Is Your Mouse Shaking?

For a little more than a year and a half, Immersion has been developing its force feedback mouse to give mouse-based gamers all the pushes, shakes, and shimmies that were once only available in products like joysticks and steering wheels. GameSpot News was one of the first outsiders to see a prototype of the mouse last year, and at first we were skeptical, as the mouse did place some limitations on the user. Since that time, Logitech - a longtime supporter of Immersion's I-Force technologies with its WingMan line of force-feedback gaming peripherals - has taken the mouse concept and sculpted it into a nice product for release later this month.

The WingMan Force Feedback Mouse isn't exactly your standard mouse. Sure, it has three buttons and looks similar to Logitech's gamers mouse but it comes with a platter of sorts that it sits on. The mouse is connected to an arm that sits beneath the mouse and connects to a box at the top of the platter. Inside that box, a microprocessor interprets commands from your Windows PC and turns them into tugs, pulls, shakes, or various high- and low-range vibrations.

The USB-only device bears the new look of all the next-generation gaming peripherals from Logitech, with a dark blue-gray dominant color and touches of transparent blue styling cues. But looks aren't going to make the game, right? Logitech and Immersion is making sure that can take your games and make them even better with the mouse. Most gaming devices are usually focused on a specific genre - as seen with first-person shooter and driving controllers - and while these are popular, most gamers still use their mouse most of the time because it's familiar. With the WingMan Force Feedback mouse, you'll be able to play games like Heavy Gear II or Slave Zero and feel the recoil of your rifle, the sluggish control when your is character underwater, or the harsh bash of an accurate explosive as it pummels you down. But you'll also feel the G-forces on your sharpest turns in games like Star Wars Episode I: Racer, or feel the rough landscape in builder-type games like Railroad Tycoon II. Other games expected to add support for the mouse include Solider of Fortune, Nocturne, and Darkstone. Even the Tiger Woods development team at Electronic Arts has been looking at ways to implement realistic golf swings with the device.

To ensure that the mouse will work with several games when it releases, it also includes a hot-key-enabled joystick mode that lets you use the mouse in force feedback-enabled games like Flight Simulator. Sim enthusiasts may prefer the traditional joystick, but for those who think they can be more accurate with a mouse - the mouse is an easy solution.

Immersion has also made sure the mouse doesn't load down your PC with too many driver files. The FEELit technology was developed for the Windows desktop. It lets you feel a selected window or the tug of a scroll bar, and it will let you know how heavy moving a file will be (depending on its size). Yet the technology is simple - it uses the same roll-over-and-click commands that programmers build into their Windows programs to help determine what function you want to complete. And if you don't want to feel the tug of an icon or the weight of a file, you can easily shut it off.

One of the benefits of the I-Force technologies is that users can alter any force in any I-Force-enabled game. Think the recoil from your bazooka is too weak? All you have to do is fire up the I-Force Studio software (included with the mouse for free) and alter the force. Restart your game and you have more recoil.

The WingMan Force Feedback Mouse isn't 100 perfect for games, as fast multiplayer gamers may lose the ability to spin their mice in wider circles. But for those looking for a more enriching single-player experience, the mouse is a perfect offering. Look for the mouse later this month for about US$99 with full versions of Heavy Gear II, Railroad Tycoon II: Gold Edition, and Gruntz. Or you can prepurchase the mouse on Logitech's e-commerce site.