Greetings Falcon fans! It has been a busy month and you can expect lots of exciting news in the weeks to come. If you haven't checked out our recent press, visit the News section of our website to view recent articles from BusinessWeek, and additional post-E3 press raves.
For those of you who follow the game industry news, there has been a lot of discussion lately on the state of the business. Analysts and pundits alike are debating the merits of Sony's PS3 strategy, and many are questioning where the next real innovation in gaming is going to come from. What do you think? Bored with the current offerings? Can't wait to break-open the piggy bank for a PS3?
Of course, our response is to introduce people to the Falcon and the concept of touch in games. Whether you're a hardcore FPS player, or like more casual games, 3D touch adds a whole new dimension to your experience, and presents tremendous new creative and business opportunities. Everyone who got the chance to try the Falcon at E3, or at another event, may already see the potential, but we still have lots of work to do to get more developers to integrate our technology into their games. Novint will be at CES in January and at GDC (Game Developer Conference) in March, to continue evangelizing 3D touch. In the meantime, we'd love to hear what games you think would make cool haptic titles. We’d also like to enlist those of you who’ve tried the Falcon to tell people about it. I know some of you have already posted your thoughts on blogs or in response to reviews. Thanks. We really want to bring something new to gaming, and we can’t do it without your support. We've been truly amazed and gratified by the incredible enthusiasm and support we've received so far and want to keep hearing what you think. If you're a developer, or know one, or if your name is Gabe Newell or John Carmack :-), talk to us about titles you have or are working on (games@novint.com). Keep posting!
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53 comments:
needs this functionality...
Adding Falcon capability to HalfLife2 was a great first step. What about World of Warcraft? This game is a huge hit. Its also a game that continuously updated by the developer for new features. Its all about immersion...
Thanks for the information about the specifications.
re: futaris
Thanks for the tip on Core Decision-- we're looking into it.
re: WOW
Great idea. We see a lot of potential for the Falcon in online entertainment, from Second Life to WOW. These are already great experiences that may be able to be made even better through--- like you said-- more immersion.
So how would you use the Falcon in a game like WOW? This is a question we've kicked around quite a bit.
First of all, how would you introduce it and get your foot in the door? In other words, what would you imagine the first WOW "touch experiences" being like? After that, what would be your wildest dream to see the Falcon be able to do in an online game like WOW?
How about a game that a blindperson could play. Or a game that has very little visual and audio. It would be more of a mini-game. They e-mail in to your website their guess as to what the game is about. The closest guess wins a prize!!
This would really hi-lite the differeniating touch aspects of the game.
re: games that rely solely on touch
Great ideas, thanks. In general, we feel that games with limited or no graphics that force players to rely exclusively on their sense of touch would be really cool to make. And we feel those games could be enjoyed by everyone, sighted or non-sighted.
Do you have any storyline ideas for games that are purely touch-based?
On a related note, our company is also very interested in the idea of our technology being used to improve the computer-interface for users who rely on senses other than sight to navigate. We'd love to see our stuff make computing more enjoyable and intuitive for folks.
Re:Games that rely solely on touch.
Title:Journey in to Night
Not really a game, but an experience.
It comes in a black box with braille everything on the packaging.
You pull up on the effector and your in a tree or an airplane(some airplane sounds), it flies a while, crashes into a mountainside, of course you survive, crawling out of wreckage or you parachute out, land in a tree....
The story doesn't really matter, in my mind, just the feeling and maybe a little sound, i.e. like the crack of a baseball bat on the radio.
I see the whole "game" as kind of like a nightmare and just as twisted and seemingly meaningless, but you wake up in sweat anyhow, right?
Of course you pull the effector another way and your in a swamp at night, a cave, a drift at sea, on a island, in a desert or oasis.
Include blinders in the box for the sighted, just so they get the somewhat helpless feeling.
I have another idea if you want to "hear it", on a totally different and unique dark screen game.
re: WOW
I guess I can't really say how I'd use a Falcon in WOW because I've never used a haptics device. WOW is about exploring an ever expanding world, taking on quests, fighting monsters, and interacting with other players. You use a variety of weapons, invoke magic spells. Adding touch to a game like WOW would bring you one step closer to being inside the game (the final step would be 3-D stereo glasses). Imagine feeling the thump from a troll striking his sword on your shield or feeling your weapon cut into an opponent monster, or feel the growing energy of a spell being summoned.
