Interested in winning a Razer DeathAdder Left-Handed edition? If so, create a forum post, facebook post, blog post, etc asking for all left-handers to comment and pledge their support, then head over to the contest page. Enter the details of where and when you posted the announcement for your chance to win. Two gaming mice will be given out on May 2nd, 2010.
Author - Jerry Paxton
I initially found out about Saitek’s new X-65F Combat Control System during their CES 2010 press release. While at the show, I made sure the GamingShogun crew swung by Mad Catz’ suite to get up-close and personal with it. Suffice it to say, even in our short time with the setup, we were very impressed.
In case you are a newbie to the world of flight simulation, and combat flight simulation in particular, the ultimate fighter jet peripheral is generally considered to be a HOTAS setup. H.O.T.A.S. is short for ‘Hands-On Throttle and Stick’, and strives to recreate the actual military control system where, during combat, pilots have all the controls they require on both the throttle quadrant or flight stick panel. Of course, if a pilot did not have such functionality, taking one’s hand off the stick or throttle to press a control could mean the difference between life and death. For us simmers, it may not be ‘real’ death, but at the very least blatant humiliation at the guns of our fellow sim jockeys.
The X-65F holds to this HOTAS philosophy, featuring a record for home gaming peripherals of 608 possible command combinations without the user ever having to remove their hands from the controls. Furthermore, the X-65F pushes the limits of realism by adding perhaps the most revolutionary idea in flight sim peripherals ever: ‘force-sensing’ technology. What is ‘Force-Sensing’ technology? In short, this allows you to control your virtual aircraft without ever having to physically-move the flight stick. To expound on this, you are actually exerting force from your hand onto the flight stick but the stick is stationary. The base unit picks up the pressures being exerted and translates this into flight control signals.
This technology was first seen on the F-16 Fighting Falcon, where pilots initially complained that it was too ‘different’ than what they were used to and did not provide enough feedback as to the plane’s current orientation. In USAF ‘pits, they have since added some force-feedback technology to the stick in order to give a bit more info back to the pilots. The benefit to this technology is that in order to pull-off very complex maneuvers, the pilot never has to move his hand. Furthermore, on the X-65F, the rudder control is also sensed on the flight stick. This means that you can combine aileron, elevator, and rudder movements simultaneously in a very organic fashion with some slight pressure.
The throttle quadrant is a split-lever design, with the dual throttles able to be connected together to recreate single-engine aircraft or separated for twin-engine jobbers like the A-10 Thunderbolt II. While not based on any specific stick and throttle design from reality, Saitek has done a good job of creating something sexy enough to look likt it is pulled from a top-secret fighter in some upcoming Hollywood motion picture. There is a nacelle assembly which screws onto the throttle base, which allows two control panels to be placed in reach of the pilot’s fingers when using the throttle. The first control panel comes standard with the X-65F and features sensitivity settings for the force-sensitive flight stick, as well as a hooded pickle button and four additional, programmable controls. The control panel on the right is a placeholder out of the box, but can be replaced with one of Saitek’s Pro Flight Instrument Panel peripherals for even more realism. In case you missed our review of the Pro Flight Instrument Panel from Saitek, you can read it here.
Setting up the throttle and flight stick is fairly straight-forward. A plate is screwed into the bottom of the flight stick, making the bottom smooth and able to be attached to your desktop via included Velcro strips. The throttle assembly needs slightly more setup, with the user having to screw in the nacelles and the control panels. Thankfully, Saitek has included all the necessary tools (in this case, a small hex key) to complete the job. One issue with the setup is that the throttle is VERY tight to push about, even at its lowest intensity setting (which is adjusted on the bottom of the unit). It can be so tight to that you end up pushing around the entire throttle quadrant when powering up or down! One thing which would make this a lot better is if Saitek would have included a second plate and Velcro set for this peripheral. That way, at least it would lend more stability to your left pectoral workout.
Thankfully, this can be averted altogether by utilizing the mounting holes Saitek has included on each of the system’s pieces. These holes allow you to screw the throttle and flight stick into your desk or home pit for the ultimate in stability! Crank on that sucker all you like – it’s going nowhere.
In my tests with Lock-On: Modern Air Combat (featuring the new Flaming Cliffs 2 expansion), I found the stick and throttle to be a gift from the gods of flight sim goodness. After meticulously setting up all my controls in the sim, including mapping the TDC slew controls to the throttle’s mini-mouse, I was all ready to go. The first time I started the ‘quick-start’ A10 mission in Lock-On, I crashed and burned VERY quickly after beginning. As it turned out, I had the sensitivity level at F4, which is its highest setting. I switched down to F1 until I got more used to it and now find myself running through all levels of sensitivity as the need arises. Basically, these sensitivity controls change the amount of control signal sent to the PC with the same amount of force exerted on the stick. Need to move into air combat maneuvers? Jettison that payload (I mapped this to the hooded pickle button) and switch over to F4 sensitivity to get the most out of your Warthog. After all, you will most likely only be armed with some Sidewinders and your cannon, so you will need all the maneuvering you can get!
