By Andrew Liszewski
While I don’t necessarily ‘get’ the appeal of video game simulators, I understand that it can give enthusiasts an experience they would otherwise not be able to afford in real life. Case in point, flying. The Cessna Skyhawk is arguably one of the cheapest and simplest airplanes you can buy. And even though it’s the best-selling aircraft of all time, a new one will still set you back close to $300,000. Not to mention the cost of fuel, insurance, hangar rental etc. The list goes on and on. But you can recreate a slightly similar experience at home with a decent gaming PC, a well-respected flight simulator title, and about $450 worth of Mad Catz new officially branded Saitek Cessna flight sim controls.
The trio includes a yoke, rudder pedals and a trim wheel/throttle control panel, all modeled off the real things found in the cockpit of a Cessna 172 Skyhawk. The yoke also comes with the addition of extra buttons on the ends of the controls, including a hat switch for easily changing your point-of-view mid-flight. And if you order them now from Mad Catz’s GameShark online store they’ll even throw in a $100 switch panel for free. All you need to provide is a desk to clamp everything to. (And the smell of aircraft fuel and the deafening roar of the engine to complete the Cessna experience.)
