The gaming experience we seek in order to optimize for maximum immersion is easily affected by a large number of factors. The graphics, the audio, and the storyline are some of the key juices that make a game immersive, but other external factors beyond the game are just as important. It’s a lot harder to get into a game if your chair is uncomfortable, or if the “5.1 Surround Sound System” you picked up for ten dollars from that one garage sale isn’t quite working up to par. A company by the name of “4th Motion” has developed their own approach to enhancing this gaming experience, through a product identified simply as the Gyroxus. Though it initially looks like a slightly odd, no-frills gaming chair, the company has chosen not to dedicate its efforts to fluff details like cup holders, flashing lights, or a thumpin’ sound enhancement system. Rather, the chair is unique in that it acts as a complete input device.

The concept is that any action that would normally be performed by the left analogue stick on a supported controller (the Xbox 360 and PS3 look to be the primary target platforms at the moment, though the setup can also be used with a PC) is instead dictated by the motion of the chair itself. The chair is set up in such a way that it’s easy to lean left, right, forwards, and backwards, in a natural relation to how you want your avatar in the gameworld to react. If you watch someone play an immersive game, you’ll notice he or she will tend to instinctively flinch or lean left or right in an attempt to “avoid” the attack, and the goal of the Gyroxus is to augment these movements by translating them to real-world inputs, hence resulting in a more immersive and intense gaming experience.

Of course, that’s the marketed theory, but what kind of effect does the chair have in practice? For starters, the company has gone to great lengths to promote a sense of simplicity in setting up the chair. The entire configuration only took me about 5-10 minutes of actual effort to set up the first time; it comes packaged in a number of pieces, with the bulkiest being the central chair unit. This comes suspended above a large circular centerpiece with an array of pulleys and slider bars which are used to provide the free range of motion the chair depends on. Assembly is as simple as attaching the leg supports and adjustable backrest using the included screws (happily, no extra tools are needed), and then affixing the desired controller to the flexible joystick-like arch in the front-middle of the chair for use.

The controller is where things get interesting. My review unit came bundled with an Xbox 360 and a PlayStation 3 controller, both of which had been customized. Proper functionality of the chair depends on an extra cable wired into these controllers, designed to be connected to a chip on the chair itself. This is so that the chair can take over the duty of acting as the controller’s left analog stick (the corresponding input on the controller itself is actually disabled, presumably to avoid conflicts), but also means you can’t just take any random controller you have lying around and bolt it onto the chair; you need to use one of the ones provided by 4th Motion. Once you’re all hooked up, you then need to keep the chair centered (with the help of an integrated bubble-level) as you start up the console in question to ensure it’s properly calibrated.

So setup isn’t too tough but does it really improve the gaming experience? Looking over how the company promotes the chair on its website , I was a little surprised. My first thoughts upon seeing the chair were of sim-style games like Ace Combat 6 or Project Sylpheed, but a strong marketing focus has been put forth to try and make the chair appealing to fans of fast-paced action titles like Halo 3 and Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Despite how odd this seemed, I spent some time giving the chair a thorough workout across a wide number of different games, and came out with some interesting results.

The truth of it is, the key to unlocking the potential of the Gyroxus lies in the amount of effort you put into it. At first, I found it quite a challenge trying to work in the chair’s unique method of control for games like Project Gotham Racing 4 or Mercenaries 2. The inputs from the chair always felt overly sensitive, and I found it very difficult to make the kind of gradual, analog movements I was expecting by leaning left or right.

However, after sinking some good solid time into it (and having a few insightful conversations with the reps at 4th Motion, who I thank for putting up with my badgering concerns), things finally began to click and I started maneuvering less like a tipsy trucker. What helped the most was a suggestion to try using the so-called "Warrior Stance" by putting the backrest all the way forward, and sitting a bit more upright in the chair – this allowed for more precise control in games that demanded it. I then settled back into the more relaxed “Cockpit Stance” once I had the range of motion figured out.