SteelSeries World of Warcraft Mouse equipped for hands-on impressions, +14 agility
By Paul Miller 
posted January 22nd 2009 2:16PM
posted January 22nd 2009 2:16PM
We finally got our hands on SteelSeries' World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse, and took the thing for a little spin across Azeroth. After hiring a rogue to open the complicated packaging and marveling at the mouse's incomprehensible runes, we hooked up the mouse over USB and were treated to the ambient light show. The "cracks" across the back of the mouse glow with subtle colors, though we wish they could light up a bit more dramatically and actually convey game status info -- but we're boring like that. Compared to most mice, the WoW mouse is rather large and "hand supporting," leaving behind the typical friction and frame of reference that a trailing hand and wrist usually supply. It's nice and comfortable, but there's a bit of a trade off, though overall we found the mouse to be incredibly "right" in responsiveness and accuracy. More impressions after the break.
The real draw here, of course, is the 15 individually programmable buttons, which can be assigned to up to 160 interchangeable macros with the downloadable Windows-only software. SteelSeries claims to be "working with Blizzard on the development strategy for a Mac solution" which sounds like they've got a whole lot of nothing ready for the Mac-inclined. Right now they recommend setting up the mouse with the third party ControllerMate software.
That's a shame, because the software is the real strength here. You can set up 10 different profiles for your various alts, play styles and situations, with buttons set to dismount, auto target, target self, toggle bags... you get the picture. Unfortunately, with all that complexity comes a bit of a learning curve. It took our WoW-addled intern two hours of running Heroic Nexus to get used to using all the buttons, and he found that even then he was mainly just using two of the macros, with the rest being forgotten more often than not. A heavy macro user could probably use the mouse all by its lonesome and rid their reliance on a keyboard, but that would take a certain amount of skill and determination. The real strength here is Battlegrounds and raids, but it's clear the mouse isn't really about making WoW more accessible or "easy," rather about enabling power users to kick even more ass. The mouse is available now for $99.
Isn't this a repost?
Now for only $99. 15 individually programmable buttons. Set up 10 different profiles for your various alts, play styles and situations, with buttons set to dismount, auto target, target self, toggle bags....
Still incapable of attracting women.
They announced it before but they didn't have any sorta hands-on-ing.
This certainly isn't much of a review. :/
FYI, this isn't a real SteelSeries product - it was picked up in its acquisition of Ideazon, another gaming peripheral company. The product must have already been in development before the acquisition, so this product is SteelSeries in name only.
That is a very nice looking mouse. It's too bad that it has WoW branding on it though; I would have bought it if it hadn't.
Yea Same here, looks good for photoshop as well..
Can I play Doom with this?
Sorry Achmed, it won't be fitting your bone hand.
Bone?
Hand?
brb
Ooh, that is harsh... Don't insult him, otherwise "HE KILL YOU!"
If you see him on a WoW server, run since you can't win, since he hasn't got an ass to pawn. :P
nice mods....
If you can use the buttons for anything, I'd consider this for my TF2ing...
What is that?
@Finnschi
Think of it as Grand Theft Camel without Camels.
@Finnschi: Team fortress 2
You can use it for TF2. Just go into the WoW mouse software, create a TF2 profile, and bind the keys in TF2 in the macro section (or on the actual mouse keys themselves). I haven't gotten the chance to work with the new software update just yet. Like I said, that was the workaround I used to get it to recognize the keybindings.
@ Like_A_Glove
What the heck is with you and your remarks toward Finnschi?
He just likes my picture I guess...
Achmed FTW !
I received mine Dec 27 '08 with the first version of the crappy software and the button 4 and 5 did not work in game. I think SteelSeries has already fixed this issue with the update. Some of the other buttons were not recognized in game as well so I had to bind the spell to a key, then make a macro with the key in the WoW mouse software as a workaround. As for size, it's quite big in my hand (that's what she said) compared to my Logitech G5. I do find the the fin on the right side comfy though to rest my pinkie on and not have it rub against the mouse pad. Being a petite female gamer sort of has it's disadvantages when hardware is predominantly scaled to an average guy's hand. I still like the idea and use of having 15 buttons on a mouse though for WoW. With four characters (mage, paladin, warrior, and druid), the learning curve to memorize what all 15 buttons are for each toon will take awhile, but the fact that I can change profiles quickly is great.
