Where the standard Controller S can be rested in a lap and a fixed wheel will somewhat support my arms, holding the Speed Wheel in front of me for long periods of time left my shoulders and back feeling tight and sore.Įarlier, I mentioned that the Speed Wheel lacked an analog for the Controller S' shoulder buttons. Additionally, the ergonomics of the wheel also left me feeling a bit tired after extended sessions. Granted, you will look significantly less stupid than the guy sawing away at nothing in front of his Kinect, so it's not all bad. It is difficult to sit on a couch sawing away with this loose bit of plastic and not feel a bit like an idiot. I also have a few issues with the way that one uses the Speed Wheel. Don't get me wrong, the Speed Wheel's built-in rumble function is nice (it's even accompanied by cool flashing green lights embedded at the ends of the stalks), but the vibration is no real substitute for the pull of a gear, belt, or cable-actuated racing wheel. This is mostly because of the lack of true force feedback. The key word, if you haven't noticed, is "casual," because when I later ramped up the difficulty level and the in-game cars started to get twitchy, I had a bit of trouble dialing in the right amount of steering and counter-steering. With the game set at its causal settings, I had a blast casually navigating my favorite tracks with this casual racing wheel. The steering was surprisingly accurate for a hunk of plastic that you hold in space ahead of you. When using the wheel with Turn 10 Studios' Forza Motorsport 4, it performed admirably. The rumble function is accompanied by a cool green glow from lights hidden in the ends of the stalks. It would seem that Microsoft's engineers thought of that, because as it turned out, 180 degrees of rotation usually worked out to be just enough for most situations. However, because of the wheel's U-shaped design, I was only ever able to get about 180 degrees of rotation comfortably. Actual degrees of sensitivity aren't stated on Microsoft's site, but because the wheel uses an accelerometer rather than a connected sensor, it can't possibly only be more than 360 degrees of rotation sensitivity. The Speed Wheel features an internal accelerometer that allows users to steer their digital car by holding the wheel in front of them and twisting from left to right. Missing from the button mix are the left and right shoulder buttons, a seemingly innocent enough omission that-as I'll explain later-causes some serious interface issues with one of Microsoft Studios' premier racing games. In the middle of the Speed Wheel's stalks is a pod that contains the Xbox media button and the Back and Start buttons. Likewise, placing the D-pad under the user's thumb means that the menus that lead you to the racing action can also be navigated. Most racing games map brakes and gas to the left and right triggers, respectively, so it's good to place these quite literally at the user's fingertips. On one of the device's stalks you'll find a directional pad and the left trigger and on its other stalk the Y/X/B/A buttons and the right trigger. Then again, the name "Wireless Speed Yoke" likely just doesn't roll of the tongue as smoothly. The wireless wheel isn't so much shaped like a wheel as it is a stylized flight yoke from an airplane. Surely the wireless wheel can't do better? The whole kit weighs about 30 pounds and takes me about 10 minutes to drag from its place in the bottom of my closet and set up, but once it is, the driving experience is spectacular. Normally, I do my racing simulation from behind a proper racing wheel with 900 degrees of rotation belt-driven force feedback the choice between paddle, H-pattern, or sequential shifters a trio of pedals and an aluminum adjustable stand to hold it all together.
Forza motorsport 4 microsoft wireless speed wheel full#
The Speed Wheel bridges the gap between the Controller S and a full racing wheel. By the end of the weekend, the Speed Wheel had won me over. As a car guy and a bit of a racing sim snob, I initially viewed this wireless, motion sensitive plastic bauble down the bridge of my upturned nose. Microsoft's Wireless Speed Wheel will be available in late October.Īlong with my review copy of Forza Motorsport 4, I was sent an example of Microsoft's Wireless Speed Wheel to test with the game.