I was wondering if anybody has played with this thing and if its any good?

http://reviews.cnet.com/sc/31271632-2-200-0.gif

Supposedly it can hook up to alot of platforms (PS1,PS2,Xbox)

not used it - but it looks fun !

wonder if you can set it up for counter steering ?

There's a bunch on ebay for $40BIN. Might have to give it a try, unless I see somewhere that they suck.

Just bid for one on eBay, for $20. LOL, I was the only bidder, so it's on the way now. :)

I'll post a review when it arrives. My only other experience with a dedicated motorcycle controller was the Hori one for the PS1 several years ago. It was very poor, seemingly designed for Japanese kids with tiny hands. The Gemini Yamaha unit appears to be a much less toylike and more substantial piece of work, won some kind of award in 2004, so I'm expecting better.

MisterToad,

Please let me/us know if it steers like a car (turn left to go left) or countersteers like a bike (push the left bar forward, deflecting the front end to the right, inducing a lean to the left).

Sure will, DJ. Since it's a generic "motorsports" controller which is apparently also intended for use in games such as ATV Off Road Fury, I'll be very surprised if it countersteers. We'll see, perhaps it can be configured to do so depending upon the software.

ill be curious as to how it works with TT, as in TT you are supposed to be moving the rider, not the bars...

but for twenty bucks, it cant be that bad. a DS2 costs more than that. :)

I got it. Gave it a good try but it's back in the box now.

On the plus side, it's a real controller, not a toy. Programmable, with six steering settings and another two for dead zone. Table clamp or lap mount. Default system is the PS2, but there's a universal adapter for Oxbox or Gamecube. The throttle feels progressive, the amount of travel is about right, it has a strong return spring. Of course, you can't countersteer - but the angle of movement of the bars is not on a horizontal plane, about 45 degrees, so it's no worse than leaning your bike with a joystick. It feels good to control the bike with your hands on the bars and winding the throttle to accelerate.

The deal breaker (at least for me): feels like you need four thumbs or fingers like a tree frog to operate this thing. :eek: Since your right hand is constantly occupied with the throttle or braking, it's hard to access any of the other 6 buttons with it. Conversely, aside from handling the shifting, your left hand is relatively under-employed.

What with doing all the basic functions, plus tuck/sit up, rear brake and lookback, it's too difficult to do everything needed to operate a motorcycle with this controller. A little more creativity by the designers would've helped enormously. First of all, the clutch lever is wired seperately, but for some reason it just duplicates the "square" function of the brake lever. There's one easily activated control function wasted. Or, they could've programmed the left handle with two functions so you could click shift with it just like an SRAM mountain bike shifter. Not realistic of course, but any controller represents an abstraction, so why not ? Best of all would've been foot controls, shifting and maybe rear brake as well.

As it stands, those who are already good with a standard controller won't need this. And for those who aren't, the Yamaha controller just trades one set of problems for another.

i figured as much. i was thinking about that...where when riding a real bike, your hands are already occupied (throttle, clutch, brakes) and you still have to shift, and use the rear (sometimes, though rarely for me) brake.

obviously this isnt represented in the game, but you also weight pegs and shift your weight, while using your arms and legs. shifting your weight in the game requires another button to push, so i can see how your hands would get real busy in a hurry.

MisterToad,

Thanks for the review! Sounds like it's not what we were all hoping for. At least it didn't cost you much.

Hey Toad, is that controller programable? If so I have a sort or strange idea. If you know someone who can weld and has a solddering iron; I think there may be hope. I was thinking you could have a trellis frame made on a stand with some really strong springs on it. So, when you lean over you can lean back up since you wont have the thorotle to help you with that. Get som rear sets and take apart that controller after you program it in game so everything will be set. Next put the brake switches where they would go on a real bike so when you squeeze the front brake that what happens. next you will need some low-resistance wiring so you can link the pressure swutches to the controller circuit board. Anyway I know this all sounds wierd. I will try and post a drawing of what I mean. See yam man thanks for the review.