Evolution of Racing Wheel Controllers

There doesn't appear to be much on the internet about this subject. In my quest to find a good racing wheel for Dreamcast, I've discovered quite a bit through browsing Web Archive, Google Groups, and similar places.

Early attempts during the mid-80's included the Japan-only Sega SH-400 for the SG-1000 and the ColecoVision Expansion Module 2.

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1995. The first racing wheel for home consoles was by Sega for the Saturn. This was a simple formula one style wheel with paddle shifters for Daytona and the like. At the time, the only other non-arcade racing wheel was by Thrustmaster for PCs with no shifters or pedals. It was called the Grand Prix 1. Newsgroups of the time talked about the Saturn's advantage over the PSX because of the wheel and Daytona USA.

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1996. Mad Catz releases one of the first wheels for the PSX to rival the Saturn wheel, using the analog Namco protocol used by Ridge Racer. It is officially licensed by Sony for some reason.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wade on 6/13/96

The Mad Catz wheel is an analog wheel and it is GREAT for Ridge Racer
and Need for Speed. It does not work with Destruction Derby or Twisted
Metal. It is ten times better than the Saturn Arcade Racer as it
sucks. I have both of them.

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1997. Thrustmaster releases the T2, the Grand Prix 1 with pedals for PC. Mad Catz brings the PSX wheel to the Saturn. At the same time, Interact releases their first wheel, the V3, also with pedals, for PSX and N64, possibly to cash in on Gran Turismo. Thrustmaster is staying out of the console market for now. There was also a universal Per4mer wheel with pedals released for the Saturn/PSX/N64/GEN(!).


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1999. Sega releases their Dreamcast wheel with the Dreamcast, which is essentially the Saturn wheel but bigger. No pedals, and the shifters have become gas and brake. Pretty disappointing. Interact releases the Concept 4 with pedals for the Dreamcast and other consoles. Pretty solid package if not for the fact that the shifters don't shift, as they're simply the L and R triggers which are also mapped to the pedals, much like the Sega wheel. The Interact V3 is also brought to the Dreamcast as the V3 FX. Thrustmaster finally releases a PSX/N64 wheel called the Nascar RacePro. Mad Catz brings the boomerang Saturn wheel over to the Dreamcast as the Dream Wheel. Mad Catz later releases the MC2 for Dreamcast, which is also well-received, but has a flaw in that it is recognized as a controller and not a wheel (fixed in a 2001 revision with a switch on the bottom). This is the reason it has X and Y buttons, and the other wheels don't.

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2000. Thrustmaster releases the Ferrari wheel for Dreamcast. Pretty well-received as a wheel for F355 and Sega GT with proper shifters and pedals, but with apparently low build quality.

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2002. Polyphony Digital enlists Logitech to create the GT Force for Gran Turismo 3, and it snowballs from there to where we are now with three pedal motorized wheels.

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The best wheel controller I ever used was on the arcade cabinet for Sega Super GT. It would pull in the right direction, had force feedback, proper resistance, and above all felt natural. And it had a proper (4-speed) shifter, all back in 1996. I've tried a modern Thrustmaster for the PS4, and while nice, it's just too stiff and not realistic at all, though playing Daytona with it is a blast (but hard due to the paddle shifters).

It really seems like there's no good wheel for the Dreamcast, which is a shame because it has so many great racing games like F355 and Sega GT. Does anyone have any recommendations for a good Dreamcast wheel, ideally with pedals? Or perhaps what to stay away from?

I can't find a Thrustmaster wheel anywhere, so I might settle for the Concept 4 and rewire the shifters to some other button so I can actually shift with them. It's also possible to mod the official wheel to have pedal support apparently.

Don't forget the Coleco Expansion Module#2, and the Sega SH-400 Steering Handle Controller. While they aren't analog, the presence of the shift lever enhances racing games of the era, and the horn button on the SH-400 is pretty rad for the games which support it.
iirc, magazines showed a wheel in development for Virtua Racing SVP.


and let's not overlook motorcycle controllers, like the Sega BH-400 Bike Handle Controller, the Varie Top Rider Air Inflatable Motorbike Bike for Famicom, and the Hori Motorcycle Controller for Playstation.

