PhotobucketRocketfish Wireless PS3 Racing Wheel Review

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Rocketfish Wireless PS3 Racing Wheel Review
11.23.08 (1:43 am)   [edit]

I couldn't find any reviews to help me on Google, so I'm making one for those looking to buy it. The Rocketfish RF-GPS3009 is one of the first wireless racing wheels I've encountered, and I have been researching them for quite a long time. The wireless part is 2.4ghz is responsive enough, no lag is noticeable from my test period. The wheel rotates 270 degrees, enough for manuevering around corners and stuff, but seems pretty limited. I would have much more control over my vehicle if I had 900 degrees, like the Logitech Force Feedback series. Since it's wireless, it's powered by batteries. In this case, it's 4 AA batteries; and judging from the performance of the wheel, the batteries might be running out pretty quickly. It would have been nice if it included a power cord or something, but that kinda defeats the purpose of the "wireless" functionality.

There's a dongle connected to the Ps3 that recieves the signal of the wheel.

The 4 buttons [X, [ ], O and /\]  are placed directly on the wheel, the X and the O on the right hand side and the [] and the /\ on the left. It's kind of awkward to use them having been accustomed to the buttons on the traditional controller. The rest of the controller's buttons are on this panel on the left hand side. Think of it as a control panel of the wheel if you want.The D-pad is also located at that "control panel". There's a gearshift on the right hand side. Pulling it towards you is the same as R2, pushing away from you in like L2 and pulling to the branch is R3.

The pedals are... Functional. A bit on the light side, but they get the job done. Since this isn't a Force Feedback wheel, you don't feel anything opposing the force of your foot, so you go fast without even knowing it. They weigh probably less than 1.5 pounds. Drifting is one of the most fun experiences of the wheel. A tap of the reverse button while pressing the accelerate button makes you drift and it's just fun, like drifting in real life. I don't condone that, however, and don't do it myself. Innocent

The "control panel" works well enough, but some of the keys feel stuck, giving the wheel kind of a cheap feel. The wheel itself is looking like it's made of rubber, not the leather of the more expensive Logitech models. The whole device is held on to whatever surface you want by a lot of suction cups. Effective, but again, adding to the cheap feel. I'm sure Rocketfish has thought of those small black rubbery things that you find on the bottom of your keyboard and mouse pad to make them stick to place, but they wouldn't work as effectively. The suction cups are a pain in the arse to get off the table, you almost gotta rip the wood or glass off to get the cups off.

You have to program the functions of the pedal. You'll find out how in the instructions manual, and it's easy enough. The bad part is, you have to program it every time you use it. So everytime you turn it off, ir it goes to sleep, you have to reprogram it. 

So all in all, the wheel is one of the best, but not the best. I recommend it, but there may be better options. Reprogramming it is a hassle, so keep that in mind.

 

 


posted by: Nate (reply)
post date: 12.07.08 (10:56 am)

I really appreciate your blog on this wheel. And as you stated I also Googled the part number and was unable to find any reviews. I purchased this controller from Best Buy 4 days ago and have been using it on Need For Speed Undercover. The first couple of times I programmed it I also had to keep reprogramming it. However, for some reason... now, it has been holding the buttons I programmed. But I have not turned the power switch off. I just let the controller auto shut off every time I am done with it. And one more thing I want to mention. The manual says that the "F-1 style racing paddles" are programmable. They are not. At least not on the one that I bought. Great blog. Thanks again!!



posted by: Argel319 (reply)
post date: 12.08.08 (7:15 pm)

Thank you. Because Rocketfish is kind of a newbie in gaming peripherals, expect a better version to release sometime in the new year, but Logitech is also making a wireless one!



posted by: Nic (reply)
post date: 12.21.08 (9:33 am)

I just tried this wheel out on the game Grid and am very disappointed.

The set up was easy once I found a manual online, the new box didn't include one. The foot pedals where touch sensitive but I couldn't get the accelerator to go to maximum speed. The hand paddels would not program though the manual said they would.

The wheel has a great feel and you can set the sensitivity. None of the 3 settings worked well for me though, they were either too touchy or not responsive.

Overall this is an OK wheel if you want to mess around with it for quite a while and adjust your driving to it. I don't think it's any better than a controller though.



posted by: MikeG (reply)
post date: 12.21.08 (1:09 pm)

I tried to program it using Midnight club and the accelerator wont work. Actually no keys on it work for acceleration on midnight club




posted by: Argel319 (reply)
post date: 12.22.08 (2:34 am)

It's pretty good for a newbie wheel.
You get what you pay for, and this is one of the cheapest wheels on the market, so... I returned mine, as I had more ease with a controller. Still recommended for those looking to buy a cheap wheel.



posted by: Mike N. (reply)
post date: 12.23.08 (6:14 pm)

My girl got this for me for christmas, and it's the first wheel I have used on the PS3. After trying it out for about 20 minutes in Motorstorm: PR, I have found a few things out. The steering wheel seems to have a dead zone from 45 degrees from the left or the right of the starting position. Not sure if this is normal with racing wheels, but I found it to be really annoying, and very hard to make minor adjustments. There are 3 levels of sensitivity, but I tried each level and it did not fix this issue.

