Logitech's G13 gameboard turns it up to level 80
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Dec 10th 2008 5:07AM
posted Dec 10th 2008 5:07AM
Check it PC and Mac gamers, Logitech just announced its G13 Gameboard. With a trio of game modes, built-in 160 x 43 pixel LCD for stats and messaging, 25 programmable keys, and a programmable joystick, Logitech says that the G13 "offers up to 87 ways for you to control your game." It comes with pre-configured settings for World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to name a few. Otherwise, you can setup custom button-profiles as you please and even create macros on the fly without having to pause your quest. Available in US and Europe sometime this month for $80.
"Mac Gamers?"
You know.. The ones who have installed windows on their macs so they can have all the games and the applications of the PC's !!
= Engadget being all PC. I mean politically correct, and in no way did I mean to imply any lack of mac bias.
OR the ones who HAVE games installed in OS X. AOE3, WoW, Soon to be Diablo 3, Spore, just to name a few.
Spore is a game? That is new. I thought it's for a 3-year old...
A better question is, why aren't these type of peripherals available for consoles? Think of how many control issues they will help to solve ;^/...
@PCIV
The problem is, you can only name a few :-P
Also, many of those games can see 20% performance boosts by running under Windows with Boot Camp as opposed to runing their native OS X versions. You might want to try it sometime.
(That is not saying Windows performs better than OS X, just the fact that most games are optimized for Windows, and have just enough Mac support built in to work.)
@Kamokazi I've actually found the framerate of WoW to run at 72fps on the OSX side and 56-60 on the Vista side. I haven't tried other games on both sides.
@Kamokazi
Multi-threaded OpenGL for WoW under OS X. Bugger Windows.
Still, I think we can all agree that there are more games available for Windows. However, that is not to say that they are not available for the Mac OS and that people do not run them. Where possible I will always run the Mac version of a game that is available for Windows as a point of principle.
Blizzard games generally do better than many others...the benches I have seen showing the big differences are games like Unreal Tournament 2k4 and I think one of the Call of Duty games. Also, I might be mistaken, but I thought that there was an advanced shading option in WoW that didn't work on the OSX version?
"Where possible I will always run the Mac version of a game that is available for Windows as a point of principle."
And, I'm trying to be civil here, so don't take this the wrong way, but that is what I consider one definition of a fanboy. Doing something that you know is inferior just to prove a point. I personally find that very...well...silly.
I'll buy Intel or AMD, nVidia or ATI, it depends on which has the better peformance as the price point I am looking for.
The same is true with OSes. I have a few Linux boxes because they do some things better than Windows. At work, we use a lot of Windows Server because Active Directory, Exchange, ISA, etc. is robust and inter-operates better than any Linux solution I have seen.
I don't have any reason to run OS X, so I don't have it running on any machine I use. I don't have a problem with it, I just have no reason to use it over Windows or Linux. But, if any game I played regularly had 5-10% better performance on OSX, I guarantee to you I would have OSx86 on my gaming PC in a heartbeat, no questions asked.
I can understand why you would do it on principle, but really, aren't you hurting yourself even worse than you realize? If you don't use what works best, why would a company try to improve their product to earn your business? I know you are probably blaming the game developers for not supporting OSX better, but remember Microsoft does a lot to get games working well on Windows...there are probalby a few titles that would have stayed console only without Microsoft's help....Apple could be more proactive in getting more games, and getting them to run better, on OSX.
sweet fuckin design!
and wtf is a Mac gamer?
@Izzy: Wooo, 72 fps on a 4 year old game!!!!
@Frankenstein Black
I totally agree. Consoles need something like this so bad.
Who cares if it's not for everyone. I think enough people are interested that it is warranted.
Kamokazi : "And, I'm trying to be civil here, so don't take this the wrong way, but that is what I consider one definition of a fanboy. Doing something that you know is inferior just to prove a point. I personally find that very...well...silly."
No, you're really not being civil. It's called personal preference. It's the reason I buy games for my PS3 over 360 games now. I just prefer the environment over the 360s. Yet, I still own more games for my 360 because it's been out longer.
Also, what he is doing is not "inferior". WoW runs fantastic on OSX, and I know quite a few people who actually play on OSX boxes without any complaints.
What you're doing here is trying to play off the Mac stereo type of being trendy elitist snobs, when the only people who are, are those like yourself. Get over it.
Off topic (ish), the post title would of been much better if you'd manage to incorporate some reference to it "being over nine thousand!".
@Kamokazi
Inspired from the famous Mac Commercial..
-Kamokazi: I am a MAC !
-Kamokazi again: And I was a PC.
@Kamokazi
No offense taken. My reasons are reasonably sound. Firstly, Boot Camp is a colossal pain in the backside because it gives you an extra OS to manage, munches a good 30GB of drive space (important if you are a laptop user like myself) and rebooting and restarting applications just takes too long. The memory management in OS X is excellent so unless you have an application running that is consuming CPU time in the background then you can happily run games without the need to quit existing programs. Finally, I want to see more games coming to the Mac so that is clearly not going to happen without supporting the developers investing time in the platform today.
