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INTRODUCTION: When I first heard of this product my first vision was of another voice recognition product called Verbal Commander. Verbal Commander does in fact do basically the same thing as Game Commander and that is turn your speech into key strokes for game commands. That is where any comparisons of the two products end. Verbal Commander requires the installation of a card which means using up already lacking slots on your computer. Game Commander on the other hand requires nothing more than a simple install of software. INSTALLATION: Installing Game Commander wont give you that rare chance to clean the dust out of your computer case since it's simply software driven. Install the software, plug in the headset/mic and your just about ready to go. I suggest you read through the manual to help you become familiar with some of the settings. FUNCTIONALITY: Game Commander comes with several pre-made templates for many of the popular games. You will need to head over to the Game Commander web site to download the user made template for NASCAR 3 (currently the only sim racing template I seen) or create your own in a matter of minutes. Game Commander will work with virtually any game once a template is made. What really surprised me is Game Commander does not require you to "train" the template to your own voice. I downloaded the user submitted N3 template and it worked flawlessly. There is a option to train the commands with your own voice if needed. The other pleasant surprise is that Game Commander is smart enough to launch the proper template for the game your playing. All you have to do is be smart enough to remember to activate Game Commander before you start your game. PLAYABILITY: Ok now for the fun part, testing it out. I logged into the N3 multiplayer area and joined several races. Only once did Game Commander not respond, in this case it was my fault. I was trying to send Game Commander down the wrong path on purpose to see how well it recognized my commands. In this case I was speaking very fast and soft and it responded with the wrong screen. I used both the included Labtec LVA-7331 mic and my Labtec C-324. The LVA-7331 is simply a headset mic where my C-324 is a fully functional headset with built in speakers. I used the Game Commander supplied mic first and cranked up my external speaker system. I found my speakers at high volume would interfere with Game Commander, but I solved this problem by lowering the mic sensitivity in the Game Commander properties area. I switched over to my C-324 headset as the wife started yelling something about "kids & sleeping" . I had no missed commands at all while using this headset. Ok, after reading all of this you may be thinking " But Mike, I like using a chat program like Roger Wilco and I don't want to give that up to use Game Commander", well you don't have to. Game Commander now supports add-on chat software like Roger Wilco and Battlecom which allows the two to run at the same time. There are a few different ways in getting this to work one of which is to setup a hot key on your keyboard that when pressed will cut out the commands to Game Commander and enable the chat function of your favorite chat program. A very sweet option!
Stop wasting your time reaching for the keyboard and start living life large my friends! This is a must have product if your serious about your sim racing. Did I mention what a bargain Game Commander is? No? Well you can drive this puppy home for as little as $29.95 ($39.95 for the MX version that supports chat), still not convinced? Then how about a free test drive? Yes you heard me right, Game Commander is available in a free trial model as well. So what are you waiting for? I was going to add a Pros and Cons area...but there really are no Cons to this product. Its simply software that works as advertised with no flaws that I have seen, there is no add-on board to install, low cost and no adverse effects in game play. For more information visit: www.gamecommander.com
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Platform: PC
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