The ultimate sim controller dog fight

As any hardcore gamer will tell you, simulation games aren't really simulations unless you've got the appropriate hardware to back up all that finely-tuned software. Taking that into consideration, the folks at Extreme Tech decided to round up no less than ten controllers of various sorts to see how well they replicated the real thing, including flight sticks, throttles, steering wheels, and pedals. While any of the tested controllers will get the basic job done, they did find a few standouts in bunch. Getting top marks among the flight sticks was Saitek's X52 Pro, with CH 's Fighterstick Pro only slightly behind. CH came out ahead with its other flight-related peripherals, however, with its Pro Throttle and Pro Pedals USB getting marks of 8 out of 10 and 9 out of 10, respectively. For those who prefer to keep things on the ground, Extreme Tech found Logitech's G25 racing wheel (complete with pedals and console) to be the best bet for driving sims, although at $250, authenticity certainly doesn't come cheap. Those not willing to go that far may want to take a look at Microsoft's PC-compatible Xbox 360 Wireless Racing Wheel, which comes in at half the price Logitech's rig but, according to Extreme Tech, still provides a decent racing experience for less-demanding gamers.

[Hasuto @ Mar 8th 2007 9:35AM]

Too bad they missed reviewing the actual ultimate throttle + stick combo: the Thrustmaster Cougar. Rugged and solid doesn't even begin to describe that stick. (It's metal all the way.)

I had a FLCS+TQS combo before but upgraded because I wanted a modern stick with USB. While the FLCS and TQS combo was in the same class as other joysticks the Cougar is just in a completely different league.

[CL @ Mar 8th 2007 11:16AM]

Many people will describe the Cougar as the "Ferrari" of flight controls, it's very well described that way. When it works, it works wonderfully, and will absolutely kick everyone's ass, but half of the week you will be fixing it the garage. In particular the pots that they used on the Cougar is no different than the ones you will find on cheap sticks, after a year or 2, they will begin to develop play. Just look on a few flight sim forums and you will find plenty of people trying to troubleshoot it. There are however, aftermarket 3rd party fixes available, but it's gonna be costly, expect to pay another $300ish just for the fix.

It's too sad that all the flight controls besides the CH products and the Cougars are all "star wars" these days, I missed all the realistic controls the old Thrustmaster put out during the golden age of the mid-90's, while I blame them for being ignorant and greedy for effectively suing Suncom out of business at the same time...*sigh*

I myself am trying to hang onto the SWF-22, F-16TQS and the RCS, but their days may be numbered, due to the lack of Vista driver and the original author of the drivers had stated that there would be no more driver after XP long ago.

[Alex @ Mar 8th 2007 10:14AM]

Never mind $250 for a Logitech G25 - just the pedals these guys use are worth almost $500 each!

http://www.driverschallenge.co.uk/equipment.php

[Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 8th 2007 12:37PM]

I still own the *original* Thrustmaster... I don't recall the model... maybe it was called FCS? Anyway it was their first product... modeled after an F-4 Phantom control stick, it had a metal base, but the handle was plastic. The springs inside were/are very tight. It sits in it's box right now, as I don't do flight sims much any more (Falcon 3.0 was the last for me). I bought it in 1992, I believe. I wonder if it would even work with a modern flight sim game? They came out with an almost identical but cheaper version (all plastic, no metal base) for several years, then dropped it for the f-16 style plastic model. I went to their website recently hoping to find some archival information about the original products, but there wasn't any.

[CL @ Mar 8th 2007 4:58PM]

This page got some information on that FCS that you have:
http://www.migman.com/hw/control/tm/tm.htm

I am not sure if it will work with modern games or not, I had the cheap plastic one that you were talking about (called the Topgun) it will work if on gameports on mobo/soundcard, or one of those usb gameport adapter. That being said, my SWF22 (and a few other sticks I tried) wouldn't work on usb gameport adapters, so you may have better luck with the gameport on soundcards, It doesn't really matter on the games actually, as long as windows can see it, it will work in the game.

[Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 9th 2007 2:37PM]

That "Mk.I" FCS on that guy's page is still one gen after the one I have. The one he shows has a plastic base, and "weak springs" (since the Mk.II had stiffer springs). The ORIGINAL TM product had a heavy metal base, stiff springs, but no rubber boot around the base of the stick. I can't find any images of it online. Maybe I'll take some of mine if I remember.

[Kieran Coghlan @ Mar 9th 2007 2:47PM]

The FCS Pro http://thrustmaster.vanree.net/fcspro.html is very similar to what I have, except mine didn't come with the rubber dust boot around the base of the stick.