I also think the amount of people using a DD wheel is very, very small and will be staying small in the future. I'm very happy with my TM TX wheel and i personally think a DD wheel is way too expensive for me. I'm just an average simmer with just an average talent. The limiting factor is not my equipement, but my talent.
Which is why it is a niche product, and will remain so for quite some time. 2600?? Good lord, that's what I paid for my first car. (Granted, that was some years back, but still)
Why is it that the DD wheel thing is like talking about VR when its someone that doesn't have one? Its niche so why bother? Its probably a lot bigger then most would think if 2 companies just spent 2 years developing their own. You don't really think they bothered if they only planned on selling 100 bases do you? Im no alien either and have had a t300 and ts pc racer before my first OSW. Youre only happy with the TX because you never tried anything better. Sims have so much more to offer with a better wheel. But if youre happy with the TX that's ok too.
The high end ones like that sure. The ones priced around 1000 dollars will not remain niche. Is it niche when guys are buying them to play on the PS4 and XBOX? Its not much more then TS-PC Racer or Fanatec and are a much better wheel base.
I have nothing against a DD wheel and nothing against people who buy a DD wheel. I only explained why i don't buy one, that's all. The big problem for me is, where does it end ? You can buy a 1000€ wheel today and some time later there's a better and more expensive wheel on the market. At some point you have to be happy with what you've got. This is all just my opinion, no problem if someone else has a better wheel than me
I get you. I never planned on spending as much as I did for this one but its my hobby and I enjoy it so what the hell? You cant take it with you right? But I agree with the where does it end? For me this is it. On the bright side I think it will be a while before we see any major advancements over the new wheels being released until the sims catch up.
I believe now that Fanatec has dipped it's toe in the DD market that they will become more mainstream, every wheel has it's place whether is be Logitech/Thrustmaster/Fanatec/Accuforce or OSW etc. It's the same reason why people buy a Mini or a Ferrari, it's a choice, choice is good. To be honest people rave about the Fanatec V2.5 but Accuforce if you are in the states is around same price as a V2.5 and decent rim so it isn't really that more much expensive to get into Direct Drive and the jump from a V2.5 to any DD system is a big jump, the jump from Logitech to TM to Fanatec are small increments along the way. Yeah you can spend 3k on a DD if you want it's a choice but being on Accuforce and being very happy with it of which I paid about 900 quid for I wouldn't jump to a 30nm OSW as that again would be a smaller increment as before. Anyone that has tried a DD wheel wants one, anyone that has bought a DD wheel will never go back to a belt driven wheel. It's the same for VR some people swear by it and that was niche a few years ago. It's all about the immersion and the more immersive you want to go starts costing money ;-)
I'd say in the 1000's as they sold 1500 in the first release to USA/Europe/Aus, that's quite a lot more than Accuforce and OSW to date I would guess.
Same as triple screen users are a minority but it's something that is implemented into most sims as standard except one I can think of 'cough ACC' ;-)
Oh absolutely there should be proper support for dd wheels in all sims. Im just disagreeing with @morpwr on dd wheels becoming the norm very quickly
Yes but it will escalate quite quickly with a consumer DD wheel as before it was all a bit much for the average person to set up an OSW and scared them off, now it's plug and play it will take off at an increased rate as most that buy the Fanatec DD base are probably already invested in the Fanatec eco system with a couple of rims and pedals. It's no different when Oculus released the DK1/2 it was a bit niche but when they released the CV1 VR sales rocketed and the Hive also, nowadays if a sim doesn't implement VR into it it's a no buy, will become the norm for DD wheels. Once you make something wchich has a good warranty can be bought unboxed and plugged in with minimum fuss people will start to jump on it, I would guess most that pre ordered the Fanatec Podium were already running a V2.5 or similar, I know from my observations across sims that it is the case.
Im not disagreeing on the dd market growing in the future either But you just said yourself that triple screen users are a minority and if my perception of reality isnt completely off then using a vr isnt the norm yet either even after their sales "rocketed"
I'm talking about increased support for DD users now, if we have good support for minorities of VR and triple users then support for DD wheels should also be increased.
I don't know what a realistic sales figure is but im sure these companies didn't invest what they did on selling a few hundred bases. That along with the fact most sold out right after release says a lot about how the DD market can grow.
You can disagree that's fine. But all you have to do is see how many have sold very quickly it gives a good indication of what people are willing to pay even on consoles which everyone said will never happen. Sure DD will be a minority for a while still im not disagreeing there but you can see people are willing to pay for a better experience. That along with the fact these are plug and play should help grow the market.