However, I will note that I only buy native Mac OS ports of games and not ones that are using the TransGaming Cider system since the performance of those really is rubbish. Titles by Aspyr are a bit hit and miss (the Call Of Duty games and Quake 4 seem to work fine for me) and Blizzard's titles are always excellent on the Mac.
Yes, It support Mac OS X 10.4 and later
http://www.bestdealsonar.com/award-winning-logitech-g13-gaming-keyboard/
G13 is Winner of the CES 2009 Design and Engineering Award: Best of Innovations in Electronic Gaming.
Playing WOW with joystick finally makes sense.
As long as you're right handed.
I don't know... the joystick looks like it would fit to the thumb of the left hand....unless I misunderstood what you're implying by saying right handed.
I'd be very interested in meeting the contortionist who could find a way to use this left-handed...
Looks like the thumbstick part may be removable so it could be moved to the other side for lefties
If the pics are accurate, particularly the underside pic, which makes it look like the thumb pad is actually not symmetric, then my guess is it is not swappable for lefties (who would mouse with their left hand and use the gamepad with their right). Logitech doesn't really have a good track record of making their gaming mice ambidextrous. Usually, these gaming keypads are perfect for lefties (e.g. the Zboard Fang), but because its Logitech I'm not really getting my hopes up.
Do people really use these? I have a old Thrustmaster one and I only used it a few times before deciding that I liked my keyboard better.
hell yeh the old n52 pad was awesome. people find it hard to see why you would use it,
but think of it logically. mouses are designed to fit ur hand perfectly. so when u dont need to "type" why not have a pad designed to fit ur hand perfectly and have better controls then a keyboard.
I have to agree, I love my n52, I dunno if this latest offering will steal me away, I will try one out in stores, than purchase it online for way cheaper, the american way! Gamepads, when programmed to your liking rock!
Heh. I picked up an n52 for $8 after rebates a while back because I figured even if it sucked, I wouldn't lose that much money.
Gamepads are, at least in theory after having an n52, well worth the money in terms of the control that they give. However, the n52 keys were just much too stiff for me so it fell into disuse - I'm now in the process of selling it.
That said, all I can say about the above is daaaaaaaaaaaaaamn.......... I'd totally get one if I had the money.
How are you even supposed to use that thing? And I don't see how it's practical either... I have plenty of keys on my keyboard, and WASD has always worked fine for movement.
Too bad you can only go up to level 70 in Burning Crusade.
You know, there's nothing wrong with this, but I can't justify more than maybe half the price.
Its easy to justify for fairly hardcore gamers, once you go to gaming fps games on a pad you won't go back.
That's not what 99% of the people that tried said.
Agreed! UNLESS somebody doesn't have a gaming keyboard and just uses a pimp controller and mouse. For me though...like...it's cool, for sure, but I already own a tarantula and deathadder. What extra does this give users like me who are both most likely to buy it and also most likely to own a high end keyboard? confusing niche market for these things
(Nerd voice)
Heh heh *snort* World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade only allows players to reach level 70. The newest expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, "turns it up to level 80" *snort* heh heh *snort* heh.
(/nerd voice)
IT'S OVER NINE-THOUSAAAAAAAAND!!!!!!!!!
Apart from the LCD, I cant see the difference between this and the saitek pro gamer command unit, which I've owned for ages. Bring us something new logitech.
Maybe this will get Belkin off their collective butts and get the N52TE sorted.
Wow... just wow... and not wow as in World of Warcraft.
Logitech.. keeping guy virgins, one schuper schweet keyboard or controller at a time.
rest of the functions aside, im pleased to see this. I make heavy use of the macro keys on Logitech's G15 for programming and web administration, and was sorely disappointed when they decided to alter the model to cut the macro keys down from 18 to 6. a device with 25 keys would be welcome, especially if it includes the standard fare of 3 sets of macros for each key like both G15's have had (without loading up a new macro set)
Oh, yes! Another gameboard that only works in the left hand, hurray -.-
Why are all of these companies ignoring the existence of left-handed people? If it weren't for Razer, I couldn't even get a decent gaming mouse. God forbid someone make a gameboard to use with your right hand...
Hey aard, check out the ZBoard Fang if you can find it. It's ambidextrous, no joystick or LCD though.
As a lefty, i just use my right hand for the mouse, crazy i know.
cant see it been better than the Belkin N52, and how long ago was the original one of those released?
I don't know the use of marco's makes this a nice cross between the g15 keyboard and a n52 pad.
$80 but no throttle, oh well.
I don't even understand how you're supposed to use this...
Ah yes I see a use : 15 years old will be able to scare girlfriend/mom anytime see enters the gaming room (but probably there is an article in the geek code that forbids this kind of initiative)
Like this maybe?
http://media.xfire.com/content/promotions/team3d_belkin/4.jpg
Does it work with MS Excel?
Maybe in the easter egg of excel 97?
If you can connect to the server.
Wait wait! It's preconfigured for Burning Crusade? Damn it! I was gonna buy it but I have Wrath of the Lich King... guess I'll have to find another unnecessary gadget to blow my money on.
