I was like "oh man they made this thing work with newer games too" and then I remembered Portal was also from 2007.

Cons: "Dude, you're considering spending $190 on a game controller" Flight sim fans: "Yeah, haha, that's crazy..."

Another really weird but interesting bit of the history of the Novint Falcon is that it was actually the first hardware device you could buy via the steam store, and that Novint regularly tried to give them away as prizes as part of various game tournament events and that Valve actually has continued to make minute compatability updates for it in various games over the years, with the most recent of those updates happening in January of 2024. That's right. There's apparently still people actively using these things and people on Valve making them play a little better in their games.

"The Falcon is the predator of the mouse". That is so stupid and I love it.

I love how in their launcher, there's a spot to just click and get their current stock price. That design decision didn't age well.

This device actually looks perfect for Surgeon Simulator

Hey! I used to work with one of these: Bit of a story time. I worked for a Cyberpsycology lab, and we used all sorts of tech to help people with their phobias, conditions, etc, and I spoke with Novint about what we do, and they were stoked to send us a free Falcon to use. We used this thing to help people who have certain phobias when it came to textures, or even just touching physical objects (like say a Snake or Spider). From what I recall it worked really well for that purpose. Novint was awesome for sending us a device to use for medical purposes that were just starting to get off the ground.

A few minutes into this video I remarked "I bet this was a high-end product for serious applications cost reduced to a game controller." Poor Novint learned the hard way that for consumer hardware you also have to have killer software and support to be successful.

You know you’ve made a bad bowling game when your bowling ball gains sentience and exits its digital confinement.

HOLY CRAP this is a blast from my past personally! I worked for Novint briefly in about 2007-2008 or so? Half-Life 2 was genuinely so fun with this thing, I was really spoiled by it. It definitely needed a few more cycles of testing & adjustment but it really added so much to the gameplay experience. The texture demo (with the orb that changes material) was mind-blowing on its own, nevermind how much more fun shooters were with the proper kick from firing & impact from enemies. I wish Novint had had just a TINY bit more success, just enough for development to lead to something more usable, because the haptic precision was really something special. Combine these haptics with the feel of the Wii, you get something incredible tbh. (From what I could feel in 1-2-Switch, Nintendo has some incredible haptics in the Switch that have gone massively underutilized, but still nothing as bonkers as what was in the Falcon). It's really no joke that to be sold on it you had to try it, because it was hard to get anyone to check it out at the mall kiosk where I worked, but everyone who tried it was really enthusiastic about it... shame the price & its physical size were both just too much for how little game support it had. The fact that I had to re-calibrate the particular test Falcon I had EVERY TIME I used it? Hard to make me enthusiastic about selling it. (The later models were less problematic in this regard, but it tickled me to see you complain about the calibration because boy was that a common issue lol) (In the end I was fired from Novint because I essentially gave up trying to sell devices at that kiosk and just socialized with other people working at that mall. Actually selling the thing successfully would have involved being dishonest and I just can't do that lol. I work in user experience now, so now I can help improve products rather than sugar-coating them, which is much more for me I think! Honestly I wish I'd been able to do user testing for them back then & get EXACTLY the sort of feedback you're giving in this video, it might have genuinely helped so much.)

its insane how long youve been showcasing cool stuff and all these years later, theres still something as crazy and unique as this

“Anyways our ‘toy’ is working perfectly” i love the careful choice of words

This thing would be fantastic for a surgeon simulator VR game. " You can really feel that liver!"

bro completely sold me on a 20 year old piece of obscure hardware, I love that HL2 has always been the medium for groundbreaking hardware. The first proto-VR controls, 3D and haptic tech all used HL2 as a showcase. What a wonderful game and wonderful time. We had no idea how good we had it.

Didn't expect to see a live bear on LGR

These kinds of Oddware videos are the best, someone really went to great lengths of effort to make this thing and maybe in some universe it took off. Here we are still stuck with our dinky mice, when we could have the FALCON

Penumbra came with my Falcon, it's a first person survival horror game by the makers of Amnesia. It's mostly pitch black and you have to use the Falcon to feel around in the darkness to find things and figure out what you're touching. Was super cool and one of the best haptic experiences outside of FPS games.

