Playseat & Microsoft Wheel Review

[Mr Latte]

That setup is amazing mate ! :O, im well impressed, what does the seat offer as its main feature ? just the fact you get rumble feedback through it as well as the wheel ?, how 'good' is this ? is it worth getting just for that ?

Thanks although this is now a really old thread and the review was approx May 2007

The review itself must have pleased the people at Playseats as the playseats.biz website actually uses some of my photos on a later G25 review i posted on AV Forums in 2008.

See Playseats.biz guys for all the products they do but note if you shop around you may find better prices

I will by doing a new review on the upcoming GT3RS wheel and Clubsport pedals that are due to launch in March...

 

[Mr Latte]

Hi, how does that projector work and what are the costs? I'm looking to buy this and playseat and steering wheel for my ps3 as I have an almost identical looking but bigger version of your attic conversion.

Cheers.

See the date this thread was started, its old.
No longer have a Playseat, use a much better Gamepod now though.
Far comfier and sturdier.

I had different upgrades since this old thread started and went to 1080p projection for GT5 Prologue. Then sold it earlier this year to help fund my current diy cockpit ideas.

AV Forums is a good place for info or the AV section on here for current projectors some could recommend. Youll need about £800 for something pretty decent though. Id say that triple screens is more impressive for racing games than a large screen but for consoles only really FM3 and hopefully GT5 will support it. PCs however have loads of support for triple screens.

Ive been tinkering for about a year and found that immersion is not just gained with a big screen and some 5.1 audio.
The good, larger Buttkickers add a lot to games particulary racing games and if your using a good 5.1 or 7.1 system.

Having a nice comfy race seat is one thing but I got hooked and wanted to feel more part of the action and sensation from the cars/games.
Im currently incorporating something I havnt seen on other self cockpit builds. Using several Buttkicker devices and 2x 12" subwoofers. These are controlled via dual sub harmonic processors which will provide different levels of depth in tactile bass and combining audible bass into my ongoing cockpit. Basically you then feel the tarmac, the bumps and the engine but its not all just one single sensation, just like bass changes in audible depth and tone, subharmonic bass has different bass signatures in their feeling or rumble sensation.

All part of a hobby/experiment of somehting that may turn out to be pretty special, err if I ever get it properly built and finished.

 

[Mr Latte]

I have a Gamepod GT2 in Black.

The main advantages are its more stable, heavier than the Playseat but also has a proper "Cobra Monaco" bucket seat on runners thats comfier and doesnt creak.

 

[Mr Latte]

Have you got any photos of the gt2 mate I'm thinking about getting one my self after looking at the site.

After about 2 years usage mine could do with a bit of a respray, hardly worth photographing now. You could consider actually buying one as base only and getting your own seat, they do that also.

 

[Mr Latte]

Google terms like "Bucket Seat" their are many popular brands.
Generally their are road seats and competition FIA approved seats.

Auction sites will have "Faux" (fake leather) and clothed designs imported which are non branded and rather cheap in around £100 - £150.
Branded seats like Cobra, Sparco, Momo, Recaro, can easily take you into £300+ with many models going to cost over £500 with their mounts.

I spent a long time deciding on my seat for my d.i.y cockpit as I had seen many on various forums with proper competition seats. In the end I went for a quality brand thats really snug fitting. Some competition seats will also require side mounts and may require a bit of work to attach to a Gamepod frame. Typically a wooden board to mount to.

I bought from here and went for this one

 

[Mr Latte]

Wow you really are taking this seriously; that's a very professional looking seat and not cheap either!

I wish I hadn't seen this thread as it's making me wonder whether I'll be any better off getting one of these Gamepods over the Gameracer that I've been happily using for the past few years.

The Gameracer is sturdy enough although it could do with a more comfortable race seat IMO.
The main thing I like about it is the pedals sit on an inclined plate so they are roughly vertical before pressed and there is a heel plate to rest your left foot when not on the brake. The pedals are also roughly at the same height as your bum so your not sitting down to them like with the Gamepod.

I can see this is going to be doing my head in for weeks now!
Decisions, decisions.

Yeah I have a friend has a Game Racer, the seat was very small.
Maybe you should consider a d.i.y build yourself?

Serious, yeah I guess so as its become a hobby project. The seat was a very tough decision as it was such a high cost but in the end I thought looks and as a component part it was very important. A cockpit could be used for years so longterm the seat choice was taken with a longterm view or resellable value. This is kinda like a longterm ambition to replicate that excitment I had as a young teenager in the 80s seeing games like Outrun arace units come along. Although motion cockpit doesnt interest me and useless for consoles anyways my own d.i.y build is not just a regular cockpit frame but part experiment in building something that really enchances the games yet will look visually stunning too.

One area of this enchancement to the experience is from audio and tactile bass. Wait till you start looking into Buttkickers or other tactile and audio enchancing equipment. Ive spent a long time experimenting with these for my own cockpit ideas. As mentioned above being different having reached a point of my d.i.y going to include 2x 12" subs, 3x Buttkickers, 2x Clarke Tactile units, various audio amplifers and enchancers. Crazy to an extent but all in aid of feeling like a more involving experience.

 

[Mr Latte]

Just research Buttkicker, get the USA homepage and it explains all the technology.

Theirs only one UK authorised seller.
The Gamer models are a bit weak but a good starting point for a racing frame.

The BKA 300 unit is quite costly for UK price at about £400 but this can easily be positioned for under a sofa to also enchance your movies, not just be bolted to a race frame. Its got a bigger transducer and 400 watt amplifer in a package.

Other action games like say FPS when things like grenades or bombs go off combined with 5.1 audio you really feel the bass shake and it just heightens the immersion.

My own experimentation just grew from wanting to take things further and then have more control and power to further the immersion.

 

[Mr Latte]

Depends on the games the quality of effect you may get and what hardware/models you go for...

Generally you will feel engine revs, kerbs, bumps in the road.
It just adds to the immersion.

 

[Mr Latte]

Take the hump, well perhaps yes I got fed up with the abuse,taunting and the way some members on here behave continuously towards others.

Those guys still do a good enough job of arguing without me and tbh I feel all the better not getting involved any further.

Regards my own build it will be sorted in first qtr 2011.
More hardware and changes were needed.

Lunarwolf, think I've seen you went for GT2 on ISR.
Well done you ended up with a nice rig.