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Originally Posted by Prince Talmit

Don't forget the Coleco Expansion Module#2, and the Sega SH-400 Steering Handle Controller. While they aren't analog, the presence of the shift lever enhances racing games of the era, and the horn button on the SH-400 is pretty rad for the games which support it.
iirc, magazines showed a wheel in development for Virtua Racing SVP.


and let's not overlook motorcycle controllers, like the Sega BH-400 Bike Handle Controller, the Varie Top Rider Air Inflatable Motorbike Bike for Famicom, and the Hori Motorcycle Controller for Playstation.

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Great catch! I added them to the timeline.

The Virtua Racing wheel eventually turned into the Saturn wheel, according to Sega Retro.

What were people doing on Sony's console for Gran Turismo? I can't find any Sony wheels, and the earliest one is the 1997 Interact V3 which appears to be quite terrible, omitting even shifter paddles.

It's too bad Sega's wheel for the Dreamcast is as disappointing as it is, especially with their arcade pedigree such as F355.

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Originally Posted by Blades

I've tried a modern Thrustmaster for the PS4, and while nice, it's just too stiff and not realistic at all, though playing Daytona with it is a blast (but hard due to the paddle shifters).

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A Thrustmaster T500 or T300, I take it? I personally have the TX and find myself always dialing back the force feedback on it because it's just brutally strong, so strong I've had the wheel yanked out of my hands on a few occasions.

P.S. If you were trying the wheel on a PlayStation 3 for Daytona USA, the game does not appear to support ANY Thrustmaster wheels, only Logitech. That means you're stuck with either the G25 or G27 if you want a proper experience with an H-pattern shifter.

It's not mine, but it was a T150. Yes, the wheel was yanked out of my hands a few times too. Daytona seems to support the T150 fine, it just only has paddles.

It appears the general trend from the mid '90s to 2000 was Thrustmaster producing basic PC wheels, then Sega making their own iteration of that except with paddles, then Interact produced wheels with pedals (but no paddles). Everyone else followed suit, and eventually paddles made their way back to Interact's console offerings ~1999 and Thrustmaster's 2000 Ferrari wheel. Interact's paddle offering for Dreamcast is broken, but probably works fine on PSX (Concept 4).

Let me know if I've missed any mid '90s wheels, or if the Sega wasn't the first/only console wheel with paddles/shifter until 1999. Mad Catz had an extremely ugly wheel with a shifter for PSX ~1997.

This timeline focuses on a Dreamcast point of view.

The Dreamcast Concept 4 has programmable buttons. You can program the paddle shifters to any button assignment you like, as long as the game supports shifting.

Any button on the DC concept 4 can be reprogrammed...EXCEPT the paddles which are mapped to analog L and R with the pedals. Some people resorted to rewiring + and - to the paddles.

Check out this UK Sega wheel for the Master System, probably for Out Run or After Burner.

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Added Mad Catz to the timeline.

I own three that are shown here :)

(and a couple more that aren't)

Any recommendations or impressions, particularly from an (early) simulation standpoint?

I feel like the Saturn wheel, while good, suffers greatly from not having analog gas and brake. I also don't own any of these.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blades

Any recommendations or impressions, particularly from an (early) simulation standpoint?
I feel like the Saturn wheel, while good, suffers greatly from not having analog gas and brake. I also don't own any of these.

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I've had a Saturn wheel and was hugely disappointed by it. It feels cheap and junky and I've not given it a second chance. Daytona USA Circuit Edition is pretty much the only racer I play on Saturn and the 3D pad works great for that.
One of these days I'll try the Saturn wheel with stuff that is supposed to be optimized for the wheel like Wipeout XL, Chase HQ, Initial D, Race Drivin', Out Run, Sega Touring Car, and the original Daytona USA and see if the wheel adds anything to the experience.

Regarding the Coleco steering wheel, I was unsure if it was analog and read-up a bit more about it. If I understand correctly it does have variable positioning response. Whereas the Sega SH-400 wheel is strictly left or right, where the wheel is effectively just pushing left or right equivalent to a d-pad.
Here's an in depth article about the Coleco Expansion Module #2

Does anyone have the Concept 4 wheel? The manual claims that only the +/- buttons are programmable, but it's also written in Engrish and the box claims all the buttons are reprogrammable. Has anyone tried to use the shift levers as shifters?

this is a great topic. is there any way at all to use some kind of converter to get a ps2 or maybe even ps3 wheel to work on dreamcast? I really feel there is a need for a more high end dreamcast steering wheel. it's the godmother of racing game systems

Heh, this is a neat thread. Thanks for compiling and sharing it all!