Review - Microsoft Wireless Speedwheel (Xbox 360)

My little boy's favourite genre is racing and driving games. Starting with the seminal Mario Kart on Wii, he soon progressed to Hydro Thunder then on to more serious games like the open-world wonder that is Burnout Paradise. In an age where parents are worried about violence in video games, I've always liked that my son was into driving games instead. The best ones are on the Xbox 360, so when it came to my son's 7th birthday this month, I thought it would be a good idea to get him the Microsoft Xbox Wireless Speedwheel.

The Speedwheel is a motion-controller for racing games. If you've ever played Mario Kart Wii with the Wii-mote in the plastic steering wheel then you'll have a pretty good idea of what the Speedwheel is about. To be honest, it doesn't look so much like a wheel as a yoke, but then the steering wheels n F1 cars don't look like wheels either. The Speedwheel features all of the buttons that come on the standard Xbox 360 controller and in the same basic positions, but it doesn't include the left and right shoulder buttons (LB and RB) or the right-analogue stick. On games that support the Speedwheel you can tilt the wheel backwards, forwards and side to side for steering and other controls that you might perform on the left-analogue stick. The Speedwheel also features two glowing green rings at each end, although I've yet to suss out what they are meant to represent. They just flash on and off and random times, but since you'll be holding the wheel below eye-level, chances are you won't even notice them.

On the front, the D-pad, A,B,X,Y buttons, Back and Start buttons and the Guide button

On the back, the left and right triggers, the Connect button and the battery eject button.

When you take the Speedwheel out of the packaging you'll likely notice how sturdy it feels. Microsoft game controllers have always been solidly-built, going all the way back to the early Sidewinder controllers from the late 90s. It comes with an installation disc, which will update your Xbox to fully support the wheel, however, if your console is connected to the internet it will most likely not need updating -- especially so long after the release of the product.

It first came out about 18 months ago, but at the original price of £39.99, it seemed a little expensive for a gimmicky controller that can only be used for one type of game. However, since the announcement of the new Xbox One a number of Xbox 360 products have dropped in price. We managed to pick up a Speedwheel from Zavvi.com for £18 -- less than half the RRP. And to be honest, I'm glad we didn't spend any more than that, because even after all that time, it's not very well supported.

The wheel was originally made in conjunction with Forza Motorsport 4 and indeed it works great on Forza 2, 3, 4 and Horizon. The movement of the wheel is so much better than the Wii-mote in the wheel on Mario Kart. Its precise and responsive to the point where at times I almost forget I wasn't using a fixed wheel. Sure, there's no feedback, but the wheel fits so comfortably in the hands that it's easy to hold it for long periods of time. More importantly for a hyper-sensitive game like Forza, there is more travel on the triggers, so it's easier to balance braking and accelerating.

So the Speedwheel is good then? Sadly no, because support for the wheel is very hit and miss. Games seem to fall into one of three camps:

• Games that support it well, but may need the control scheme tweaking. Of the games we own this includes:
  - Project Gotham Racing 4
  - Daytona USA
  - OutRun Online Arcade
  - Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing
  - Jeremy McGrath Off-Road
  
• Games that drive well enough, but cannot be played properly because they need the missing LB and RB buttons. Of the games we own this includes:
  - Burnout Paradise- Hydro Thunder
• Games that fail to respond to even the most exaggerated movements and are therefore unplayable. Of the games we own this includes:
  - Blur
  - Grip Shift
  - Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing Transformed  

Basically, half of the games we own are compromised to the point of being unplayable and there's no consistency. How can the first Sonic Racing game be great, but the latest one be terrible? I don't know, but it's disheartening, because when the Speedwheel is supported, it's great. Daytona USA is a prime example. Not only does it play great without any tweaks, it also has settings to let you fiddle with deadzones and all sorts of other techie stuff. And the game is genuinely more fun with the Speedwheel; it reminds me of playing it in the arcade. I've also tried a number of demos, both Xbox Live Arcade and full retails games, and the ratio 50/50 ratio seems to persist, but then demos are not finished games, so your mileage my vary.

You will doubtless have already noticed the two star rating below, despite me saying it can be great. That's because this site is about gaming for kids and the combination of the hit-and-miss support and the additional configuration required to get it working on many games means that it's only suitable for adults and older kids. My son is already bored of it.

Recommended age: 8 years minimum