CES 2011: Away from the news of ARM powered windows and “superphones”, peripheral manufacturer Razer has been one of the companies to catch our eye out here at CES 2011, with a motion controller for PC named Hydra, that looks similar to the Playstation Move.
Comprised of two wired handheld, nunchuck style controllers, motions are sensed not by a camera but by a small electromagnetic field generator positioned on the desktop.
Moving the controllers disrupts the field, allowing for a very precise in-game movements, and without the need to stand 10 feet away from your monitor. The technology is being developed by SixSense, and was demoed extensively using a build of Valve's up-coming first person puzzler, Portal 2.
We were shown the Hydra performing feats of surprising accuracy, such as threading a companion cube through a small space and resizing in-game objects to solve puzzles - a new feature for Portal 2.
Razer also stated that Valve planned to release special, motion control only levels in Portal 2, which would come bundled with the controller. Support in other games is patchy right now though, with only Left 4 Dead mentioned as another compatible title.
Still, the Hydra looked to offer a unique, smooth and very accurate experience, and we're really looking forward to putting it through its paces when it's released later this year. Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
Comprised of two wired handheld, nunchuck style controllers, motions are sensed not by a camera but by a small electromagnetic field generator positioned on the desktop.
Moving the controllers disrupts the field, allowing for a very precise in-game movements, and without the need to stand 10 feet away from your monitor. The technology is being developed by SixSense, and was demoed extensively using a build of Valve's up-coming first person puzzler, Portal 2.
We were shown the Hydra performing feats of surprising accuracy, such as threading a companion cube through a small space and resizing in-game objects to solve puzzles - a new feature for Portal 2.
Razer also stated that Valve planned to release special, motion control only levels in Portal 2, which would come bundled with the controller. Support in other games is patchy right now though, with only Left 4 Dead mentioned as another compatible title.
Still, the Hydra looked to offer a unique, smooth and very accurate experience, and we're really looking forward to putting it through its paces when it's released later this year. Let us know your thoughts in the forums.
New Portal 2 gameplay mechanics were on show, including resizing and altering the mass of objects to solve puzzles
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