CES 2009: Mgestyk hoping you'll chuck your controller

by Justin McElroy { Jan 12th 2009 at 3:57PM }

We'd like to fault Mgestyk for their painfully edgy misspelling of a well-known actual word, but as a bunch of guys who spell Joystick with a "q", we're cautious about getting into a pot-kettle situation. Instead we'll talk about Mgestyk, a hands-free controller (or, more accurately, a controller-free controller) that we spotted on the CES show floor.

With Mgestyk, a specially-designed camera tracks the player's movements with surprising accuracy, and without the perfect lighting required by an EyeToy or Xbox Vision camera (in fact, we're told the camera can work in complete darkness). Also, unlike the other cam controllers, Mgestyk has the ability to detect depth.

The possibilities are intriguing, but, as you can see in the video above, the technology isn't perfect yet (lag, it would seem, continues to be an issue). We're rooting for our Brothers in Misspelling, but we're not sure we're looking at a Wii-killer just yet.

Tags: ces-2009, mgestyk

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Strategy_Panda (The Sandwich Poisoning Crew) @ Jan 12th 2009 4:03PM

please for moar precise controls, thx

Zorink @ Jan 12th 2009 4:04PM

Cool, but I like having a controller in my hand. I prefer to have some tactile feedback.

Erluti @ Jan 12th 2009 4:09PM

Yes! This is why I fail at Mario Kart Wii with the wiimote, without any tactile feedback I overcompensate the crap out of my turns.

allen @ Jan 12th 2009 4:05PM

So this is the U-Force 2.0?

Mabui @ Jan 12th 2009 4:06PM

What happens if I am making a throwing gesture and my hand flies off and smashes my HDTV? Huh? Huh?

Looks okay - though I am concerned by the "Doesn't matter" part when asked how accurate your movements had to be. Most driving games you have to be "Very Accurate"

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Jan 13th 2009 1:15AM

"What happens if I am making a throwing gesture and my hand flies off and smashes my HDTV?"

Duh, wear the handstrap.

BxGT @ Jan 12th 2009 4:07PM

0:28, was that witchcraft or a seizure?

Blah @ Jan 12th 2009 4:08PM

it looks like some sort of invention ill probably never see outside of this blogpost

AoE @ Jan 12th 2009 8:09PM

we can hope that'll be the case... we can hope.

Cono1234 @ Jan 12th 2009 4:10PM

I love the game that they are playing

Haon @ Jan 12th 2009 5:36PM

Im not sure but it looks like NFS Porsche Unleashed. My favorite NFS.

pedasn @ Jan 13th 2009 1:18PM

you're right, he is playing NFS Porsche

Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Jan 12th 2009 4:19PM

I'm not trying to be mean here but was that Parkinson at 0:29 or the game still needs some adjustments?

The negative side of every innovation of this type is that sometimes is more frustrating than useful.This reminds me of the Sega Activator.

Shagittarius @ Jan 12th 2009 4:25PM

That guy is the epitome of a sleezy salesman. I've been to many trade shows and you can't BS a BSer man!

bluesky_v2.01 @ Jan 12th 2009 4:56PM

Really don't see the point of this. The idea is sorta cool but it doesnt make driving in the game any more fun. If anything it makes it boring - waving your hands in the air does not sound fun to me. I'd much rather buy one of those gaming wheels from logitech that make you feel like you're actually driving. Just my opinion though.

JWC @ Jan 12th 2009 5:06PM

If I say their name backward does their company go back to the 7th dimension?

Dr Jeckyl and Mr ESC. @ Jan 12th 2009 5:58PM

Duh no you have to make them say their name backwards,then they return to the 5th dimension.

Rocko @ Jan 12th 2009 5:13PM

It would be cool to have a microphone setup included with this camera, so I could play a shooting game while making a fish with my forefinger and thumb extended, and going "pew pew" to make the gun shoot.

Doug @ Jan 12th 2009 5:23PM

Or just say "fuck" a lot. AVGN

WorMzy @ Jan 12th 2009 5:20PM

I'd like to see him try and brake with that thing.

usagi704 @ Jan 12th 2009 5:44PM

I just can't get behind such gimmickry. That is all it is. Once you get over the initial, "that's neat" then there is nothing left.

Paulmichael @ Jan 12th 2009 5:53PM

They already have something similar, it's free and works surprisingly well:
http://www.camspace.com/

PsyKodeLicReLic @ Jan 12th 2009 7:26PM

Nothing Will Replace My Controller.

Alex @ Jan 12th 2009 7:12PM

This Is A Joke.

Sean @ Jan 12th 2009 8:15PM

They were at the Montreal International Game Summit... it sucked. It did not work at all. A few people were able to get the cars to go in straight lines but forget about corners. It was kinda sad because it looked really interesting.

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Jan 13th 2009 1:17AM

Great, we fought really hard to get rumble back as an overall console standard, and now this guy wants to take everything away? I THINK NOT.

SonnyBone @ Jan 13th 2009 4:01AM

It looked almost like the guy was pretending to play.
I did this when I was kid. I would watch movies with a chase scene and pretend to be driving the car! What a geek!

But seriously... it looks like they just recorded some gameplay footage and had a guy stand in front of the TV and pretend to be controlling it.

The car seemed to only go in 2 directions:

1) straight
and
2) full turn