GamingSeat.Net reviews the best gaming wheels for gaming seat
June 29th, 2009 | by Wiiabetes Guest Blogger |Racing Games have never been so exciting! The technology now exists to provide realistic racing environments through the use of steering wheels with forcefeedback, LCD screens with crystal clear display and speakers delivering the right acoustics (with bass!). And of course, the right type of gaming seat, or gaming chair (I don’t call them cockpits, I’ll leave this to the flight-sim people!). GranTurismo is a fantastic game - so well so, we’ve actually know of customers who buy complete gaming seats just to play the game.
We love games so much hear that we just want to share our experiences so everyone can have as much fun as us.
Before we had the GT and G25 in the labs, we had so much fun with the Driving Force! For us, this was one of the devices that really started a revolution in gaming…. say good bye to those DPad controllers! We had two people on a couch (sofa!) and one playing on a bean bag.
To my surprise, the Driving Force Wireless works well for control and feedback in the game. The feedback was really good, giving responses to bumps, traction loss and even car crashes.
The controller can be used on the lap, which is pretty much where it was designed for - racing from the comfort of your armchair, although you can fix it to a table or desk. The Driving Force also comes with Pedals, which is something that is really the missing piece when playing racing games.
Irrespective of whether you’re playing on a PC or PS3 the Driving Force works fantastic -for arcade games, I just happen to prefer a console.
Summary…
The Driving Force is a fantastic product, it falls short of the G25 and GT - but its less than half the price, which more than justifies it’s position (specifically being on the lap). Recommendation - dont leave home without one, seriously, this should be part of your wardrobe!
yummy. Thats my first words on this!
This is where force feedback really comes into itself, and with the full rotation it really does give you the feel of a real wheel.
The plus with this wheel is that it has a rubber coating giving it a good feel, as opposed to just a cheap piece of plastic. This really gives it a realistic feel. When you play GT or Need for Speed, you really want to hammer the wheel to get the best experience, and the Logitech is good to handle it.
At the time the existing gaming seats we had were dismantled, so we used the DFGT at a table. Experience is everything, and once you’ve been in this!) a racing game with a wheel - you can’t go back to a keyboard or joypad. Secondly, when you’ve been in a gaming seat - you can’t go back to a table…. its all good. This is exactly why this product is endorsed for GT.
The wheels from Logitech certainly stand the test of time, their hardwearing and play well across a range of games. This product wont be covered, as it is being superseded by the Driving Force Pro.
Summary…
Fantastic Product. I’d say its the beta version of the G25.
The G25 is the next model up from the Driving Force GT. Aesthetics are everything, and I’m glad to see that the inside represents the quality goods that the packaging displays. The product is quality, has metal pedals and so will fair well. Overall experience is the real winner these days?
The really cool thing is that there is gearbox included too, which is much better than its predecessors. As expected, we still have the standard game pad controls as part of the system, so that we have extra control buttons.
The design of the system means that you can have pretty much any combination - gated, sequential or automical gear control! Cool!
There’s a choice of gear shifting modes too, so you can have sequential if this is your preference for F1, or just stay with gated gears.
The steering wheel is actually made from hand stitched leather, making it feel so realistic to play with.
We didn’t see the point in trying the G25 on a table, playing in a VisionRacer was much more fun and got the most out of the Logitech component! The real value in these components is when they’re integrated with a gaming seat, 5.1 surround sound and a good LCD. Seriously, there is no going back!
Closing statements…
Its hard to tell how the gaming seats and steering wheels experience would change if there was feedback on the pedals.
The G25 and Driving Force GT are top of the list in the market.
We’d go as far to say that the feedback electrics are quieter on the G25, rather than the DFGT - but hey, with 5.1 speakers rareing, who cares!
To find out more about gaming wheels, Fanatec and VisionRacer, click here for Gaming Wheels
