I’ve only had a short amount of time to play with the MC2 Steering Wheel, made by Mad Catz. In that short amount of time, I’m happy to say that I have officially reversed my position on their company. While I had originally written them off at making cheap accessories at the expense of their customers, the MC2 Steering Wheel is an extremely well-made, feature-packed piece of hardware.

The first thing you’ll notice is the weight. It’s heavy enough where it isn’t going to move around on you too much, but not so heavy where it’s going to cause fatigue during a gaming session. Suction cups allow you to stick the wheel to any flat surface, but come on … how many people have a table high enough to mount a steering wheel and still use the pedals underneath it? Mad Catz thought of this … the MC2 has rounded “leg grips” that can be extended from underneath the wheel. You rest the wheel on your lap, extend the grips, and press your legs outward just a bit. The wheel is now securely attached to your lap. Nicely done, Mad Catz.

The next thing you’ll be sure to see is the lighted “speedometer”, which shows you how hard you’re pressing the gas pedal. You’ll think it’s pretty, but gimmicky at first … but wait! Press the CAL button, and it how acts to aid you in calibrating the sensitivity and dead zone for the wheel and pedals. Within seconds I was able to fully calibrate the wheel to my driving style using this “Accudrive” System. As anyone who’s ever seen me drive knows, that’s quite a feat. Chalk another one up for the Catz.

You get two different shifting options. There’s a Manual Transmission styled shifting knob, or F1 Style shifting paddles. You get a D-Pad where the horn would be, and three buttons to either side (clearly labeled). The wheel has great springiness, adding a bit of feedback to your steering, and a rubberized grip. As with any wheel, you’ll need to practice before you’ll find it as easy to use as a controller’s analog stick, but any lousy driving isn’t going to be the fault of the wheel. The pedals have decent weight, and stay where you put them. They’re also hinged so that whether they are directly beneath you or out in front, you’ll always get good response and feel from them.

I’ve only been able to play with the PS2 version of Spy Hunter so far (which is better than the GameCube version anyway), and I was immediately surprised to see that the pedals didn’t work properly. Checking the game options, there is no way to move the gas/brake to the second analog stick, which the pedals emulate. Bummer, I thought. On a hunch, I tapped the MODE button and Viola! The pedals now work the X and O buttons, allowing me to use the pedals. Another brilliant addition.

There aren’t a great deal of GameCube racing games to use the wheel with, which makes the multi-console compatibility even more welcome. And at an MSRP around $60, being able to use this wheel on three consoles (without having to buy adapters) constitutes a great savings. And so far, it’s worth every penny. Kudos to Mad Catz for shaking off some of their low-end image and coming to market with an outstanding racing wheel. If this is going to be indicative of their “Professional Gamers Series” line of products, I’d say that Mad Catz should be making a lot of people VERY happy.