Gaming blog Joystiq, speaking with Novint CEO Tom Anderson, reports that the haptics gaming device will be on consoles by the end of 2009 if he has anything to do with it. While a far cry from “the Novint Falcon haptics gaming device is definitely coming to consoles this winter,” the declaration had moxie, dammit, and that’s good enough for me.

The holdup is, unsurprisingly, the console manufacturers (Wild guess: Likely just MS and Sony), who were wary of supporting the device until a good number of developers embraced the technology. From Anderson’s viewpoint, that support has materialized, somewhere, and companies are now “piling on” the Falcon.

So, a console version is more likely now than it was in September, but it’s still a ways from being a done deal. [Joystiq]

Cnet says that the Falcon Northwest Mach V has the latest and bestest combination of components there is, which is what makes it the fastest thing on chips:

• 3.79GHz Intel Core i7 965 Extreme Edition.
• An Intel X58 chipset.
• 12GB of 1,066MHz DDR3 SDRAM.
• 2 x 1GB ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2
• 1TB 7,200RPM Hitachi hard drive.
• 80GB Intel X-25M solid-state drive.

All this comes at a pretty hefty $US8,028 price tag, including the Ferrari red paint job, which is a $US500 option. Unfortunately, the automotive-class red paint job reportedly helps you get at least three extra frames per second in Crysis. Fortunately, there’s a potential DIY fix to save those $US500: Apply a few adhesive flames to the chassis, and Bob’s your uncle. [Cnet]

The Falcon 9, which has nine rocket engines to the Falcon 1’s one, is scheduled to go on its maiden voyage in 1Q 2009. If SpaceX meets the reliability milestones metered out by NASA, it’ll get a $US278 million award–about a tenth of the cost the government agency paid Lockheed Martin to develop its own people-transporting, space-faring rocket. [Wired]

At the SpaceX web site, the feat was documented in a kind of flipbook format, with a series of photos showing the rocket launch from an on board camera from launch to orbit.

“Fourth time’s a charm,” Musk said in a statement. No kidding, but congratulations on this 100% private effort nonetheless.

Noted Slashdot contributor dbullard, “This was a completely new vehicle — it’s not using any previously developed hardware. All developed from scratch. No government supplied hardware, Russian engines, or old ICBM motors. My hat’s off to the employees of Space X — all 550 of them. (Note — no ‘cast of thousands,’ just 550).”

The next Falcon 1 launch will carry RazakSat into orbit for Malaysia. If that launch is successful, the larger Falcon 9 rocket will take flight for the first time sometime in Q2 2009. [SpaceX via Slashdot]

More and more games are adding support for haptic controllers, so gamers interested in the experience will have a lot of choices down the line. However, we are still waiting for the pistol grip add-on. Let’s just hope that it makes it out of the gate by the end of the year. When it is finally released, the grip is expected to retail for US$20. [Wired]

The Falcon 1 rockets have all been launched from Kwajalein, in the US Marshall islands in the Pacific. Moving to the Cape will allow SpaceX to work more closely with NASA, which is still planning to rely on private systems like Falcon 9 to carry the Space Shuttle’s burden of ISS service and orbital insertions after it retires by 2010, and until Orion can take up the mantle in 2015 (which many see as an optimistic time frame).

Honestly though, we admire SpaceX. They’re pushing private-sector space operations further than most would ever dare–let’s just hope they get a break soon. For Scotty. [Space Ref via /.]