Customer Reviews

Concept 4 Racing Wheel for Sega Dreamcast

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I bought this wheel after trying both this one and the Madcatz wheel. I won't dis their wheel (it does have a stick-shift, after all), but I liked the construction of this one better. The young people I know, especially a 9 year old girl couldn't get too far on driving games. I bought this with her in mind, and I'm glad I did. Now this girls 2 favorite games are Hydrothunder & Crazy Taxi (instead of Sonic & Rayman). I started doing much better with my scores too. A 34 year old friend already loved Tokyo Extreme, but now I think he's addicted to it. He finds this wheel a great advantage. The wheel does have programable buttons to switch your A, B, X, and Y assignments around. Shifting can be done from right on the wheel itself, or from the toggles below the wheel at your programed option. And the wheel can be pre-programed to any of 3 preset turning sensitivities, or one that you establish on your own. It also has a rugged vibrator built in. The wheel can be adjusted from 2 independent pivots to each of a table, a lap, or floor position. I've never had any trouble with non-compatibility, squeeks, or sensitivity of the wheel. If you have driving games for the Dreamcast, this would greatly enhance your gameplay. Just read the set-up and programing instuctions first, I wonder how many of these other reviewers have taken the time to do that.

I think that the wheel is very sturdy, the force feedback is strong, the steering feel is good and the various adjustable positions make it adaptable to most users. I really enjoy having it for my racing games - it adds a lot to Speed Devils and Hydro Thunder.

The configuration is frustrating because the "shift" levers, which you might expect to assign to the gearshifts, cannot be configured, so they will always represent the left & right triggers. The same is true for the pedals. Thus, there is little point in having both and you can never really play a game with the pedals and the silver shift bars. Instead, you'll need to assign the +/- buttons for shifting. This is disappointing because the device is so well constructed - just not setup well!

This wheel is not as bad as others may tell you it is. It is compatible with ALL Dreamcast Racers. That said however, you may have to adjust the way you have it set up. Monaco for instance requires that you have a Dreampad plugged into port one and the Wheel in port two. All of this is in the game instruction book. Now for the review. If you NEED Pedals, then get this wheel. If not, go with another. That is really the only thing going for this one. The steering control is too smooth (there is NO RESISTANCE, NONE, ZERO, ZIP). But the set-up is sweet. All buttons are easily "thumbable" while racing. The wheel is tilt/height adjustable. The pedals are realistically spring loaded. Nice construction and very comfortable to use. But there are other products out there, that may be better suited for you.

This wheel is sturdy, and really adds to racing games. It is easy to tune to your own style, and it retains the settings even when unplugged. The pedals are nice, because it is easier to get variable speed than with the analog triggers on the standard controller. Overall, I can race better with the wheel, plus it adds to the fun.

The only complaint is the "shift" levers. If you want to use the pedals, you cannot shift with the levers. Basically the levers and pedals have the same function. If you switch the levers to shift, then your pedals shift as well. You can use other buttons to shift, but they are not placed as well as the shift levers.

I've used this wheel for 2 days now and am somewhat disappointed in its performance. I am using it with Gran Turismo 2 (bar none the BEST racing game and the reason I got the wheel) and it has very slow responses. I tried tweaking it in the game as well as on the unit itself and it is still slow. I was originally using Interact's Ultraracer handheld wheel (awesome controller - 4.5-stars) and the responsiveness is night and day. The Ultraracer turns in, centers and countersteers instantaneously. The Concept 4 is so slow that it causes you to turn too late & hit walls, overcorrect, and totally "get behind" in steering. I will give it a couple more days tweaking before I return it because it is an extremely well built wheel. I loved everything else (well, maybe not the "F1 style" shifters - poor shape and functionality) like the feel of the rubber coated wheel, great button placement, adjustabilty and high quality construction. I hope I can tune it to respond better cuz it's a cool looking wheel with a lot going for it.

This wheel/pedals set up is garbage. Don't waste your money on this one. For sixty bucks you can get any game for any system or you could waste it on something you will wind up never using, like this wheel. It handles horribly and is a nightmare to configure. DON"T BUY THIS PRODUCT!

This is the first time I bought a wheel and I think that this wheel is about what I expected. I wanted to have some Restance but I don't mind a smooth ride that much. I think most people would like this wheel. The rumbling is VERY GOOD. If you like rumbling this is the wheel for you. It is very comfortable and the rubber grip make it nice to hold. The pedals are also a plus because they are comfortable and make it even a better game. I only used it for Crazy Taxi, if that's any help. It made it easier to do the little move type things. So overall this wheel is pretty good.

When I unpacked this wheel a big grin spread from ear to ear. This thing is well built and has a nice solid feel. The settings are very versatile and should be enough to accommodate most people. I have to that the shift lever issue is there (can't always configure them). I'm not sure but it looks like that it has more to do with the game settings than the controller itself. And using other buttons to shift really isn't that bad. If I had the choice I'd give 4.5 stars (but it's not an option). I've only used it with one game so far (Tokyo Extreme Racing) and it kicks! The difference in game play is night and day. A 8-way digital joystick can't do a game like this justice. If you'd be bothered by not being able to use the shift levers that much then consider your options but otherwise this is one sweet setup.

The wheel is well constructed and very sturdy. Compared to interact's own V3 racing wheel they finally got some more weight on wheel itself plus the rumble to give it a more arcady feel. The pedals are well built and have an extra weight in them so they don't slip even without the suction cups. My only complaint is with the gear shifters, I got the wheel thinking that they were F1 style shifters and they're not. The shifters have the same function as the pedals to accelerate and brake. After spending 60 bucks on it I was really disapointed by this. You can change gears with the +/- buttons on the wheel which is OK, but not F1 style. Why did I give it 5 stars? well, I opened it up and rerouted the gear shift levers to the +/- buttons and it works beatifully, however I wouldn't recomend doing this unless you know really know what you're doing. Otherwise I would have given it 3 stars.

Do not buy this controller. I very well may have just gotten a bum contoller, but the one I bought didn't even function as a regular controller. My console didn't even recognize that it was plugged in. So I contacted their customer service and they advised me that this controller was not compatible with Super Monaco GP which is the reason I bought the controller, but when I replied to their initial response inquiring as to why none of my games recognize that it is plugged in I recieved a one line response re-iterating that it was not compatible with Super Monaco. This is not the kind of customer service I personally look for in a company and so I wouldn't recommend anything from this company.