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Logitech Driving Force GT Article
PlayStation 3 Article by Kristan Reed
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Being a practical kind of guy, the first thing that strikes me whenever I'm faced with a console steering wheel is, "how the hell will this work in the lounge?" But we're in hardcore driving gamer territory here, so practicality be damned. Logistics and living arrangements temporarily go out of the window and absolute commitment to sexy gadgetry takes over. You've got lap times to improve. What do you mean I can't put the table there? No you can't watch Relocation Relocation.
Yes, this is serious business, albeit on a budget. Some of you might reason that spending GBP 90 on a gaming peripheral to shave 0.1 second off your best lap time is going a bit far, and you'd be right. As much as I love these things, experience suggests it'll spend most of its life hogging cupboard space and the rest of it annoying your housemates. But for the time you spend playing the average driving game, your inner geek wins the argument, because you're worth it. In the case of the recently released Driving Force GT, this is Logitech's attempt at budget luxury, in that it's roughly half the price of the flagship G25 but retains most of its features. Win.
As you'd expect, the construction isn't as lavish as The Daddy. Instead of a lavish leather wheel, we have to be content with high-quality moulded plastic 11-incher with a slightly rubbery feel. Instead of a three-pedal unit with a clutch, you get the usual two pedals. Instead of a proper, realistic press-down-and-pull separate gearshift unit, it's integrated. Compromises, yes, but fortunately not too many to detract from what is an excellent unit. For the price difference, you won't mind - and if you do, save up and get the full banana.
Fluffy dice not included.
Set-up is straightforward, requiring little more than connecting the wheel to the pedal unit, plugging the USB connector into the PS3, powering it up and looking on curiously while it makes a series of fretful whirring self-check noises. With no driver disks or set-up procedures required, it's hassle-free, and booting up Gran Turismo 5 Prologue demonstrates that the game instantly knows the device is attached. Further worried whirring occurs on boot-up, and you're in.
The wheel itself houses all the functionality of a joypad - and a little bit more - so you never have to reach for a DualShock. There's a d-pad on the left side, the face buttons on the right, the PS button and GT 'horn' in the middle, and select and start buttons, along with L3/R3 buttons at the top, with L2/R2 on the inner frame and discreet paddles on the back of the wheel. The gearshift is a basic forward/back type, and the integrated clamp unit makes it not only easy to fit, but ensures you'll never lose any of the parts.
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Comments: 1-37 of 37 in total
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Max_Powers
07/08/08 @ 07:25
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I love the wheel, but it's just so unpractical. It's more suited to my home office, but the big tv and sound system are in the living room... What to do!!!!
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Totally liberates the experience in GT games. For those of us with dedicated gaming space, good wood working skills to create a frame to mount it to and low slung seats / sofa it is amazing. It probably won't be practical for 95% of driving game fanatics but once you have used one, a joypad seems so clinical and cold. My lap times in GT games are quicker with the wheel, although it took a long time to get used to.
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Prodigy_BE
07/08/08 @ 08:03
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Why oh why did I dump my racing seat :(
Screwing this onto it, would have been ace with GRID (the best racer out there, together with PGR) |
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I had the original one for GT3 and 4 and it was amazing. The feeling of grip and loss of grip was uncanny. My car at the time was in the game and it was a fairly good approximation of real world driving.
I'd would definitely recommend these wheels to anyone serious about these games, but one caveat is that I found it only really worked well with the GT games. |
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I must second Zomoniac with ooooooooh, GT is wicked on a wheel (like most driving games really)
Problem is I always buy these bloody things and they gather dust after a few weeks never to be used again (that's why I stopped buying them!) and £90 is a lot. Sod it though I'm starting a new job in a few weeks getting Ferrari Challenge sometime soon as well. Now to think of ways to try and explain to my girlfriend that a plastic sheering wheel is worth spending £90 on. Boys and their toys........... |
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Works with every racing game that ever supported a wheel on the PS3, and ditto for the PS2. I.e. it's backwards compatible all the way back to the very first Driving Force series.
What I do in the living room by the way is flip up one of the couch pillows, so that I sit lower on the couch, and then put the wheel on a small wooden ikea couch-side table. That does the trick for me - although if you have no control whatsoever over your car you're likely to move the table around a bit, you're actually not driving right anyway if you pull at the wheel like that rather than just turn it. ;) |
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Works with every racing game that ever supported a wheel on the PS3, and ditto for the PS2. I.e. it's backwards compatible all the way back to the very first Driving Force series.
What I do in the living room by the way is flip up one of the couch pillows, so that I sit lower on the couch, and then put the wheel on a small wooden ikea couch-side table. That does the trick for me - although if you have no control whatsoever over your car you're likely to move the table around a bit, you're actually not driving right anyway if you pull at the wheel like that rather than just turn it. ;) On Eiger you're likely to use that 900 degree (or at least more than 180) in some cars, by the way. And yes, the pedals could be better. But I always drive without shoes, and then you can feel them easily enough (and it's more comfortable that way too). If you do want everything perfect, then the G25 is the way to go - that has much better pedal resistance, though having said that, for my large feet the added clutch pedal means that the three pedals are a little close to each other and I have to be really careful not to press two pedals at once.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 07/08/08 @ 09:48
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Der_tolle_Emil
07/08/08 @ 08:55
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Don't have a PS3 but this wheel sounds nice. I have the wireless racing wheel for the 360 and yes it is a hassle to set it up. It also does spend most of the time sitting somewhere else gathering dust.
