Not so long ago I wrote about my next step in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 being the acquisition of a Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas One. The thought process was that it's a decent but affordable step up from a regular controller that would also have the finer control I was looking for.
It also has a feature that I've not really considered for myself at this stage: A connector for external rudder pedals. Xbox and PC pilots are fairly well covered with hardware to take their virtual flying further. But it seems folks on PS5 aren't so lucky.
I wasn't actually aware of this – after all, we're not really in the weeds of the PS5 ecosystem here, are we? – but PlayStation pilots really don't have much to choose from. They certainly don't seem to have external rudder pedals.
A review of the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024-branded Thrustmaster T.Flight Hotas 5 for PS5 from the folks at Simulation Daily highlighted this fact. In the process, they also highlighted that this affordable piece of hardware is potentially more important on PS5 than it is on Xbox and PC.
We're not reviewing the T.Flight Hotas 5 ourselves. Partly because it's essentially the exact same hardware as the T.Flight Hotas One, and partly because we don't have a PS5 handy right now. But the Xbox version has the same connector for rudder pedals.
It just looks like an old phone jack, something you'll be familiar with if you've ever used a racing wheel and pedals on a console. On Xbox we have a little more choice; for example, Turtle Beach has a dedicated set of console-compatible pedals.
But I hadn't considered the lack of choice out there for PS5 players. On one hand, they have PlayStation VR2 support, something impossible on Xbox Series X|S, but on the other, not much hardware to choose from if they want to take it a little further.
The predecessor to the Hotas 5 on the PS4/PS5 apparently has the same connector for rudder pedals, but it's ancient at this point, and the newer one is far better.
But it's also a great example that you don't always have to spend big to get the most. Sure the choice might be limited, but at least there is a way to go a little further on PS5 until the market catches up. It's not a bad flight stick, either!
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