Rating: 
Summary: Too bad discontinuing production.........
Review: It is a crying shame that Microsoft has announced that it is halting production on this product. If you are a sim pilot, this is one Sweeeeet Joystick. I am sure there are some problems encountered in some that have been manufactured, fortunately not in mine. I have 2, I use one and have one on spare reserve, just in case the one I use goes belly-up! In this sim-pilots opinion, the only mistake you could make would be not to buy one.FA's #1 Bruceman : )
Rating: 
Summary: Great, with the right games
Review: It's on the pricey side (I was lucky enough to get it from the MS company store), but this is a really fun chunk of hardware. Force feedback is just plain fun. It only works with certain types of games, though -- if you're a strategy game player, don't bother! It would be nice if it had more buttons and were easier to program. Also, some of the buttons are clustered all in one spot making it hard to do certain buttom combinations. They changed the location of the buttons from the FF1, so some games (like Mechwarrior 4) expect you to do button combinations that would be fine on the FF1 but can't be done easily or at all on this one.
Rating: 
Summary: i HATE it
Review: ok. what makes me mad is that it would NOT work on my computer for some reason. I must of put it on about 100 times (not really) and it have never worked. I did bring it back to radio shack and they wouldnt accept it back because it didnt work on my computer. so then i was really angry. so i think he didnt accept it back because he thought i broken it. so afterwards, i fought with the man for about 4 or 5 minutes then came home and emailed microsoft. microsoft did not write an email back in less then 10 days so I called. finally, after 2 weeks of waiting, i can bring this useless thing that dont work on my 128k modem, Windows ME computer. so from now on, i do not want anything to do with microsoft.
Rating:
Summary: Great joystick, with a few down sides
Review: Overall, this is a really great joystick which offer tremendous force feedback. The buttons are well-placed, and the ergonomic feel of the grip is outstanding. Unlike many other sticks, the Sidewinder offers twisting rudder control, which is key for many flight simulators and games such as MechWarrior. A couple of items really detract from the experience, however. I found the throttle control to be far too short and far too "touchy;" it offers very little resistance, and it's entirely too easy to blast yourself to full throttle without realizing. Also, the joystick is activated when you wrap your finger around it - there's a small beam that, when interrupted, brings the joystick online and upright. The problem here comes when I relax my grip at all - there are times when I want to stretch my fingers out in front of the stick, and then suddenly I find that the stick has gone limp. ARGH! It's also a really large piece of equipment, simply because that's how things are with force feedback right now; but it doesn't easily find space on my fairly-crowded desk. Despite these detractions, it's still an excellent device overall. There are 7 buttons (three on the top of the stick, four on the base ahead of the throttle control,) plus the trigger and a "hat" control. It comes with good software which includes sample force feedback settings - this was the first force feedback stick I've owned, and running it through the automated feedbacks was huge fun. :-) So, great piece of MS hardware with a few defects, only one of which I find hugely detrimental (the grip light.) Two thumbs up.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it,, you'll like it. I think...
Review: The Force Feedback would get five stars from me if it detected the Jet Ranger better. It does a great job of flying it but I expected at least some wobble when bouncing around on the skids and a little resistance when changing axis. Registration tells you to click "about" in the "help" menu for the ID number you need--incredibly frustrating: I couldn't find a help menue and it wouldn't accept the serial number. The number, that works is on the bottom of the joy stick, though, if you want to bother with registration. On the plus side, Installation is a snap (follow directions exactly, though). It programs itself completely on installtion and looks like customizing would be easy. It is very smooth. I like the button functions better than on the sidewinder Pro and it has the smoothest throttle I've used. The thing really kicks hand when you crash, too. I did expect a difference in the rumble of the wheels when I went off the runway and onto the grass.
Rating:
Summary: Sidewinder Force fFeedback Joystick
Review: This is a fabulous product. I have had mine for over a year. Recently I bought a new computer and find the joystick does not work with Windows XP and Microsoft does not have a driver abailable any time soon!...
Rating:
Summary: This should be packaged with Flight Simulator 2002
Review: This is a really out standing product. Without the joystick MS Flight Simulator was nearly impossible to control. With the joystick, the simulator is "realistically" difficult. I've started using the product as an aid for getting my pilots license re-current and for starting IFR training. I think it will help.
Rating:
Summary: Great Buy!!
Review: This is the best joystick, especially with the flight sim games. You can feel everything the bumps in the runway etc and the control is great. When you crash the stick goes crazy!! I would recommend this highly
Rating:
Summary: Feel The Action
Review: This is the best joystick, especially with the flight sim games. You can feel everything the bumps in the runway etc and the control is great. When you crash the stick goes crazy!! I would recommend this highly
Rating:
Summary: AWESOME
Review: This is the greatest joystick that was ever made. It has provided great flying entertainment, and I would never give mine up! I don't know why Microsoft discontinued it, but they'll need a great reason to satisfy the millions of gamers who have loved this great joystick. BUY ONE WHY'LL THEY'RE STILL AVAILABLE!
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