TNGames has a product they are currently accepting pre-orders on that is expected to ship in November of this year. It is a FPS Vest/Game Bundle that has me extremely intrigued. About this bundle :
This kit includes the FPS Vest and 3rd Space Incursion game for the PC. The FPS Vest is an impact-generating device designed to enable you to feel the game’s action for the ultimate gaming experience. It contains eight active zones that simulate the direction and forces of bullet fire, crushing explosions, and fear-inducing finger taps as they occur in the game. The FPS Vest is bundled with 3rd Space Incursion, a futuristic first person shooter game embedded with 3rd Space technology and developed to showcase the FPS Vest.
Do I want to feel the “fear-inducing finger taps”? Well ok, sure. Do I want to feel the “forces of bullet fire and crushing explosions”? That part I am not so sure about. Without knowing exactly what it feels like, it is hard to decide if this is a product I would be interested in or not. I would like to assume the sensations it will provide won’t hurt but let’s face it, I’m a big baby and I bruise easily. *whimpers
As far as the vest itself, it doesn’t strike me as something that would be comfortable to wear. It looks rather rigid and somewhat weighty. The one good thing about its appearance? It comes in pink (along with black and camo).
Ultimately this is not something I have to ponder over because it is a game specific accessory that plays on the PC and I am not a PC gamer. But will it eventually become more mainstream and hit the console market as well? When I game, it is a sort of escape for me. I avoid any and all titles that seem realistic and keep my FPS focus on games that reside in the alien world. Do I want to make it seem more real? I just don’t know.
It could add an interesting level of depth and realism to some games, and absorb you more into the role of the character, but, like you, my personal view is that I wouldn’t really want to feel like I really had just been rocketed in the face, point-blank (as is a common occurence on Halo 3)
I’m curious if you will see more people doing something like this to get a quicker edge in knowing where a direction of attack is coming from.
Or maybe it will be like the Virtual Boy and just be kind of lame.
I’m not so sure I would like to feel the sudden impact of a bullet either, but it is intriguing.
Im sure it will force you to take cover.
I’m not a pc gamer either.
I went paint-balling last year, and if this vest feels at all like the one i used, and the bullets feel like the paint balls that hit me, i will pass on it, without blinking.
Hehe, seems clever enough, kind of motivates you to not getting shot and staying alive in the game.
If it hurts, it might even IMPROVE the way you play. Really, would you get shot if it hurts? No? Then dont Rambo in a match of GRAW2 and take cover.
I’d get it, really, I would. But I dont get PC games for playing. (if I get them, its because I use ‘em for Machinima, or because it comes as a bundle for a single game I want for machinima, like Orange Box)
I’d be willing to bet it has something like bass speakers in it…I doubt that the bullets would hurt, but it would feel like an impact of sorts. There was a chair that had something like that for the NES back in the day.
it should be made for the xbox 360
it would be cool as it would encorage more cover and less run and gun