Tilt Pak
by Pelican
Everyone has played those games that make you crane your neck and contort your body in weird positions, emulating the motion of your character on the screen. Any game with a “look” button has you looking silly in front of your friends, trying to see that little bit extra. Driving and flying games force you to move the controller as you steer your vehicle, like bowlers doing the lean to keep their balls out of the gutter. Until now, no amount of waving the controller as you play could help you, but Pelican Accessories has come out with a product that allows you to control your game without a direction pad or joystick.
The Tilt Pak is the N64 version of Pelican’s device, and its cousin, the Tilt Force, is a Playstation controller that does the same thing. The Tilt Pak is comprised of two pieces: a dongle and a trumble, which makes it not only a game enhancement, but also a running gag anytime you whip out your unit. The dongle attaches to the end of the controller cable, and plugs into the N64. The trumble fits into the slot on the controller. Together they translate the movement of your controller into movement in the game.
By pitching and yawing the controller, your character moves on the screen. Tilt the controller right, left, forward, or backward, and that’s where the character goes. I tried the unit on several games, including Rogue Squadron, Star Wars Episode One: Racer, and Starfox 64. It works excellently when playing games like this. Flying a ship in Rogue Squadron or Star Fox is a whole new experience with the Tilt Pak. It is as if you are holding a model of your vehicle, and moving it in three dimensions. On driving/race games like Racer, the Tilt Pak can be held like a steering wheel, and is quite effective. Another bonus of playing with the Tilt Pak is that you don’t always have to play using two hands. On Racer I found myself winning against my friends using the one-handed tilt style.
Lest you think that the Tilt Pak is something you can just jump into, let me set you straight. There is an extensive configuration mode for the unit, and you must configure your controller for each game. That means it takes a few minutes to get things set up to play with the Tilt Pak, but you can save a default setting that is useful if you tend to use the device with similar games. While the configuration is tedious, it is also handy because it can take the edge off some of the touchier games. Another thing that is difficult to get used to is that while using the Tilt Pak there is no return to center. With the joystick or the direction pad, when you move hard left then release the controller, it returns to the center. With the Tilt Pak you must make your turn, then move the controller so that it is in the center position. This can lead to some serious oversteering problems as you wobble back and forth on the screen until you get the hang of it.
The Tilt Pak also allows you to set any button on your controller to turbo mode, which is a nice extra. It doubles as a rumble pack, and has two different rumble settings: standard N64 rumble, and extra rumble. These enhancements make your N64 controller much more interactive and enjoyable.
Of course, the big question on everybody’s mind is: How does the dang thing work" Magic. No, it actually uses a G-Force Tilt system developed by Analog Devices. The G-Force Tilt is a micromachined accelerometer that measures acceleration in any direction and uses gravity as an input signal. So, the simple answer for those of us out there without a digital engineering degree is still magic.
Overall, the Tilt Pak is a great device. It is an innovative idea, and it functions perfectly. While it is by no means a must have accessory, it does add a whole new dimension to your games. If you are a big fan of driving or flying games, the Tilt Pak is something that you should definitely test out for yourself.