I think the best way to get your foot in the door is to demo it at tournaments and trade shows. I believe there's also a WOW online forum. Its all about generating buzz. The developers at Blizzard may also provide help in generating buzz. Blizzard makes their money through the monthly fees to play WOW. To them, its a new dimension for their players which will keep them interested and keep playing. A haptics-enabled game might also attract new players, thus more revenue for Blizzard.
re: Journey in to Night
Very interesting idea... it sounds like "Lost" meets "Myst" in a way. Thanks for that, and keep 'em coming.
We saw another company's game demo where you played the role of a monster in a dark cave. The premise is that a human falls in your cave, and you have to find them (yummy person) without the use of sight. The controller "buzzes" slightly to simulate the human's breathing and heartbeat-- these are your only cues during the hunt.
This game is simple, but it is a nice example of using tactile feedback to create a unique gaming experience. It's interesting to imagine where we can go from there with the more sophisticated feedback provided by the Falcon.
Re: WOW
The experiences you're describing sound pretty spine-tingling...
We think touch-enabled swordplay and spell-casting have the potential to add tremendous realism to games like WOW. Those experiences -- taking heads, parrying blows, hurling energy blasts -- are very visceral and satisfying. In a fun way.
WOW, as you probably know, also allows for professional activities such as mining, blacksmithing, skinning, leatherworking, herbalism, alchemy, tailoring and -- soon -- jewelcrafting. We also think our touch technology could add a lot to these experiences. Though they may be less thrilling, these activities are an important part of the overall WOW environment as well.
Your ideas are much appreciated. In that same vein, I had a general question. If you were an avid WOW player, would you buy a Falcon and WOW expansion pack? How many new capabilities would the expansion pack have to have to make it "worth it"?
RE: WOW
"If you were an avid WOW player, would you buy a Falcon and WOW expansion pack?"
Yes, I would definitely buy a Falcon to get that added experience. As far as buying an expansion pack, that's where Blizzard comes in. They should be adding the Falcon expansion pack (with Novint's help of course) to their software. In addition to the $50 from the initial purchase, users are charged $12.99 a month for playing the game which covers maintenance and expansion of the game. Therefore Blizzard should be picking up the cost for the expansion pack. And I think Blizzard would be more than happy to considering the added value the Falcon will bring to the game.
You don't happen to work at Blizzard, do you? :)
Re: WOW
Wish I did.
I think it would be really cool to introduce a medical game for the novint. One where you do the cutting, stitching, etc. No company has really made a hit medical game, because when you do the stuff, you want to feel what you are doing, with the falcon that would be possible.
re: medical game
Novint has created several medical applications, from an epidural injection simulation to a dental drilling trainer -- all touch-enabled. Though these aren't "games" in the strict sense (they were created for educational institutions primarily), they do show the potential of touch to transform medical-related software.
Having said that, would the public want a medical game? What do you think the response would be to a medical game designed for the average player?
Would you package it as an ER-type of format, where the user plays as a physician attempting to save lives? Would you do an alien autopsy game? Something else?
Is Novint planning on developing touch-enabled games in addition to the games being packaged with the Falcon?
In my opinion, in order for the Novint Falcon to get a foothold with users in the shortest amount of time, you should focus on mods to the most popular games being played.
re: touch-enabled games at launch and beyond...
Like you said, we plan to have a suite of micro-games bundled with the Falcon at launch. These are designed to a) be fun, and (b)show off some of the Falcon's capabilities to an audience who may not have ever experienced touch in computing before.
We're also planning on having a variety of first-party and third- party games available at launch. In light of this, we're actively encouraging interested members of the game development community to contact us about developing on / for the Falcon. The more the better. If you know of anyone, or if you ARE that someone, please let us know.
Question -- How does an object get turned in to a virtual object? I.E. a saguaro cactus. How would that be changed into a virtual object. Do you have to scan it with a hand-held scanner. How difficult will it be to create a data bank of virtual objects?
re: virtual cactus
Good question. Long answer.
To begin, a "virtual object" capable of being touched is fundamentally no different than one capable of being seen or visualized in 3D.
As you might be aware, there are many ways to represent "real world" objects as "virtual objects" or 3D models capable of being seen and, in our case, also felt. Some common ways are as
polygons, constructed solid geometry and as implicit surfaces. Typically there are
ways to "translate" between the different representations (e.g., from implicit surfaces to polygons). Right now, we most easily handle polygons and implicit
surfaces.
