BERWICK, Pennsylvania - In Fall of last year, TASCOR and NaturalPoint® announced a major sponsor partnership for the 2007 TASCOR Season. The Announcement had that NaturalPoint® will be sponsoring the TASCOR Cup series and Truck series for the inaugural 2007 season. NaturalPoint® and TASCAR have come to agreement to put the staple product of TrackIR™ 4 Pro as the main sponsor for the TrackIR™ Cup series and their SmartNAV™ 3 product as the main sponsor for the Truck series.
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One unit of each product will be distributed at the end of the season to each series champion in their respective series. As if it weren't already enough, NaturalPoint® has sent one unit to me for product testing and I will be giving my full review in the following paragraphs.
But first, a little background on NaturalPoint®, what this amazing company is all about and where it is coming from.
NaturalPoint® Incorporation was founded to develop and bring to market high quality image tracking technology and unique computer control devices.
The company was started in 1997 after founding engineer Jim Richardson's cousin was in a severe accident and could no longer communicate in any manner but eye movement. Jim co-founded the company with Birch Zimmer, lead programmer, to pursue alternative input devices for people with disabilities.
During the last several years, engineering breakthroughs have made it possible to introduce gamers and ordinary computer users to technology previously available only to the military and large corporations.
The TrackIR™? head tracking system is one example. NaturalPoint® is based in Corvallis, Oregon in the beautiful U.S. Pacific Northwest.
My review will mainly be focused on TrackIR™ 4 Pro's gaming experiences with such games as Nascar Racing 2003 Season, Microsoft's Flight Simulator X and Microsoft's Combat Simulator 3.
The setup
TrackIR™ 4 Pro comes shipped with TrackIR™ 4:PRO device, one black TrackClip, one Software CD-ROM Electronic User's Manual and one Quick Start Guide. With it's plug and play ability, TrackIR™ 4 Pro is very easy to install. First I had to plug in the unit into one open usb port. Next, I inserted the enclosed CD-ROM that holds the installation software that is needed for TrackIR™ 4 Pro to work properly on my computer.
Installation is fast and nicely animated leaving no questions as to whether the program is intalled correctly or not. Once the unit's software was installed, it was time to calibrate the unit. Calibration, like the software installation, was a breeze. Included with the device is one black track clip that is tailored made to fit any ball cap or visor. The black track clip is needed to be used in order for the TrackIR™ 4 Pro device to work properly. Once the clip is installed onto the brim of said cap or visor, calibration is ready to be set.
By simply clicking one computer key that aligns the centering point, TrackIR™ 4 Pro is now installed and calibrated. Other options on the program allows such users to customize the TrackIR™ Pro unit to suit many different games to each person's liking and NaturalPoint® has already included many profiles to most of today's most popular programs that support the TrackIR™ 4 Pro.
TrackIR™ 4 Pro with Microsoft Flight Simulator X
Now, on with the good stuff. First I will be testing the device with Microsoft's Flight Simulator X. Anyone that has played this game has come across one element that isn't quite right when flying an airplane- the ability to look up, down, left and right without full motion. In other words, in order to look down at the controls and dials, you have to press a key or a button on your flight controller.
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TrackIR delivers an authentic feeling for 3-dimensional movements, with an easy to do setup.
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This takes all eyes off the windshield and onto the gauges and contols because the game recognizes your head movement as full instead of be able to look alittle down, but keep your eyes still looking out the windshield of the aircraft. TrackIR™ 4 Pro allows you to do just this. No more looking full left or full right and so on. You can now look a little to the left and down at the same time while still seeing where you are going in the air.
This perspective is wonderful also while landing the aircraft. Even though Microsoft's Flight Simulator X has an "auto pilot" that brings in the plane and lands it, there are times when you must land the plane itself and being able to see the gauges and runway both at the same time are crucial. TrackIR™ 4 Pro lets you do just this. For anyone that enjoys Flight simulation, TrackIR™ 4 Pro is a nice added benefit and I would recommend it for anyone.
