Click for External Drive Sales!
A Click on this Banner shows your site support to my Sponsors
  Review: Cyborg 3D USB Joystick 7/07/99 |
||||||
|
Ever since I bought Falcon 4.0 a couple of weeks ago, I have been less than happy with the joystick I was using. Now granted that was the Gravis Mousestick II which is a solid stick, but lacking many features. One is a companion set of thruster control and foot pedals to better control flight simulators. Another is a few more buttons for different functions as 5 buttons is no longer enough. Before I replaced my trusty Mousestick, I had to decide what I really wanted from a joystick and just how seriously I wanted to play flight sims as though they were real. The first thing that I realized was that I didn't want separate throttle and foot pedals. Sure that takes away from the realism of the game, but I have a Thrustmaster T2 steering wheel with pedals that got to be a pain to attach when it was needed. Which brings up another point; why go ADB when USB is the way of the future? Not to mention the ability to just plug in the joystick when needed and without a restart. Once I got an XLR8 Performance pack which comes with a USB card, the decision was made to go USB. But which stick should I choose. Price becomes a bit of an issue too. I really did not want to spend over $100 dollars (which in itself eliminated the separate pedals and throttle). Next I wanted all of the controls mappable to the stick. The Cyborg 3D stick from Saitek met the bill. The handle has twist sensors for rudder control, a throttle on the base of the stick, and more buttons than I know what to do with (10 buttons plus an 8 way hat switch). And the Cyborg is totally plug and play. All you need to do is make sure that you have input sprockets 1.4.1 on you Mac (there is no driver) and you can use the Cyborg 3D on any game that uses input sprockets. That includes both Hornet Korea and Falcon 4.0. It also ships with the game Warbirds, which I have yet to install. That alone sounds pretty good, but it gets better yet. The handle of the joystick allows the user to customize the "fit" so that it is better adapted to the user's hand. On the stick is a palm rest that you can that can be adjusted to 5 different height or moved to the other side for left handed gamers. The top of the handle, than contains 3 buttons plus the hat switch that, as a unit, can be angled right or left, or be left in the straight up position. The hex wrench needed for the adjustments is built in to the base of the joystick and is easily accessible. Within a few minutes I had the joystick set up for my hand and I was ready for action. I launched Falcon 4 and went to the setup menu then controllers and it recognized the Cyborg 3D right away. I made a few changes to the mapping of functions and now I was ready to fly. When flying, the Cyborg felt much better than the old Mousestick. It offered better resistance to flight inputs (the Mousestick was too soft) and centered much more quickly. All of the inputs felt much smoother, especially the throttle. On a desk it has a solid feel, and with four grippy pads on the base, it did not slide around at all. Having more buttons to map additional functions to the joystick made the keyboard essentially useless, and anyone who knows how poorly the game reacts to throttle and rudder inputs from the keyboard would be pleased. Overall I am very happy with the Cyborg 3D joystick. It is exactly what I was looking for, an all in one design, that is well built and fully adjustable. Compared to other USB sticks that are out there, the Cyborg 3D seems well made and worth the few extra dollars that it costs. If you want full control in a one-piece joystick, then this is definitely one to look for. Cyborg 3D USB joystick - $69.95 (Often lower priced via mail order at places like Mac-o-rama which lists it at $58, but remember to factor in shipping costs vs local taxes)
Rate Your Mac Game or Search the Ratings Database
|
||||||