Now let's look at your saguaro cactus example.
If you were just interested in
seeing and touching a 3D model of *a* cactus on your computer (assuming it is outfitted with a Novint Falcon of course), you could create a model in a
common 3D modeling CAD package such as 3D Studio Max or Maya. When you were done with your 3D model, you could then export it
in some polygonal object format and you would be ready, with the
appropriately touch-enabled program, to see and feel that object.
You could also just buy a 3D Model for a cactus from one of the many 3D model catalogues and use
it "as is" or modify it in your 3D modeling package.
On the other hand, if you were interested in a 3D model of a *specific* saguaro cactus, you would have to either very
carefully create the model of the cactus in a 3D modeling or CAD package or use some 3D scanning (e.g., laser) or capture (e.g., photo-based) technique to help create the 3D model.
So a large part of the answer to your "How difficult will it be to create a data bank of virtual objects" question is answered by "we already have usable data banks" (i.e., existing "data banks"
of 3D objects for graphic purposes) and "as easy or hard as it is to create one for graphics".
There are some things, however, that you do have to keep in mind when you want to touch as well as see the 3D model.
First of all, typical 3D models do not contain any information specific to touch. Most importantly, there typically isn't any information on the properties of the material that the "virtual
object" is made of. This information includes how hard/soft the material is, how much friction
it has and characteristics related to its "texture".
If the virtual object consists of the same material for all of its parts, then specifying that information to get a more accurate touch experience is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is tell your 3D touch-enabled
application information about these "materials properties". You could either specify that
information directly to the program or somehow embed that information in the 3D model file (i.e., some 3D model formats also allow you to add additional information or "tags" to the actual 3D model files).
If a virtual object consists of many materials, however, you need to somehow specify what the different materials are for the different parts. For a polygonal data file, for example, you would need to specify the material for each polygon (or collection of polygons). This is, in concept, no different than what you need to do to specify different colors for different parts of a 3D model.
Hope this is helpful. Feel free to ask any follow-up questions as needed. What you're asking is quite important, so please don't hesitate.
In your spec's for the Falcon I don't see a spec for sensitivity of touch. Is there such a spec or is that a part of the ">2 lbs. of force" number.
re: Falcon's "sensitivity of touch"
There isn't really a scientific measurement of sensitivity, so we tend to think of this concept as a sum of a few different things.
Workspace, forces, and resolution, for example, all play into what we would think of as fidelity or sensitivity.
However, as an anecdotal example of how real the device feels, we utilize it to simulate relatively complex medical procedures. We can realistically simulate the feel of a needle pushing into a spinal column - i.e. the Falcon can create a touch reality that surgeons think feels like real life.
ER would be ok, though I think having a medical game, though its a far stretch, would be fun to play as a surgeon, who does "jobs" whether ER or hired, and gets paid for it. Then can upgrade his tools, allowing for different novint touches with better tools, steadiness less feedback with the better ones, that type of thing. Something could go wrong and you would have to race to save them in a certain amount of time. It would just be cool to shock paddle someone and feel it shoot back on ur hand and all. Though, in all, I don't know how many people would even be interested in a medical game, therefore making it hard for a company to want to put there neck out on that one. But, thats what this device was originally made for, and would probably have the most potential for touchable things.
oh btw i forgot to add to previous comment, Can we dual the falcon? or will there be an update for that later? I'd buy 2 just to play with 2 hands in a game.
Actually years ago there was a surgery game for the PC. It was during the time when graphics were improving by leaps and bounds quite quickly, and game makers were showcasing nearly any concept that could better use graphics.
Does anyone remember this? I recall it being quite complex and technical - like you actually had to do the surgery steps properly. It was called something fairly cheesy like 'Life or Death' or something similar.
re: surgery games
Yes, the game was called Life and Death, I'm pretty sure. The only thing I know about it is that you examined your patient by running the mouse over their body and clicking wherever you wished to palpate. Not sure how the game simulated actual surgery.
I'm also aware of a DS game called something like "Trauma Unit: Under the Knife" or something similarly intimidating. Haven't played it though.
On a funnier note, I also heard of a game called Theme Hospital, where you play, not as an intrepid doctor, but as the hospital's manager.
re: dual-wield Falcons
Indeed, we plan to make dual Falcon use possible for select applications. I don't have any specific information about *which* or *when*, but we do plan to make it an option.
