Stopped by my local EB this evening to pick up a copy of MGPRS for $19.99(in
stock), and saw this wheel (priced at $69.99). It looked like a big step up
from past Madcatz offerings and I hadn't heard of it, so of course I yanked it
from the box to have a look. If you're interested, here what a quick glance
reveals --
The base, wheel shape, and clamping mechanism are nearly identical to the
Thrustmaster Nascar Pro; wonder where they're sourcing this one. :-) There are
some interesting differences, though.
1) The box claims it's full-digital, with a proprietary on-board chip, which is
even pictured on the box amidst flowery claims for better precision than analog
controllers. Hmmmm. It also says it's WIN95/98 only; no DOS or WIN3.X, and
supports more than 2 axes.
2) The pedals are set at a lower angle than the TM pedals and have metal arms
and face plates, which articulate to stay in contact with your foot. The
resistance didn't feel very stiff moving the pedals by hand, and seemed to be
the same for both pedals. Can't verify that last bit though. The base looked a
touch smaller than the TM base, but was fairly heavy.
3) The wheel has a right-side stick-shift like the Nascar Pro and two square
buttons in back of the spokes, ala Microsoft's wheel. On the spoke fronts, the
right spoke has two buttons and the left has a hat switch. They say all the
buttons are programmable.
4) The resistance (it's not FF) was smooth and felt like it was spring-based,
not bungee, and there didn't seem to be the sloppiness in the wheel that too
often plagues TM.
5) It's gameport and USB compatible.
I nearly bought it just to try it out, review on r.a.s. and return, though my
scruples got the better of me. And I'm quite pleased with my tweaked Wingman
Formula, which still LOOKS way better. The Digital hook almost got me, as I
hope to be pot-free someday. Anyone else know anything about this wheel? Or
have one? The wheel market's evolving fast.
Steve B.
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