Titans Sphere - The Failed 3D Game Controller for PC

Checking out the odd Titans Sphere by SGRL from 1998! Intended as the ultimate controller for 3D games in the late 90s, the Sphere was a failure on practically every level. "Throw away your joystick?" Ehh not so fast, let's set up this bit of LGR Oddware and see it in action first.

● LGR links:

● All background music licensed from:

00:00 An Oddware Introduction
00:40 The Titans Sphere
03:44 Second Generation Research Laboratories
04:58 Late 90s spherical reception
06:27 Unboxing the device
09:07 Setting it up and calibration
11:10 Duke Nukem 3D of course
14:11 Weirdness with Descent 2
16:08 Unreal Tournament GOTY
18:08 Grand Theft Auto III
19:52 Motocross Madness
21:43 Jane's USAF
23:47 This is shockingly bad

#LGR #retro #gaming #controller #oddware

[brianahoneybee]

Clint getting genuinely frustrated with an oddware is a new one. Sometimes they are gimmicks, other times they are actual crap.

[dougsisk]

“It’s a piece of s***” - Clint is normally so reserved this really cracked me up.

[JayMaverick]

"Can almost see the use case for it."
For 90s tech startups, this means all the green lights.

[samg]

Clint, don't you dare delete any of the old LGR videos. They are pure gold!

[frozyre]

This is probably the most expressive I've seen LGR be. We hear him become gradually disappointed every Sims 4 expansion pack. We hear him get jokey and witty in similar retrospectives like this. We hear him become educational and step by step in restoration and building.

This one is just raw and to the point.

[alexandredevert]

It's such a perfect sample of mid-90's consumer PC stuff : box art rendered with 3DS Max, grand premises with WTF execution, ends up gathering dust after a month of frustration

[markfacebook]

Wow, so I assumed on the surface that the gimmick of the wheel design was that you could use the wheel center as some sort of early accelerometer, and roll/pivot the controller itself to mimic degrees of motion.

This isnt even that. This is just two joysticks bolted to an obnoxious hunk of plastic.

[ababa]

I love you LGR, seriously. In this complex life, simple videos like yours really just put a smile on my face. No algorithim, no explosions, no 100, 000 dollars. just pure grade, and relaxing retro stuff. My favorite ❤

[creato]

"Talk to em Goose"
"I can't, i have a Titans sphere"

Oh, that was a good one.

[cujoedaman]

When you die to the first mob on the first level of Duke3D, you know you have something special in your hands.

[DOSStorm]

This is why I love the late 90s era of electronics. They were trying all sorts of interesting things before set standards existed, and most didn't stick but its cool to look at in retrospect.

[bennyfactor]

"mountain dew presents extreme [type of sport or game]" is perhaps the most late 1990s title possible

[fragglet]

When something is this bad you have to wonder if they skipped the prototype stage and just went straight to manufacturing without ever testing it

[MrKanjidude]

"We re confident in our abilities as innovators to produce products that will challenge gamers' minds at every level" <-- That's not the flex they tried to make it sound like. 😂

[first__last]

The lighting is so bright. It looks like he just descended from oddware heaven.

[pauld]

Somewhere in the world, there is a framed award on someone's office wall that reads: "Novelty controller of the month."

[Galantium]

with the alternating caps on the box it looks like it's mocking itself "TiTaNs sPhErE"

[hugovangalen]

Company: "It's not a joystick!"
Device: *shows up as 4 axis, 4 button joystick*

[nlmnd]

ITS SPHERICAL!

Yeah, I'd rather use a regular controller while using one of those under the desk cycle machines.

[AndyGaskin]

Love the raw honesty at 13:00. Yeah I remember these 90's gadgets, they seemed to be everywhere, always cheap quality, and confusingly unnecessary. The mouse and keyboard generally did wonderfully.