Microsoft Precision
Racing Wheel
Reviewed by
Krank
(13 Dec 99)
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Games in the past involved simple graphics, sound and playability, the keyboard was your only way in controlling your game whatever the genre is. But as technology progressed, games became more and more advanced, they became more graphically rich and gameplay astounding. But not only that, gamers became more sophistcated and wanted more out of their games as well. Enter realism, gamers wanted realism in their games more than ever before, from the replica of a F16 joystick and TQS to a FPS controller. The gaming peripheral business was bigger than ever. Microsoft has been in the gaming business for quite sometime now, under their belt is the Sidewinder Series of game controllers. Known for their high quality and solid construction, I have never heard a complaint from any Sidewinder user. The Microsoft Precision Racing Wheel belongs to the latest set of hardware in the Sidewinder Series. |
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The
unit itself is almost identical to its force feedback brother, from
its steering base to the foot pedals. But the major difference you
are going to notice is that it doesn't have Force Feedback, its kinda
understandable since we ALREADY have a Force Feedback version. So
I'm guessing Microsoft wanted to cater to the "lite" crowd, since
it doesn't have FB support it should be more affordable for the budget
gamer. Other differences include:
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Yep, Microsoft is riding the USB wave as seen with all of their new gaming peripherals. The presskit set didn't come with a USB to Gameport connector so I'm guessing it was meant to be a USB peripheral by nature, not a gameport version. Nothing special there, just plug it in, follow the instructions and load in the drivers and you're all set to go!
(Note: If your two USB ports are already used up, its time to get a USB hub.)
Another noticable difference is that the handle how has "ribs" on the left and right of the wheel, so you won't slip or lose traction between your hands and the wheel during those high-speed police chases. Oh yeah, the FORCE button in the middle of the wheel is gone, actually I was hoping they'd convert it into another button so that I can map my horn there. Heheheheh.
Yep, since its no longer relying on Motors to keep it centered, well tensioned springs are used to center the Wheel. The tension of the spring is important in self-centering wheels, too much tension and you'll find your arms and hands getting tired during the game, too weak and you'll lose all sense of realism and direction. In the Microsoft Precision Racing Wheel, the tension was by far one of the better ones used in steering wheels.
Installation
The Precision Racing Wheel is easy to setup, but the wires tend to get tangled up if you're not careful. Like its older brother, installation can be done very quicky. Since the size of the base is exactly the same, I didn't need to make more space for it. Minimal brain power is needed here. Just hook everything up together, arrange the wires so it won't get in the way, insert the USB plug into the USB socket, install the drivers, reboot and you're all set to go!
There's one thing you should know though. In the first generation of sidewinder hardware, Microsoft used the Microsoft Sidewinder Game Controller for their peripherals, that meant whatever 1st gen controller you got from them, all you needed was that piece of installation software. Now with their latest batch of controllers, you can't do that anymore.
You have to install individual drivers that came with your 2nd gen hardware, for example if I had the wheel the drivers inside the CD would only contain the wheel's drivers and Microsoft Game Controller Version 4. Try to use another peripheral like the 1st gen Gamepad and it wouldn't work. To use both, you have to install the Sidewinder Game Controller 3 and also the Wheel's drivers and Sidewinder Game Controller 4 as well. This rule applies to all 1st and 2nd gen controllers from Microsoft. Go Figure.
Game Time!
I have a few racing games that are more than willing to help me test out the Precision Wheel itself, but to make it simple, I've shortened the list to just two of them: They are Electronic Art's Need for Speed 4: High Stakes (my fav game.) and Microsoft's Midtown Madness (very realistic game I might add.).
Because the Precision is identical to the Force Feedback version (except for the missing Force Feedback), configuring it was similar, if not identical. Only thing you can configure with the Precision Steering Wheel is the Force Feedback settings.
With Need for Speed 4, you can pre-select the profile with the Sidewinder Game Controller Version 4 (its included), or just jump into the game. Once inside you have configure the controller by re-mapping all the buttons and directions to the appropriate controller. Why?
Well, since I have also my Sidewinder Game Pad connected as Joystick 1, it automatically configured itself for my pad. So for those people who are rich enough to own more than one Microsoft pheripheral (like me…heheheh.). You must do some configuring since NFS:HS will default to the first joystick.
Once I got that done, after some tweaking and stuff, I was on my way into the races. With NFS4:HS, there was minimal fuss and the Precision did its work well. With Midtown Madness, like its name sake it was madness alright. Being a Microsoft Game, I expected it to be much more easier and compatible to configure it to the Precision Wheel (one would expect an option internally selectable in the game) than with NFS4:HS. Who knew what they were thinking when it COULD only support one peripheral at a time. That's right, if you had more than one game controller, it would only detect the first controller, leaving the 2nd one cold.
The only way to bypass the problem was to disconnect my Gamepad from my Gameport and moved the Wheel in the Game Controller Properties up to Controller 1. After that, I went back in the game and I could use the Wheel. But overall the Wheel performed remarkably and handled similarly like the FB version.
Having fun with Need for Speed 4! :)
Dis-Likes:
The Microsoft Precision Racing Wheel derives its excellent design from its older brother, the Microsoft Force Feedback Steering Wheel. Hence,there isn't much to say about it if you have the Force Feedback Wheel in your existing collection. But it also makes me wonder why they even decided to release a non-feedback version AFTER the Force Feedback version, usually it's the other way around if you're talking about innovation and such.
Basic aspects of the wheel are well in place for this wheel, but for people who have larger hands like me would find themselves accidentally pressing buttons during high-twiching action scenes. It's a minor problem once you adjust your grip, but it's a small sized steering wheel so you won't be getting any free space before you start hitting those buttons accidentally again. For one thing sure, it is definitely cheaper than its older brother since its without the FB mechanism. That means now the budget gamer has the option to get a almost identical steering wheel system for less amount of money.
I admit that Force Feedback can almost be called a luxury item for gamers and most people would rather forgo Forcefeedback at that pricepoint. So for those who see Force Feedback as unnecessary feature in their games and don't with to pay a high price for a gaming controller but want the excellent features that the Microsoft Force Feedback Steering Wheel has, this ones for you. But if you have a penchant for things that go "bump bump bump" when you're playing that racing game, go for the FB version instead. And for those who already have Force Feedback Wheels……what else can I say??!!??
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Overall Rating |
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| Installation | *** |
| Performance | **** |
| Price | *** |
| Build Quality | **** |
| Overall Rating | **** |
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Last updated November 25, 1999.
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