What kinds of dual-use games would you like to see? Drumming? Swords?
I think a game--sensory experience -- with birds would be cool. It doesn't matter what kind of bird, but your hand feels as if a bird. Another suggestion is to get with "old time" cartoons and put a sense of feeling to them. You watch tv and hold on to a gadget -- you may have to invent a new gadget-- CSI with a sense of touch. A little T in the corner of the TV screen tells you when there is a sensory moment. Perhaps you can cut a deal with a cable company. Damn, the possibilities for touch are endless. Please excuse me if I'm rambling. eom
Dual-Falcons.....mmmmm.....interesting. In a game like WOW or any game that involves hand-to-hand combat, one Falcon could be used for parrying attacks with your shield while using the other Falcon for the sword. How about piloting a moon lander (or Mars lander)? Each Falcon controls an axis of rotation. What about adding Falcon capabilities to game like Myst where you're constantly solving puzzles while exploring a new world?
Do you post dates and locations for planned demo events? May be you do. I haven't checked the Novint website in a while.
re: bird game
You should check this out: I read about it on boingboing a while back:
http://www.raphkoster.com/2006/07/11/a-vague-game-idea/
This is a game (activity? experience?) where you essentially flap a bird's wings in sequence. Give it a try. I was thinking about how the Falcon might be useful in an experience like this one. Sounds like you may have been thinking something similar. See what you think.
Your other ideas are certainly compelling: how great would it be to be able to "help" the CSI team conduct an autopsy procedure from your couch, using your sense of touch and a Falcon.
re: Myst
Myst, Myst, Myst... We've been thinking for some time how spectacular it would be to add touch to Myst. Already a great game, but since the gameplay is so exploratory in nature, it could be *oh* so much better with high-fidelity force feedback. I couldn't agree with you more on the Myst suggestion. It could also help revive the franchise.
I also like your sword / shield idea for dual-wield. Honestly, hadn't thought of that one... sounds very fun. I had thought we could perhaps have the user "pull back" (toward their body) on the Falcon in order to lower the sword and raise a shield, but your idea would be even more intuitive.
re: Falcon demo schedules
If there is ever an event you're attending and you're wondering whether the Falcon will be on display there, don't hesitate to contact us at info@novint.com. We'll let you know straight away.
Dualing falcons definately will make me buy 2 now. Controlling mech's like they did in the third matrix movie would be awsome, walking by alternating arm pushes and all. Using 2 hands for the medical game, rather than having a limp arm you dont see in picture lol.
The bird game sounds like it would be cool if designed right. A highly graphical game, where you could use 2 falcons to control the flying. Using the falcons feedback to simulate air against the wings. Maby having a feature that you could catch smaller animals by swooping and clicking a button on the falcon to extend your claws. Maby the whole game would be from hatching to growing up by eating and surviving. I think it would be cool with a lot of light bloom, and maby physx in the game also.
Fight Night:
A boxer in the ring on fight night with dual Falcons. Oh my...too cool.
Dual Falcons just seems so natural. Can't say I fully understand how it works -- what/which sensations get fedback where -- and all that. But as sure as there is left and right, up and down & give and take... The example of the surgical situation with two hands fully engaged really is interesting, very very interesting.
I'll take two!!
I don't know if this has been done yet, but you may want to try to get the folks over at Slashdot.org to do a little story on the Falcon. That website gets a ton of traffic. Hopefully the Novint website can handle the increased traffic it will get.
re: dual wield Falcons...
Using 2 Falcons in mech combat...
Indeed, dual Falcons in a mech combat title could be lovely-- great idea. If not in a Matrix-themed game, maybe in a game like "GunGriffon: Allied Strike"? A Falcon-enabled mech title could be an alternative for those who enjoy mech combat but can't afford the hardware associated with a game like "Steel Battalion - Line of Contact"
Using 2 Falcons in a surgery simulator...
At the risk of getting stuffy, there is research by Guiard on the way humans who have two functioning hands tend to use them in concert to do basic and not-so-basic stuff.
One of Guiard’s main points is that one-handed tasks are actually in the minority (again, for those who have 2 working limbs). Dealing cards, threading a needle, striking a match, using scissors, unscrewing a jar, even writing on a piece of paper. As an example, Guiard did a study that suggested that handwriting speed slowed by about 20% when the second hand wasn’t used.
