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Steelseries announces Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse
Because it's always good to have options, not long after the last week's announcements of special and epic edition mice, Steelseries reveals its own entry into the MMO gaming mouse arena with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse. The product name is a mouthful, but it has equally hefty features, which are nearly identical to the original Steelseries World of Warcraft gaming mouse. It has 14 buttons -- one less than the original -- that can be configured in game without the use of any addons, 16 million colors and four levels of intensity and pulsation, support for up to 10 profiles that are linked directly to the armory, and it appears to sport a better, more ergonomic form factor and surface texture than its predecessor. The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse is compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs, with software that supports drag-and-drop functionality that can be used to program the mouse buttons with 130 preset game commands. The 10 profiles stored in the mouse's on-board memory can be configured with their own macros and commands as well as personalized illumination schemes. There's no estimated ship date or pricing yet, but players interested in an official Cataclysm-themed mouse developed in conjunction with Blizzard can sign up to be notified over at the Steelseries website.
SteelSeries WoW mouse gets new functionality
Long after its initial release, which saw the mouse come under fire for its dubious EULA-breaking built-in functionality, WoWVault at IGN reports that the Steelseries World of Warcraft mouse has received a functional upgrade in that players can now "bind all 15 buttons without leaving the game." Patch 3.2.2 introduced a new interface for the mouse, which allows for the creation and customization of macros and key bindings from within the game, and assigned to different character profiles. The game now recognizes the mouse buttons as completely new and unique buttons, adding more buttons to augment players' normal keyboard buttons. This should make the mouse completely usable out of the box for all players without fear of breaking the game's end-user policies, as opposed to how it was when it first shipped as it took advantage of disallowed automated and timed scripts. The Steelseries website notes that players can "achieve faster response time(s) by customizing (their) mouse setup in-game and thereby removing a layer of software." It was this "layer of software" outside the game that delivered commands to the mouse and conflicted with the game's policies. So fear not, players! The Steelseries WoW mouse is now completely EULA-compliant! I mean, it still kind of looks like a robotic turtle, but at least it won't get you banned from the game anymore.
Gearing up for WoW: The Razer Naga [Updated]
We don't normally do hardware reviews. That's usually the domain of the guys over at our sister site, Engadget. But when Razer broke out the $79.99 Razer Naga last August 19 at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany (along with a glow-in-the-dark mousepad), and previewed it a BlizzCon a few days later, we knew we just had to get our hands on it and take it out for a spin. This was Razer's first mouse aimed squarely at the MMO market, and at World of Warcraft players specifically. It isn't the first mouse that tried to appeal to the huge MMO player base -- Steelseries unleashed a World of Warcraft mouse last year, although some players found some issues with the mouse and the way it interacted with the game. In hindsight, we probably should've done our own review of that product. So when Razer announced that the Naga "wasn't going be just a great MMO mouse (but) the best MMO mouse," we weren't going to let the opportunity slip away.[Update: Razer's Heathcliff Hatcher aka Razer|Agent responded to some concerns about the Razer Naga and how its keys currently can't be remapped right out of the box without third party applications. Razer|Agent says, "software driver remapping of keys is a standard function for most of Razer products and we do have suitable solutions that we intend to release in the near future for Naga that will enable this feature out of game." This means that the standard 123 and NUM configurations should be remappable through a future update.]Mike wrote an excellent hands-on report on the Razer Naga when we were at BlizzCon which should give everyone a fair idea of what we're dealing with. Writing a product review for an MMO gaming mouse wasn't going to be a simple task -- one reason there aren't too many full reviews of the Razer Naga is because it takes a bit of commitment to do it. Unlike first person shooters or even real-time strategy games where about an hour or two of gameplay would be enough to give fair impressions of the mouse, properly assessing an MMO gaming mouse needs to be an immersive experience. It requires mapping keys and adapting one's personal playing style to accommodate the hardware.As I'd mentioned in my gearing series that talked briefly about gaming mice, the features of most modern gaming mice are far beyond what MMOs generally demand. You won't need 5600dpi, insane APM (Actions-Per-Minute) values, or even fancy technologies like Razer's HyperResponse buttons. If there's any indication that Razer is on the right track with the Naga, it's that they've loaded it with buttons. MMO players tend to press a lot of buttons. They also took the extra step of creating (or adapting) an AddOn that allows the mapping of keybindings from inside the game. When the Razer Naga finally arrived at my doorstep after a torturous tussle with an ineffectual DHL, I finally buckled down -- as Razer would say -- to get imba. Let's take a closer look at the Razer Naga after the jump. %Gallery-75456%
Gearing up for PvP - Your mouse
Let's face it, not everyone can afford an HP Blackbird 002, which was used for several MLG pro gaming tournaments and was awarded 4.5 stars (out of 5) by CNET. The Editors' bottom line at the time was "If you can afford it, and you want a high-end gaming PC, buy this one. End of story." The end of that story was a $5,600 hole in your wallet, which is not a very happy ending for most of us mortals (Wired gave its $2,100 successor, the HP Firebird, a 9 out of 10). The actual happy compromise is in your peripherals, which you can splurge on (within reason) without having to win the Lotto.I'll start with the mouse. More than your keyboard, your mouse is your most important gaming peripheral. For laptop users, who will more often than not use the default keyboard built-in to their machine, dedicated gaming keyboards are a luxury rather than a necessity. Furthermore, PvP enthusiasts necessarily learn to move with a mouse, which makes it a worthy investment.
