Support NeoGAF

[AEREC]

I wonder if a desk mount adapter will come out? Seems light enough though, still... if I can clamp it in the middle and it rotates smoothly off there, that'll be a nice add on.

Thats what Im hoping for.

 

[AEREC]

Why would you think there's resistance in the first place? Just one look at the thing should tell you that's not possible.

I thought it would at least have rumble since a normal wireless pad has rumble.

 

[Bravoexo]

i've felt it rumble when i kept grinding my car with a opponent car... Its like 1/5 that of standard controller... Really weak to detect.

 

[AlanzTalon]

there is rumble, but i would guess having the controller shake violently would mess up the delicate gyroscope. trade-off.

 

[DasRaven]

I thought it would at least have rumble since a normal wireless pad has rumble.

It has rumble. The motors are a bit weaker than the standard controller, but it is there.

I finally cracked the case on my WSW this morning and it is fairly amazing how well it works with FM3/4. I need to practice with it to get better at steering correction as I'm overdoing the opposite lock.
But after 10 laps I was already matching my controller times and I've been racing controllers since the original dual shock.

That said, T10/MSFT should patch in some ability to access LB/RB, even it it has to be LT+DPAD-L+Wheel@90* left. I can't even change my title in FM4 because the other categories are only reachable by LB/RB.

 

[CloakedPuppet]

That said, T10/MSFT should patch in some ability to access LB/RB, even it it has to be LT+DPAD-L+Wheel@90* left. I can't even change my title in FM4 because the other categories are only reachable by LB/RB.

That's what I was thinking as well. This would work for navigating the menus quite nicely.

Tried this out with NFSHP last night and LOVED it. This will be my go-to controller for arcade style racers in the future (those not reqiring LB/RB of course).

 

[mr stroke]

Had to return this today due to discomfort. I am surprised how accurate it is. Really easy to drive well while using it. Unfortunately its not comfortable to use for extended periods of time. I can't rest it in my lap and still drive. Too bad they don't make a little stand to mount it too.

 

[SUPARSTARX]

Signature Forza 4 wheel?

 

[CloakedPuppet]

Had to return this today due to discomfort. I am surprised how accurate it is. Really easy to drive well while using it. Unfortunately its not comfortable to use for extended periods of time. I can't rest it in my lap and still drive. Too bad they don't make a little stand to mount it too.

For me, I found a nice technique for long term sessions is to have my feet up on my ottoman, knees bent, and my legs open like a 'V'. I rest my arms just below my knees and voila! Works great as a arm rest.

 

[chixdiggit]

Just tried this today at Best buy and was shocked at how well it worked. Now that I know I can use it on PC as well means it's a buy.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Tried this out yesterday at Best Buy. I was pleasantly surprised. I tried to buy it along with Forza 4 but they were sold out of both.

 

[feel]

Had to return this today due to discomfort. I am surprised how accurate it is. Really easy to drive well while using it. Unfortunately its not comfortable to use for extended periods of time. I can't rest it in my lap and still drive. Too bad they don't make a little stand to mount it too.

I put a pillow on my lap and rest my arms on it. Can play for hours with no fatigue at all.

 

[BrokenSymmetry]

I have played with this for two weeks now, and for me this accessory is the surprise of the year. I was pretty good with the pad in racing games, but this is so much more immersive and accurate (especially in fast, long corners, which require constant corrections with a pad). I also own the real Microsoft wheel, but I never use it because of how much hassle it is to set up each time.

 

[USF]

$49.99 @ Amazon

 

[A Twisty Fluken]

Anyone try this with Sega Rally XBLA? Tempted to get it for SROA, Outrun, and Daytona.

 

[mikekennyb]

Anyone try this with Sega Rally XBLA? Tempted to get it for SROA, Outrun, and Daytona.

Have only tried it with Daytona, works great. It uses the face buttons as each of the four gears in manual, which is kinda cool, and allows you to skip gears as opposed to using the d pad.

 

[Klocker]

Had to return this today due to discomfort..

so this falls under the hardware return policy at BB? 14 or 30 day?

If so I'm gonna have to at least try it at home.

 

[NZNova]

I freaking love this thing. Works so much better than I thought it would when I first saw it.