The falcon/mouse analogy goes several steps further than they originally considered. A falcon is more exciting to look at, but there are far fewer out in the wild and they are far more expensive to acquire for yourself. And this particular falcon is extinct in the wild and almost so in captivity.

Awesome video! We were lucky enough to get to work with Novint on a few projects in around 2007. They were absolutely lovely people who took a chance on us as a young inexperienced company - I'll be forever grateful to them for that. The Falcon was a unique thing and always got comments from people who walked into our office! If any Novint folks come across this video then I hope you're all doing well.

The plague of 90s and 00s Oddware is that some great ideas were come up with, but nobody knew how to use them. Just some of the spitball ideas at the end of this video were probably beyond what devs 15 and 20 years ago were thinking about. Those minigames are a prime example. They had no idea how to properly utilize this thing. Force feedback in a shooter is cool and all, but an exploration game where feeling an object in realtime could help you solve a puzzle is a prime use case for this thing. Imagine a VR game where you could feel the texture of an object you were holding. That's not something we're even close to emulating right now and if this thing could somehow, someway be incorporated into a VR setup, how great could things be? (I know, it's probably far too bulky to ever work, it's just a thought experiment.)

I think this would've been a better thing to sell to a big theme park or arcade as a novelty than a "at home" kinda deal

Giggity intro.

23:39 Clint wins the world record for the best reaction to getting a strike.

Damn rare to see Clint outright losing it . The last time I remember he was this much in hysterics was an ancient Train Simulator gameplay video.

to paraphrase, "If I had a penny for every time a CAD input device got reworked into a gaming controller, I'd have tuppence; which isn't much, but it's weird that it happened twice."

I had one of these and regret selling it to this day! It was so far ahead of its time and the feedback was insane. HL2 and Crysis were so fun on it. Only issue… after heavy use, your right shoulder starts to hurt like crazy. Novint Falcon for life 🤙

It feels like a product that would exist within the portal universe.

Clint has a red dot, knows how to grip a pistol and can make a comparison of force to something like a .32 pistol. I think Clint has other hobbies, that I'd be interested in seeing.

I laughed for five minutes after the bowling ball exited. Thank you.

The journalist from gamespot went full Beavis and Butthead whem asked where this device will be most useful for🤣 seriously, being able to feel feel fur is quite amazing.

At my university one of the labs had one of pen-style controllers you show in the beginning. That demo has always stuck around with me - squishing the rubber ball and writing on different kinds of paper/plastic felt so amazingly realistic.

The nostalgia i felt when you opened the tutorial software almost made me cry it was so intense. That 2000's "we know youre in a dark room" vibe. God i miss it man, everything today is so bright and mood-less.

Watching Clint leading a feudal host at gunpoint is hilarious.

We had a haptics lab in my university in 2007. We were shown a similar device that allowed you to practice giving someone a needle in a 3D arm on the nearby monitor. As you pushed down, you felt the resistance of the imaginary arm. I tried quickly moving the needle in a stabbing motion and made a joke about it being an "OJ Simpson simulator" but no one laughed.

The haptics are why I'm loving the PS5 controller. Cyberpunk's mod added support is amazing.

this needed a petting zoo type thing for it

Never would have suspected a guy reviewing retro computer accessories might be mauled by a bear at some point.

The screen swooping into full screen was a very cool subtle effect. Really enjoyed that. Thanks LGR :)

You really had me in the first half, man. I followed this thing like CRAZY back in the day - There was a huge belief that the "Nintendo Revolution" would use some sort of input like this for a while. So glad someone made a great video about how this worked. Thanks and thanks to the person who let you make a video with theirs!

Clint has such a contagious laugh. That bowling ball really did ascend to a higher plane of existence!

Glad this finally got its moment to shine. I'm surprised the mouse pad didn't work better for you but I suppose I always had it on a grippier desk. Never thought to tape it down lol.

When those basketballs were flying everywhere all I could think of is “BOMBARDMENT!”

My guy: that transition at 11:53 ruled.

I was reminded of a bit in Freeman's Mind where Gordon first uses the gravity gun launch and it was such an amusing reaction as he felt like he got punched in the gut. I was sad not to see the gravity gun tested in the video but it was funny how the portal gun had such strong recoil.