Overall, Saitek’s new X-65F Combat Control System is the most realistic combat flight simulator peripheral available for the home market. Retailing for $399, there is no doubt that its price tag is very steep. Hopefully, sim jockeys will see past this and commit to one of the best purchases they can make for their home cockpit. If enough of us purchase the unit, then maybe they can bring the price down for the rest of the gaming market out there to enjoy as well. For a while, it looked like the flight simulation genre was in the outhouse, but with products like this new X-65F on the market as well as new sims coming out from guys like DCS, there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel, and it looks very nice indeed.
Namco Bandai has released a new trailer for their recently gone-gold Dead to Rights: Retribution. The third-person actioner is due out on April 27th and promises a mature storyline. This new trailer goes ‘behind the game’, the first of a two-part video series.
Namco Bandai has announced that their upcoming third-person actioner, Dead to Rights: Retribution, has gone gold and is on-track for an April 27th release across North America. The game is being released on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game consoles.
The first Battlefield: Bad Company, followed Bravo Company (a unit made up of mostly misfit soldiers) as they fought their way through many fields of battle in a fictional war between the Russian Federation and the United States. Just when the unit thinks they will be sent home, they get re-instated to active duty and sent off to fight again in Bad Company 2, the latest game from EA DICE.
In a very interesting turn and slight nod to the World War II shooters out there, some of which were created by EA DICE themselves, Bad Company 2 starts off with the player in a secret Allied unit sent into the Pacific Theatre of war to retrieve an operative from Japanese clutches. What happens directly sets up the story of Bad Company 2, some fifty odd years later. In fact, the player is presented will all sorts of gimmicky gameplay elements throughout the game.
You will jump from the previously-mentioned World War II portions to on-rails segments where you man a turret or even get behind the wheel of an M1A1 main battle tank. The gameplay keeps the player moving and guessing as to what happens next in the story and never ceases to be full of an 80’s style of action found in those great popcorn flicks staring guys like Arnold and Sly. Thankfully, Bad Company 2’s dialogue is light-year’s funnier than what was featured in those seminal classic flicks, with the game even picking on Predator and a plethora of other pieces of pop culture. In fact, one of the bad guy types in the game looks just like Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura as Blain in Predator.
Just like in the original, Bad Company 2 features a ton of weapon types for you to utilize, usually picked from the bodies of your foes. Weapon effects are well-visualized and give a real sense of ‘power’ in what you are firing at the time.
Visually, the game is quite detailed (even stunning on the PC version). However, on our Xbox 360 version of the game, it suffers from the usual aliasing issues. Other than the ‘jaggies’, however, the game looks very pretty and features some very well-done level design with multiple paths to explore.
Game audio is nicely composed, both in terms of soundtrack and ambient effects, while the voice work is stellar. I would seriously consider watching a machinima-style web series featuring the characters of Bravo Company; Irreverent, over-the-top humor mixed with 80’s action flick bravado is the order of the day here. Also, the score is composed by Mikael Karlsson and has a very… Indiana Jones-style to it. I would say a John Williams style but, given the subject matter, my first comparison holds more true. Either way, Karlsson should be proud as it is a great score for the adventure-shooter.
The only real area where Bad Company 2 disappoints is that, while the on-rails segments keep things interesting, they also provide some very frustrating moments as the game will not save every step of the way and a death could mean having to start over at the beginning of the sequence. Maybe I am just a spoiled PC-gamer, but it is frustrating, nevertheless.
While I dealt mainly with the game’s single-player element, it is quite clear that the multiplayer component of the game is going to extend the replayability considerably. There are several multiplayer game modes such as ‘Rush’ and ‘Conquest’, and EA is promoting these by releasing DLC packs featuring maps every few months. Personally, I found the single-player experience fun and compelling, and it has actually stirred me to begin playing the multiplayer content a lot more than before.
Overall, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is an over-the-top, irreverent thrill-ride of a first-person shooter which is begging to be played, even despite its minor issues.
*DISCLOSURE: EA DICE gave GamingShogun.com a copy for the purposes of this review.
Atari and CD Project RED have released the first official trailer for the upcoming sequel to The Witcher, titled The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The game features an all-new combat system as well as a built-from-the-ground-up game engine promising some really impressive visuals.
While they do not mention a release date, they do mention that it will be a very ‘mature’ experience – like I like!
NAMCO BANDAI has released a new trailer for their upcoming third-person actioner, Dead to Rights: Retribution. The game is due out on April 27th for the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. It will feature the return of both Shadow and Jack Slate from the previous title and promises to introduce more moral dilemmas to the player this time around.
Capcom has officially-released its new motorcycle racer, MotoGP 09/10, to retail stores across North America for the Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms. The game features 18 Grand Prix races across 14 countries as well as a variety of other enhancements from previous series’ entries.
Expect our full review as soon as it is finished!
BioWare and Electronic Arts have announced that gamers will be able to purchase a new team member for their Mass Effect 2 games via the Cerberus Network, come April. Kasumi is the ‘galaxy’s most enigmatic and cunning master thief’ and her DLC pack will also come with missions surrounding her character specifically. The Kasumi – Stolen Dreams DLC pack will retail for 560 Microsoft Points, or $7 dollars.
Checkout more Kasumi screenshots, After the Break!
Electronic Arts has announced that its upcoming skate game, Skate 3, will be released in North America on May 11th and three days later in Europe. Skate 3 will feature a number of professional skaters, such as Jerry Hsu and Colin McKay. Skate 3 also promises to allow gamers the option to build their very own skate parks to truly alter the ‘face’ of the open-world environment.