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Thrustmaster Nascar Charger with pedals | List Price: $49.99
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Brand: Guillemot
Binding: Electronics
Warranty: 1 year warranty
Nice Accessory [Posted on 2000-10-25]
I bought one of these a year ago for my 2 year old son (who is now 3). He loves it. It allowed him to play on the computer before he was was adept with the mouse or keyboard. I am certain he would give this 5 stars. His favourite automobile games are Sierra Viper and Need for Speed Porche. He enjoys it still.
For the low price, it's a great accessory (with one caveat) [Posted on 2002-11-16]
The most obvious comment to make is on the price. It's so inexpensive that I would recommend it to anyone who has even a casual interest in racing games. It really does make a world of difference when playing these games (and you become a much better driver too!) The software was easy to install and it plugs into a serial port (usually with the sound card.) The calibration worked fine so I haven't run into problems with the cars drifting in one direction or another. I have to warn people that this was made back in the Win95/98 days and I'm not sure if it'll work properly with Win2000 or XP. You may want to pop an email to Thrustmaster just to make sure before buying. Because of the low price, you may think Thrustmaster cut corners. As far as the wheel is concerned this is not the case. It has a nice grip and just enough resistance to make you feel like you're leaning into the turns. Let go of the wheel and it snaps back into place. It's designed to "clamp" on to a desk and the grip is nice and solid. Two buttons and a rudder pedal are on each side of the wheel. These can be programmed for additional functions such as gear shifting, looking behind, horn, etc... The one area Thrustmaster where really skimped out is on the flimsy pedals included with the set. First off they're so small a small child can't fit their foot on them. Plus they're too close together to be considered realistic. Finally, the base is so lightweight that your attempts at stepping on the gas may send them flying across the floor. I have to hold the base down with one foot while depressing the gas pedal with the other. Annoying. I'm considering disconnecting them and just using the rudder pedals for acceleration (or super-gluing the pedals to the floor.) I originally bought this back when Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed was still popular but never hooked it up for some reason. I guess it's because I was able to get by using the keyboard. EA's latest release, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit II has such bad driving physics that it's virtually unplayable using a keyboard. Hooking this wheel up, however made a world of difference (it's actually playable now), so I'd recommend it to anyone who plays these or other racing games for fun. If you're a real racing enthusiast, you may want to bypass this for a wheel with quality pedals. Hope the review helped!
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