 

[chixdiggit]

This was money well spent for sure. Don't understand the comfort complaints, I can use this for hours without a problem. I'm sitting in a recliner if that makes a difference.

 

[Fox Mulder]

$49.99 @ Amazon

Nice, I'll use the $10 credit I got from buying forza 4 on this

 

[Hellish]

I find this thing impossible with all driving assists off, anyone else? Like it felt great with them on but then I figured I would try it without like on my wheel and I failed, maybe it is just me.

 

[Big Takeover]

I find this thing impossible with all driving assists off, anyone else? Like it felt great with them on but then I figured I would try it without like on my wheel and I failed, maybe it is just me.

You just need to get accustomed to it. Driving aids don't make it any better or worse.

I still love this thing now as much as the day I got it.

 

[Square Triangle]

Mr friend's review went up on the wheel, I think I'm going to give this a try. Anyone see any BF deals on this?

 

[Frankfurt]

Thanks to SillyEskimo and Big Takeover for their impressions. Got one of these. I'm not 100% happy with it, as the lack of bumpers has been even more of a pain than expected. I spent a long time watching youtube vids and reading boards and reviews, trying to find out which games "needed" the bumpers and which didn't, which games had deadzones and which didn't...

And there was a surprising lack of consensus about... anything and everything.

The most helpful post about it outside of GAF was this one:

++Grid:
The first game I tried. Performance is incredible and blew me away. It was hard to put it down to continue testing the other games!!! Setup is precise, allows for remapping of buttons and configuration of wheel's: deadzone, saturation and linearity. Allows changing of config IN-GAME (as most Codemasters games, I found out).

--Pure:
Not supported. 180 degree deadzone basically, no bumper for special move, no Y-axis for certain moves.

++FlatOut Ultimate Carnage:
Beautiful integration, full configuration of wheel. Buttons are choice between 2 presets (one assigns gas and brake to bumpers... you don't want that one!) . Small glitch is saturation is very low... I had to turn it all the way up (or down according to the slider) just to get decent handling... but decent is an understatement. Two other very small setbacks include; no in-game config and no rumble feedback.

-NFS Most Wanted:
Not supported. 60 degree dead-zone. 7 different button presets for regular controller.

+NFS Undercover:
Support, no config. Bumpers as shifting. Standard handling is jittery and too sensitive (although it's like that with the controller also, this game is meh)

++NFS Hot Pursuit:
Total button remapping. Uber-decent handling... actually I had sworn this game off as I really disliked how sluggish the controls were using the regular controller. The wheel brought this game back to life for me!

+NFS The Run:
Supported, but no setup. Remappable buttons. Decent standard handling, although sharp corners require lots of twisting.

+Sega Rally Revo:
Supported as Force Feedback Wheel. Only customization is amount of feedback (which I assume translates to rumble). Bumpers assigned to gears. FYI, glitch in game: don't exit a race mid-vibration of the wheel... it won't stop. I started a new race and it went away. I could have also taken the batteries out I suppose. Handling decent, I never liked this game that much though.

--Full Auto:
Dead in the water. Not even recognized as a controller. You need RB to access menu anyway.

+PGR3:
Recognized, but no customization. Sluggish handling and drifting is hard (but possible... I'm sure after an hour I'd have gotten it down).

+PGR4:
Support and 3 button configuration options. That's it. Some sluggishness like in PGR3. 10 degree dead-zone.

+-Burnout Revenge:
No support, and 50 to 60 degree deadzone... however for this game it actually isn't half-bad. It just feels like I'm in the arcade! (btw, after-touch after a crash works with the D-pad)

-Blur:
No support. 45 degree deadzone. Bumpers assigned to either drop or change powerup. Powerups can be fired backward with the D-pad. Not too bad, I'd stick with the controller though.

++Midnight Club: LA:
Support and works well, no wheel config however. Buttons can be remapped. Menus that require bumpers can be navigated with D-pad. Handling impressive!

--Driver SF:
No support. 180 degree dead-zone... assuming you can even get in a car. "Ghost-mode" requires use of Y-axis.

++Sonic & Sega All Stars:
The Mario Kart of the Xbox!!! Take that Wii! Wheel works great (no config aside from vibration). Super fun!

--Cars 2:
No support. 180 degree dead-zone. Crap handling indeed.

