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The Daily Grind: Do you use peripherals for MMOs?
I've got a few assorted input peripherals scattered about my PC gaming rig. There's a joystick and throttle setup, a G13, and some sort of G-something keyboard that has way more buttons than I actually use. Oh and there's one of those console-style PC controllers as well. While these gizmos come in handy for various single-player titles, few if any of them see much use when I play MMOs. I have used the keyboard's G-key macro functionality for those games where you simply never have enough hotbar space (looking at you Age of Conan and EverQuest 2), but that's about it. What about you, morning folk? Do you use peripherals for MMO gaming, and if so which ones and what for? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Anvil of Crom: You must unlearn what you have learned
Hoo boy, circle-strafing. Basically I suck at it. However, with a little help from a new peripheral and an hour spent coming up with a rather meticulous set of key-bindings, I'm on the (slow) road to improvement. This week's Bear Shaman-flavored adventuring featured a lot of unlearning as I've scrapped the traditional WASD/keyboard-turning approach to Age of Conan that I've been using since the game's release. It's not pretty right now, but once the awkwardness wears off, I'll likely be much more adept at both PvE and PvP. As far as content goes, I got Mr. Oakarm into his mid-30s and struggled to find a group for Stygia's Black Castle dungeon (still trying to coordinate one as of press time, in fact). Craig Morrison also weighed in with his monthly dev update, and all of this adds up to a lot to cover this week. Join me after the break for the details.
The making of Logitech's G-series peripherals
Design Partners, the company responsible for Logitech's G-series, has released a series of images offering a behind-the-scenes look at how the suite of wild gaming peripherals came to be. Interested to see the design process? Check out the galleries below -- we're particularly taken with the image showing a designer hand-crafting the G19's wrist rest. Galleries G35 Surround Sound Headset G13 Gameboard G19 Keyboard G9x mouse
Logitech G-series peripherals, Harmony 1100 hands-on
We just had a chance to get our hands all over Logitech's G-series peripherals, including the G19 keyboard, G9x mouse and G13 gameboard. The G19 keyboard feels very responsive if not a bit hefty, but the real catch here is the 320 x 240 LCD. You can navigate through YouTube using adjacent keys, and the Britney Spears video we ended up watching was particularly crisp. The rep told us it'd be able to play anything compatible with Windows Media. The G9x mouse is what you come to expect from earlier Logitech entries, with a very responsive scroll wheel. As for the G13 gameboard, the right side-mounted joystick felt very comfortable and all they keys well-placed. Programming the keys for the G13 and G19 was a fairly straightforward process with software. We also got some time with the Harmony 1100, but unfortunately we didn't have a chance to see how well it interacted with the computer. The device itself is surprisingly lightweight and the screen very bright. Hit up the gallery below for pics.%Gallery-40770%
Logitech launches salvo of G-series gaming peripherals
If you thought that Logitech was onto something good when they launched the WoW-ready G13 gameboard, the bigwigs at Logitech tuned into your brainwaves and decided to expand their gaming line. Engadget reports that Logitech is set to launch a slew of gaming peripherals to complement the success of their gaming pad.The first of these is the $199 G19 keyboard, which has a GamePanel LCD, a 320x420 color monitor that displays "valuable in-game information" for over sixty games including -- ahem -- World of Warcraft. Aside from macro-bound buttons, the keyboard also has a switch for disabling the Windows button, so players don't accidentally lock themselves out of their game when they nerd rage.There's also the G35 (I don't really know where they pull the number suffixes from), a $129 headset with 7.1 Dolby surround-sound capability and a "voice-morphing" option that allows players to disguise their voice or -- as the Logitech press release states -- "sound like (their) World of Warcraft character". With three different, swappable headbands, the headset seems configurable in more ways than you can shake a Snufflenose Command Stick at.Finally, there's the equally configurable G9x mouse, a $99 variant of the award-winning G9 mouse and should give the Steelseries World of Warcraft mouse a run for its money. Or your money, since that's almost a full hundred smackers for interchangeable snap-on grips, five ready-to-play profiles, and on-the-fly adjustable dpi. The keyboard and headset will be available by the end of the first quarter, and the mouse soon to follow.
Hand-on with Logitech's G13 Gameboard
Maximum PC's laid hands on that Logitech G13 Gamepad we just saw a few days ago, and they've got plenty to say about it. They're fans of the gamepad's physical form and the layout of the keys, mouse buttons and the analog stick. The pad's got a color-customizable mini LCD and backlighting, and it's possible to bind up to 87 different macros at a time on it -- which the reviewer thinks will make this a totally sweet option for MMO-enthusiasts. The G13 is expected to run about $80 and to be released sometimes this month, but if you just can't wait until then for more glimpses of it, hit the read link.
New Logitech G13 gameboard offers in-box WoW support
Our friend Drayner over at twinkinfo.com sends word of a brand new Logitech "gameboard" (keyboard extension?), called the G13. It actually looks really cool -- it's got the G15's screen, but it's actually an extra set of 22 keys that you can control outside of your normal keyboard. And plus, the keys are all backlit (with hundreds of available colors), and it even has an analog thumbstick on there for extra-precise movement. World of Warcraft gets mentioned not once but twice in the press release, and they say that it comes with support for "Burning Crusade," which we would assume also means Wrath of the Lich King as well.Pretty groovy. It works with both Windows and OS X, and it'll set you back a tidy $80, which seems like a lot for a "gameboard," but then again, if this is the kind of thing you play WoW enough to actually make good use of, you've probably got a way to justify the purchase anyway (and if anyone's looking for a gift for me this year...). Anyone intersted in replacing their Nostromo with this one?
Logitech's G13 gameboard turns it up to level 80
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.%Gallery-38988%
