Though the overall response to the vest has been positive, the product hasn't escaped criticism completely. Some say a gaming vest that simulates being shot or wounded takes things a bit too far in a time when violent games are already extremely realistic to begin with. Others feel bloody FPS games already desensitize youth enough; they're not terribly keen on the idea of a vest that makes the gameplay more lifelike.
Ombrellaro argues the gaming vest has a different effect on players.
The content of violent games is two dimensional, he says. Players are watching and listening to what they're doing on-screen, but there's a disconnect between their physical selves and the game environments. The vest changes this by re-introducing sensation into the gameplay. When a player is hit in the game, the vest will poke them as a consequence.
"It re-sensitizes you by making the reaction you get not just an artificial thing that means nothing to you. It puts a consequence back into the action," he says. The team has watched thousands of people play FPS games using the vest in different scenarios, ranging from a casual office setting to the home. "When you're watching people and actually taking a step back to observe how they react, their body is moving to avoid the action as they're getting hit. They're behaving subconsciously while playing this game, just like they would in real life: duck and cover. Their brain is getting the message, whether the gamer consciously recognizes it or not."
On the far opposite end of the spectrum from opponents of the vest reside the masochists. Indeed, some hardcore players who've tested the vest feel the impact is not hard enough. In response, TN Games plans to offer an upgrade pack for the air compressor that will deliver a heftier blow.
Into The Future We Roam
PC gamers can gloat for the time being, but it may not be long before the 3rd Space technology makes the jump to consoles. The vest is already console-ready, according to Ombrellaro, and the product will become available once they complete a bundle deal for a console game. He notes the console version of the vest will have wireless aspects to it.
Getting blasted in the gut isn't the only unusual experience in store for gamers in the coming year. Aside from the FPS vest, TN Games is also working on vests geared toward racing games, RPGs and other genres. The vests themselves are an impressive accomplishment, but TN Games strives to release a handful of other product variations by the end of 2008. A helmet prototype is complete and planned for release later this year as part of the extreme HXT (head and extremities) line. With the prevalence of headshots in the online multiplayer FPS gaming community, clocking noggins is bound to get a lot more exciting when the victims feel it.
The vest is the core concept for the technology, and the helmet is a fun addition, but the whole idea is to build a full suit, says Ombrellaro.
"It's just a matter of what the consumer wants, how it's going to fit into the game and trying to make it complementing as possible for as reasonable a price as we can make it," he says. "We've got a few decades of fun stuff to roll out."
Nathan Meunier is a freelance contributor to The Escapist.
