The Latest Sensation In GamingThe Latest Sensation In Gaming

Getting into a video game will be a little easier with Mad Catz's Bioforce controller, a product that will send a small, 16-milliamp tingle to players' hands when they're hit in a variety of ways.

Mad Catz Inc., which makes gaming peripherals for consoles such as Nintendo and PlayStation, debuted a prototype last month at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. The prototype used electrode pads attached to players' arms, but the actual product will be different, says Tom Bowman, Mad Catz's director of marketing. "It'll be stylized so it's easy to use," he says, adding that Bioforce received positive feedback at the expo.

The idea behind the product is to take gaming to the next level. "Obviously, punching, kicking, and fighting games would be best, but it could be used for a lot of different genres," Bowman says. "That's the beauty of it." When struck, players will feel "an interesting sensation," he says.

Kraig Kujawa, senior associate editor at Electronic Gaming Monthly, adds, "This probably isn't as big a deal as it appears to be. It's merely force feedback controllers taken to another level, and I doubt it could be too extreme, or parents wouldn't buy it.

"Besides, if the pad were too strong, you would keep dropping it, and who would want to buy a controller they couldn't keep a handle on? Mad Catz and Interact are fighting tooth and nail for the next-generation peripheral, and this generates the kind of headlines they need," Kujawa says.

No launch date has been set.