Why I Bought My First Wheel

I've loved games my whole life. When I was younger and the Internet was just a sparkle in Al Gore's eye I played Monopoly, Cards, Scrabble whatever I could get my hands on. I'm proud to say I joined the computer game frenzy at the beginning, playing Pong on my neighbors TV in the 70's!

Later when Mario Brothers came out I bought it so my young son John could play it, but my gaming DNA came out in force and I'm sure I played more then he did!

My next big thrill was when I started playing PC games, the one that I became addicted to was the first person shooter, Ghost Recon... I spent many many hours loving the heck of out of that game. But playing games on the PC has some downfalls, the biggest for me was that I was constantly adjusting the computer capabilities with memory, graphic cards etc, and I was always fighting off the latest computer virus...sometimes not so successfully! This caused a love-hate relationship with my PC (and my family's perception of my playing!), finally I abandoned playing games on the PC so that it could still function as a PC for the family.

Wait Speed Racer, what about getting your first wheel, I thought this blog article was about that...see the title? OK, OK, I'm close.... hold on.

So finally I decided to buy a Gaming Console, to separate my gaming from the family computer, I when out and bought a PS3. The first games I purchased were first person shooters... I soon found out that I struggled with the PS3 controller, I could not seem to get the hang of it (It's not a mouse, did you know that?)... and I was at a stage in my life that I didn't have hours each day to get competent at it. So talking to a good friend, telling him my struggle... he recommended getting a racing game and a wheel (and a stand for the wheel).

This sounded perfect, it was clear at once... I didn't need a learning curve to get used to a Steering Wheel, there is one in all my vehicles....I think I can handle it! I immediately went out and bought a Logitech G25 Wheel, a stack of games (Need for Speed, Dirt, GT5 Prologue), and a wheel stand from Wheel Stand Pro. It was love after my first run around the track! Yes it took some time to get better, but at least I wasn't struggling with controller!

Anytime I have the need to play a game, I bring out my wheel already mounted on my stand. Plug it in to my PS3 and off I go! I'm at that stage in my life where I can't play everyday, but with this set up I'm enjoying every minute of it!



Hope to see you on the track!

SR