Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro

by Microsoft

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 10.8 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.5 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B00002JXBD
• Item model number: 656-00082
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 4, 1999

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

After its introduction in 1997, the SideWinder Force Feedback Pro joystick swiftly became one of the bestselling gaming peripherals. It recently reached the mark of over 1 million units sold, and for good reason. It offers over 100 different Force Feedback effects, from subtle shudders to wrist-twisting explosions.

The Force Feedback Pro is one of the more expensive sticks out there, but Microsoft helps make up for it here by including the full version of MechWarrior 3. The well-built stick features a large base, which takes up some desktop space, but also offers a solid foundation for gaming. The stick itself sports an eight-way point-of-view hat, as well as three action buttons and a fire button. Your left hand rests on the side of the base and has access to four programmable action buttons, a shift button, and a throttle. The shift button provides secondary output for each of the action buttons, and the swiveling stick can also handle rudder control. The SideWinder software makes it easy to customize all the stick's buttons; you can even assign a series of keystrokes (such as a rocket jump in a first-person shooter) to a single button.

The Force Feedback effects are some of the best around, bolstered by on-stick sensors that react to your subtlest moves. The Force Feedback RAM, built into the stick, stores and calculates different forces, and the Force Feedback Pro's 16-bit processor communicates commands between the stick and your games. All of this feedback comes with a minor tradeoff: the cooling fan built into the base can get a bit annoying during gameplay.

Even with MechWarrior 3, the Force Feedback Pro will cost you plenty. There are other joysticks out there that dutifully serve their purpose in flight sims and action games, but none that really provides the all-around feature set and extras that the Force Feedback Pro gives gamers.

Pros:

• Great force-feedback effects
• Bundled with full version of MechWarrior 3

Cons:

• Fairly expensive
• Heavy
• Takes up desk space

Amazon.com Product Description

With the Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro 16-bit on-stick processor, you feel as many as 100 or more forces--from subtle sensations to rugged power forces--in every game that supports Force Feedback technology. You choose the amount of force you want to feel for each game, or you can turn it off entirely. The Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro also allows you to program your best moves to the eight joystick buttons using the enclosed Game Device Profiler software. In games that support it, the shift button doubles the functionality of your buttons, hat switch, throttle wheel, trigger, and handle movements.

Features also include a digital-optical camera built into Force Feedback Pro, providing pinpoint accuracy, optimal speed, and no drift. Digital overdrive helps the Force Feedback Pro communicate more quickly with your PC. Finally, the ergonomic design ensures you'll play in comfort for hours, no matter the size or shape of your hands.

Installation is easy with a single port connector, and the solid circuit board with a minimal number of connectors provides dependability.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

93 of 99 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An absolute necessity, November 25, 1999

By 

Jason (Burbank, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro (Personal Computers)

If you want to add more action into your games, this joystick will certainly wake up your senses and you'll enjoy your game to the full extent. It'll produce uncanny realism of multiple simulations ranging from engine idling to cannon blast so true, you'll never go back to any other "dead" joysticks. It is a must for the flight simulators and other force feedback supported games. It is worth every dollar you spend and I'm not surprised it's a #1 selling force feedback joystick.

49 of 52 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE AWESOME JOYSTICK !, December 6, 1999

By 

David Collins (Branson, MO.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro (Personal Computers)

This is one awesome joystick , Microsoft got it right with this input device. You can actually tell the differance between shooting guns and firing cannons.The eight point veiw on the hat switch helps alot when the BOGIE is on your six and you feel the bullets hit you! And it's programable so you can DO YOUR BEST MOVES with a push of a button!

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Total Game Feel, February 22, 2000

By 

"silvertalon" (Cyberville, Earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Microsoft SideWinder Force Feedback Pro (Personal Computers)

I bought my FF Pro about 4 months ago and I would not play any flight sim games without it. Mine came with a 3 month free sub for Fighter Ace, a great WWII combat flight sim for the stick. I tried playing the game w/o the FF on and I couldn't do it. It helps you concentrate on the game and not the messages flashing on the screen trying to tell you what the stick already has. It helps you actually "Feel" the game to put you "deeper" into it. The programable buttons are a snap to program for any game that you want. It's just like setting a keyboard command to each button in the stick or the base. It took me a bit to learn it, but now I've got a special stick setting for all my sims. The price isn't really that bad for the Microsoft quality and the included games. I know the sub for Fighter Ace is $10/month itself. Some of the guys that I fly with have tried other sticks and swear by this one. Try it... you'll see what all the fuss is about.