Have you ever wanted to lift an X-wing out of a pool of nasty sludge? Have you ever wanted to do it using only your mind? Well, gamers, now you can.

It is common knowledge that the brain produces electro-magnetic waves when we think. In fact, the entire brain and most of the human body is acts on responses to electrical stimuli. The electro-magnetic waves that the brain produces are no different than a radio signal that goes to your car stereo, the satellite signal that goes to your TV, or the wireless router in your home. It was always understood that one could make a sensor to detect brain waves. The question is, how will we interpret the signal, and what is the point?

Reading brain wave activity is actually an incredibly useful field at the moment. Disabled individuals, who might normally have no means of communication, can benefit greatly from a device that can control a mouse and keyboard by simply thinking. But why stop there?

Emotiv Systems is bringing us the fairly reasonably priced EPOC Gaming headset ( $299 ). I say reasonably priced for a reason: yes - thats the price of an X-box 360, but its a device that can read your freakin mind!

Well, lets not be too hasty. It has its limits. At the moment it is generally useful for large actions, and takes time and training to do so. Such as my first example, lifting an X-wing out of a sludge pool. You use a keyboard to move your character, use the mouse to select the X-wing on the screen, and then, start thinking ( really hard ) about lifting the X-wing. After a couple of seconds the X-wing will slowly start to lift out of the pool. Gives a new meaning to “use the force”.

Notice in this above example, you still had to use a keyboard and mouse. The helmet is only sensitive enough to detect some single thought, and requires that you really concentrate on that thought. And the game will only respond to what it has been programmed to do - you cannot start to deform the X-wing into a Barbie PowerWheel just by thinking about it if the game has not been programmed to do so.

There have been many gimmicks to come and go in the gaming industry. Some gimmicks have had success ( such as the Wii motion sensors ) but most die a painful death ( such as Nintendo Virtual Boy ). From gloves, to goggles, to cute mechanical robots, hardcore gamers generally aren’t interested in changing the comfortable formula they are used to.

So I believe the gaming world will not support this helmet at first. But, it really depends on the 3rd party development for this device. If games actually give us gamers a reason to really want this helmet, then it might revolutionize games. Therefore, I devote the rest of this article to probe at how this new controller can be used in different gaming genres:

PLATFORMING:
A tomb-raider or Ratchet & Clank game might benefit from this helmet. Perhaps, one can switch inventory items, on the fly, by thinking about them instead of scrolling through an inventory window. Perhaps you can lock-on target enemies by thinking about “left” or “right” in real time while fighting. Certain platforming puzzles can take advantage of thought, such as turning a cogwheel clockwise or counterclockwise. Obviously, it would be neat to have a Jedi-like character who can perform these actions at a distance.

ADVENTURE:
Certain adventure games, lately, have had interactive “action” cut scenes, where you have to hit the “b” button to dodge a bullet at just the right time. I can definitely see brain waves dodging the bullet instead. A little more satisfying, too. Otherwise, a Sam and Max game can use brain waves to highlight whether objects are usable, or part of the background. Additionally, games like Myst can really revolutionize certian deep puzzles. See puzzles below.

RTS:
these games are so large, and sometimes fast paced, that I believe that the helmet can’t handle them just yet. Perhaps games like Demi-God, where you mainly focus on one character, instead of many troops, can you use thoughts to activate your “special powered move”. Otherwise, IF the technology can improve, you can use it to micro manage your home base while not even on the screen - just think “increase food supply” in a game like Civilization, and the game can respond. Even better, maybe one can choose all units of a certain type ( like all green units are archers ) by simply thinking green, leaving the mouse free to do other commands.

RPG:
If you play as a mage or sorcerer, this is right up your alley! I would love to choose the type of damage ( frost or fire ) and how long to “charge up the fireball” by thoughts only. Simply use the mouse to aim, let the brain do the rest. Thoughts might be used in leveling up your character - think strong versus charismatic, and your points go to endurance and heavy weapons. The best use, however, is during NPC speech. Most rpg’s are trying to give multiple outcomes to plots depending on whether you choose good or evil. Well, there’s no tricking the computer game now. The game will see how you REALLY feel about going on a fetch quest to get a long lost diamond brooch from a cave of zombies. And the NPC will act accordingly.

FPS:
Switching weapons. Certain locked door puzzles. Occasional NPC interaction. However, multiplayer is where some new innovations can come alive. Disarm the bomb in Counterstrike by concentrating using only thought - while under fire - and having your teammates cover you. Awesome. Or activate special abilities, like “see through walls” by simply thinking about it.

PUZZLE:
This genre will invent something brand new to the brain wave helmet. Just like Braid really blows ones mind with time-travel within the levels, or as Portal invented new puzzle mechanics, I am sure some company out there can make an entire puzzle game based on your thoughts - and perhaps thinking outside the box.

CASUAL:
Bejeweled, Puzzle Quest, or Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo could really benefit from this. First, speeds of tetris like games can increase by simply thinking about where the next piece should go and how to orient it by simply looking at the “next piece” icon. But for multiplayer, casual games that usually throw gems or blocks onto the opponents screen can have fun using brain waves. Align all your colors to make one super massive colored gem, and blow up the gems by thinking about which color you want to explode.

RACING:
Not so much for Gran Tourismo, but for flight games like Warhawk, you can control up, down, left, or right with your thoughts, leaving your fingers free to do the shooting and bombing. Or, your thoughts can be used to switch between torpedoes and lasers, or to adjust the shields on your ship from rear to front.

Did I miss any genres? Did I miss any obvious uses of the brain wave helmet?
Will anybody actually want to play a game with a helmet on your head? Or will it go the same way as Virtual Boy? Go ahead and comment.