Next Level Racing has just released the HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad which is designed to add more immersion for sim racers and gamers. Here are all the details including price and release date.
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The Next Level Racing HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad is an interesting product for sim racers and gamers. It certainly isn’t an essential part of any sim racing setup, but is designed to increase immersion in a way that hasn’t really been done before.
Here is all of the information that you need to know about this new Haptic Gaming Pad from Next Level Racing.
Sim racers may be very familiar with haptic devices already, with the Buttkicker being a very well-received addition to many sim rigs. Devices like the Buttkicker and this new HF8 Haptic Feedback Gaming Pad are designed to increase your immersion when sim racing.
The HF8 Gaming Pad is designed to be attached to any gaming chair or sim racing seat. It can be positioned on any Next Level Racing gaming chair, and adjusted either with or without straps to ensure a comfortable fit.
Once attached to your chair, the individual haptic motors inside the chair provide haptic feedback to different parts of your body.
These eight individual haptic motors provide feedback when you shift gear as well as when your car is subjected to other forces such as bumps in the road, along with acceleration and deceleration forces.
Much like Buttkickers, this haptic gaming pad connects to your PC via a USB cable or to your console via a 3.5mm audio jack. Depending on whether you are sim racing on a console or PC, you will get different levels of haptic feedback.
Consoles utilise audio effects to convert the in-game audio to haptic feedback. This is done in a similar way to how Logitech utilised audio effects in their TrueForce racing wheels.
The audio effects are then translated into haptic feedback and sent to all eight haptic motors at once.
If you are connecting the HF8 to a PC, things get a little bit more advanced, with more detailed haptic feedback available.
The HF8 connects directly to your PC via USB, and utilises fast and low latency feedback which is sent to each individual haptic motor. You will then feel localised feedback in different regions of the gaming pad depending on the forces your car is feeling in game.
All of these forces can be customised including the strength and intensity using the included HFS software.
While the HF8 may have been designed with one eye on sim racing immersion, it can also be used for other gaming categories such as FPS games and flight simulators.
The great news is that this new HF8 pad is fully console compatible. When connected to a PC via USB, the HF8 utilises all eight haptic motors individually. Whereas when connected to a console, all eight motors activate simultaneously using in-game audio effects.
The Next Level Racing HF8 Gaming Pad costs from £229 in the UK. Across Europe it will cost €249, in the United States it will cost $229 and in Australia, it will be $399. These price points are about on par with other feedback devices such as the Buttkicker.
The HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad is available to purchase right now. It launched in January 2023 and can be purchased worldwide with immediate delivery.
This is great news for sim racers and gamers who won’t have to wait very long to get their hands on this new bit of kit.
View more info about the HF8 Haptic Gaming Pad here.
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Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com
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