This kept happening all through the 90s and 00s: Someone comes up with a weird peripheral device that's interesting enough to make it into some news shows and magazines. Some early adopter types buy it. The device, at best, works okay with the supplied demo software and maybe one or two games whose developers agreed to add support for it, however it's an afterthought at best. And that's it. If it's a really good idea, the technology gets bought and integrated into something that has nothing to do with the PC enthusiast market.

I swear I saw Jamie from Mythbusters using something like this in his office for 3d modeling.

Love hearing when you get legitimately excited about things, it's a delight to experience it vicariously.

This thing is miles ahead of what I was expecting. It would be awesome in an arcade.

Had one of these back in the day to experiment with on Source games. Interesting idea, but also a prime example of “be careful what you wish for” . Even though it added an interesting tactile experience for shooters, it made games like HL2 significantly more difficult even on easy mode, because the ability to have precise mouse-like accuracy was almost nonexistent.

It's like they designed the product around the ball demo. It's such a specific use case.

40+ minute video on this? I love you man!

This is easily one of the coolest pieces of oddware I've ever seen on this channel. So glad you got to review one of these! I didn't even know they existed until right now. 🤯

Netscape dad hat goes hard

I need a “odd, forgotten, and obsolete” t shirt, please.

Love this kind of oddware, great vid

When I worked as an engineer for a design firm in 1999 I actually tested out that Phantom Haptic Interface using an early 3D sculpting app similar to what Z-Brush eventually became. The idea was to use it for industrial design and make the process of interfacing with the computer more "natural" to create 3D models. It was early, and obviously had it's clunks, and given the price, the company didn't adopt it, but it was cool to see.

This feels like it might have been a few years too early. VR would be pretty neat with this.

That actually looks usable, unlike so many other oddware things

I just love how he just has a RED DOT chillin in the background to test fit to the pistol grip

I hope you never stop making content ❤

I bet my mother would love this device. She would use it in all sort of ways. No more dishwashing by hand!

I like the transition from monitor view to capture view! Nice touch!

Dear Algorithm, it’s been so long since you recommended an LGR video, please show me more.

Thank you LGR for featuring this!!! I was in my late teens when I actually walked into a MicroCenter in Cincinnati and found one of these on display, I had no idea the make / model. All I knew, they had it attached to gaming PC with some titles that were compatible, and I thought it was pretty cool! Granted, this pricetag for me at the time would've been way too high to consider, but I did enjoy the hour or so I spent on that demo PC. Ah, this one hits me right in the nostalgia. Thanks again LGR

32:51 I think this is the most joy I've seen you get out of an Oddware. Almost like something briefly lived up to the hype in our minds when we see stuff like this in PCGamer and just dream.

No big surprise that Valve was the only company putting actual effort in making this work so well with their game, down to all the smallest details.

I always really appreciate the historical aspects of these videos. LGR Tech Tales light.

Man, this thing SCREAMS 00s computer tech.

OH MAN I REMEMBER THESE! I’m so glad you’re doing a review. Teenage me was furious he couldn’t afford one.

This is why I love this channel. I have no idea what this is and when I saw the thumbnail my jaw actually dropped in shock, and in awe

Love how he just casually has a red dot ready to slap onto the pistol grip attachment. Truly, a man of many disciplines.

I was at a gameconvention in Sweden ages ago where there was a booth where they had VR podracing game using two of these for the controlls.

I hope that one day LGR will review the "UNION REALITY HEAD MASTER" one of the most obscure and strange PC gaming controllers ever, which used the same technology as the wiimote years before the wiimote

Thanks for making a video about this, I still have mine from 2008ish and I'd love to get it going again.

it crazy to believe that i have watched you for 7 years now. i have my second job and remember your earlier videos like cozy childhood videos.

I think this is the first time I've seen Cliff let slip his firearms interest in an LGR video.

[chuckle of immaturity]

Wow thanks for looking at such a crazy device. I remember seeing this at Tiger Direct eons ago and every few years the concept of it would pop back in my brain, but could never figure out what the device was, leading me to believe it was something I had imagined as a kid.

video was slick as butter Clint

This is one of those devices that lives or dies on it's implementation, and Valve did it masterfully with HL2. Knew these existed, but never knew how cool the HL2 implementation was.

