Gametrak

Lore & Background

The Gametrak's main hardware is a weighted base unit positioned on the floor in front of the display, communicating with the console or PC via USB and featuring an attached foot-pedal input. Inside, two identical mechanisms each contain a retracting cable reel and a small tubular guide arm articulated in a ball joint. The distance of a tracked element is measured by the rotation of the spool drum, while the ball joint and guide arm determine angular direction, functioning similarly to a gamepad analog stick.

The predetermined spacing and orientation of the two mechanisms allows coordinate data to be converted into positions in a unified space. The system includes special fingerless gloves with fasteners along the outside edge for attaching tether cables, enabling tracking of both hands. Haptic functionality was planned for future revisions, with supplementary retraction forces on the tension cables to simulate effects.

History

Myers arrived at the basic concept while playing with a retractable washing line in a hotel bathroom, combining the idea with a joystick mechanism. The development process took about three years to make the device affordable, accurate, and reliable for mass market. In January 2003, Atomic Planet Entertainment was confirmed as a licensed developer, creating the launch title Dark Wind, a first-person fighting game.

The Gametrak was showcased at the 2004 Games Convention, winning a 'Best of GC' award for 'Most Innovative Product'. It was released for PlayStation 2 in Europe on October 22, 2004, bundled with Dark Wind, which sold around 60,000 copies. Gametrak Version 2, functionally identical but with design refinements, was released alongside Real World Golf on August 26, 2005.

Real World Golf peaked at #3 in UK Chart-Track rankings and was considered a major success. PC versions followed in November 2005, and US releases for PlayStation 2 and Xbox occurred on April 11, 2006. By August 2006, over 300,000 Gametrak units had been sold.

Reader's Guide

The Gametrak represents an early attempt at consumer-grade 3D motion tracking for home gaming, predating the widespread adoption of camera-based or inertial motion controls. Its mechanical cable-based system offered precise positional tracking with no processor overhead or time delay, a technical achievement for its era. The device found its greatest commercial success with the golf simulator Real World Golf, which charted strongly in the UK and drove hardware sales past 300,000 units.

However, the original Gametrak system was eventually superseded by In2Games' own later products, RealPlay and Gametrak Freedom. The Gametrak Freedom, a wire-free ultrasonic system announced in 2006 as a cross-platform alternative to the Wii Remote, never entered commercial production past the prototype stage, and its patent application was withdrawn in 2012. The original Gametrak thus stands as a niche but technically innovative peripheral that demonstrated the viability of accurate, low-latency spatial tracking for home gaming, even as the market ultimately moved toward different motion-sensing technologies.