Reviews
Posted by @ 3:51 PM, EST
We added a review of Thrustmaster’s racing wheel, NASCAR Compact Wheel.
A slice:

This was the first time I ever appreciated the Playstation2's support of all analog buttons. The accelerator and brake levers are located inside the wheel and are easily accessible with the middle fingers. The accelerator offers enough resistance to make it easy to control how hard you are pressing, but not too much that it requires any extra effort to hold down. When testing the wheel on RRV I had it on the Negcon setting, and it worked very well. The forgiving nature of Ridge Racer made it ideal for the Compact Wheel. Power slides were easy to perform, and the wheel offered enough resistance and control to maneuver through the field of drivers.

The only people that would truly appreciated ESPN Winter Game's simulation style gameplay would be actual snowboarders who know what to expect. But for everyone else, the game will be frustrating and has a very steep learning curve. One trait that a game should always have is good balance. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the realism gets in the way of the fun, this game is somewhat unbalanced.