Titans Sphere - The Failed 3D Game Controller for PC

Checking out the odd Titans Sphere by SGRL from 1998! Intended as the ultimate controller for 3D games in the late 90s, the Sphere was a failure on practically every level. "Throw away your joystick?" Ehh not so fast, let's set up this bit of LGR Oddware and see it in action first.
● LGR links:
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
/ lazygamereviews
● All background music licensed from:
www.epidemicsound.com
00:00 An Oddware Introduction
00:40 The Titans Sphere
03:44 Second Generation Research Laboratories
04:58 Late 90s spherical reception
06:27 Unboxing the device
09:07 Setting it up and calibration
11:10 Duke Nukem 3D of course
14:11 Weirdness with Descent 2
16:08 Unreal Tournament GOTY
18:08 Grand Theft Auto III
19:52 Motocross Madness
21:43 Jane's USAF
23:47 This is shockingly bad
#LGR #retro #gaming #controller #oddware

[@brianahoneybee2487]

Clint getting genuinely frustrated with an oddware is a new one. Sometimes they are gimmicks, other times they are actual crap.

[@novelezra]

Hearing him swear is so funny. I've been watching him for a decade now and I swear to God he has cursed like, 3 times.

[@norkshit]

@@novelezrayou swear he’s sweared 😂

[@Johnny2Starz]

I laughed so hard at that. He was so visibly frustrated.

[@gabrieldias3479]

I mean, I was getting frustrated with him as well. Never seen Clint angry and that made me angry as well 😂

[@McTwistedTwisties]

CHUCKLE OF FAILURE

[@dougsisk619]

“It’s a piece of s***” - Clint is normally so reserved this really cracked me up.

[@davidc1878]

Me too, lol. I remember seeing ads for this or maybe in the stores and it looked like an abomination.

[@MalikATL]

first time seeing this and it's two years older then me @@davidc1878

[@bntrs]

"This thing is definitely not based - it is baseless"

[@johneygd]

If i had a shredder,i definitely would,ve shredded this controller,if i had a crusher, i definitely would,ve crushed it,what a huge waste of plastic🥲🥲🤣

[@thetechsavvy01]

Bro you know he is mad when he starts swearing

[@JayMaverick]

"Can almost see the use case for it." For 90s tech startups, this means all the green lights.

[@GawrGurasBathTubPizza]

_highway to the titan SphereZone_

[@ExtraThiccc]

Nowadays you don't even need a use case for any new tech! Just look at crypto and nft startups

[@-sciencetv]

The designer likely knew of video games, but never actually spent much time playing one. Products like this are great. A company puts too much faith in one person but that person only sounds like they know what they're doing. This leaves them unable to cope with issues. In this case, "Hey, this thing is a pain to center." "Oh, okay I can fix that. We'll just put in a massive dead zone." They didn't know or understand the issue that this would cause.

[@LGR]

I can fully believe this narrative.

[@markfacebook]

Wow, so I assumed on the surface that the gimmick of the wheel design was that you could use the wheel center as some sort of early accelerometer, and roll/pivot the controller itself to mimic degrees of motion. This isnt even that. This is just two joysticks bolted to an obnoxious hunk of plastic.

[@ilya_ash]

I won't be surprised that it supposed to have gyro and some kind of forced feedback, but the cost of production made it unfeasible, they cut all that down and that's what left

[@remkovanalphen5294]

Indeed, my first thought too, gyroscope! 😁@@ilya_ash

[@Ezullof]

I thought it would be some kind of specialist joystick for some kind of airplane simulation or maybe a space game. But it's not calibrated for anything. It's crazy.

[@el_cartolel]

Yes i also thought on that, its really dumb to put this controller on this uselles "sphere"

[@JamesC1981]

if you flick your nail on the plastic it you can hear how cheap this thing is lol

[@frozyre7854]

This is probably the most expressive I've seen LGR be. We hear him become gradually disappointed every Sims 4 expansion pack. We hear him get jokey and witty in similar retrospectives like this. We hear him become educational and step by step in restoration and building. This one is just raw and to the point.

[@j_c_93]

I feel like he was extra disappointed because the idea behind this great, and it could actually work really well for some games, but the execution was atrocious.

[@Ultimatebubs]

I hope that he starts calling Sims 4 expansion packs "pieces of shit", because maybe (just maybe) Maxis and EA would stop making them!

[@alexandredevert4935]

It's such a perfect sample of mid-90's consumer PC stuff : box art rendered with 3DS Max, grand premises with WTF execution, ends up gathering dust after a month of frustration

[@lurchilurch5507]

So true, although a month seems optimistic! 😅

[@Zodroo_Tint]

So a new industry standard indeed.

