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Rail Gun Controller Lets You Pack the Heat of Your Air Soft Gun In Any FPS Game (hothardware.com)

Posted by samzenpus on from the bring-a-bigger-gun dept.

MojoKid writes: The cool thing about playing Duck Hunt on the NES back in the day, was that you got to point a plastic gun at the television and shoot directly at fowl or clay discs. It offered a deeper level of immersion than what would have been possible with a standard controller. Such is the pitch for a new Kickstarter project called Rail Gun. Rail Gun is a series of attachments designed to work with your existing Air Soft gun. The pieces attach to any standard Air Soft gun to give you a "truly realistic and immersive experience for FPS games." There are five units that comprise the Rail Gun. The Main Unit houses the power and sensitivity buttons; the Jog Unit has an analog stick, special action button, and a few other components; the Weapon Unit lets you cycle through weapons, walk, drop items, and so forth; the Trigger Unit features the trigger and buttons for jumping, zooming, reloading, and crouching; and the USB Unit is what plugs into your PC or console. The Rail Gun uses fast rotation technology to track your vision based on where you're pointing your Air Soft gun. It also uses an algorithm to enhance aiming by detecting minor hand trembles, and you can adjust the sensitivity of this to your liking.

44 comments

  1. The sixth unit is composed of schoolgirls... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ... provided this a certain scientific railgun!

  2. Re:Science! by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >> a generation's ingenuity and intellect being diverted into toys and stupid shit

    Which is exactly where our generation started, before we produced web browsers, Google, Facebook, etc. Fucking around with random shit is good practice for disrupting the real world later - I wish my kids did MORE of it.

  3. Strongly recommended accessory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting

    The Toy Identification Unit clearly identifies this as a non functional firearm to protect you from vicious police assaults and probable death...

    1. Re:Strongly recommended accessory... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You only need that attachment if you happen to have dark skin, and live in a racist society.

    2. Re:Strongly recommended accessory... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      You think cops wont shoot a white guy that points a gun at them? Shit, I wouldn't try it. Those guys are paranoid. Whenever I get pulled over at night I make sure my hands are up on the steering wheel where they can see them. Most of them are young, stupid and scared. Then there are the ones that get turned on by any chance to shoot somebody. If you think they wont shoot a white guy if they feel threatened you're a fool.

    3. Re:Strongly recommended accessory... by retchdog · · Score: 1

      Sweet, I could use one of those for my M16.

      --
      "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
    4. Re:Strongly recommended accessory... by greenfruitsalad · · Score: 1

      not in my country. the complete absence of guns allows for some crazy shit:
      * one can suddenly run towards the police AND the police will run towards one asking what's wrong (instead of assuming an attack)
      * one can joke about stuff in public!
      * one can wear a hoodie + baseball cap + sunglasses at the same time and nobody will care (because you're most likely 13)
      * one can walk around with a gun and NOBODY will believe it's not a toy gun (police will have to investigate if reported but they will not pull out their guns while doing so)
      * until very recently, traffic police didn't even have guns

    5. Re:Strongly recommended accessory... by amiga3D · · Score: 1

      If they tried that here you would have a stack of dead cops.

  4. Re: Air Soft gun? Track your vision? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A replica gun that shoots bbs. It is a sport like paintball. If you live in the Seattle area lookup airsplat near southcenter or taags field (among others)

  5. cool but inefficient by danomatika · · Score: 2

    Until we've all got 2D VR treadmills or holodecks, this won't be good enough. I'm sure it *feels* more immersive but you'll still be at the mercy of people with razor sharp mouse/keyboard skills.

    Reminds me of playing Half-Life 2 with a P5 Dataglove http://cwonline.com/store/view... It was cool and I was aiming the gun and "pulling the trigger" but, like touchpad laptops, your arms get tired pretty quickly ...

    (Relatedly, reminds me of the last time I shot skeet with a 12 gauge. My aim improved remarkably when a friend told me to "click" the skeet like a mouse pointer.)

