The ForceWear Vest is a
haptic suit that was unveiled at the
Game Developers Conference
The Game Developers Conference (GDC) is an annual conference for video game developers. The event includes an expo, networking events, and awards shows like the Game Developers Choice Award for Game of the Year, Game Developers Choice Awards and ...
in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in March 2007. The vest was mentioned in several articles about next-generation gaming accessories.
The vest was released in November 2007, and reviews of the product have been generally favorable.
The vest uses eight trademarked "contact points" that simulate gunfire, body slams or G-forces associated with race car driving. It is unique because unlike traditional force feedback accessories, the vest is directional, so that action taking place outside the players' field of view can also be felt. A player hit by gunfire from behind will actually feel the shot in his back while he may not be otherwise aware of this using standard visual display cues.
Gaming reporter Charlie Demerjian of
The Inquirer
''The Inquirer'' (stylized as TheINQUIRER) was a British technology tabloid website founded by Mike Magee after his departure from ''The Register'' (of which he was one of the founding members) in 2001. In 2006 the site was acquired by Dutch ...
said, "If they can keep the price reasonable and have a few good games, this has a chance of becoming a useful gaming accessory."
Currently, players have three ways to utilize the vest. Playing games with Direct Integration, such as TN Games' own 3rd Space Incursion, using the 3rd space game drivers whilst playing a game (drivers currently in Beta 2), or installing specially made mods for a game. The vest works with many games, including ''
Call of Duty 2
''Call of Duty 2'' is a 2005 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision in most regions of the world. It is the second installment of the Call of Duty, ''Call of Duty'' series. Announc ...
: 3rd Space Edition'', ''
3rd Space Incursion'', ''
Half-Life 2
''Half-Life 2'' is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It was published for Windows on Valve's digital distribution service, Steam. Like the original ''Half-Life'' (1998), ''Half-Life 2'' is played ent ...
: Episodes 1 & 2'', ''
Crysis
''Crysis'' is a first-person shooter video game series created by Crytek. The series revolves around a group of military protagonists with " nanosuits", technologically advanced suits of armor that give them enhanced physical strength, speed, ...
'', ''
Enemy Territory Quake Wars'', ''
Clive Barker's Jericho
''Clive Barker's Jericho'' is a horror first-person shooter video game developed by MercurySteam and Alchemic Productions and published by Codemasters. It is produced by Clive Barker. The game was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation ...
'', ''
Unreal Tournament 3
''Unreal Tournament 3'' (''UT3'') is a first-person arena shooter video game developed by Epic Games and published by Midway Games. Part of the ''Unreal'' franchise, it is the fourth game in the '' Unreal Tournament'' series, and the eighth ...
'', ''
F.E.A.R.
''F.E.A.R.'' is a first-person shooter Horror game#Psychological horror, psychological horror video game series created by Craig Hubbard in 2005. Released on Microsoft Windows, Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360, there are three main games i ...
'', ''
Medal of Honor: Airborne'', ''
Quake 4'' and ''
Doom 3
''Doom 3'' is a 2004 first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed by id Software and published by Activision. ''Doom 3'' was originally released for Microsoft Windows on August 3, 2004, adapted for Linux later that year, and Vide ...
''.
References
{{Reflist
External links
3rd Space VestFPS Vest
Video game accessories