Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel

The Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel was developed by Microsoft for the Xbox 360 and was introduced at E3 2006. Released in November 2006, the force feedback steering wheel controller includes the standard gamepad buttons along with floor-mounted accelerator and brake pedals. Although the wheel is capable of running truly wirelessly off a standard Xbox 360 battery pack (rechargeable or two AA batteries), use of the force feedback and active resistance features requires an external AC adapter. [cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/driving/forzamotorsport2/news.html?sid=6150049 | title= E3 06: Microsoft announces new Xbox 360 accessories | author=James Yu | publisher=GameSpot | accessdate=2006-06-13]

The original limited edition of the force feedback wheel included a force-feedback capable version of the racing game "Project Gotham Racing 3". This was discontinued in November 2007 when the price of the wheel was dropped to $99.

The wheel was developed in conjunction with the video game "Forza Motorsport 2".

Supported Games

The following games are "fully supported" with force feedback:

* " (known as GRID in USA)"
* "Burnout Paradise"
* ""
* "Forza Motorsport 2"
* "Nascar 08"
* "Need For Speed Carbon"
* "Project Gotham Racing 3"
* "Project Gotham Racing 4"
* "Test Drive Unlimited" (Hardcore mode is recommended)
* "Sega Rally Revo"

Criticism

Some have identified the strength of force feedback as stronger than most third party wheels, while some have complained that the strength of the force feedback is weaker than other third party wheels. Although the paddle shifters work well and are used on many modern race cars, they do not well represent the feeling of driving a car with a more traditional lever-type shifter.

Recall

On August 22 2007 an announcement on the official Xbox website stated that Microsoft will retrofit for free all the Wireless Racing Wheels that were manufactured during 2006 and 2007. This is due to a component in the wheel chassis that in rare cases may overheat and go up in smoke when the AC/DC power supply is used to power up the wheel [cite web|url=http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/gameplay/wirelesswheelretrofit.htm|title=Wireless Wheel Retrofit|publisher=Microsoft|accessdate=2008-08-11] .

There have also been known cases of wheels not working or losing the power of force feedback when stored in places that the temperature is below 32⁰ F (or 0⁰ C).

ee also

* Xbox 360 accessories
* Force Feedback
* Racing game
* Driving Force Pro

References

External links

* [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/hardware/x/xbox360wirelessracingwheel/ Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel details on Xbox.com US]
* [http://www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/gameplay/wirelesswheelretrofit.htm Wireless Wheel Retrofit]
* [http://www.megatechnews.com/microsoft-extinguishes-xbox-360-wheel-fire-hazard/ Fire Hazard]