    1. Re:cool but inefficient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's called leading your target, something your dad or grandfather would/should have taught you if you weren't too busy in your basement playing video games. How was it getting that fresh air?

    2. Re:cool but inefficient by RogueyWon · · Score: 1

      Actually, we've seen something vaguely similar before on the PS3, via its short-lived PS Move accessory. Remember that? The Wii-mote knock-off that nobody bought because it shipped with an unutterably shit Wii Sports knock-off as its launch-title, which required the controller to be recalibrated roughly every 3 picoseconds.

      Thing is, there were (at least) two FPSes which had an option to use the PS Move: Killzone 3 and Resistance 3. The latter, despite being a great game, suffered from a poor implementation of the Move controls and is best played without them. However, while Killzone 3 is a fairly shit game, it did the motion controls very well indeed and using them was an absolute revelation.

      See, the PS Move used a camera/light system to augment the motion sensing, which meant that the tracking was much more accurate than the Wii-Mote (even with the Wii-Mote+ upgrade) and it had much lower input latency than the Kinect. What this meant in an fps which did the controls properly was that you had a device which basically gave you rapid fine-aim which, once you adjusted to it, was basically as good as mouse control. It still fell behind mouse controls for large, rapid turns, but for lining up shots and picking off headshots in most battles, it was far ahead of a console controller. Combined with the nunchuck thingy in the other hand, you actually had a pretty decent control system for console FPSes. Certainly, Killzone 3 gave me the impression that I was playing two difficulty levels lower than I actually was when using the Move rather than a controller, which is on a par with what I expect when comparing the same game on mouse and keyboard vs controller.

      Sadly, the Move was badly supported by Sony, sold badly and developers quickly lost interest in it. Which is sad, because it could have been a big step forward for console shooters.

    3. Re:cool but inefficient by vel-ex-tech · · Score: 1

      Unless the game is designed to move my character's aim independently of where I'm looking, this is a non-starter for me but not because of people who are pro at mouse/keyboard. I mean, if I aim at something that at the top of my field of vision, does that just move my character's head? It sounds too much like the weirdness that is mouse/keyboard with Star Citizen and Freelancer wrt gimbaled weapons.

      Speaking of which, that leads to more problems. Ok, so let's say the game supports this device. So then do I have to take my hands off the mouse and keyboard or maybe keep on hand on WSAD for some movement while I'm aiming?

      So back to the point of opponents who are pro at mouse/keyboard. I really like racing in Star Citizen using my HOTAS controller. I run into crap and get lost less. On the other hand, back in the 1.3 "beta" release it was pretty clear that HOTAS dogfighting just wasn't going to work. I didn't start earning REC (in-game beta currency that lets you rent different ships in addition to which ever one(s) you bought) until I switched to mouse/keyboard. Aiming is more fine-grained, but the big thing was there was no interaction between gimbaled weapons and the FCS, so mouse was the only way to aim them.

      I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think this controller will work without an Ocular Rift or similar or perhaps some new kind of controller, maybe a WSAD mounted on a mouse. Only problem, though, is that I have a feeling most people prefer to aim a gun with the same hand they prefer for the mouse.

      On the other hand, things like HOTAS controllers and especially driving game rigs are probably the best VR we can hope for until we get said holodecks.

      Oh, I almost forgot about this game: Police 911. The sequel was pretty good too. It's a rail shooter with one important feature: motion detection. So you actually have to crouch or move left and right to crane around something you're hiding behind. I suppose it wouldn't be difficult to achieve similar with a Wii-mote and a Kinect (both hooked up to a PC, obviously).

    4. Re: cool but inefficient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He was talking about trigger control, but yah...

    5. Re: cool but inefficient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Twin analog sticks on a lightweight calibrated aiming device. One for movement, one for view control. Aim anywhere on screen, point, shoot, no trembling hands smoothing, FFS, the bullets in game should not be so accurate it matters anyway. Pixel accurate bullets at 1000 yds needs to go away.

