Introduction
Games are continually pushing the envelope with incredible visual and audio effects powering your gameplay. Immersion is high on the list for every developer and in the world of racing games, it’s no different. Whether you play an arcade series like Burnout or a simulation series like Gran Turismo, the end result desired is the same: “immersion”. The lucky thing for us “virtual racers” is that we can go one step further to get our great gaming experience by purchasing a steering wheel, like the Madcatz Universal MC2 for example.

The Makers
Every console out there has a ton of extra peripherals and Madcatz is a company that makes those kind of extra accessories. According to their site, their aim is to help gamers "Play Better". Since 1998, whether you own an Xbox, Gamecube, Playstation 2 or Gameboy (of every kind) this Californian company has been doing everything in their power to improve your gaming experience. Today we are taking a look at the Madcatz Universal MC2 Racing Wheel.

Flashy packaging for the MC

Box and Features
Madcatz really thought of everything, even when they designed their box. Bright red seemed to be the color of choice for the MC2 packaging with tons of information written all over the casing. Even a little handle on the top was added to make transport of the wheel hassle free. Once you’ve read everything on the box, and finally taken the black and yellow wheel out, you’ll immediately realize that even if it’s priced very low ($59.99 $), the quality is first class. The entire product feels like a typical Madcatz product, built to last. As well as the steering wheel and pedals, you also receive a Gameshark Lite disc for PS2 (cheats for Gran Turismo, Burnouts, etc.) and a tiny manual in four languages (English, French, German and Spanish). This is a welcome addition.

Supplied with a Game Shark Lite disc

The Creation
So what is so good about this MC2? Well, the first important thing is that it’s a Universal steering wheel. This is great news to all those people who own more than one console! In addition, it’s priced very competitively and also is the simplest wheel to install on any of the three major gaming machines of today. Just plug it into the console’s controller port, insert a car game (of any kind), and rev up the engine. It’s that simple! The only negative would be the lack of PC support, however as the wheel is targeted towards the console market this is to be expected.

Nice Bumble-Bee colors… Yellow and Black.

The rubber is of especially high quality and grips well, even with sweaty hands after an intense gaming session. Everything feels solid which is reassuring as you can expect it to take abuse. Another great thing about this product is that it’s the first comfortable steering wheel mounted on the lap. It’s extremely snug and cozy, especially with the two retractable legs on the side pulled down for extra stability. However, when it’s mounted on a flat surface, it is much less desirable. The MC2 uses suction cups to stick to your surface of choice, but if you have a wood table, then the suction cups are going to be utterly ineffective.

Extremely well designed pedals

The pedals are built to the same high standards as the wheel. The base of the pedals are extremely large, meaning your feet have ample space from each other and the curvature of the pedals was identical to the curvature of my feet meaning very high comfort levels. There are eight rubber grips under the pedals, and although they held well on carpeted surfaces they proved to be quite ineffective on tiles or wooden floors.

An array of racing games for the PS2

Rev up the Engine
This is where the real fun begins. To put the MC2 to the test, I dusted my PS2 car games collection to see just what kind of wheel Madcatz had produced. The first things you will immediately notice is that the wheel has a 270º rotation and that there is a tiny stick shift on the right. Let’s talk about the wheel’s compatibility with games.

From relaxed and boring ..

To nice and twitchy ..

A very annoying problem with many wheels is they just don’t work for every kind of racing game. I own a Logitech Driving Force (Force Feedback) and I quickly learned that it was only good for Gran Turismo. Burnout 2 was completely unplayable with it and the same went for a few rally games (like WRC). The only remedy to this problem was to go in each game and customize the controls and the sensitivity. Madcatz has found the perfect cure to this problem with their calibrating system called: Accudrive. It’s a very simple system and you get to quickly choose your driving sensitivity (the dead zone and maximum range) with the help of some colorful lights by pressing the big button called “CAL” (for calibrate). And thanks to this simple, yet effective system, I was able to play all of my racing games within moments of plugging in the MC2. I easily handled everything from the fast and nerve-twitching Burnout to the precise and deadly Gran Turismo. A more user-friendly system would be hard to imagine and this is great for those people (like me) who just want to drive without hassle. That said, it is also great for the other kind of people who want to tweak everything to perfection.

Just perfect for Gran Turismo

Now back to the wheel and pedals. Well, the first thing is the amount of rotation you are allowed. Some newer wheels like the Logitech Driving Force Pro have 900º of rotation but only a small percentage of games can actually utilize it. But with the older wheel like my Logitech Non Pro, the 180º rotation is extremely annoying since you always end up reaching the limit. Thanks to the extra 45º offered by the MC2, you never hit that limit and it immediately makes every game more immersive. A negative point is that the wheel is not force feedback and that does make it somewhat less enjoyable but since the wheel is spring loaded, you still get a nice damper effect.

On full throttle

The Tiny stick shift just made playing any game (in manual) a completely addictive experience. For those people who don’t enjoy it; you can always use the flappy paddle gear box (like in Formula One). Another nice thing about the MC2 is that the pedals actually make a speedometer on the steering wheel light up, depending on the amount of pressure applied. Sure, it’s not very helpful but a nice extra addition nonetheless. Who doesn’t like cool lights?!

Conclusion
Overall, the Universal MC2 Steering Wheel with Pedals is a very solid product and something I can easily recommend to someone searching for a inexpensive wheel for cross console support. The lack of Force Feedback may discourage some but I can assure you that in between my Logitech Driving Force and Madcatz’s Universal MC2, I would choose the MC2 without a moment’s hesitation. The extra rotation, the great build quality and the little stick shift just set this wheel apart from the rest of the competition at this price range. Sure, if you got the money you can always buy one of those $200 steering wheels, but if you are on a tight budget, then this is the wheel to buy. Of course, a few things could have been made better like the wheel and pedal’s grip, or the fact that it won’t work with a PC but these few minor points can be overlooked when you realize the bang for buck. Highly recommended.