Hey Clint, play Infra with this, it's based on portal 2's version of the source engine. It is a first person adeventure game from 2015/16 made by finnish developers. It's theme is urbax, abandones places, tech-y puzzles and cold war cloak and dagger stuff.

Haven't heard that LGR laugh since the 'Photoshop Neural Filters' episode. Which I shall now watch again... thanks, I needed that.

This is by far your best video jeez I laughed so much

Hell yeah. I have one of these. Bought it in 2013. I have the ball and the pistol grip. The haptic feedback really blew me away with Half-Life 2. I was in college at the time and I brought it to my microcomputer maintenance class and showed it off. The recoil impulse would change with different weapons, picking up different objects felt like you were holding something with relatively similar substance. The grip is modeled after a Walther P99. That is why it is so comfortable. One thing that was really interesting was doing 3D modeling. I think 3DS max supported it and it was really intuitive to use.

Now that you're doing Oddware on a device I actually had to use in motion planning research at work, I can tell how much effort you put into researching the background of your Oddware videos. It's very impressive! Keep up the good work. We used it for consumer-grade (it doesn't cost 20,000+USD) interactive molecular docking simulations on a business-tier laptop and demoed it at a few places.

11:54 was smooth AF, loved that. Also loved the laughing while playing with the settings before that, and the little nods to some firearms knowledge. Clint, you're like the cool older brother I always wanted 🤣

24:04 "I mean that in the most disrespectful way possible." LOL

Billiards would of been a good mini game.

Looks like so much fun I want one now!

Wow this brought back some memories! I had the pleasure of playing the ball demo and HL2 at Gen Con in the late aughts, it really is a cool piece of tech. I distinctly remember the molasses/sandpaper part of the ball demo. It's a real shame the tech never took off, it'd pair so well with VR today.

Hey Clint. I still have my Falcon from 2008. Actually, that's not true. I originally purchased a white one, but after about six months, one of the servos stopped working properly. I contacted customer support and sent some log files, and they agreed to send me a new unit, so long as I destroyed the old one. When the new one came, it was black instead of white. I took my old unit out to my front porch and smashed it with a hammer, then sent them photos. They were shocked to see how much I'd destroyed it. The replacement is the one I still have. Supposedly Novint gave Valve a whole bunch of Falcons to make native support for Source games happen, and they did make it happen, but those units were later discovered in a dumpster outside Valve HQ. So the legend goes. I played Penumbra with it. I think the installer was linked in an email after I registered the product. It was a specific installer for the HaptX version of the game, which is why your versions didn't work. I'm sure it's available somewhere in an archive. It was one of the most immersive games available, because your "hand" was represented in 3D space, and you could move it around, similar to how you moved it around in the ball demo. This allowed you to feel the walls, open doors, and do a number of other things with your virtual hand. It was pretty cool. I got fairly good with the Falcon in TF2, and really enjoyed it for what it was, as I played on my crappy Windows 7 laptop with a dual-core CPU, integrated graphics and 4 gigs of RAM. You'd think VR would be great with this, but as you said earlier, the problem is that it's not a 6 DOF device. In VR, you want to be able to move your hand(s) freely and in any direction, and the Falcon doesn't allow you to do that. In fact, it's extra weird, because the Falcon would control your head. Imagine you're in VR, and to look around, you have to move your entire arm, and you can't exactly look in any direction. I think it would lead to major motion sickness.

"If you wanna touch some other balls, you can do that. There are a lot of balls!" lol. No comment.

This may be one of the best responses to a product ive ever seen from you. seems like a genuine product that had real potential

I still got 2 of these sitting at home, collecting dust. Hope this video brings a revival to the device.

the laugh-to-cough combo will never not make me laugh-to-cough.

I respect the amount of research you do for these videos, you uncover so much depth for such odd items.

I’ve waited years for you to get to this! 🎉

The bowling ball said “This is stupid, I’m going back to my wife and children.”

I remember this! Arma, Crysis, and so many other games went so far as to explicitly add support for this neat little tool. I remember really wanting one, but could never find one in my area :C

Sometimes, the first few seconds of a video are enough to grab your full attention. This is certainly one of those tímes.. :D