Ultimate Game Chair's lower priced Renegade model may not recline or have the extra split handcontrollers stored inside its armrest like the pricier Ultimate Game Chair, but offers most of the same features for a hundred bucks less. While price is an important determination when purchasing a big ticket item such as the Renegade, the feature set is just as important and the Renegade doesn't cut any corners in that department.
Renegade features a similar design to the Ultimate Game Chair complete with 12 vibration motors, headrest mounted 3D stereo speakers, under-lighting, a variable massage mode, headphone jack, MP3 device support, (detachable) armrests, a cup holder, storage drawer and compatibility with most major game systems including Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PC and iPod.
Before we delve further into its feature set, let's discuss putting the chair together. The chair comes in six pieces, which you'll have to put together using an included allen wrench and ten screws. Putting the chair together is a pretty simple affair - you install the armrests, then the back, connect the wiring harness together, then put the cup holder on and slide the storage tray in. It's a pretty straightforward and simple affair even for those that are afraid to pick up a screw driver. It is from this point that you connect your audio from your preferred source into the chair - in our tests we played games on the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 (a shout out to the games I played: Mass Effect, Call of Duty 4, RAW vs. SmackDown 2008) - and plug the chair into an outlet to give it some juice.
The leads for both power and audio are pretty long, which allows you to put your chair pretty far back from your television set, which is pretty important. This allows you to fully take in the visuals while enjoying the added value of proportional sound at head level. Head mounted speakers are a good idea for gaming and for any other entertainment activity you have in mind because you get the sound all around you at ear level while still enjoying the sound from your television. One thing I found handy is that you can turn the sound all the way down at the source (your TV) and isolate it at the chair using the volume control on the side. It is a good way to reduce noise but still enjoy your game's audio to its fullest. This is particularly important if you have your chair in an area where you might bother someone above or below you in another living space like an apartment. If you want to isolate that sound even more you can jack in a decent pair of headphones on the side of the chair.
The chair also features 12 motors that are synched with whatever game you are playing, which enhances a rumble effect a hundred fold. Again, this can be a very impolite thing if you have someone below you because the rumble effect can send some unwanted vibrations downward. That aside, this is another great feature that does in fact enhance your gaming experience - especially in games that use rumble in a meaningful way. Chances are if this feature agitates you in a game then this extra effect will make you loopy anyway and you probably should not have a game chair.
Renegade also features synced lighting effects when you are gaming, though chances are you won't pay too much attention to them when you are actually playing. These effects (blue underlighting) are a nice touch but their placement under the chair is not always noticeable if the chair is on a surface that nullifies them like carpet.
Finally the Renegade uses those motors for one other important feature - a massage. This is a selling point that you can pass on to the non-gamers in your life because everyone loves a massage, and the massage provided by this chair is pretty decent. Add to that nice feature a storage bin under the front of the unit, a cup holder, adjustable headrest and back, removable armrest, and you have a pretty good all around game chair.
The only real problem I ran into while testing the Renegade was while adjusting the back of the chair. The Renegade uses a big round knob that you have to turn in order to adjust the recline. The problem is that the weight from the back of the chair makes it difficult to do that without jockeying the back of the chair forward. Ultimate Game Chair informs us that they know about this problem and that it has been fixed with the model currently available at retail and from its online store.