I don't think it's meant for messaging like that, I think they meant "messages". Why would you only type with your left hand anyways??
Wait... what? A built in screen for stats and ... messaging? It has 25 programmable keys... English has 26 letters... which means in order to type a message I'll either have to move to my keyboard, or forgo a letter... hmm!
I suppose if I just don't type "H" that H-Bouya kid won't have any problem with it.
The screen is more for voice messaging apps and shows you who is in the channel or who is talking. This product is great as a cross between the G15 anf the N52 as the G15 doesn't work on a mac.
I don't do much PC gaming but i use a Belkin n52 for Photoshop. I would really like to see a device like this custom built for PS.
While I do like the LCD (what's not better with an LCD?), I believe the N52 will still be the pad of choice. The contours on this thing combined with the key layout make this thing seem like it would be rather uncomfortable to use.
This looks so much more comfortable than the n52 and if it weren't $80 I would find it a lot easier to be excited about.
The LCD screen is kind of a waste. You have to take your eyes away from the action too long to see the stats on it. They also should make the LCD screen a little more user friendly to customize yourself.
I got my N52 for $15 shipped when it first came out because someone didn't like it. More like didn't take the time to figure out how to use it. My win.
This looks like it has a lot of potential, but it's going to be a hard sell to get me to switch from the Belkin n52te. This looks more like a sectioned out piece of the keyboard with added buttons at the top more than an ergonomic game controller. I play mostly FPS games, but I think for RTS and MMO players this might be a good choice given the key layout, LCD, and extra buttons.
2¢
"It comes with pre-configured settings for World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare to name a few"
Woot, 2 out-dated games!
On the logitech.com home page they're showing a picture of this along with what appears to be a new "G18" Gaming Keyboard as well. No info on the keyboard anywhere else on the site though.
So the finally brought it out... this thing is going to be great, I've been missing the gamer panel since my g15 broke. If it runs the same then programs made for the g15 will work with it, also www.lcdstudio.com should run on it, which is one nice bit of kit (e.g http://www.g15forums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=969 )
I dont even know what this does, but I can't get over the fact that the picture is fuzzy.
I like the looks and LCD etc, but the only thing that concerns me is the thumbstick. I had the saitek version which had a thumbstick and it broke after a while since in WoW pvp I guess I tend to put a lot of force on it. The nostromo n52 and n52te I have have never had a problem since the force goes down instead of across so less chance of breaking.
I'll most likely buy this one b/c I love these types of controllers and I'll see how it holds up.
Not enough thumb and pinkie controls. And the joystick placement looks like ergonomic hell.
Why do all peripheral makes hate on lefties ?
Off topic but I would love to b able to use my G25 wheel with my Xbox 360
I use my N52.te with adobe premiere, makes the editing job a heck of lot faster with recordable macros and such.. but not sure if this will replace it :o
The N52-TE video on YouTube with the Korean Guy from Belkin still kicks ass!!!
Don't bother with the N52-TE it looks nice with the shiny blue and such.. but the software sucks can't even use macros :/ and a few keys can't be rebound.. worse £50 I ever spent ._. I'd get the N52 ... or this (which i plan on doing)
This gaming pad is so much better looking and seems to be easier to use that my nostromo speed pad. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nostromo_SpeedPad_n52
As a Nostromo N52 user this looks real good. I'll probably give it a try once it is finally available. The pre-configuration for WOW and the ability to store macros on the pad itself are welcome upgrades. I currently use a windows PC as my main gaming computer but play a bit on my Mac laptop as well. This will make switching between the two much easier.
As someone who took part in designing the original n50 and n52, I feel cheated... this is a direct copy of the work we did.
On the positive side.. that was almost 8 years ago, and I guess there is something to be said about a device that was so kick ass its still replicated today, and still is the best there is.
This looks pretty sweet. I've tried all these gamepads at one time or another and by far the best is the Belking Speedpad. The new tournament edition one is like one of the greatest periphals ever invented imo. Ya, and wtf is a mac gamer!? People using underpowered overpriced Macs!? That's cute. :) Anyways back to reality, if Logitech can bring it with the quality of Belkin's device, i'd def have to check it out first hand. But I love Logitech's hardware and i'm sure this will be top notch. The software has to be good to, i love the Speedpads interface. Mac... lol, that made my day.
I have a Nostromo N52TE an never will i go back to a keyboard , those things are great . Takes about a week to get the hang of it but when you do , it rocks . Ill buy the G13 juste for the hell of it to see if it's better than the N52TE but i think it's all the same thing , exept the little screen you dont have to look at when you are fragging :p
At first i thought someone was coding assembly on that thing.
Don't know if I need the complex macros, but it looks like it'd be pretty schweet for FPS gaming.
Firstly the brilliant n52 is no longer in production.
As an owner of the better looking but inferior n52te that belkin made with the sub standard razer software and useless thumb pad have been waiting nearly a year for the elusive V3 drivers that will supposedley make it work properly.
Add to that that all my other peripherals are logitech and are all top quality and all i would ever like to use this is definetly top of my want list.
I personally will NEVER buy an inferior Belkin product of any kind ever again.