3D Controller Shoot-out part 5

Spacetec SpaceOrb 360 (read the full review here)

Spacetec sold the Orb off to Labtec about a year ago. The future of the Orb has been in question ever since. Although Labtech has not publicly stated whether the Orb will live on or not they have become increasingly more difficult to find. Regardless, there are many Orb fans out there and support is still being provided from a few dedicated users.

The Orb is the only controller in the lineup using a serial port connection. The serial port connection has a few drawbacks (setup issues, conflict possibilities, etc.) but it servers the Orb well. The control is fast and accurate once you learn the action. The ball mounted on the base can be pushed, pulled, twisted or combinations of them. The movements of the ball are then translated into movement of the character.

Learning to use the Orb is one of those things you either get right from the start or is a long process. The Orb ships with a demo/trainer to help you learn how to use it. The only suggestion I have is to turn the sensitivity up to game master. It allows better control and causes less fatigue since only small movements are needed.

The Orb requires a configuration file for game support. A small few, and older games offer Orb support out of the box. The configuration files can be downloaded from the Orb website or one of the dedicated Orb websites. The files are usually quite small and easy to setup. You can set the Orb into a basic mode for games without Orb support but control is difficult at best.

Performance-

Where supported the Orb rocks. In Quake II and other games of its era (and before) support is great. It only offers 6 buttons and this can be a drawback in more complex games. Fortunately some games have integrated jump and crouch into the ball movement and a button is not needed for these actions. I find the Orb the finest 1st person controller where it is fully supported. There lies the problem. Support is dwindling. Of the test games listed config files were not available for all or were limited in function.

As a non-1st person controller the Orb is weak. It has profiles for other types of games but the axis assignments are usually unnatural and the 6 buttons just don't cut it for most games. None of the other games listed played well enough with the Orb for it to be a viable controller.

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