with The Glove

GAMES File likes to keep readers up to date with new developments and this week we take a look at The Glove.

Not, it's not the name of a new game. In fact, it's a new controller for the PlayStation that could well prove to be the beginning of the end of the 'traditional' joypad and transform the way in which we play games.

As its name suggests and as our pictures show, The Glove is just that. It's the PlayStation controller of the future which slips onto the arm with a couple of velcro straps, with various control buttons on the fingers, including all the regular action buttons for shooting and object manipulation.

It's a step along the road to virtual reality, thanks to 'wrist sensing technology' , allowing the player to move the on-screen character with a simple bend of the wrist. Lift your hand and the figure goes forward, lower your hand and the figure retreats etc.

It's fascinating to use and very strange. And it will take some time to get to grips with completely although the effort will, I think, be worth it.

The Glove - from Reality Quest - has a three-position slider switch: digital mode, which operates like a normal gamepad; analogue mode, which acts like a joystick; and simulated analogue mode which allows you to play analogue mode in a digital game for more precise control.

The simulated analogue mode sets the glove apart from all other digital pad controllers because The Glove's on-board software can mimic analogue control, meaning it translates slight wrist movements into more subtle character movements.

In Doom or Hexen, for example, bending the wrist slightly will make the character walk forward, while bending it further will make him break into a sprint.

The Glove requires no special set-up or connectors, just plug it into the joypad slot and away you go. At £49.99 it's not particularly cheap but it is a big step forward, putting the PlayStation ahead of the opposition. Get The Glove and you're really putting your finger on the pulse of new technology. JE

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.