Type – Racing Wheel Manufacturer – Madcatz MSRP - $49.99 Platform – PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube (Universal)
A few racing wheels have landed in the laps of GamingWorld X (most especially as of late), and the quality of each tends to be at either end of the two spectrums, but never really in the middle. Madcatz’s Universal MC2 wheel ends that by offering a great racing wheel at an affordable price, but not without its own set of shortcomings to contend with.
The MC2 has a pretty nifty design to it, much better than that of a lot of other wheels on the market. Everything is smartly designed and ergonomically placed: critical to peripherals. Three face buttons are found on two of the wheel’s three center spokes, with the Start and Select/Back buttons on the third. The decent-feeling D-Pad is found directly at the wheel’s center. The now-standard paddles are located on the back of the wheel in nice, big butterfly shapes for comfort and ergonomics. The wheel itself feels as though accuracy isn’t important though, as the thing springs back to the center after releasing the wheel from either side. We are more impressed with the wheel’s stick shifter. It’s solid, it fits comfortably, and we like the available movement, as it allows for much more powerful shifting, while Logitech’s stick requires just a slight pull to shift gears. The unit fits comfortably on the lap, being nicely contoured (and includes a set of retractable leg straps for increased comfort), but also has a set of suction cups on the bottom of the unit for placing on a table. Though not nearly as steady and tight as Logitech’s clamping system, the suction cups are adequate depending on the surface.
The MC2 works fairly well, offering Accudrive; a system within the peripheral that allows you to program and calibrate the wheel on multiple levels. This is done on the unit itself, and if the game you’re playing allows you to do the same tinkering, you can fade out or increase the amount of dead band and total wheel sensitivity, helping you to drive with the wheel much better. It takes time to get everything just right, but you’ll eventually hit the sweet spot where driving with the wheel is comfortable.
One area that’s not so sweet though is the pedals. While they feel solid enough, practice with them show that they aren’t made for floors where they can slip around easily. We couldn’t get the pedals to stay put on smooth wooden floors, though we had more success on carpet. For the most part though, we fumbled with them, often interrupting our game to fiddle with the pedals again, and again, and again. There is a rumble feature for the MC2, which is adequate, though underwhelming. It’s also worth noting that there is no force feedback on the MC2. We’re a sucker for cool lights though, and the MC2 has plenty of them on the dash in the form of a meter that measures how far you have the analog throttle pushed in. While this is no more than a cosmetic feature, it gives the wheel a touch of class.
For the price, the MC2 is a nice wheel. Logitech set the new standard with the Logitech Driving Force Pro, giving players 900 degrees of steering rotation and force feedback technology. The MC2 is just a simple racing wheel with an elegant design and a few nice features. The Logitech Driving Force Pro is in a league of its own, but it’s also three times the price of the MC2, which is a nice wheel on its own that can be used on the PS2, Xbox, or GameCube. It’s not the optimum choice for racing fans looking for the best, but it’s a pretty solid deal.