Also, the controller seems unable to assign the joysticks of a regular controller to any of the buttons. For instance, in PURE, you need to hit DOWN on the left joystick, then UP real quick to be able to charge your boost, but this wheel does not allow you to use those directions.

I am with the other posters, that it just seems easier to use a controller than to have to try and work around this steering wheel's defects.



posted by: Argel319 (reply)
post date: 12.24.08 (4:46 pm)

Mike N. It only has 45 degrees of rotation. Depending on the price of the wheel, the rotation also changes.
The more expensive $150 Logitech models have 900 degrees of rotation!



posted by: confused (reply)
post date: 12.25.08 (2:21 pm)

Reply to: Nic
I can't figure out how to program the wheel? Any tips, the instruction manual is pretty vague or I am just technology challanged (prob a little of both)!! Thanks




posted by: Perplexed (reply)
post date: 12.26.08 (6:58 am)

Ok, got the wheel...tried it, worked great except it was so sensitive I crashed so often I wanted to revoke my own license. Then I tried to reset the sensitivity but in the process canceled all the presets. NOW I can't reset the actual steering itself as I only seem able to select the buttons - all said and done I can't turn left or right. Any suggestions (that I can use?!). Thanks.



posted by: Help! (reply)
post date: 12.26.08 (6:12 pm)

I bought this product for my husband; however, the set up instructions are not very clear and the pedal instead of working as break it blows the horn. How do you program the break?
Could you please let me know?




posted by: ...Pleased. (reply)
post date: 12.26.08 (10:54 pm)

You know, I've read through these comments, and who ever said "you get what you pay for," is right. I recieved it as a gift, although I am not a huge fan of these newer racing games and dont have many, what few games I DO have that can benefit from it, I enjoy. I didnt even have to set mine up, mine was perfect straight out of the box, but then again, take into account I am playing GTA4 online in the races with it, NASCAR 08/09, and Gran Turismo 4 (PS2. Gotta love having one of the first PS3s so I can play older games.) The only thing I am looking for is a way to either set up the PS3 controller and it for the same player so I can move with it on GTA4, then drive with the wheel, or... switch between the controller/wheel faster.



posted by: Perplexed (reply)
post date: 12.27.08 (1:31 pm)

Long and short, after many iterations of testing it seems to work for me on PS2 games but not PS3 games...though the sensitivity is still crazy. Back in the box it goes.



posted by: Help! (reply)
post date: 12.27.08 (7:23 pm)

I bought this product for my husband; however, the set up instructions are not very clear and the pedal instead of working as break it blows the horn. How do you program the break?
Could you please let me know?




posted by: Argel319 (reply)
post date: 12.27.08 (8:43 pm)

Reply to: Help! You have to program it first. You press and hold Select and Start? Until the LED goes yellow, then press the button you wanna change to the button you want to change it to.
Example: [Select+Start]+[R2+Right Pedal]= Hopefully programed wheel. I'm not too sure as I returned the thing a few weeks ago.

Reply to:...Pleased
You can't program both the wheel and the controller as they are both fighting for the controller 1 spot. It makes it especially difficult using the wheel in Burnout Paradise in bike gameplay as you can't do a wheelie...



posted by: Edwin (reply)
post date: 12.30.08 (7:06 pm)

How do I get it to vibrate? The Best Buy and Future Shop websites mention that it supports vibration, I tried out Gran Turismo Prologue and I don't feel a thing...



posted by: Argel319 (reply)
post date: 12.31.08 (7:02 pm)

Reply to: Edwin
It doesn't vibrate. It's just a basic wheel with no extra dings and whistles.




posted by: marty (reply)
post date: 01.03.09 (4:00 pm)

I cant get the pedals to work period please help



posted by: mike moore (reply)
post date: 01.04.09 (7:35 am)

go to rocketfish's website they have an online manual



posted by: tomhurns (reply)
post date: 01.04.09 (8:43 pm)

Basically, the steering wheel programs fine, you just need to read the instructions people.

I must say opening the box and seeing the steering wheel I was VERY impressed for the money, it feels really good quality.

The setup was easy too, I was bought the wheel to play my favourite game Grid, and it worked first time pretty much, I just had to set the brake and accelerator controls.