[@sam08g16]

Clint, don't you dare delete any of the old LGR videos. They are pure gold!

[@DOSStorm]

This is why I love the late 90s era of electronics. They were trying all sorts of interesting things before set standards existed, and most didn't stick but its cool to look at in retrospect.

[@KairuHakubi]

risktaking created the best economic time in history. even if you failed, bankruptcy was a lot easier.

[@82726jsjsufhejsjshshdjso]

It’s like interwar aircraft or pre dreadnought battleships. Nobody knows what the fuck works well yet 😂

[@bennyfactor]

"mountain dew presents extreme [type of sport or game]" is perhaps the most late 1990s title possible

[@carlklitzke9455]

Boards and Blades was the first game I had for my first non-used/outdated computer and I tried so hard to enjoy it.

[@BadWallaby]

I literally played it on a DELL 2350 with integrated graphics at 30fps LOL desperate times those @@carlklitzke9455

[@cujoedaman]

When you die to the first mob on the first level of Duke3D, you know you have something special in your hands.

[@MrKanjidude]

"We re confident in our abilities as innovators to produce products that will challenge gamers' minds at every level"

[@isaace436]

They technically achieved what they set out to do then...

[@mialemon6186]

They weren’t wrong though! It is a mind fuck how this ever made it to market! 😂😂😂

[@fragglet]

When something is this bad you have to wonder if they skipped the prototype stage and just went straight to manufacturing without ever testing it

[@OwlTowel]

Kinda like the Virtual Boy?

[@jolibethrodriguez7471]

The difference was that the VB was long term the sacrifice of a bishop to secure a knight

[@hitempguy]

Literally the concept behind children's toys for the first 50 odd years of the concept

[@Velo1010]

Wouldn’t doubt it 😂

[@olaf3140]

That's what I thought, there can't be a single person who tested this and thought "woahh this is sooo good, we got a hit on our hands here" It's just mind boggling to think of the whole process of coming up with the idea, producing it, marketing it, and actually putting this somewhat out on the market

[@first__last]

The lighting is so bright. It looks like he just descended from oddware heaven.

[@lamronjr8785]

And he did. He brings salvation

[@KenzertYT]

I love it

[@tarron3237]

It's Oddware Jesus! 😂

[@darkidz24]

Our oddware Lord returns!

[@IntegerOfDoom]

The one true god.

[@pauld2810]

Somewhere in the world, there is a framed award on someone's office wall that reads: "Novelty controller of the month."

[@Galantium]

with the alternating caps on the box it looks like it's mocking itself "TiTaNs sPhErE"

[@jolibethrodriguez7471]

Graphic desing is my passion meme twenty years before it was cool

[@FluffyTheGryphon]

Was that late 90s EdGe that was all the rage.

[@gruntingskunk2237]

Booty p0rn

[@charlesswansonii9319]

Ah yes, what we call "TorgoType". ThE MaStEr WoUlD ApPrOvE.

[@ThumpertTheFascistCottontail]

that explains it. when they made this thing, they were just being sarcastic.

[@creato938]

"Talk to em Goose" "I can't, i have a Titans sphere" Oh, that was a good one.

[@hugovangalen]

Company: "It's not a joystick!" Device: *shows up as 4 axis, 4 button joystick*

[@atomsbudgetreviews8713]

Hahaha “I keep jumping because it’s a piece of shit” hahaha best statement ever Clint ! 😂

[@ababa9668]

I love you LGR, seriously. In this complex life, simple videos like yours really just put a smile on my face. No algorithim, no explosions, no 100,000 dollars. just pure grade, and relaxing retro stuff. My favorite ❤

[@LGR]

Thank you, I’m glad to hear 😊

[@ababa9668]

@@LGR 😉❤️

[@fuzzix]

Ha, looks like an ergonomics nightmare - reminded of that Simpsons line when the kids are in the arcade: "My doctor says I have the wrists of an 80 year old". That USAF segment was hilarious.

[@tardis9436]

“If it didn’t suck, it could be good.” 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jongeo]

Flat-bottom SGRLs, you make the Oddware go round!

[@AndyGaskin]

Love the raw honesty at 13:00. Yeah I remember these 90's gadgets, they seemed to be everywhere, always cheap quality, and confusingly unnecessary. The mouse and keyboard generally did wonderfully.

[@LordGagamog]

I grew up in the Akron area, this controller is the most Barberton thing I've ever seen.

