Buckle up- you're about to feel a wild ride!
Written: Dec 21 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Force Feedback, need i say more? Great feeling pedals too.
Cons: expensive, and can dominate your drive if force is too high.
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| Wisky's Full Review: Microsoft Sidewinder Wheel |
The Microsoft Sidewinder Force Feedback Steering Wheel, even with it’s $200 price tag, is worth it. In most common racing games (especially Microsoft games), you can use this wheel to control your ride; weather it be a monster truck, F1 Indy car, or even a Go cart! This steering wheel makes a great addition to any driving/racing game fan, but is it worth it?
Most gaming wheels use a spring for the internal centering and resistance (to cheaply simulate power-steering), and this spring can not be adjusted in most wheels. The Sidewinder Force Feedback however is DIGITAL, which means that instead of some cheap spring; you have an electric motor providing super accurate response and resistance to match the game road. If you rather not feel the force dominate your driving, you can make the force less vigorous, or you can just press the “force” button on the center of the wheel, and completely disable the force-feedback feature.
Remember Daytona USA for arcade? In case you don’t know about it, the thing that made it so spectacular for it’s time is that you would be able to feel each crash, bump, and nudge, from the steering wheel. This is what the Sidewinder Force Feedback wheel does, my opinion is that it is better than the arcade because it is fully adjustable, and just as “real”.
One of my main concerns when I bought this wheel was “would I have to buy a whole new collection of games with specific support for this wheel?” and “would these games cost more?”. Well, I have good news; most of your racing games should already have Force Feedback support- such as Midtown Madness, Nascar Racing, Test Drive Off Road, Test Drive Le-Mans, and many other popular racing titles. If you’re still thinking “I don’t think I have any racing games that would work with this device”, then you’re not out of luck. Microsoft gives you Precision Racing (Indy car simulator), and Monster Truck Madness 2, free. Both are fully compatible with the wheel, and actually fun too.
The wheel and pedals itself feels great, even with the force off. It has a smooth, non slip surface, with a comfortable amount of tension. The pedals stay put on the floor, and don’t slide around. On the wheel itself is 8 digital buttons, 3 on each side, and one on each side of the back (just like the real F1’s shifting) (not including the “force button”).
What’s not to like? Feel each bump, each skid, each curb, and still have accurate full control. But this great product does not come cheap, in fact, it is rather expensive at $200, but to ease the pain, it does come with 2 great games, and should last year after year. If you are a fan of racing games looking for a great steering wheel, this would be a very good choice, force feedback really makes a great difference. HOWEVER, if you like the way the wheel feels, and find the force useless, you can buy this same wheel, without the force-feedback for only $90.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 199
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Epinions.com ID:
Wisky
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: David Wilinsky
Location: moonachie, nj
Reviews written: 155
Trusted by: 45 members
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