simulation

Mad Catz has unveiled the latest in the company's line of PC flight sticks, the Cyborg X. While the new hardware showcases many new features, we're most impressed with the amount of customization it offers.

A total of of 11 buttons can be completely programmed (22 if you're holding down the shift button) allowing for complete control. Compatible with most air-combat and flight-simulation games, the Cyborg X should pacify even the most hardcore of PC gamers. As an added space-saving bonus, the Cyborg X can fold up for easy storage--a feature we've never seen before on … Read more

Flight simulators used to be a staple of gaming when I was younger. I remember spending hours playing the hell out of an F-15-based game on the Sega Master System. It was pretty pathetic. The missiles were basically white dots, but it was all I had at the time and I loved it for a while.

I guess we were all still buzzing from our post Top Gun and maybe Iron Eagle obsession in the late '80s and early '90s. Nowadays, flight sims just aren't as popular. However, if you've been aching for a true dogfight flight sim … Read more

It's nothing new that game consoles' controllers provide feedback for in-game actions. PC gamers, however, have for a long time had to rely mostly on the static mouse and keyboard. And that would be very boring for simulation games, such as Microsoft's Flight Simulator X.

The situation's now changing with products like the new MetalStrike series joysticks that Genius announced Tuesday. The MetalStrike FF ($69.99) features a force feedback function, where the joystick vibrates when the user bumps, crashes, or shoots while playing air combat games that simulate real flight action. The MetalStrike Pro ($39.99) … Read more

If the line between gaming gear and professional simulators is increasingly blurred, this is why. We've already seen sims that are FAA-approved, but CXC Simulations has taken the concept to a new level on the ground.

The "Motion-Pro II Simulator" combines the latest 3D technology with 505-watt 5.1 surround sound and a huge subwoofer that can be felt as well as heard through four vibration transducers. The result, according to BornRich, is "the unique sound and physical vibrations of a high-powered race car."

And to make sure your visual senses aren't left out, … Read more

Virtual fitness games may be fine for the masses, but what about the landed classes of society's upper eschelons? Surely they can't be expected to partake in such commoner activities as stock car racing, skateboarding, or--gasp--bowling.

Take heart, subscribers of the Robb Report, there's now a fitness machine worthy of your station: an equine simulator. The "Ridemaster Pro" from Racewood Simulators provides "all the thrills that a real horse can but minus the spills and nasty bruises," according to BornRich, while giving "a nice workout courtesy of its real horse-like movements.&… Read more

Having made a fool of ourselves last Friday crashing at every turn in the SingTel F1 simulator race, we were relieved to see somebody else being a klutz behind the wheel.

Toyota has developed a computer simulation dubbed Total Human Model Safety (THUMS), which re-creates high-speed accidents to examine the impact it has on human physiology, according to Fareastgizmos. The system is part of a new study conducted jointly with the FIA Institute that is designed specifically to examine high-speed rear-impact collisions at the FIA Formula One World Championship and Indy Racing League.

Driving an F1 car, as you might … Read more

At the beginning of April, I met with VoiceCloud CEO Gerald Marolda to take a tour of the company's voice mail-to-SMS service. VoiceCloud, which relies on human translators instead of software to transcribe calls, competes with Spinvox, SimulScribe, and CallWave.

A month ago at CTIA Wireless, the hatchling service was just being introduced. Now everyone is invited to try. From the Web site, enter the invite code, "cloud," and your phone details to get started. Users will be able to test the application free of charge for about a month, Marolda says, before a pricing structure is … Read more

Earlier today, we had a go on SingTel's F1 simulator. Designed by U.K.-based BallRacing Developments, this machine is not your usual arcade fare. The Singapore operator commissioned it to simulate just one track, the one that F1 drivers will actually use in Singapore come September.

Not only does it look like an F1 car, but it feels real, too. You're almost fully reclined while an assistant adjusts the foot pedals to the reach of your legs. The steering wheel is then snapped on, just like the real thing.

Once you start the engine, the entire machine vibrates. Though you are controlling what happens on the screen, the "car" moves according to your driving. Granted, it won't spin you around like a theme park ride, but it does add to the sensation that you are really in an F1 racer.… Read more

Golf has finally gone online with the likes of Microsoft Live and Sony's PlayStation Live, which is great news if you can gut out a room measuring at least 13 by 20 feet with a 10.5-foot ceiling. Oh, and you'll need about $55,000.

That's how much it would cost for Full Swing Golf's simulator to turn your bunker into a setting for 54 of the world's best courses, with options ranging from Pebble Beach to the Old Course at St. Andrews, all in photo-realistic 3D. And as you tee off with your own … Read more