[@mialemon6186]

My partner is from Ohio and I had to ask where Barberton was. Even he had to ask where it was. As soon as I read this comment, the lightbulb went on. “Ahhh that explains everything.” 😂

[@RobCamp-rmc_0]

Word, I was surprised to find it was based there, but it fits perfectly. Like _magic,_ you could say.

[@ianlapidakis9566]

Straight outta babertucky

[@The8bitbeard]

This looks like the kind of thing I would have bought on clearance as a kid, and I would have been so enamored with the idea of it I would have tried my absolute hardest to convince myself that it was the best thing ever, no matter how terrible it actually was.

[@Zodroo_Tint]

Are you the kid from our street I knew.

[@The8bitbeard]

@@Zodroo_Tint I might be. Though I think every street had that kid.

[@mjodon755]

I did not expect to hear Barberton, Ohio mentioned in a LGR video. I was a teenager there in the 90s do not recall ever hearing about SGRL (Second Generation Research Laboratories, Ltd.) or the Titans Sphere.

[@GoddessOfMisfortune]

It would absolutely benefit from a central deadzone to remove those centering issues. Also, a method of rebinding the axis for steering in racing games would honestly make this potentially usable.

[@Simte]

[Spherical Jazz Music] is absolutely the best music to have for this piece of oddware.

[@JamesPotts]

In what universe would this be better than the Sidewinder Force Feedback?!

[@johnnyringo35]

Universe 616

[@joshuawright8990]

$129 for a controller in 1998? that’s crazy expensive for back then

[@FiXato]

The UT segment reminded me of the period I played that game using my old Wacom tablet because my mouse had broken 😂 You should give that a go too, Clint 😅

[@IOSam]

Clearly a lesson in ergonomic design... (one in how NOT to design and "3D" controller) On another note, it was so cool to see Loyd Case's review of this contraption at CGW Magazine (he would go on to write for Ziff Davis, PCWorld and MaximumPC later on)! He basically nailed (as he usually did) the few Pros and many Cons of this product perfectly.

[@hannesofficial]

As soon as I saw the CE sign, I thought: Oh, it was sold in Europe! Then I saw "Der Grüne Punkt" and thought: Oh, it was sold in Germany :D This piece of oddness sure took some trips around the world. Like your video. Greetings from Germany :)

[@tomyyoung2624]

yes so fast, let's set up this bit

[@frool76]

I was thinking it might come from Germany based on the name. Titanssphere without the Apostrophe sounds like a very German translation.

[@tomyyoung2624]

@@frool76 Yes one seems to have said this, but this peripheral is yes only spherical, but it looks very much like a human head with large ears! Talk about pulling ones ear.

[@olinezra1506]

Very rare! Clint normally never uses expletives. This device did made him do it. Classic!

[@kathrynradonich3982]

Wow didn't expect to hear barberton OH mentioned. Had no idea they existed or were there and I grew up running around that small town.

[@ken131]

OMG THAT PHAR MOR SHIRT MADE MY BRAIN TRAVEL BACK IN TIME I NEED IT

[@npntransistor1505]

"We're more than just a drug store.......... We're super.... We're phar more........."

[@Gojiro7]

my favorite part of these kinds of is the ways Clint finds the ways to hold the controller that isn't anymore comfortable but works better, I swear that chin method makes me think whoever made this watched the Light Cycle scene from Tron, looked at how the actors sat to steer them and said "THAT!!! I'M MAKING A CONTROLLER LIKE THAT!!!"

[@gmirwin]

The Tron theory was my family's consensus as well.

[@klauskervin2586]

My mom was a manager at Phar-Mor in the 90s. Your channel always surprises me with the waves of nostalgia that hit me while watching.

[@LordOfCrabz]

I had one of these as a kid! It didn't work well but we used it for Whacky Wheels and Descent!!! It just didn't roll easily at all and, if memory serves me right, it split down the middle and that was that. It was cool though.

[@olofiswatching]

"Talk to me goose!" had me crackin xD

[@thejunkman]

I can't I have a Titans Sphere

[@iansragingbileduct]

Clint becomes Duke Nukem for one second at exactly the right moment 7:16

[@johnnymnemonic69]

I love seeing a new LGR episode so much. Thanks man. 😊

[@guardiane]

23:22 XD omg - "talk to me Goose" had me dying. It's like they designed this thing just for YOU.

[@mrf160]

What I find especially strange is that the dead zone is so large - the primary advantage (if deliberate) being that it would center more easily. Yet it doesn't center at all.

[@volvo09]

They probably couldn't get the manufacturing tolerances close enough so they made the dead zone real wide. It's so plasticy I can't imagine anything else 😂 a big dead zone sucks.

