Sim-racing-scenen er eksploderet på det seneste, med utallige fans, der jagter førsteklasses udstyr for at gøre de virtuelle racerløb endnu mere virkelighedstro. Hos Gamereactor dækker vi jævnligt nyt sim-racing-gear, og hvis du har fulgt med i vores dækning, har du måske lagt mærke til én ting: producenten Asetek SimSports har endnu ikke kastet sig over aktive pedaler. Hvorfor egentlig?
Vi satte os ned med grundlægger og CEO André Eriksen på Gamescom for at høre om den nyeste hardware fra firmaet - og om de holder øje med konkurrenterne for at se, om de kan lave produkter, der er bedre eller billigere. Det bragte naturligvis samtalen ind på netop aktive pedaler og hvorfor Asetek ikke laver dem.
"I would put it like this: You are arrogant if you don't watch your competitors. We do that as well, but it's, I mean, you can look at our products. I don't think we looked at any competitors and said, let's copy that, we can do it cheaper or better. We are our own identity and we do things our way.
"A very common question we get is: Why don't you do active pedals? And there are now at least two or three companies doing it. And that's a good example where we internally, where people ask me and say, why would we do that? Do we believe we can do it substantially better? No. Do we think we can do it substantially cheaper? No. So why would we do it? The answer for us instead is, we made this very super high-end, as you can see in front of you, this Thorpe 2 brake cylinder, it's a true hydraulic system. Talking about competition, a lot of competitors are claiming hydraulic systems. They are not hydraulic systems. You know, ours is really a true hydraulic system. And instead of the active pedal, we will come with an ABS module. And that module will be the same as you have in your car. Not a simulation, it's the real deal. So when your gaming software or your simulator tells you, now I'm in ABS, then your pedal will be in a real car. It's not a simulation, it's the same."
Vi spurgte også Eriksen, om Asetek udelukkende fokuserer på hardcore sim-racing-hardware, eller om de også ser mod mere arkadeprægede racertitler, og hvordan de i så fald kan præsentere deres udstyr til den målgruppe.
"Yeah, it does. So this ABS is not out yet, and it may be a year before it's out or something like that. But it's a good point because, yes, if you are a hardcore sim-racer, you will have a game title that supports the right signal, and you have the wheel input from all four wheels. But let's be honest, it is a niche. But what if, in our software, you could calibrate the brake and say, I brake now, I just pick a number, 10 bars. And for my gaming title, I just say, if I press now 12 bars, I want the ABS sensation. So then you are completely independent of the game, and you don't really need the hardcore setup. You can just put it in the software."
Se hele interviewet med Eriksen nedenfor for at høre mere om Asetek's nyeste hardware, og hvordan virksomheden vil fortsætte med at innovere i fremtiden.
