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Hama Racing Wheel "Thunder V18"
by G-smith
Oh I remember the days. Playing racing games on the Sony Playstation 2 and the one thing everyone wanted was a set of pedals and a steering wheel. I was quick off the mark to go and purchase my Thunder V18 steering wheel and pedals and the first thing I noticed was the strangely small box it came in. I first thought that it did not have ... the steering wheel in it the box was that small, but it was a great bonus because it meant it was easy for me to carry home.
Onto the product itself, it is very light. Both wheel and pedals do not feel of great quality at first however the wheel does have a little weight to it and some parts of it are rubberized allowing better grip, somewhat resembling the steering wheel of a real car. Also, the wheel is a little smaller than a standard car steering wheel.
The pedals are great too. There is not really much to talk about. They have small rubber pads underneath to stop them slipping on wooden or laminate floors, which is great. The pedals themselves do not feel of high quality either, just like the steering wheel but I guess that's what you get for about thirty quids worth.The little mat behind the pedals is a great place to put your feet when playing as it not only adds comfort but also stops your feet from slipping or moving while you play. One thing I will say is that the pedals feel very tacky and easy to break so I would not use these with shoes on. I do not know for certain as I have not tested the durability of these products, but it is good enough for £30 as long as you treat them properly.
The buttons on the steering wheel are in a great place as they are easily accessible with the thumbs during gameplay. The middle buttons however are not, but I have not yet found a game where these are required during a race so you never have to take your hand off the wheel. The steering wheel also has small rubber pads underneath so that you can place it on a small coffee table without it sliding or moving.
When I first purchased this product, we did not have a coffee table in the living room. Instead, I had to try and play by sitting on the sofa with the pedals on the floor as normal, but the steering wheel on my lap. This was very uncomfortable. Fortunately, a week or so later, we purchased a cheap, small coffee table and it was great. Using the product them became very easy and fun.
One further downside is the length of the wire that plugs into the Playstation. For our small living room it is just enough to reach to the far end where our sofa is, but for a bigger living room, you may have to move your sofa/chairs about or sit on the floor.
In conclusion, the Thunder V18 Racing wheel and pedals set is great value for money and will last a very long time if treated properly. The product is very light and so feels rather cheap at first, but you get used to it and after a couple of races, you will feel like you are really there!
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Hama Controller "Boomerang" for PS3
by JJJJ
As the regular 'Dualshock 3' Playstation controller is an expensive item at £35, many gamers opt for the generic credit-crunch-beating gamepads which are available for a fraction of the cost. One such item is the 'Hama Boomerang', which can be picked up online for around £10. At this price, the controller is one of the cheapest PS3 ... gamepads available - and it uses a generic design that is shared by other manufacturers... basically the 'ORB' controller is identical - that is, apart from some different branding, and the fact that it is more expensive at £11.99 from Blockbuster.
Design and Appearance
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The controller is named 'boomerang' due to its curved shape which makes it reminiscent of the aforementioned Aboriginal hunting stick. The design is generally comfortable to hold, and the entire upper surface is made from a slightly rubberized plastic which feels rather nice. Unfortunately, the placement of the thumb-sticks and buttons means that the device is somewhat cumbersome in practical terms. Firstly, the shoulder (or 'trigger') buttons are located too far toward the centre of the pad, and similarly, the left and right thumb-sticks are placed too close together, meaning accurate control is almost impossible. The standard Playstation 'Triangle', 'Circle', 'X', and 'Square' buttons are actually pretty good, feeling firm to press without being too spongy.
Additional Features
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Of course, being an ultra-budget model, the Boomerang doesn't utiilise any sort of rumble feature or motion sensitive control - these features are reserved for the top-end models. What the pad does have however, is a 'turbo' or 'rapid-fire' button, which allows a selected button to act as if it's being continually pressed. Personally I wouldn't use this feature, but I suppose it's a good ally for those who enjoy a staple diet of fighting games. As a 'wired' controller' (unlike the Dualshock3, which connects to the console via bluetooth), the Hama boomerang features a USB cable which is over a metre and a half in length - this is probably long enough for most set-ups in an average room, but obviously doesn't provide as much freedom as a wireless model would.
Final Word
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Overall, the Hama Boomerang isn't an awful controller - it just lacks a bit of common sense on the design front which makes it slightly frustrating. There's no doubting the fact that it certainly looks the part, but it's yet another example of form over function.
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Hama Racing Wheel "Racing Wiil Pro" for Nintendo Wii
by ally_kats_mama
My mother-in-law didn't think we had a steering wheel for the Wii so she purchased this one for us.
It is similar to the official Wii wheel except that this one is on a sort of stand, much like a steering column with some type of black tribal designs on it.
The Hama steering wheel for the Wii is white so it ... matches in with the other Wii accessories a little bit but it has a black design on the centre and side columns. There are also some spikey style bits of plastic which are moulded on to the sides. It gives a funky look to it though it does look a bit out of place with the other accessories. It is made of solid white plastic and seems quite hard and durable. It is fairly heavy but seeing as this is not a hand held wheel this doesn't make much difference. On the base of the racing wheel there are 3 suction caps so that you can position it on a table or something else and keep it secure whilst using it though we did try this and found it very difficult to use it.
You fit your Wii remote into the steering wheel in the same way that you do with the official Nintendo ones. This steering wheel is slightly different in that it has a true racing car design - it has a gap at the top instead of the wheel being fully rounded.
Personally, I found this racing wheel very awkward to use. The task of getting the Wii remote into the designated gap was a challenge as the gap just didn't seem wide enough. In the end I had to get a file and file the sides down a little bit so that the Wii remote would fit into it. The next problem was sensitivity. Once the Wii remote was in the racing wheel we couldn't get it to communicate with the Wii whatsoever. We had to take it out to get the start menu to come up. Once we placed the Wii remote back into the racing wheel and started to play Mario Kart we found that the wheel was really hard to turn in that it seemed really stiff.
It was also awkward in that it has a steering column. We placed the column between our legs after finding that putting it on a table was uncomfortable. This position was not any better.
In the end we gave up with the racing wheel and reverted back to the official Nintendo steering wheel. Unfortunately this one just doesn't do its job and just isn't worth it. I would have been gutted if we had paid for this ourselves.
Not recommended by me I'm afraid.
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