Mouse Memories

Back in the days when computers had as much power as the average $10 calculator I bought my first mouse, a Logitech device. It was terrificly expensive at the time, but it lasted a long time and functioned perfectly, making some of the cheap imitations used by my friends look like junk.

These days the Logitech crew are making everything from soup to nuts: mice, speakers, cameras, joysticks and racing wheels. Their first entry into the force feedback stick arena was a smash hit, and their first entry into the force wheel arena looks to make the same impact.

Installation

The Wingman Formula Force is a USB device, like their Wingman Force stick. But in addition to the simplicity of USB Logitech has also found a way to clean up your desk; they made the pedals the connection point for cables rather than the wheel. You can tell that they have put some thought into this thing.

Connections begin with the cable from pedals to the wheel unit, and from the wheel unit to your USB port. The wheel clamps to the desk using twin clamping hardware. Choose your poison: USB or serial, plug in the power and you're ready to race. USB is excellent since it is truly plug n play. WIN98 asked for the CD and the driver installed immediately.

From here you install the WingMan Profiler software from the CD. Essentially the same software that comes with the Wingman Force stick, it enables you to define keypresses and remap buttons to your hearts content. You can then name and save custom configs for your games. Install the software and reboot and voila!

The wheel comes packed with Gremlin's Motorhead, an excellent racing game with excellent graphics. Naturally, the game requires a 3D accelerator. Also included is F1RS, a hardcore title but weak in the force effects department.

One of the things I liked about the software/wheel combo was the ability to separate the gas and brake pedal to different axes, allowing braking with the throttle. If you prefer to drive in Need for Speed with a manual transmission, as I do, this is a must have!

When it comes time to plugging things in, my power bar screams for mercy. It currently has two large power units in residence, and little room for anything new.

Happily, the power supply for the Wingman Force Wheel is corded on each end. I hate it when those huge units have to reside directly on my power bar. Here is another good move from Logitech.

The wheel itself is a 10 inch, three spoke unit with red rubber. Two silver buttons reside at ten o'clock and two o'clock respectively, and there is a 25-pin male port on the right side of the unit for the cable.

On either side of the wheel on the rear sits a shift paddle. The paddles protrude from the inside edge of the wheel, and are wide enough to fit four large fingers if necessary. They seem unusually sturdy, good news since I broke the paddles on my last wheel after only four days of use!

The clamps aren't unusual. Two legs extend out from the bottom of the wheel unit and rise upward to contact the bottom of your desk. The clamping surface is lined with rubber and a screw head allows you to tighten each clamp.

The pedal unit is huge. It's in the shape of a half-oval with a slight slope toward you. The unit is made of smooth-textured plastic and studded with ridges. The accelerator pedal is a bit larger than the brake, and the pedals cycle down into the unit when you depress them. A double cable comes off the pedal unit, with one end connecting to the wheel housing and the other to the computer.

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