My point here is that touch-games that use two Falcons are probably good, not only for added fun, but also added utility. Thus, the use of two Falcons for a surgery simulation would probably be pretty nice on several levels.
Using 2 Falcons in boxing...
Oh heck yes.
Using 2 Falcons to be a falcon...
Flying with two Falcons, using one to control each wing, could be brilliant. Great idea.
re: /.
Thanks for the slashdot suggestion-- I read it every day myself. Much appreciated.
All of this brainstorming, aka "daydreaming", on ways to use the Falcon is all well and good but what is the point if the product is never going to hit the shelves? Novit has been projecting its release for years now(first 04 then 05 now 06??)...when is it really going to happen and what has been the holdup?
If you have the prototype, have a manufacturer who can build them (for about $35 a piece as Novint has said), and have mods already developed, then what is the problem? If the product works as well as everyone says it does then there is no explanation for why I can't buy one other than the fact that Novint, who may have a bunch of talented programmers and developers, doesn't have one decent businessman in the bunch and has no idea of how to get their product to market. The Falcon should be under everyone's tree this Christmas, as is, with whatever lame games Novint can come up with by then. Other games should follow.
Get the product on the shelves first. Develop the perfect game later. Get the public using it and they will beg game developers to adopt the product.
The problem with "mind blowing" products is that nobody's mind gets blown by talking about maybe, perhaps, using one, some day, if the company ever sells them. Mind's are blown when the hands are placed on the interface and they actually feel something on a screen. Until then the Falcon will be on of the best innovations in gaming that nobody will ever experience.
Start Selling!!!
I'll second that!!
I know this blog isn't for the purpose of business discusion, but the poster does have a point. Was the IPO a success? Is funding available for mass production. Perhaps some understanding of your stability business-wise will grease the creative imaginations of posters to this board. Besides anyone can see that there is virtually no limit to the uses of the Falcon.
offtopic: have you used this controller with racing games yet? can I take off the ball and put on a steering wheel? Do you think this controller will beat other steering wheels, made purely for racing experiences.
I also agree with the Poster. I have heard about the Falcon for quite some time now, howevever is it EVER going to sell to the general public. The hype and everything is great but unless it goes to market, it will never be a success.
has novint thought about adding a dpi button so you can change dpi on the fly like some logitech mice can do for gaming. or adding memory like razer mice. If you want to fully compete with a mouse these are some thing that i think would help.
On a personal level, I want to say that I understand feeling frustration that the Falcon is not available commercially. Any product delays are frustrating, period. I'm personally still waiting for my PlayStation 3, and not only has Sony struggled to establish a firm release date, but they have yet to set a firm price. Understandable perhaps, but like I said: frustrating. Same with Microsoft Vista. Same with the next iPod. It seems like many of the products I want get delayed.
Novint has also experienced delays from our earliest expectations, but we feel (as most companies do, I suppose) that we made those decisions for good reasons. There is always a balance a company has to strike in a product launch. There are some big pitfalls we need to avoid –- we have to assure quality and safety, we need to make sure that given the fundamentally changing nature of our technology that people have an awesome first experience and really realize the power of the technology, and we want the price to reflect the right amount of value which includes having enough software out there to provide many fun experiences. We also understand that hype means little until the average person has the product in their hands.
Having said all this, I’d like to explain some of our historical timeline, and perhaps clear up a few misconceptions that seem to be out there.
Novint first unveiled the Falcon at the DEMO conference in 2005 (www.demo.com). We were honored to be one of 74 companies invited to preview our product, which was still a prototype at the time. At that point, we announced a release date in 2006 believing, based on our progress to date, that this was realistic.
Since that initial expectation, we’ve adjusted our timing once. We've since made great progress towards the release of the Falcon. We gave it a totally new industrial design, which completely changed the Falcon's look (compare the before & after pictures if you have a chance-- it was a big makeover), and added some additional features, such as the quick disconnect that lets you easily change handles (something folks were asking us for). We also began to focus on increasing the amount of content available for use with the Falcon, which we feel is critical. It is important to emphasize that the Falcon needs touch-enabled software in order to run. Take our version of Half Life 2, for instance. Our version of HL2 has guns with realistic weight and recoil, objects you can pick up and throw, and players are able to tell which direction enemy gunfire is coming from. It is a powerful application of our technology. Making this game Falcon-ready took development work. The game has been a big hit so far, and we wouldn't have had it if we hadn't taken a bit of extra time to produce it. Also, in order to sell it, we will need to obtain a license from Valve. In short, each new Falcon application we create must be assessed as a business in itself and then must be developed accordingly.