      DONE. Next problem please.

      The PS Move gun and kill zone 3 panned when you aimed at the edges, it's awful and needed a second stick for view control. It would fit well where safety/fire mode selector goes on a rifle, angled to the rear a bit. It also couldn't be calibrated to the screen well at all, we need a better feedback system for that.

    6. Re: cool but inefficient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, he's not and if you were ever taught how to properly shoot a gun you'd know too.

      there is a proper way to stand, hold the gun, breath, aim and fire the gun. absolutely none of which is taught by any video game. trigger control is nearly all 100% about your breathing. hitting the target is about aiming and being prepared to pull the trigger as you exhale. do this a few 1000 times and it starts to come naturally.

    7. Re:cool but inefficient by nospam007 · · Score: 1

      "Speaking of which, that leads to more problems. "

      Like little Fatso having to hold up and point a gun for a couple of hours?

    8. Re:cool but inefficient by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      See, the PS Move used a camera/light system to augment the motion sensing, which meant that the tracking was much more accurate than the Wii-Mote (even with the Wii-Mote+ upgrade) and it had much lower input latency than the Kinect. What this meant in an fps which did the controls properly was that you had a device which basically gave you rapid fine-aim which, once you adjusted to it, was basically as good as mouse control. It still fell behind mouse controls for large, rapid turns, but for lining up shots and picking off headshots in most battles, it was far ahead of a console controller. Combined with the nunchuck thingy in the other hand, you actually had a pretty decent control system for console FPSes. Certainly, Killzone 3 gave me the impression that I was playing two difficulty levels lower than I actually was when using the Move rather than a controller, which is on a par with what I expect when comparing the same game on mouse and keyboard vs controller.

      Sadly, the Move was badly supported by Sony, sold badly and developers quickly lost interest in it. Which is sad, because it could have been a big step forward for console shooters.

      Move is still around, and works with a PS4, but hell if I know what's currently developed for it. It's probably supported in the Just Dance games, but they use the camera well enough now and the scoring doesn't really matter either way...
      Don't bet on it going away, because the PlayStation VR will likely use it.

      I think a well designed, shoots-where-you-aim instead of pushing-a-cursor, light gun, probably with dual analog sticks, or a headset in lue of second stick is going to absolutely dominate FPS games when it's finally done right. With a VR headset, a Move controller can be a "gun". People would have to adjust to move where you look, shoot where you point mechanic, but it will beat the damned pants off using a mouse when done right.

    9. Re: cool but inefficient by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Most of that is true. However... (And I must...)

      Assuming one is going for accuracy (and you probably should be unless you're laying down suppressive fire) then just as you start your exhale (and this should not have been from holding your breath) you *squeeze* the trigger. You do not pull the trigger. You squeeze it, like you do your wife's tit. You do not pull it, like you pull your pecker. Gently squeeze the trigger to the break point and even pause there if needed. When confident, squeeze the trigger.

      Ideally, you'll also time your breathing to match your heartbeat. The exhale will occur at the same time the heart beats. This may seem trivial but it actually can improve your accuracy quite a bit. Unless you're a competitive shooter, in a prone position, and working with something like iron sights at 500 yards then don't really worry about it.

      The big thing is not to pull the trigger. People think pull and jerk it or don't find it's break point and don't really control the motion. Thus you squeeze the trigger and maintain equal pressure throughout.

      Source: Well, every Marine (even an accountant, cook, desk jockey, pilot, or driver) is first and foremost a rifleman. Even Lady Marines are first and foremost riflemen. I spent a goodly amount of time enlisted as it was needed to pay for my education - though I was able to take a number of courses while I was still enlisted.

      Squeeze the trigger, do not pull the trigger. It's a fine detail but one that's kind of important to people (like some of the above posters) if they're unfamiliar with the concept. It was also something I had some issues learning to do as well as I can now. This was even after participating on the high school rifle and pistol teams.