[@GregBadabinski]

"It's not based!" had me cackling. Loving this episode so far.

[@2down4up]

“Oh really?! Got knocked out of the way of the rocket and now I’m still alive. How unfortunate!” lol awesome! Sums it up quite well I think.

[@Takato]

I think the intended way of using this was really to rest it on your lap, or put a small mat underneath it if you're using on a table, but it feels like the only way for this to be ergonomic and functional is to use it on your lap or between your legs.

[@Anoyomouse]

I would love to see the guts of this thing, and see if the axes can be properly independently mapped, and if the buttons are separate, or just all bundled together. I know the sidewinder was analogue, until you used a driver to kick it into digital mode, so maybe this thing could do the same with a driver (maybe). Or even get it to talk to an Arduino and map to usb and make a silly "functional" (well, non-functional) thing for modern PCs from it

[@JayMaverick]

Filming directly against a sunny window and making it look good? Clint is truly a master at his craft.

[@WalrusFPGA]

Wow, first time hearing about and seeing this one! So many wild peripherals in the late 90's and it's cool to see yet another zany creation. Would love to see you cover more crazy pc peripherals like the Sidewinder Strategic Commander, lol. Someone even made drivers for that to work on modern windows OS'

[@umbrellacorp.]

Whenever I see an LGR video I feel like I'm home. Relaxed. 😌👍💯 .... wait a minute, I am home!. 😅 Clint videos are always relaxing to watch, you know.😂

[@sutorippuwebmaster8783]

You know something sucks when even LGR in his infinitely forgiving sense of humor calls it a piece of shit.

[@pjousma]

"talk to me, Goose" "I can't I have a titans sphere!" rofl best review ever

[@nestromo83]

I have nothing to add other than the usual awesome friggin' job... but how about that Pharmor shirt? That's a pleasant blast from the past. Rented many an NES game from one in Charlotte for the weekends, on the cheap. Good times.

[@LGR]

Heck yeah, the one we had in Winston-Salem was a childhood staple

[@brianfix4404]

Didn’t think Phar-Mor existed that far south.

[@MissMTurner]

​@brianfix4404 we had them in Pennsylvania in the early 80s and it came eventually to Florida in the late 80s/early 90s.

[@rogero8443]

LOL when you were playing Duke I was tempted to start commenting 'hey why no try decent" but then I realized I watch WAY too many of your videos multiple times, so I knew you'd get to it. Hahaha. Love seeing you trying to find SOMETHING out of old tech like this.

[@deterlanglytone]

Honestly, the idea if it had a proper weighted flat base without the sphere portion could've been interesting to see. And of course, you'd need to re-set where those buttons are as well. Basically, if the controller was completely different and , infact, a different product it could've been good. Something like that Playstation analog controller with the two joysticks.

[@SutorenjiKamereon]

Evil corporations harvesting titans for their spheres...

[@prberg2]

Enjoyed the video. Love the PharMor T-shirt! I remember that place! I think we used to rent video games from there. Oh the memories...

[@mrsnippysnoopa8300]

I gotta thank you. oddware has been an amazing help, giving me hindsight on how i truly wanted to game on pc. I will soon be picking up a brand new joystick, alongside a trackball. this, i hope, will not just future proof me, but allow me to revisit old games without pondering how to make the steam controller work with them. so from the bottom of my heart, bless you.

[@PorscheGTIII]

Dude. Phar-Mor! I had not thought about that store for ages until I saw your shirt. I think my parents still have some toiletries with Phar-Mor price tags on them 😂

[@MPWard1]

Phar-Mor went out of business after the company president embezzled millions to prop up his professional basketball league for shorter players. No, really.

[@JeepusChrystler]

IT'S SPHERICAL *_SPHERICAL_*

[@RocketboyX]

Oh my titans!

[@Philosophocat]

Great content as always ✊🚩 Thanks Clint ☀️

[@rredeyee2460]

Thanks for the video Clint. ❤

[@matthewgagnon9426]

This controller looks wheely bad.

[@Golbez1991]

All your Baseless are belong to us.

[@Quake120]

I think we need another LGR channel: "LGR Unfiltered" where Clint just goes off on bad products like this one. I remember seeing this thing and it always looked so bad.

[@EddyDisaster]

The PCs wallpaper just unlocked a core memory for me. Thank you

[@eamoncournane]

Me too, just looked for a while and couldn't find it!

