When Sony launched the PS4 in the UK, in a moment of madness I decided to buy one. A bold move given my previous experience of games consoles was in 1999, when I owned a PlayStation and had an addiction to Tekken 3.
Since owning it I’ve dipped in and out of playing it. I don’t have great patience to learn how to use the various controls and neither for love nor money can I steer a car using the handheld controller.
Lately however I decided I wanted to try some of the driving games that people have been praising so I bought a copy of Need for Speed Rivals as it was on offer in the PlayStation Store.
Try as I might I’m just no good at steering. Anyone watching would be able to tell that I’ve never had a driving lesson and I’ve realised my ‘method’ is just to have maximum acceleration and then continually crash into stationary things.
After 2 or 3 weeks tho I wasn’t getting any better and then I remembered some friends who were very keen on driving simulators, they had a steering wheel and I remember trying it a few times and thinking it was pretty nifty. Might my abilities improve if I had a wheel instead of the controller, I wondered?
After a few days googling I’d placed an order for a chair, steering wheel and pedal set. What was I doing spending several hundred pounds on something I may not like? Ah fuckit! I replied.
The packages arrived from the Netherlands yesterday but as they were both quite large boxes and I’m too tight to get a cab I had to bring them home over the course of two days.
After a bite to eat I put the chair together, removing packaging to sitting in it took under 15 minutes, then I gave The Crew a whirl.
A few adjustments here and there and a lot of trial and error has already resulted in a noticeable improvement in my ability to steer the cars and I’m figuring out how to control the speed…a bit.
The minor downside is the chair, when set up, pretty much takes up what little floor space I have in the living room; I already lose about 1/3 of the floor space to my work desk.
Not that it’s really an issue, I’m unlikely to be hosting racing parties any time soon. It does however fold down without the need to remove the pedals or the wheel and it fits in the wardrobe so I can cope okay with it. I talk a bit more about the Playseat Chair and the Thrustmaster wheel and pedals on this post.
After only a few hours I’m already thinking it was money well spent as I can see myself having a lot of fun being a menace on the roads. Weirdly a problem I have is dealing with everyone driving on the wrong side of the road…
All the hours I clock up travelling by bus have obviously implanted something in the brain!