After about a total of 5-6 hours of game play with the mouse, my left click was starting to squeak and eventually got stuck (in the down click position). I am utterly disappointed that they would let a $100 mouse off the shelf with such poor QC. Apparently, there is a high failure rate with the first shipment of mice; so if you get a bad one, return it for another. You might get lucky and have a fully functional one that won't die on you after 1000 mouseclicks.
After about two weeks, GameStop stocked up on new ones so I had my first mouse exchanged. I'll give it a whirl again this weekend.
The thing looks like it's about to transform into a deceptacon.
What is the surface of the mouse actually made of? Is it really "steel" or is that just branding? Couldn't find that info on their site, either.
Plastic, but it's pretty quality.
Check out this blogpost where it's described how the shell of the wow mouse is made:
http://www.fragyou.net/2008/12/11/delays-for-the-wow-mmo-gaming-mouse/
I can confirm Maya's experience my buddy got one from the first round and had some problems. They were worked out in the one I got last week. Some of the button placement is awkward, but I am getting used to it. I do alot of PvP so that + the Logitech G13 definitely rocks! http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3208522846_170951fc95_o.jpg Here you go a look at my very messy desk!
@ myia , are you talking about the mac or windows software? because, i ams till looking for a decent photoshop mouse... some buttons for resizing brushes would be so cool... or just to controll expose on OSX...! !
Windows. The Mac crowd still has not received some lubbins from SteelSeries/Blizz for this mouse. :(
I have been eagerly awaiting this mouse since it was announced 6 months ago. I was really disappointed when it finally started shipping and virtually all of the reviews were negative. Between the crappy software and horrible reliability, hardly anybody has had anything good to say about this mouse. Maybe there is still some glimmer of hope?
Does the button assignment software work with WoW addons now? Several reviews stated that it would only work with the default game interface, which nobody uses.
Is the mouse you received actually put together halfway decently? Most of the first batch of these mice seem to have broken within days.
Oh, and are there buttons on the right side of the mouse or not? Your gallery has half a dosen pics of the thumb buttons on the left, but the only pic of the right side shows what may or may not be a button hidden under a finger.
The mouse worked with the two addons I tried ~ Bartender4 and CTMod.
Meh, I don't see a real use for this, besides the mouse being ugly and beyond overpriced..
only button I use on my mouse is the forward button on explorer (I can hit it with my right thumb) to hit mutilate, as I have no intentions on getting carpel tunnel for either spamming hemo sinister strike or mutilate on the keyboard. Ill stick with my old Logitech mouse as the reviewer obviously has no idea what he is talking about
"A heavy macro user could probably use the mouse all by its lonesome and rid their reliance on a keyboard, but that would take a certain amount of skill and determination" please.... L2P
NO ONE needs 15 macro buttons on the mouse to play wow with, 1-2 is fine, anymore would slow me down even with "practice". and besides any casuals that play wow are clickers so I couldn't see one of those peeps saying OOOOH a mouse with lots of buttons to map skills and abilities on, they aren't even intelligent enough to use it anyways ~ im sure
that is all, waste of money IMHO
I love how the pictures of it actually lit up are all covered by a hand. Awesome!
We're talking about people with absolutely no life.
How do you kill that which has no life?
You delete his WoW account.
Exactly
I have to agree with Miya - I have had this mouse since Dec also - I was very disapointed in its performance and the software was highly talked up and I think this is way more hype than substance. The construction is a lot lighter weight than I would like and the components just don't have a good feel to them at all. Its a pity because with some better components and better feel and tracking I think this could actually have beeen a good gaming mouse. I doub't it has the capacity to really stand up for serious gaming overtime.
2 hours for heroic nexus? l2p
Why do you have the Action Bars set to "always show"?