[@EddyDisaster]

@@eamoncournane search "Windows 98 Inside Your Computer"

[@05Matz]

@@eamoncournaneI remember that being part of editions of Windows ME with all the extra themes, as part of the "Inside Your Computer" theme pack, if that helps. Or maybe it was the Win95 machine we had? Not sure. We never used Win98 at that point, but the machine in the video is apparently running it, so it was probably in multiple editions of Windows around that time, if that helps. I KNOW I used that background for a while.

[@eamoncournane]

@05Matz yes that does help! I'm going looking again!

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

Why would you boast that your controller is "challenging"? That's the last thing you want in a controller. You want it to be directly controlling the game

[@SanderEvers]

What if you made an oversize controller based entirely around JoyCon drift

[@MrLinker13]

its always a pleasur to watch your videos

[@jannesaranpaa1138]

Thank you so much for making this content! It takes me back in to a time when the world was so awesome! :)

[@doclouis4236]

Another certified product from Ohio😆

[@ThomCote88]

Your Phar-Mor shirt... dang that brings back some very early memories.

[@mash2481]

Damn! That Apple IIe setup sure brings back awesome memories!

[@ideadork]

Dang, I bought an InterAct Cyclone 3D at a junk store a few years back and I never knew there was an official USB adapter for it. Gonna have to add that to the list of things to hunt down...

[@joshConnolly]

Oddwear makes me so happy and this is one of your bests!

[@TheAdatto]

I'm 43. I never really rage quit a game. But seeing the setup alone around 11:00.... i would send use it as a 1 use soccer ball.

[@lakupo]

Holy crap, a Phar-Mor T-Shirt? That takes me back. I think I remember going to a big one regularly that even had a video rental section (because everyone had video rental at some point back in the day) and renting games with the instructions condensed into a label stuck to the back of the case.

[@kirkh4205]

LOL man, the apostrophe was the first thing I noticed when you showed the box!

[@rollingtroll]

Watching this hurts my hands and my brain in equal measure. If it wasn't for you being equally frustrated I would not have been able to finish this video. The smooth Jazz calms me down, thanks for that.

[@LittleZombieMike]

Didn’t expect to hear Barberton called out in an LGR video. 😄

[@metern]

The Descent 2 game took me back in time 🥰. Duke Nukem 3D is my favorite FPS game of all time.

[@razzadaz]

All hail the orb!

[@DrewSwenson-zy4zq]

Well, I was certainly not expecting a Phar-Mor shirt when clicking this episode! That certainly takes me back lol.

[@navibc31]

Love the shirt, that takes me back to their going out of business sale where we had loose leaf paper and various toiletries for years

[@Lexluther120]

Still going strong Mr lgr I will always love your content good family content !

[@Renville80]

I had to laugh at the reference to the old 'Bop-It Extreme' handheld game...

[@DrCorndog1]

For two days I've been laid up on the couch with a stomach bug, and watching LGR videos is the only thing I've felt up to doing. The subject matter is nostalgic and the tone is so soothing.

[@Yokosumari23]

That UT99 opening theme takes me baaaaaack.

[@eekthecat9617]

I had that background like 20 years ago! Cheers!

[@auroraparadox5235]

I'd love to have been a fly on the wall for the meetings on this thing. Gotta wonder who came up with such a weird design.

[@galeng73]

When you were verbally stumbling around near the start, I wanted to remind you that 'spheroidal' is a perfectly acceptable word. I admit, I'm weird like that. But, it's a perfectly good word. This is one of those weird (odd, if you prefer) devices that look like it'd be great if it worked properly and you took the time to get used to it. Great video as always. I see a new LGR video? I click it.

[@anthonyferretti28]

Maybe its the greatest controller ever for Marble Madness?! Great stuff as usual Clint!

[@axa993]

Yesssss I missed this kind of content

[@Tense]

It was sold in CompUSA... 1000%. I would go there whenever possible and "hang out" because I was a dork and I absolutely saw it there for years.

[@wiredupretro]

I liked the plane flight part the best! TALK TO ME GOOSE! XD I definitely like mine for the fact that it's a nice conversation piece. Making my video required doing some mapping adjustments to the analog axes with my Cronus Max Plus. What a crazy controller! Thanks for the shoutout, btw :)

[@Magilla.Guerrilla]

I didn't want to remember this atrocity, so thank you for reviving the horror.

[@snowstorm9310]

I've been watching LGR since the DR Pepper intro's from back in the day. Damn man, gray hair looks good on you.

[@brianfix4404]

Greetings Clint from Youngstown, Ohio, home of Phar-Mor!!! I love the shirt! Haven’t seen that logo in YEARS! lol balls and sticks!