However playing a driving sim with a wheel is a completely different experience and well worth the trouble. Too bad there aren't enough games that really work well with the wheel - it is completely useless for PGR for example and I guess pretty much every other arcade racing game (god knows why they bundled PGR3 with the wheel). If you enjoy driving though and have a proper Sim game like Forza or GT I definetly recommend a wheel, even if it's a bit expensive. |
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asphaltcowboy
07/08/08 @ 09:14
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"...we have to be content with high-quality moulded plastic 11-incher with a slightly rubbery feel..."
Wahey! ;D |
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I love using the steering wheel but alas like others have not got the correct set up so sold my last one.
Mate of mine has the ultimate racing wheel / seat set up. You even have to strap in becuse it is on hydraulics etc and simutates every move, inlcuding side impacts. when youu brake, accelerateetc it is very close to the real thing. He got it from Japan £2,600 plus shiping. yes, he is loaded, and he has it seyt up in his cinema room Anyway, I am tempted to buy another wheel now..... |
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BadBoyBonner
07/08/08 @ 10:05
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Fear not intrepid gamers the big telly and 5.1 surround awaits you with just the use of a simple household prop. That's right, for the first time ever your going to have fun with an ironing board.
Simply put it on a low height setting in front of the tv, attach the wheel, roll up your leather executive chair from in front of your computer - and save yourselves hours of trying to coble some kind of seating wheel holding contraption together. Talked about this with the launch of the MS Wireless wheel - cue jokes about Ferrari ironing board covers shaving vital tenths off lap times, and reviews of all the boards in Argos etc. Wheels are a bit of a luxury item for a console but well worth the investment for any self respecting petrol head. Watch out for the massive snobbery involved, and a snort of derision, if you try to tell any serious PC simulator aficionado, who's bang into Rfactor, Live for Speed or any of the Sim Bin's games, about just how much fun your having using a wheel. They add immeasurably to the fun (and skill) preventing the tendency for most gamers who, even with analogue sticks, still seem to bang the sticks from one side to the other, allowing a much more subtle driving experience.
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most recently on 07/08/08 @ 11:06
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as with the dfp this wheel is a must for getting the most out of gt5p... i have since plumped for the g25 though... which turns gt5p into a monster ... recommended. my setup is 40inch lg lcd, sat on a big chunk of wood leftover from kitchen worktop, and a keyboard stand.... the mrs is happy tho cos i got her a ds lite... :)
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BadBoyBonner
07/08/08 @ 12:10
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Got a Jogcon - boxed with Ridge Racer 4 as new - including the 60fps Ridge Racer Tech demo.
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Looks like an upgrade to the Logitech DFP but not quite as good as the G25 (which is superb)
MS should really let third parties do FFB wheels as compared to Logitechs offerings the MS wheel is, well, crap. Even the older DFP shits all over it from a great height. @Morztan, the cost of this wheel is nothing, look at some of the hardware you can get for the PC, pedal setups that cost 100's of pounds on their own, never mind the wheel. For those not sure about living room use, before getting a new PC and going back to PC sims I used an Ironing board, adjustable height so works gerat in front of most chair/couches and doesn't piss the girlfriend off (too much) |
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@Max_Powers
"I love the wheel, but it's just so unpractical. It's more suited to my home office, but the big tv and sound system are in the living room... What to do!!!!" I had the same problem. Since I moved to console gaming late last year, my G25 - originally bought and used for PC sims like GTR2, GTL, rFactor etc. - had just been gathering dust, but I really felt Ferrari Challenge deserved wheel and pedals rather than a gamepad (obviously most racing games do, but the need isn't quite so pressing in arcade titles like GRID). So I ordered a Wheelstand Pro - http://wheelstandpro.com/ - expecting that to make me use my G25 all the time. The problem was that even though the Wheelstand is a cleverly designed device, it's still way too large and heavy with wheel, shifter and pedals mounted. And I still had to move around living room furniture and spend minutes trying to position the thing in the exact most comfortable position in front of my chair when I wanted to use it. And then do the reverse when I was done playing. Additionally actually moving it out of the living room when I wasn't using it was too cumbersome with my back problems, and having it sitting there to the side was a huge blemish among all my new, nice furniture in my new apartment. So basically now Wheelstand Pro + G25 are gathering dust in a closet, and I'm looking more forward to WipEout HD than ever, as that's going to be the first racing game (well, aside from BurnOut and similar) where I won't feel I'm doing it a great injustice by not using wheel and pedals rather than a controller :). |
Comments: 1-37 of 37 in total
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