However, the previous comment above is totally true (at least on Grid anyway) the steering wheel has a void, non functioning area, ranging from dead center (i.e. straight ahead) to about 25 degrees right, and then left. What this means is that the steering wheel has no effect until you have steered over to the direction you want by about 25 degrees, then the other way with the same factor. This renders the wheel useless in Grid, it's unplayable IMO. I tried adjusting all the settings as per the manual, but the sensitivity controls just make it even more unuseable.

After an initial thumbs up, I'm taking it back and swapping it for something else...





posted by: shawn (reply)
post date: 01.06.09 (7:01 pm)

so i just got it and it will not connect. went i turn it on the light dosn't come on. batteries r in right



posted by: Jason (reply)
post date: 01.08.09 (4:43 pm)

DO NOT BUY THIS WHEEL!!! I just got this thing from Best BUY about 45 minutes ago, and it's going back in the morning. When I was in the store I said "Hey cool, a wireless wheel and it's half the price of the logitech". So I was cheap and bought it and yes, YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!! This thing has a great feel to it, but you CAN NOT program the paddles (although the manual says you can), and there is a void like the other guys have said. Too bad cause it really does feel well made and it fits in your lap, unlike the logitech which has to be mounted on a ledge.



posted by: Jason (reply)
post date: 01.08.09 (4:45 pm)

Bottom line....if you want a good wheel, buy the logitech driving force gt.....and the adapter so it fits in your lap........and some velcro or something to hold it to the carpet, cause that bad boy slips all over the place.



posted by: g25 (reply)
post date: 01.18.09 (1:44 pm)

i got this wheel it breaks easly the paddles do.



posted by: ps3_rocks1@hotmail.com (reply)
post date: 02.26.09 (4:01 pm)

this wheel is good just not good on nfs undercover i use it for grid and it is good



posted by: Dawn (reply)
post date: 03.28.09 (2:40 pm)

My husband picked this up from Bestbuy today, only to be returned tomorrow. We have spent the last hour and a half trying to program the pedals and gear shift with no luck. The mannual is not very detailed and the website is not much better! Got what we paid for on this one.....cheap, useless garbage!



posted by: RAM (reply)
post date: 04.07.09 (5:07 pm)

Hey great initial review - I won't be picking this little baby up that's for sure!

Dawn - thanks for the updated info. and great concise call!



posted by: SUCKS (reply)
post date: 07.09.09 (10:04 am)

Worst ever.



posted by: OAK (reply)
post date: 07.09.09 (1:55 pm)

Bought this wheel yesterday and tried it with F1. Almost useless. I have FAR FAR better control with the controller. Car is all over the place with this wheel and extremely frustrating. Tried it on Gran Turismo and no better. Car is all over the place. Next to impossible to make minor corrections that don't have you all over the road. Taking it back tomorrow.



posted by: Red (reply)
post date: 08.15.09 (7:38 am)

Hey guys, just picked up this wheel and i thought it will be good... its unplayable, that ¨lag¨kills it. my suggestion to the above average racing fan, get the DFGT at least...



posted by: jassi (reply)
post date: 09.03.09 (5:23 pm)

guys i am gonig to buy this steering wheel tommorow and i have studyied it a lot and plus it comes with a clucth and im buying it for 59.99 its really good my friend has it for grand turismo 5 and it works perfectly



posted by: jbob (reply)
post date: 09.05.09 (6:22 pm)

This wheel is horrible. Do not buy it.



posted by: need help (reply)
post date: 09.06.09 (5:07 pm)

How do you connect this to ps3\?????? need help. Im playing gt5 but it does not connect? can anyone help me\???????????//



posted by: brandon (reply)
post date: 09.17.09 (5:58 pm)

ya i need help on Mid night Club



posted by: DOGTUFFGOXDWERO (reply)
post date: 11.27.09 (8:37 pm)

I just got a new Tv and new surround sound...we have an HDMI cable from the cable box to the tv then and HDMI from the surround sound, an audio cable from the surround to the cable box...the surrond works when watching tv however it doesn't work when playing my playstation...the playstation is plugged right into the tv...I tried putting the playstation into the surround and the audio wires into the tv but then it only works for the playstation and not when watching tv...anyone know what i'm doing wrong?




posted by: DOGTUFFGOXDWERO (reply)
post date: 11.27.09 (8:38 pm)

Last night, Sony rolled out the 3.0 firmware for the Playstation 3, just in time for the launch of the new, lower priced "PS3 Slim.




posted by: DOGTUFFGOXDWERO (reply)
post date: 11.27.09 (8:42 pm)

I just purchased a Playstation 3 a couple of weeks ago. I got a couple of good games for it too. I wonder what good full games are worthy of downloading from the Playstation store?




posted by: DOGTUFFGOXDWERO (reply)
post date: 11.29.09 (12:22 am)

PS3 phone out next month...Aino doubt about it


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