Recently, we announced that we planned to have units available in the first half of 2007 and we continue to believe in that estimate. So, while we did reset the date from the original 2006 announcement, it was a decision we feel was necessary to the success of the launch.
It's also important to note that we're a public company, and we have restrictions on what we can and can't talk about in a blog like this. Please keep an eye out for future Novint announcements and press releases.
Finally, we want to say keep the posts coming -- your feedback, your thoughts, and your ideas are all something we take seriously. We want to address people’s questions, and we also greatly value the ideas that people provide.
re: racing games and the Falcon
One feature we've added to the Falcon is a quick-change end-effector. What this means is that we plan to give users the ability to swap out handles depending on the game they're playing. Though we haven't announced plans to create specific handles, the idea is that a user may have, for example, a pistol-grip handle for a FPS game, a golf club grip for a golf game, and --potentially-- a steering column for a driving game.
The Falcon is, therefore, equipped with the ability to support a steering wheel interface that could provide rotational resistance and forces to the user in a NASCAR, Formula One, or other driving simulation. On a less intense level, these same rotational forces could be experienced in, say, a pit stop repair mini-game requiring the user to use a virtual screwdriver or wrench.
This same theory would also apply to flight simulations and other games where the user pilots a craft or vehicle on land, sea, or in air.
As well, you can imagine that the level of feedback not only in game features like steering or shooting can be better, but also the reflectance of health. Although not very powerful, I believe that the trembling of a wounded army men can help in the feeling you get when handling the gun. Together with blurred vision and sound and away is the ingame health-o-meter.
Precize puzzling, moving blocks around and feeling where they need to be placed, feeling and manipulating audio (a 3D version of that audio game on the Nintendo DS, can't remember the name). Al nice...
Thanks for the update on the release of the Falcon "Novint." I appreciate your honesty.
re: the Falcon as a health indicator
Hey Jorrit, thanks for the thought. I couldn't agree more with your idea to use 3D touch to provide the player with more intuitive feedback about his/her health status.
Like you mentioned, you can imagine tactile cues in an FPS game such as:
-the gun actually feeling heavier in your hand
-the gun wobbling in a manner that forces the user to wrestle for control
-an exaggerated up-and-down motion to simulate labored or heavy breathing.
These are just a few examples. But I'm sure there are many ways we might help a user experience first-hand the health-status of the in-game avatar.
What other emotions or status-effects would you think would be cool to be able to simulate?
No problem on the discussion of our release timing. I appreciate your feedback.
you may have missed my post, ill repost it below:
has novint thought about adding a dpi button so you can change dpi on the fly like some logitech mice can do for gaming. or adding memory like razer mice. If you want to fully compete with a mouse these are some thing that i think would help.
re: Falcon and the mouse
In terms of the dpi question, we are looking at that type of
technique as well as others that become available when you have an absolute position controller like the Falcon (as opposed to relative position, as in the case of the mouse).
As far as your second question, we haven't announced any plans to incorporate on-board memory into the Falcon at this time.
What about letting the cursor get trapped in game elements, or using the cursor for searching invisible doors (like you are in room, have to continue the way you went, but got stuck in a dead end; instead of finding this small door in some games, find the door using haptic feedback).
What about a weapon by which you have to rotate a ball (like in the days of the nights, I don't know how you call it, but it had those spikes on it). Here haptic feedback is important for direction and speed/force.
Use balancing elements, in which you have to apply a certain amount of force to keep traps closed/off or help NPC's in doing what they have to do (walking over a bridge or alike) in order to keep the game going.
re: jorrit
Really interesting ideas, thanks.
I think the spiked ball on a chain you were referring to is called a flail or maybe a morning star.
Our technology has the ability to realistically simulate very complex and dynamic "swinging weaponry" such as the one you describe. Not to mention bolos, slings, nunchucks, whips, and more.
Because that weapon list I just wrote sounds so mean and nasty, I should mention that we can also do non-violent objects quite effectively as well :-).
Personally, I would absolutely kill to play a game with 3d-motion touch-enabled swordplay or melee combat. To be able to control the exact position and trajectory of a melee weapon by moving a controller in 3D space would be mind-blowing. Consider Dark Messiah of Might and Magic 2 in 3d touch.
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