      The leading thing comes natural after a few hundred rounds, sooner if you're at all adept I imagine, and I'm sure there is plenty of math behind it - I've never bothered to figure it out. It's something you sense and get right with enough practice.

      Another good discussion would be your stance and ability to "lock" the firearm in. Your officer should be able to hit the end of your barrel and it should barely move. Proper use of a sling will assist in this and that too becomes second nature after enough rounds go downrange. I suspect, strongly, that you know all of this. I'm simply adding it for clarification.

      I think everyone should have, at least, a working familiarity if not a proficiency in safe and accurate operation of a firearm. I'd not force it on anyone but I'd like more people to seek out that training as well as making it a cultural norm. Squeeze, not pull. ;-) Find the breaking point and, well, gently apply the required pressure. This can be tuned (in some firearms) by a decent gunsmith and made to suit individual preferences. It's not really all that expensive and, in theory, I know how to do it on a variety of firearms but I'd recommend a professional.

      All of the above assumes you're following the various safety rules and any specific safety rules for the range at which one is shooting.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  6. Re:Air Soft gun? Track your vision? by truck_soccer · · Score: 2

    airsoft guns are usually electric or gas powered weapons, typically designed to mimic real life counter parts in both weight and appearance, that fire 6mm vinyl bb's anywhere between 250-500 feet per second down a smoothbore barrel.

  7. For you grammar geeks (greaks?) by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why does the summary use the word "comprise" to mean "compose"?

    1. Re:For you grammar geeks (greaks?) by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 3, Funny

      >> Why does the summary use the word "comprise" to mean "compose"?

      Because the writer used phrases like "that comprise" instead of "in" to get his B- in his freshman composition class.

    2. Re:For you grammar geeks (greaks?) by retchdog · · Score: 1

      That's more of a psychology question, since it's a standard use of the word.

      --
      "They were pure niggers." – Noam Chomsky
    3. Re:For you grammar geeks (greaks?) by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      Actually it's not. There's two required parts to the (standard) definition: that the list of items be exhaustive, which is correct here and (here's the big one) that the subject of the verb be the thing, and the object of the verb be the parts: The rail gun comprises these five parts. That second part is important, shit would be crazy if we started having cars driving people and men biting dogs.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
  8. Screw Air Soft by PPH · · Score: 1

    I want to snap that onto my S&W 357 Magnum. Just to keep the skills in shape while watching the political debates.

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
    1. Re:Screw Air Soft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Signs that you may take muzzle safety less seriously than you should."

    2. Re:Screw Air Soft by PPH · · Score: 1

      Signs that you may take muzzle safety less seriously than you should.

      I know the difference between my TV set and real life. So, no. And none of these clowns are worthy of being idolized. Their images aren't sacred.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
    3. Re:Screw Air Soft by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Every serious organization dealing with firearms will have some variation of the rule -- assume that the gun is loaded, no matter how sure it isn't. They aren't toys.

      http://www.nssf.org/safety/basics/
      http://www.remington.com/pages/news-and-resources/safety-center/10-commandments/1st-commandment.aspx
      https://www.smith-wesson.com/wcsstore/SmWesson2/upload/other/S&W_Revolver_Manual_01-30-2011.pdf

  9. Not like a light gun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unfortunately it appears that besides the heft of holding up an airsoft gun (and your arms will get tired) I'm not sure if the value here since the game won't really support it. If your not aiming down the sites then this is just a heavy controller

    1. Re:Not like a light gun by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 2

      Yeah, the video showing it being used is just a guy standing in front of a TV, airsoft controller at his hip, numbly playing Call of Battlefield: Medal of Duty Ops. The usage of this thing does not remotely resemble the controller from DuckHunt, other than being 'gun shaped'

      --
      I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
    2. Re:Not like a light gun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The "video" is an animated gif, so it looks stilted and unnatural playing the same few positions over and over. Although it does look like they have some work to do on the controller. Rotating/moving outside the field of the TV area should produce constant rotation in that direction, then within the area should adjust aiming. Definitely needs work on the software side. Cool idea though -- if you add forward back controls into the non-dominant grip you could get a pretty immersive experience.