--Split/Second:
No support. 180 degree dead-zone. Disney seems to not like the wheel!

+Test Drive Unlimited 2:
Support and auto-recognized... well all the ones that do, do. But in TDU2 you can't get to the controller menu config because you need bumper use (check in the discussions below how to get around that). But it's not that important as the default settings are pretty decent.

--Burnout Paradise:
No support. Need bumpers to access some menus. Dead-zone 50 degrees, not bad for not being recognized... but gameplay still suffers (not like in Revenge).

--Fuel:
Huge dead-zone 180 degrees. Needs bumpers for vital menu nav.

Nail'd, MotoGP and the MX vs. ATV games also don't work.

I'm really really really sad there's no decent off-road arcade game that works with this (I'm not counting Dirt, that's more sim-ish). Excite Truck was one of the few reasons to own a Wii. FlatOut comes the closest... and now with Bugbear developing Ridge Racer Unbounded, I'm curious as to how awesome that will be!

I'll revisit this review later and add NFS Shift 1&2. I've read they are supported but I'd like to know the extent considering the other NFS games don't allow wheel sensitivity settings. I'm only assuming they do since they're sims. In fact I'll add the other sims too just to make this review all encompassing.

F1 2011 is FUN... turning the sensitivity up and zero deadzone and you got a twitchy responsive little zoom-machine of awesome!

BTW... I got this thing earlier today. I'm already leaving a review. That's how awesome it is. I just put in 10+ hours testing all these games so I could leave this review and shut down all the haters as well as inform all the skeptics and anyone curious as to whether or not their favorite game would be supported by it. If you have any questions or if there's a game I might have and forgot to test, leave it in the comments. I'll get at you dawg.

*worthwhile game

P.S. I'm not just some fanboy jumping on the bandwagon of 5-star reviews. If this thing blows up in my hands or something later on down the road... I'll change my rating. Best believe. Till then: 5 solid stars earned.

P.P.S. Another reviewer said something about his arms getting tired... well I lean forward and rest my arms on my knees, not only does that avoid fatigue, but it allows greater accuracy as well.

Edit 3-27-12:
+NFS Shift: Works, buttons not configurable. Steering wheel settings accessible in game menu, (not race menu).
+NFS Shift 2: Works, buttons remappable. Steering wheel settings accessible in game menu via bumpers.
++WRC2: World Rally Champion: Works well, total customization and configuration. (not mid-race)
++Dirt 2: Works beautifully. As previously mentioned, wheel config accessible mid-race. Great for tweaking minor settings and getting it set up just the way you want.
++Dirt 3: Ditto. Despite this being the least impressive of the Dirt series. I need to get my hands on a copy of Dirt 1 again. I miss Rallisport Challenge 2.
++F1 2011: Total support. In-game config of everything. This is where the response of the wheel really shines. I grip the thing so hard when I'm racing the plastic creaks! White-knuckle racing!!!

Edit 4-2-12:
+Ridge Racer: Unbounded: Not recognized but supported. Good standard handling, button config of 2 presets (one assigns stuff to bumpers, one leaves bumpers unassigned). This makes up for the wheel not working in Split/Second and Blur... Way to go Bugbear!

Although i couldn't drive for the life of me on the Sega All-Stars Racing demo. The car spun non-stop from the second the race started, which is far from his super-positive impressions (maybe it works better on the full game).

Overall, this is better than a controller, but not by that much. A new version with better rumble and actual bumpers would be a mile above a controller, but as it is now, it'll be only worthwhile for like 5 games out of dozens and dozens. What a shame.

Turning off the wheel to turn the controller on for menus also didn't work at all - player 1 always remained player 1, player 2 always remained player 2, so the only way for me to browse bumper menus has been to turn the console off then going back to the game later. The wheel has been basically just to drive and nothing else.

Do both NFS Shifts "need" bumpers? The Shift 1 demo felt great with this, so i was considering buying them both. I'm heartbroken by the deadzone on Burnout Paradise and how mediocre OutRun felt with this, so Hot Pursuit and Forza 4 will have to do, i guess. I'm surprised the wheel made Test Drive Unlimited 2 actually playable (with the controller, the handling is 100% garbage), even though you can't browse the menus at all without bumpers.