Accessories

Decent Wheel
I'll confess, I'm not really a wheel guy. More to the point, I'm not much of a racing guy any more. Those games tend to do little more than piss me off, frustrate me, and generally rub me the wrong way. As such, I was surprised to find how much I enjoyed playing the latest Gran Turismo title using this control interface.

I should say right out that this was my first experience with a force feedback wheel, so I don't have much basis for cross-comparison, but with that in mind, it was certainly a better way of interacting with my game than I have previously had available to me. The wheel feels pretty tight for a two-thirds size plastic toy, and the feeling you get while driving is.....well, it's not a perfect replica, but it's still pretty authentic. All of the buttons, switches, and levers are located in easy to reach areas from your natural grip on the wheel. The only mechanical element that really bothered me was the gear shift level, which doesn't have as much wiggle and slide to it as I might have preferred, but otherwise it's pretty exceptional.

That's not to say that the device doesn't have its problems. I personally had a problem with the gas pedal disconnecting from the wain wheel assembly - the pedals would walk progressively further away as I operated them. If you want to work the device from your lap you're probably up to the creek as well, as the whole controller is just a little bit way too humongous to fit comfortably in your lap and still work. I couldn't expand the clips far enough to slide the wheel onto my coffee table either, which is partly the fault of my gargantuan coffee table and partly the fault of Logitech not making the clips expand another half an inch to slip on.

On the whole, I'm not sorry that I have the device, and it's made the PS3 my future platform of choice for those racing games that I do decide to get. However, it should be said that this wheel isn't going to change your life. I'm not sure I could advise anybody to spend over a hundred dollars on a device like this that isn't really interested in racing games as a genre. For the price of this device, you could get two other new release games that will probably entertain you longer than the wheel will. While it's a great piece of technology for people who know they're interested, I'd say that at its current price point, it's probably still a toy for the hardcore racer crowd, though those folks should be reasonably pleased with what they get here.

Wheel of delight
I have to confess, I haven't played with this wheel - I got it for my husband, who had a wheel (older model) but it broke. I told him he could have it but he would have to give me a comprehensive review of it.

He loves it. I said that's not enough information. Why do you love it? How and why is it better than the previous wheel. Well, this one isn't broken. I don't think he gets the whole review thing.

But finally he got into it. This one is better because it feels better, turns better, the gears work better. Generally it's all better and all good.

I had to accept that as enough. He's happy, and in fact happier than he was with the first wheel.

My 3 weeks with the Logitech new Driving Froce GT Racing Wheel for PS3
You can drive with the PS3 controller but you can't win many races without this new Logitech Driving Force GT Racing Wheel. I have so much fun with Grand Turismo Prologue. without this Racing Wheel, I don't think I will pass C, B, A class and now I am attacking the S class with great success. the force feed back so real that you think you are in the car, the most important is to setup the driving position. incorrect driving position (sitting to high) will hurt your back after 1 or 2 hrs intense racing. this is a best buy if you really enjoy racing game. Simply AMAZING.

Take The Wheel
This thing is awesome! If you believe Logitech makes the best mouses, you ain't seen nothin' yet. Really enhances the racing game experience; settle this on your coffee table, pedals below, and take control. Includes Grand Turismo 5 Prologue, and will be even better with the full game I'm sure.

Driving as an Essence
The older video games that had bucket seats and was basically an emulation of the driving seat gave the feeling you were driving. As good as the Graphics are on the game systems, and especially on Gran Turismo 5, the Luxury steering wheel ( that feels like an MG in terms of its immediacy and response) avoids the difficulties of the smaller controller and allows you to have a better response to the real life game, and lets you concentrate on the game.You can still see that the essence of the smaller controller is there, however, the components that get unneccessarily distracting get placed together in the driving wheel, the brakes and accelerator, as well as in the perfect response you get in the feel of the road ( the virtual road) beneath you. As a check on what the difference is between the controller and the wheel is, I watch some gamers play with the latest handheld units, and I was amazed, but I guess
its a matter of taste as to wether you have to learn a bunch of hand commands or have a real-life interface like this superb steering control.