homepage Forums Technology Flight Sim Controllers Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog Discussion Thread

Well, I took the plunge. Seeing that stateside prices were climbing up to the $499 area the closer we got to 'release' of the Warthog, I took a leap of faith and pre-ordered mine for $405 from Bottom Line Telecommunications

It looks like 56 others have done the same thing. Now I get to worry not only if it will actually be released in October, but if I ordered it from a reputable dealer (first time I ever heard of them), and if they aren't going to try some bait and switch deal and try to up the price on me prior to shipping.

Where did I put those worry beads???

Dud

Does anyone know of anywhere in Canada that's taking pre-orders? My Google-Fu has failed me.

Wow. That is a tremendous leap of faith for a product that is totally untested, .... may have all the reliability issues of the Cougar (or more), and is likely not as nice as the cheaper CH Fighterstick/PT/PP setup. May want to rethink that.

It's not totally untested. it's already in the hands of some lucky people that frequent these forums. Also, if people dont buy it, how would we know if it's reliable or not?

Not as nice as CH....have you not seen the pictures of this beast.

matt wagner was impressed...

i myself was impressed with the T.16000M...

pre-ordered two hotas'es...

I myself am one of the testers, and so far to be honest, it is nice. I quite like it, .... but not as much as my CH Fighterstick and Pro Throttle. Also, this CH stuff has been with me for many years now, and is damn near indestructible. This Warthog, .....too soon to tell. Also, Bofman, no disrespect, but how beastly something looks, is a zero indicator of how well it works. Take the Cougar as an example.

If it's anything like the Cougar release ... it'll be a few years before it shows up.

If I see it online anywhere, I'll certainly post the location here.

EDIT: Maybe there is hope? :-)

http://ns5.frontierpc.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=2044616738

http://www.anitec.ca/product/798750/guillemot-thrustmaster-hotas-warthog-2971004

Cool. Thanks for the info, Fridge.

Edit: Wow... check the $100 price difference.

*WARNING* Fanboi alert *WARNING*

I want to buy both the Warthog and the Obutto pit but, both purchases hinge one one thing.... A-10C.

I will buy that game and if it re-invigorates my passion for sims, I will take the leap and upgrade my sticks and buy my first pit. However, my passion for simming seems to take up less and less of my time as release slow to a trickle so, I will hold off on investing any money into any sim specific technology until I see that this new game makes it worth it.

fan...perhaps,
boi...I wish, but that was too long ago

No one is advertising the HOTAS in Australia yet. It will probably take months



OT: Good to see someone else on here who lives in this little town, bofman

Yeah. I saw that $419 price and couldn't resist pulling the trigger. I'm probably an idiot but, well, what can you do :-)

G'day fellow groper

I wouldn't hold my breath for an Oz outlet. I remember searching back before I got my Cougar and the Oz dealers had rediculous markups on them. I just did a quick search and one outlet still has them (cougar) at $694.95
http://www.gamesmarket.com.au/Game/Computer/Thrustmaster_HOTAS_Cougar_Joystick_PC_005069.html
I was lucky, walking through Harvey Normans one day, they had one on sale for $199.
Couldn't get my wallet out quick enough.
Even with o/s postage, I think it'll be cheaper to purchase online and offshore. Hope the Oz dollar stays up there

And if the HOTAS is as they say it is upon release what then? I don't think the Virtual Thunderbirds are yes men/women fanbois. I seriously doubt they'd support something that was crap based on their reputation. Wait and see, we all need to wait and see!

True, and to add something to that point: Matt Wagner is very impressed with it as well.

Ultimately it's going to depend on when these things get into the hands of reviewers that we trust - people that will really put them through their paces. Although I must say that Virtual T-Birds are probably a good start.

2 more shops


http://officenation.com/webapp/ofdetails.asp?item=DE6442&langId=en-us&storeId=str02 404.50

http://www.fadfusion.com/selection.php?product_item_number=20260805128 400.99

Wait a second; Aren't the Virtual Thunderbirds like a group of grown men who fly sims semi-professionally (like 20 hrs a week or much more) and who wear flight suits and such, but are not real fighter pilots ? Isn't this the same as 45 year old Dungeon masters who live in their Mom's basement, .... and on her income ?

I am not being mean, just saying, the Virtual Thunderbirds and Virtual BlueAngels seem kind of hokey to me. Who watches one of their performance's live ?, and why would one want to, even if the formation timing is perfect. Even if some of them are retired pilots or real life pilots currently, ... wouldnt it be better to just go see the real Thunderbirds or Blue Angels at an air show ?

The idea is kind of lost on me. And wearing flight suits when you sit in your basement, seems one step away from those Iraq war imposters who wear Marine Officer full dress uniforms and go around telling their stories about being a 'lieutenant colonel' or some such at Fourth of July events and VFW halls.

I agree with the other poster, only larger distribution of the Warthog to more testers and months of wear and tear will show whether it is really worth its asking price.

Sounds like somebody's Wheaties got whizzed into this morning...

As a matter of fact, their performances are watched live. I've watched them live on VFAT, and it's actually rather entertaining when a good team, with someone sharp on the camera views and a good announcer put on a well choreographed show. Numerous enthusiast in the community share comments in the text chat channel, etc. Moreover, the shows get recorded and can be enjoyed again later (and by others who didn't make it online for the live performance).

T.E., you are entitled to your opinions, but I doubt many other folks here will see it the way you do (regarding the teams). What the people on those teams do is challenging, requiring many hours of work to 'get it right'. By virtue of them doing these difficult things using the tools we are talking about (HOTAS) for large periods of time, people can understandably conclude that the team members might be a bit more discerning/demanding than the average bear. Cynics might ascribe other motivations, but from what I've seen, I think these people value their reputations too highly to squander it in such a way.

While I can agree with the blindingly obvious conclusion that only a larger distribution of Warthogs being tested over a longer period of time will truly tell the tale... the rest of the tripe that preceeded it doesn't exactly make one want to take you seriously.