Hmm, wonder what this means for the flight/space sim controllers market?
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WHOA. That really IS big news. Actually, yeah, I think this is probably a good thing, both for price and quality. I almost exclusively use Logitech trackballs and keyboards and audio equipment, so this should be a no-brainer.
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Still not so sure this is such a great thing when I think back to the Logitech Flight System G940 and its problems. IIRC Beach did a review on the G940 system eons ago.
Wheels
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Whaaa!?! Well then. My Saitek Combat Pedals are performing awesome and it’s been a while since I relied on their flight/throttle combo. Looking forward to see what happens to their flight line.
Logitech drivers are like abandonware unfortunately. Once they are made, they are pretty much never updated ever again, if a new os doesnt come along or anything. Ok, I’m exaggerating just a tiny bit, but compared to other serious stick producers out there they are simply like a mammoth whale, forgetting about their niche products, while smaller producers live and breathe for the same products. That said, I conpletely love my Logitech g602 and mx master mice, and my old g510 keyboard, but thats a different branch of product entirely. Lets hope they give the sim gear some loving after the takeover 
interesting, the company everyone always likes to chide about it’s lack of quality getting bought by the only one where I ever had their controllers actually crap out on me and in short order. Sounds a lot like when Comcast was going to buy Time Warner.
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Like @wheelsup_cavu, my first thought is that Logitech is going to G940 the X-56 and other product lines. The problem with that is, there aren’t many folks left in the HOTAS market putting out new products, and at least Saitek has at least continued to try new things in the industry.
Hopefully I’m wrong, and we’ll get some awesome new hardware that will include excellent long term factory driver and software support and much tighter quality control.
… Looks Left… Looks Right… Looks Down at my Thrustmaster and Fanatec Sim Gear… I’m Good.
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Who knows maybe we will see a new FFB?
As an owner of the G940 I have to say: It is kinda awesome.
…after I fixed it. And got used to the software which actually isn’t THAT bad once you know its quirks.
And I actually liked the pedals. But the toe brake potis were broken after some years of heavy use so I got the Saitek pedals a few years ago.
I like the FFB, especially for flying helos. And it also feels kinda cool for the WW1 and WW2 birds in several games. I could live without it in jets.
So yes, I’d like to have something like a X-55 + FFB + two-stage trigger + one more hat.
With the whole space sim genre getting revived during the last few years and flight games/sims rising in popularity again (I blame VR in parts) I think it would be a good thing for Logitech to jump on the train and make a good HOTAS again, which is affordable.
I am torn a bit about Logitech, I used their products for many years but it feels like the quality of both the mice and the keyboards has gotten worse over the years.
But then look at TM, even the awesome TM Warthog has its flaws, and it is damn expensive. And TM basically said there won’T be a new proper HOTAS until… 2020 or so. THAT’s an opportunity for Logitech/Saitek.
[nudge]The optimist in me sees an opportunity for TM to co-release a new HOTAS when the DCS Hornet comes out. I wonder how the Warthog is selling? [/nudge]
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I’d buy it. But they have basically ruled it out during their last big press event.
Last week I filmed myself (ok this is going to sound awful)…
(Wait, here’s another parenthetical… So I wrote the above and thought 'screw the iphone. Let’s write on a real computer in the other room. I fired up the Mac, opened Safari, opened this thread–et voila!–what I had written on the phone was already there. What a marvelous modern world we live in, Dr. Maturin!)
So, yeah, I filmed myself flying with my fingertips at 8500 feet with the expressed intent of posting my idea for a better stick. But the video is unnecessary. Anyone who has driven a car has the same experience. Small motions don’t feel like motions. They feel like pressures. But for some reason, with a non-force sensing stick, they feel like obvious motions. This is why I believe formation flying and AAR is so much harder in the sim than it is in real life. This was made even more obvious to me when I bought my Saitek X-65F (a rather ugly FS stick). BMS was WAY easier with this stick. Not that it was all that hard to begin with. What made that stick ultimately a failure for my purposes was that there was no way of knowing where your forces were relative to the total. This wasn’t a problem in jets but felt unworkable in my true love at the time, Rise of Flight.
My idea will sound like the actual F-16 FCS but it really isn’t. The F-16 uses a FSS that moves a bit to give the pilot some tactile feedback. What I think is more suitable for multiple genres of siming would be a stick that uses force sensing for the first half pound of force and a standard hall-effect sensor for each axis once the force limit is hit on the axis. I’ve thought it through but won’t bore you all with the details here.
Well that’s my idea Logitech. It’s yours. But since I am a member of a tiny little genre that will net you a big, fat loss on anything you develop, you will instead probably make a HOTAS-lite for the NMS/SC/ED crowd. …And I’ll probably buy it.
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Getting Saitek out of the hands of Madcatz prolly saved the company…
i can do that using Chrome moving from my Cell Phone to my PC open Chrome, and my partially typed response is already filled in…
Ok, color me intrigued. I’ll be home from work in an hour, and I’m ready to start sketching things out now. This is a really, really good idea.
It’s never worked before, but I think that the MudSpike membership should break out the pitchforks at the next E3 and storm the Logitech VIP room demanding that we not be ignored!
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I’ve had Saitek gear since day 1 of my flight simming days. Currently own an X-55 and it’s very good - and with a few changes could be great.
We’ll see how it goes, but hoping for the best.
That would be amazing.
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