PERIPHERALS THE GLOVE Reality Quest, Inc. Right-handed PlayStation players, here is one for you. The Glove is a one-handed game controller that uses wrist action for character movement and has action buttons located at your thumb and finger tips. It supports both digital and analog gaming and is compatible with all console gaming that supports a pad controller. So, what do you do with your other hand? <Pyro> You need your other hand to hold your forearm steady until you get the hang of The Glove. At first, the wrist movement takes some getting used to, but I got it down in about an hour. The Glove worked great on first-person shooter games like Doom, Duke Nukem and Virtual Cop. I also give it a thumbs up for racing and flight sim games like Bogey Dead Six, Project Horned Owl and Epidemic. Fighting games, however; are a different story. I played Street Fighter II using the character, Zangief. Making him do certain actions (alpha moves) takes some coordination with this controller. For example, the "Corkscrew Pile Driver"-that's a 720 degree rotation with punches that is easily done on a conventional game pad controller with your thumb and forefinger. The Glove requires two complete circles with your hand/wrist while fingering a punch on the action buttons. It's just a bigger and slower action to complete. But this thing sure does look cool. And if you're really into shooters, racing and flight games, The Glove should be on your gotta buy list. GAMESTICK This ain't your father's joystick! CH Products has come out with an innovative, stylish design that will appeal to gamers. It comes with four push buttons; a slide throttle and trim controls; and an ergonomic handle the is built to handle both left and right-handed gamers. Windows 95, DOS compatible. <Surn> CH Products is expanding from the simulator controls into the gaming world. But I'm not quite sure why they are bringing the Gamestick. Their Fightstick Pro has been doing a pretty good job in games and it comes with more buttons. For sure, the Gamestick wins the cool design award, but it is lacking in functionality with few controls, especially no 4-way, "POV" button. I felt the response from the stick itself was lagged when I tried it out with Mechwarrior 2. It does have a simple feel, there are a few programmable buttons, but given there a similarly priced sticks already out there with 4-way buttons and other features such as twisting around the Y-axis, why would I buy this one? Ambidexterity? Okay, but I'm right-handed. The one thing that I can think of is that this is suppose to be used in tandem with a separate throttle control. I don't know. <Katana> I get really tweaked out when freebie game software doesn't work with my computer. I gave up on the software that came with the Gamestick 4 installation CD. No program would run. So, in order to tryout the Gamestick, I slid in my own copy of Rebel Assault II. Being that I like to kick back, put my feet up and control the joystick from my lap, I like the design of the Gamestick's base that fits the contours to my thigh. I have a Sidewinder joystick that I have to position over both legs on my lap. Getting the hang of the feel of the Gamestick in Rebel Assault II was pretty easy. I tried out the Gamestick in "Chapter 7: TIE Training". I chased Admiral Crane through the canyons just fine. The movement is smooth; I liked that, there is not a stiff resistance to push you back to center, which should keep you from tiring too soon. But it still is very easy to find center. I noticed that some other people on our staff thought that there was too much play in the Gamestick. Well, there is a greater range of motion. You can really crank it. The stick itself stands higher from the base; it is longer by a good inch than a Sidewinder stick. This makes this stick great for 3D flying games; when you really want to put some "snap" into your snap rolls. The ergonomic grip has a great feel and is good for both right and left-handers. The longer stick is a bit unwieldy for smaller hands/grips like mine. It would not be very comfortable to use the trigger and the thumb buttons simultaneously while resting my hand on the base of the stick. But for straight out maneuvering, this is smooth. Gamers who play button-happy games might look to the Gamestick 14 for more complexity.