Razer Hydra

The Razer Hydra (previously known as Sixense TrueMotion) is a motion and orientation detection game controller developed by Sixense Entertainment, a company founded in 2007, in partnership with Razer USA. It uses a weak magnetic field to detect the absolute position and orientation of the controllers with a precision, as stated by its developers, of 1 mm and 1°; it has six degrees of freedom. The current release is wired, but a wireless version was in development.

The game controller has been showcased many times with different video games and 3D modeling applications, most prominently '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive'', ''Portal 2'', ''Team Fortress 2'', ''Left 4 Dead 2'', ''World of Goo'', '' Call of Duty: Black Ops'' and ''Half-Life 2''.

A partnership with Valve was announced, and said company appears as a partner, alongside Razer and Intel. No word has been said by the game developer but they helped Valve modify ''Left 4 Dead 2'' and other Valve games to be played with the Razer Hydra Motion control, and an official SDK is available for download in Steam's 'Tools' page.

It was subject to a demo under the name Sixense Truemotion and tested to a close focus group of PlayStation Underground Members in August 2008, where its full functionality in various types of games was shown.

It is now called the Razer Hydra and has been released through Steam and Razer's official website on June 16, 2011, for US$139.99. It is being sold in a bundle with ''Portal 2'', which has exclusive content for those with the controller. Support for many other games is either implemented or planned. According to a forum post, from December 2010, Sixense is also working on musical control with the controller.

''Portal 2''

The Razer Hydra comes bundled with an enhanced version of ''Portal 2''. It features a more advanced portal gun with new gameplay mechanics. One new ability is Portal Surfing, which lets the portal gun drag, move and rotate either portal after it has been created. Another is 1-to-1 mode with the portal gun's object carrying beam, which lets you extend the beam many metres and freely move and rotate the carried object in 6 degrees of freedom.

It includes the full ''Portal 2'' game, plus a new set of tutorial levels to teach the new mechanics, and two more sets of levels based around the new mechanics.

The default controls for the game allow the player to look around, or move and rotate the carried object or portal, by moving their right hand. Flicking the left hand up, or pressing a button on the right controller, makes you jump. The left analog stick controls movement. The triggers fire or move portals.

Game compatibility

* '' A Reckless Disregard for Gravity''
* ''Alien Swarm''
* '' Amnesia: The Dark Descent''
* ''And Yet It Moves''
* ''Assassin's Creed II''
* '' Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood''
* '' Audiosurf''
* '' Batman: Arkham Asylum''
* '' Battlefield: Bad Company 2''
* ''Beyond Good and Evil''
* ''BioShock''
* ''BioShock 2''
* '' Bit.Trip Runner''
* ''Borderlands''
* ''Borderlands 2''
* ''Bulletstorm''
* ''Civilization IV''
* ''Civilization V''
* '' Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare''
* '' Call of Duty: World at War''
* '' Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''
* '' Call of Duty: Black Ops''
* ''Company of Heroes''
* '' Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts''
* '' Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor''
* ''Crysis 2''
* ''Darksiders''
* ''DeathSpank''
* '' Defense Grid''
* ''Deus Ex''
* '' Deus Ex: Invisible War''
* '' Dog Fighter''
* ''Doom 3''
* '' Eversion''
* ''Fallout 3''
* '' Fallout: New Vegas''
* '' Galcon Fusion''
* ''Grand Theft Auto III''
* ''Grand Theft Auto IV''
* '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City''
* ''Half-Life 2''
* ''Half-Life''
* ''Hitman''
* '' Hitman 2: Silent Assassin''
* ''Hoard''
* '' Just Cause 2''
* '' Kane & Lynch: Dead Men''
* '' Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days''
* '' Killing Floor''
* '' Larva Mortus''
* ''Left 4 Dead''
* ''Left 4 Dead 2''
* '' Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars''
* '' Lego Batman: The Videogame''
* '' Lego Harry Potter: Years 1–4''
* '' Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures''
* '' Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga''
* '' Lucidity''
* ''Machinarium''
* '' Magicka''
* ''Mass Effect''
* ''Mass Effect 2''
* ''Max Payne''
* '' Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne''
* ''Metro 2033''
* ''Mirror's Edge''
* ''Monday Night Combat''
* '' Mount & Blade''
* '' Mount & Blade: Warband''
* '' Obulis''
* '' Oddworld: Abe's Exoddus''
* '' Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee''
* ''Osmos''
* ''Painkiller''
* '' Painkiller: OVERDOSE''
* ''Peggle''
* '' Plain Sight''
* ''Plants vs. Zombies''
* ''Poker Night at the Inventory''
* ''Portal''
* ''Portal 2''
* ''Psychonauts''
* ''QuantZ''
* ''Red Faction II''
* '' Red Faction: Guerrilla''
* ''Resident Evil 5''
* ''Return to Castle Wolfenstein''
* ''RollerCoaster Tycoon 3''
* ''Rush''
* ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.''
* '' Sam and Max 101''
* '' Serious Sam HD''
* ''Shadowgrounds''
* '' Shadowgrounds: Survivor''
* '' Shatter''
* '' The Sims 3''
* '' Singularity''
* '' Splinter Cell: Conviction''
* '' Super Laser Racer''
* ''Super Meat Boy''
* ''Surgeon Simulator 2013''
* '' Swarm Arena''
* ''Team Fortress 2''
* ''The Ball (video game)''
* '' The Elder Scrolls IV:Oblivion''
* '' The Void''
* '' The Wonderful End of the World''
* '' Titan Fall ''
* ''Titan Quest''
* '' Titan Quest: Immortal Throne''
* '' Toki Tori''
* ''Torchlight''
* '' Trials 2: Second Edition''
* '' Trine''
* ''VRChat''
* ''Warhammer 40,000''
* ''Windosill''
* ''World of Goo''
* ''Worms Reloaded''
* '' Yosumin!''
* ''Zeno Clash''

See also

* Virtuix Omni
* Haptic suit

References

{{Reflist

Game controllers
Pointing devices