  10. I'm just waiting for the first guy to break his TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I didn't know it was loaded!

  11. Complicated... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wonder if they can ever solve the issue that will arise with games that have a burst fire mode and getting the air soft gun fire off the correct number of shells. I doubt that will ever work.
    Another issue is recoil in the game, how do they compensate for that without your gun being an 'hack' or exploit? When you fire a sniper rifle in most games your gun will recoil and you will no longer be aiming at what you were before you fired, if this controller just puts your gun aim right back at where you were pointing immediately, it would actually be a step up from using a mouse or a controller, being that it auto resets your aim, virtually negating the game recoil.

    1. Re: Complicated... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You aren't supposed to shoot at the tv for real. Air soft pellets will break modern tv screens.

  12. Don't try to use this in America... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The police will execute you on sight. "He had a gun," they'll say, "it looked very realistic," and they won't mention how they drove directly into the supposed threat prior to shooting you dead before they could even tell you to drop it. Or how you were just playing games in your own home before they lobbed flash-bang grenades in, permanently maiming your toddler. No, it'll just be all "we feared for our lives," and the grand jury won't indict because police are unquestionable heroes, and the brave American police officers will go on about their business of executing more random citizens.

  13. TV warranty repair by tattood · · Score: 1

    Does it come with a free TV warranty to fix the cracks in the screen from firing AirSoft pellets at the TV?

    --
    WTB [sig], PST!!!
  14. Re:Science! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But...but....USA! USA! USA!

    Where's my gun?

  15. binspam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How did this get past the spam filter? Can I post some bullshit about my own scamstarter and get free publicity from here as well?

    1. Re:binspam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Can you make up a cool-sounding idea that would appeal to some subset of "nerds"? No? Then I guess you are incapable of posting some bullshit about your own scamstarter.

  16. Re:I'm just waiting for the first guy to break his by Keiran+Halcyon · · Score: 1

    Exactly. This KickStarter is brought to you by LG, Sony, Samsung, etc.

  17. Why not use a real gun, shoot at your projector? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are several ways to attach a laser dry-fire training device to a real gun, in a number of calibers. Point your webcam at a projector with animated targets. While there are several closed source programs, a good open source one is shootoffapp.com Java-based, Windows/Mac/Linux.

    There are a couple of good laser addons. This is not a laser to aim your firearm, it's a tiny cpu/battery/laser that fits into a fake bullet. A good one is www.laserlyte.com They have all sorts of (expensive) add-ons, targets that go "boing", laser-activated cans that fall over. The basic hardware is sound-operated, some complain that racking the action is enough noise to give it a false signal.

    Some of the best is Sure-Strike, from https://www.laser-ammo.com These are held in place by an extension tube, that goes out your barrel with a stabilizer nut that screws onto the end. This both marks it as safe (as it is impossible for a cartridge to be chambered) and keeps it centered, making it much more accurate. Sure-strike is actuated by firing pin hitting a switch, thus also serving as a snap-cap, for those worried about damaging their gun with dry-fire. It can also be switched to bore-site mode, to help you adjust sights/scopes. It's available in 9mm/.40/.45/.223/12g/20g and probably some others.

    None of these have recoil of course, so it is mostly single-shot operation (until you manually cycle the action). Still, you get to practice your stance, grip, breathing, sight picture and trigger pull for one shot. Your first shot is the most important, especially in a self-defense scenario.
    Shootoffapp.com has some great features. It can detect both red and green lasers, so you can compete with a friend. It has animated shoot/don't shoot targets in it's projector arena. Score-keeping, holster drills, adjustable malfunction rate, it's more than a game. It will make you better with your weapon. It requires a special version of Java, but a bootable CD may be available to negate that.