Something no driver should be without.
Written: Jan 07 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: solid feel, durable, features
Cons: had to pay for it
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| TheEngine's Full Review: Microsoft Sidewinder Wheel |
I can say first hand how fun, scary, exhilarating, dangerous and blood pumping driving a car real fast through city traffic can be. Of course the cars I drive have those neat go fast accessories on them that (sometimes) make people move out of the way. And unlike games, a crash out there is for real. So how do I feed the need for land based speed?
Grand Prix Legends. Nascar 3. Sports Car GT Racing. Midtown Madness. And many more titles bring auto racing and driving to the PC and make it very entertaining. But no title is complete without a good controller. For a while I used my trusty CH Flightstick Pro. Now this is a great joystick, but piloting a car around like a plane just did not give me that car driving feeling. So what controller do I get? Walking the Best Buy game isle presents many options. I would stand there, gripping the various models from Thrustmaster to Microsoft, wondering which one would suit my driving needs. At the time I bought my MS force feedback wheel, retail and most online stores had it listed for $199.00. I had become partial to the MS model even before playing with it. It “felt” good. Buttons were placed in the right spots. The wheel has that “racing car” grip to it. So when I saw it for $124.00 with free shipping from Buy.com, I knew it was time to buy.
Mind you this was about 1 and ½ years ago. I’m writing this review now because the unit still stands up as one of the best game devices available. Bundled with two MS games, a formula 1 game and Monster Truck Madness 2, the package is complete for both the novice driver to the seasoned vet.
Contents and Install:
Wheel and pedals. Mounting the wheel is a breeze, even though I have a very odd shaped desk where my game machine is, you just slide it over the table top, clamp down and adjust the tension with a spin pole. The cable for the pedals is adequately long, and the base is large enough for those with big feet, yet easy enough to press for kids to use. The Microsoft Software is universal for all their controllers, and you just select which one you have when running setup. From there you are able to calibrate your wheel and pedals, assign functions to the buttons, and adjust force feedback qualities. Many of these adjustments are also available inside most games as well. Once the software is in, and the controller hooked up to your standard Joystick port, you’re ready to go. The newer ones also have USB connection, though I have not tried that model.
First Test:
Monster Truck Madness 2. Nothing like being able to just drive where you want with a monster truck. Instantly this classic game became 10 fold more fun. Control was now dead on, without the over or under steer problems of using a keyboard, or the awkward feeling of using a joystick to drive. The force feedback support from MTM2 is pretty good, with the wheel jerking at the right times after you go airborne on big jumps, to feeling the collisions with other trucks.
Then I stepped up a tad to Sports Car GT racing. Another favorite just became that much better. I could now compete at the higher levels with the AI racing, and my wife found driving against me via the network much more fun than taking her car to the grocery store. Of course I had to use the keyboard on my system, as I only have one wheel.
The list of games goes on. This wheel can make good games great, and great games just killer. This is a quality device that has withstood many hours of punishing race car driving. It holds calibration fine and the ability to turn off Force feedback on the fly is also a big help at times when you don’t want the distraction.
So if you feel you need to race and crash but don’t want to use your own car, get one of these wheels, and forget about paying for insurance, gas prices or road rage.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 124.00
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Epinions.com ID:
TheEngine
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Location: Chicago, IL
Reviews written: 33
Trusted by: 8 members
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