Gaming Peripherals Round Up

Logitech Drive FX

Logitech has a pretty solid history when it comes to peripherals, especially on the PC. Here is Logitech's attempt at a steering wheel for the Xbox 360. It's a compact, black and grey number with rubber grips for the handles. There are no elephant ear gear levers, instead it's a pair of buttons. On the face of the steering wheel are all the buttons as well as a d-pad for navigating menus when in games.

The clamp to the table is probably the least sturdy of all the steering wheels I used. It consists of a base which is connected to the table by two screws which tighten up hook type clamps. It was slightly fidgety to get to connect to the desk, made even more difficult when clamping to a desk that didn't have flat sides. The process of connecting it up took longer than the other steering wheels.

Once in game the Drive FX responded well and had a rather good rumble feature that produced vibrations Anne Summers would be excited by. If I was to have any complaint it would be that the steering wheel felt slightly too sensitive at times. Well, that's my only problem with this steering wheel...


[/center]You see, the problem with Xbox 360 games is that they have been primarily designed to work with a joypad. Trying to perform a handbrake turn whilst using a steering wheel is a tricky process because whilst turning the wheel you need to stretch your thumb to the buttons in the centre of the wheel. It's not an impossible procedure but is one that is performed more easily on a typical joypad - which is crazy considering you may spend a heap of money on a steering wheel for it to work better on the pad you already had!

There's still a certain amount of fun in actually sitting in front of your TV, wheel between your hands, driving along in a virtual Ferrari. The Drive FX is a pretty good option if that's purely what you want to do because it will work for both the 360 and the PC. Yes, despite not advertising it anywhere on the website or packaging, we plugged the Drive FX into a PC and got it working with default drivers (though without any force feedback). Pretty tasty considering it only costs £50.51!