@ ompwebdude: Yes, I was disappointed with the weight of the mouse as well. I had gotten so accustomed to having my weight system with the G5 that when I made the switch, it made the SteelSeries WoW mouse feel "cheap". For $100, I expected a similar weight system. The heart, idea, and concept was all there; the execution however sucked massive donkey balls. I heard they didn't expect to get as many preorders as they did. Uh, hello? You're making a piece of hardware for a game that has a subscriber base of about 11 million. You Dilbert-esque product/marketing managers should have seen it coming. As a consumer, I would be alright with having a product release date pushed back as long as the quality is there. Next time, Blizzard should look into maybe partnering with Logitech or HP in making their hardware. SteelSeries promised too much but, failed to deliver up to standards. I'll see how long this second WoW mouse will hold up to my incessant mouse clicking.
@ Keith: I've seen better potshots in porn than your thinly humored comment.
@ Teeth: Yes, this isn't really for a casual WoW player who is *shudder* a clicker or a budget conscious gamer. If you're a self sufficient geek with money to sort of throw around on novelty goodies and stuff on something you enjoy, why not right? This mouse does shine for me as a mage in PvP when I can target, focus, and focus Polymorph without having to have my fingers dance and twist on the left side of my keyboard and when I want to do self cast spells (on my healer chars). Getting rid of shift/ctrl/alt modifiers is great. As a warrior/rogue, yes, there are not enough really useful, crucial abilities that could warrant being put on a 15 button mouse. For the most part, you'd probably bind trivial spell/abilities on it.
Couldn't they just call this the Armadillo?
Not a wow player but I use the Logitech MX1000 mouse. It has 8 buttons and works great for office programs and cad/solid modeling software.
Three words:
Dead Space Mouse.
Close enough to a wired mx revolution for me.
Yeah,
But I doubt I'll replace my MX Revolution for a wired mouse.
I hope Logitech will release an MX Revolution 2.
Just ouf or interest, how many copperhead mice have engadget gone through? i splashed out on one when it was a new release... cost me a small fortune (concidering its a mouse)... well... 2 replacements later, im back to using my old school microsoft optical intelli mouse.
I loved that copperhead mouse :( *snifffff*
oh yeah.. WoW mouse... yeah... cool.
LIMITED TIME OFFER!! GET A WoW MOUSE AND GET THE SICKLE OF LAMENESS AND THE CLOAK OF LOSERDOM IN A FREE IN-GAME DOWNLOAD (with activation code)! YOU CAN"T LIVE WITHOUT IT BECAUSE YOU HAVE NO LIFE!!! (offer not valid in the region of Secluded Saps or Dumsday in the WoW game.)
It's too bad that this mouse truly is not worth the money. The mouse while it's appearance is cool and the thought of 15 mouse buttons is great, the location of many of the buttons are not ideal, even for a guy like me with large hands. This mouse also has a nasty squeek to it when clicking the left mouse button. Their fix is to lift up the button until it almost cracks and they hope that resolves your problem. The game works for windows and mac, yet the mouse is really only for windows (unless you want to spend another $15 - $20) on ControllerMate or USBOverdrive. To me this mouse isn't as good as all the sites make it out to be. I am actually sending mine back today for a refund that I got as a christmas gift and ordering a DeathAdder from Razer. Maybe in the ideal conditions this mouse might work for you windows users, but beware of the squeek from the left mouse button that will quite surely give you a headache after just a few minutes of play.
That being said I read somewhere that a newer version of this mouse is coming out sometime late January or February, but who knows about the accuracy of that report. Just thought I would share my experience with this mouse.
Did you say it squeaks? just...too...something
The mouse lights up. Light be with you!
As a designed-for-WoW mouse, this thing is trash. If this mouse weren't branded and were simply the macro mouse with 15 buttons and shiny glowy doo-dads, then sure... they might have something going for it.
After 2 months of waiting to get through the "preorder", it only took me 1 hour to be totally disappointed:
http://www.wemultibox.com/blogs/vyndree/steelseries-world-warcraft-mmo-mouse
"The real strength here is Battlegrounds and raids" lolz... Unless you are a Viking pillager of old, or a member of an elite military unit, saying this sentence in any other context grants you 6 "gotta get out more" coupons