TrackIR™ 4 Pro with Microsoft Combat Simulator 3
Next I will be testing Microsoft's Combat Simulator 3. There isn't enough that could be said about this game. This game takes place in a time where the world was in dissarray, World War II. You take control as an Ally pilot and shoot down enemies "dogfight" style! I'll set the scenario for you. Your flying along on a mission and your main objective is to ward off any enemy fighters that want to take you down with your airplane. Only thing is, they are flying straight at you and you need to make an avasive manuever to avoid from hitting them head on.
Only problem is when you rudder left of your flight controller you'll lose sight of the enemy! In comes TrackIR™ 4 Pro. Just turn your head and look out the bubble cockpit and there he is, flying at your 6 o'clock. Give the command and your Allies rush in and take him out before the enemy gets the chance to take you out first. TrackIR™ 4 Pro enables you to look in a full array of directions in Combat Simulator 3 because fo the complete 360 degree view point that the cockpit has.
No matter what direction you turn your head with TrackIR™ 4 Pro, you can see what it is your wanting to look at. It plays a crucial part in finding enemy war planes, land convoys, railroads and land artillary that are just trying there hardest to shoot you down. TrackIR™ 4 Pro definitely gives you the advantage over those who do not have TrackIR™ 4 Pro and I would strongly recommend anyone that plays Microsofts Combat Simulator 3 to get the TrackIR™ 4 Pro.
TrackIR™ 4 Pro with NASCAR Racing 2003 Season
Finally, I will test the TrackIR™ 4 Pro unit on a game that is near and dear to me, Nascar Racing 2003 Season. TrackIR™ 4 Pro fully supports Nascar Racing 2003 Season and also has a pre-loaded profile for the game already created in the profiles section of the program. Now just fire up the game and prepare yourself for the ultra-realistic form of sim racing you have yet to endure.
I wasn't quite sure how I would feel about using the TrackIR™ 4 Pro unit while on the track. That is, of course, until I got out on the track to run some laps. TrackIR™ quickly gained my attention as soon as I got off of pitroad. Normally I look towards the left when going into the corner on the track just out of natural reflex. Although I look left, the car still shows the windshield as if I were still looking straight ahead, but with TrackIR™ 4 running, my point of view changes to exactly where I want to look.
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The TrackIR™ 4 Pro unit from the back side.
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Some of the benefits that this device gives you are that you can now look around you whenever you need to know whether someone is coming to your left, right or behind you. Getting out of the pits is so much easier. We've all been in the situation when we find ourselves sitting perpendicular on the track and need to get going int the right direction. Only problem is that you can't see if anyone is coming and you don't want to just pull out in front of somebody so you wait until the coast is clear by listening to whether anyone is coming or not. Now your a lap down just for be courtious and cautious. With Track IR 4 Pro, all you need to do is turn your head and look to see if anyone is coming. Coast clear? Drive on!
But I must say though, TrackIR™ 4 Pro does have one feature that is of the most important of all and all of those out there that play Nascar Racing 2003 Season can relate to what this is about. Your two wide down the backstretch at Talladega and the person behind you decides that he/she need to get in front of you and decides to pass you on the high side making it 3 wide.
Holding your line is the most important thing now and how do you do this when you can't see to your left or right? Easy answer. TrackIR™ 4 Pro. Take a peak to the right and there you will see a car. Peak to the left and you'll see another car. Your through the turn and find yourself in better shape than before the turn because you were able to keep the pedal on the floor and had no worries about making the pass in the middle. Now you find yourself using the middle more and more for those ever so hard passing opportunities! Keep running this game with the TrackIR™ device and you'll wonder how you ver drove with out one before.
The Facit
This concludes my review of the Track IR 4 Pro unit from NaturalPoint®. For anyone that is a true gaming fan, I would highly recommend the TrackIR™ 4 Pro. The unit just is uncomparable and makes the gaming experience so much better. Your field of vision becomes so much better that it makes the games so much better and you will notice things that you just don't notice without TrackIR™ 4 Pro. And in the end, TrackIR™ 4 Pro makes your racing experience just so much more real, that it's just what you need to make your TASCOR experience even more amazing!
