. Also, we are working on drivers that will work with any game, our F-Gen drivers, and will look to find innovative ways to get the events for the forces. When those are out, you can use the Falcon with any game.
As for selling the pistol grip separately, we now have a compelling bundle that includes the pistol grip, which I think addresses your concern there.
thanks, tomnovint, ceo
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Appreciate the info, do you have a closed beta program for the F-gen drivers? I’d be happy to assist and provide “feedback”. I am a programmer so don’t mind troubleshooting and tweaking of config files.
Josh
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Hi Tom
Well said. I still however disagree with the other uses, I guess that’s just a matter of personal preference. The reason I would rather use a joystick for a plane or steering wheel for a car is because that’s what you actually use to control those vehicles. The reason why I like the pistol grip for FPS is because that’s what you use to fire a gun. It’s good to hear that you will be packaging the pistol grip with the falcon now!
Anyway, I wish you luck in being as successful as you hope for, and maybe one day I’ll be converted into a whole-hearted supporter, but for now you’ll just have to accept me as a guy who likes the falcon to play FPS, but won’t buy it because he doesn’t have that kind of expendable cash to waste on a controller that he would only enjoy for a small % of his gaming experience.
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Hey Josh, we do. please email a note to customersupport[at]novint.com, and we can get you in the beta program. We’re still probably a month out from an internal beta is my best guess now.
Hey Jason, understandable points. However, I would say two things – you should try racing games with the Falcon before assuming the wheel is better. A wheel adds to the game, and our forces add to the game – I think a lot of people will think the added forces add more realism than even a wheel does. The same is true on other genres. When you try it, you realize how much it adds. The second thing is that we’ll have a steering wheel grip in the future, so at that time you’ll have the best of both worlds ;) We’ll also come out with other grips for other games over time (sword handle, golf club handle, etc)
thx, tomnovint
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I have been looking to get ahold of one of these for a couple of weeks now, and it is next to impossible to find. Every retail has discontinued the item and online stores are all out of stock, including yours. So if I cant even get it at home.novint.com , where can I get it.
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Hi Joel, we’re in the process of changing our internal fulfillment system, but that process is almost done, and we’re therefore close to opening our store again. Please check our store next week and it should be back online. thx, tomnovint
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If you use the code “20%Off” at checkout, the price of the novint falcon goes down to $147.99.
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We are building a web application for blind community. In our interface we have google homepage. We are using Novint Falcon to navigate around the page. The problem that we are facing right now it that the device does not move all around the screen it is limited in its movement. Is there any resources that we can explore and solve the problems.
We appreciate any suggestion
Thanks
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