FEBRUARY 2019 PCWorld 19Thus it falls to hardware
manufacturers to add
compatibility for
HyperSense, not every
individual game and
program. Lofelt’s mouse and
wrist rest prototypes are
designed to work with the
system, Subpac works with
the system, and I’m sure
we’ll see more partners down the line.
Razer’s quick to add that game developers
can tie HyperSense into their games in a more
bespoke way. From the announcement:
“Like Razer Chroma, Razer HyperSense is
capable of a more distinct and powerful
immersive experience via game developer
integrations which tie specific game events,
audio queues and game mechanics to
high-definition haptics capable of
reproducing a wider variety of vibrations than
conventional haptic devices for natural and
lifelike feedback.”
Developers don’t need to do so,
though—and that makes all the difference. It
means even in some hypothetical future
where you have a rumbling Razer headset, a
rumbling Corsair mouse, and a rumbling
Cooler Master wrist rest, they should still
function with some semblance of logic based
on raw low-frequency output.BOTTOM LINE
That’s a very hypothetical future though. At
the moment, Razer appears far ahead of the
competition in this regard. As I said, they love
a good gimmick over at Razer, and haptic
feedback’s traditionally fallen into that
category on PC.
But gimmick or no, it deserves
an honest appraisal. Haptic
feedback adds a lot to the gaming
experience when done right, in
ways both large and small. If Razer
can pull off an all-encompassing
haptic ecosystem? I’ll be the first in
line to get shaken like ye olde
Polaroid picture.