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Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse hands-on
You recall the Ouroboros, right? Nope, not the mythical snake yarn, the latest gaming mouse from Razer that inadvertently broke cover over at the FCC. While it's been official for around a month, Germany's annual gaming convention has offered us our first chance to get to grips with it. Razer has tied itself in a ergonomic knot over the Ouroboros, with most of the mouse's dimensions happily adjustable to suit practically any gamer hand. We get customizing right after the break. %Gallery-162518%
Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse gets official: fits both hands, changes shape
Launching alongside new iterations of its BlackWidow keyboard, Razer's latest gaming mouse just went official. We spotted the ambidextrous Razer Ouroboros just a few months ago, courtesy of some federal filings, and now we have the official line on its specs and layout. The symmetrical body means it'll even suit southpaws, while an adjustable palm rest and two interchangeable sides can contort the mouse into claw, palm or hybrid grip styles. If cables frustrate, the good news is that the Razer Ouroboros works in wireless mode too, while the 8,200 DPI sensor and a built-in clutch trigger button should keep you on the edge of accuracy. Razer reckon its new dual sensor system can detect surfaces ten times faster than its last generation sensors. The mouse is priced at $130, but you'll have to hold out until Q4 before it arrives in stores. Meanwhile, Razer's gaming keyboards have appeared in several new guises -- though they may not wow like the Ouroboros. The BlackWidow 2013 adds improved anti-ghosting feature will allow up to 10 simultaneous key presses, with an anti-fingerprint finish coating the whole thing. An Ultimate version adds backlit keys, while the Tournament edition is ten key-less, dropping the number pad to ensure a tinier footprint for gamers on the move. Prices start at $80 for the Tournament version, up to $140 for the Ultimate, with the whole familia BlackWidow set to launch next month.
Razer's Ouroboros gaming mouse outed by the FCC, transforms to fit lefties
Looking for a rodent to help you frag your way through the competition, southpaw style? The FCC may have just uncovered your new best friend: The Razer Ouroboros gaming mouse. Like the Cyborg RAT series, the Ouroboros features a sliding palm rest and swappable side panels to better fit your mitt. Unlike the RAT, however, Razer's rodent is completely symmetrical, and therefor, ambidextrous. While Ouroboros may not actually devour its tail, it can at least detach it, switching between wired and wireless modes with relative ease. The versatile vermin appears to pack nine buttons (the regular left and right triggers, three buttons on each side, plus the mouse wheel), a toggle for on-the-fly DPI adjustments, left / right trigger locks, compatibility for Windows 7 and MAC OS X and a charging stand. No word yet on the device's max DPI sensitivity or price point, but we'll let you know when Razer makes things official. In the meantime, feel free to browse the rodent's manual at the source link below.
One Shots: Not really into the bar scene
With the density of worlds, and things to do in those worlds, there's a lot of scenery that players don't often get to see. That's (at least in part) one of the reasons we do One Shots! That way when we get images like this one from City of Heroes from Sam T., other superheroes know there's more to this commonly-traveled zone than they may realize. We'll let Sam explain: "Ouroboros is probably one of the most beautiful areas to be ignored in City of Heroes. Its commonly used for the Flashback system, as a transit hub, and really? That's about it. It's a crying shame that more people just don't go off and explore it... This view from one of the eastern floating islands is quite nice! Here I am with one of my SG-mates just talking about upcoming stuff in the game and with the group. Sure beats Pocket D!" Do you have a screenshot showing off overlooked geography in your favorite game? Perhaps you'd like to show off something more personal, but just as cool. If so, send those screenshots our way at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. SG/corp/guild names and server welcome too! %Gallery-85937%
A shortcut of sidesteps
While there are some exceptions, the majority of MMOs present the player with a clear and defined long-game task; the advancement of levels through the acquisition of experience points. It is a time-honoured tradition stretching right the way back to EverQuest and beyond. The journey from brand new character at level one through to seasoned veteran at level fifty was presented as the main thread which bound separate play sessions together, and for most, was the game.Over its decade long lifetime, and particularly prior to World of Warcraft's emergence, EverQuest had always stood as something of a bastion of the substantial time commitment in MMO gaming. Slaying a path to ultimate glory was always a somewhat serious proposition in those times, and tales of a two thousand hour trek to the top were not uncommon. Ten years, twenty-five extra levels and fifteen expansions later, it seems surprising that as a result of a recent player poll, the grand dame of the grind itself will soon be offering a new type of server on which players start life not at the beginning but in the middle, at Level 51. Is this a lamentable admission that the early levels and original content are now no longer relevant, or a pragmatic shift in attitude acknowledging that more and more, the real game only starts when the levels end?
WotLK bestiary presents the Jormungar
The official WoTLK bestiary has been updated yet again with another of the creatures we'll be meeting in Northrend. This time, we're introduced to the Jormungar, a race of massive worms with sharp teeth capable of boring through solid rock. Apparently, they were used by the Nerubians as slave labor to hew out their massive subterranean empire. However, when that empire fell to the Scourge, the Jormungar broke free, and now run rampant, drilling through the permafrost and destroying everything in their path. It seems likely that the worms themselves are named after the Norse mythological figure Jormungandr, a child of the trickster god Loki, also known as the the World Serpent who surrounds the Earth. In the end times of Ragnarok, he will kill Thor (although Thor will kill him first). Now really, you know that anything bad enough to kill Thor himself is something you have to take notice of, so if these Jormungar are even half as strong as their namesake, it looks like we could have a lot of trouble with them. Maybe we should look to the old massive sandworm Ouro (whose name is likely a homage to another mythical serpent, the Ouroboros), to give us some idea of what we might be facing. [via MMO Champion]
The Daily Grind: Revitalizing old content
A recent piece on our sister blog WoW Insider (spawned from a couple of great blog posts on the World of Warcraft LiveJournal community) got us to thinking about old endgame raid content. With games like EQ having set a strong pace for ambitious expansion releases and the inevitable raising of level caps, what does one do with the older raiding content once everyone's passed it by 10 or more levels? Sailoreagle and friends seem to have found a lot of value from the old content just from grouping in a small 3-man grouping and taking it on. On the flip side of that, many people may not have the ability to raid extremely high-end and get the uber gear that enables these types of small-group take-downs. Sure, you can expand the group size, but anytime you increase the number of players required to do something, you increase the chances that something, somehow will go awry. For today, we'd like to ask what you think developers should consider doing with content that is outdated and you've since out-leveled? Should it just be left for smaller groups to run, as Sailoreagle and friends are doing? Should more developers look to the innovative ideas in CoX with the Ouroboros missions that enable players to go back in time and finish up arcs they've skipped, but in such a fashion as to keep it level-appropriate and thus challenging? Should there be another reward instead for higher-level players, such as worthwhile faction rewards, or something along the lines of WoW's Badge (token-based loot) system? How would you revitalize old endgame content after later expansions have left it in the dust? Or would you just leave it be?
Under The Hood: The Ouroboros System
In most MMOs, once you hit a certain level, quests from before you hit that level turn useless and defunct. This sort of mechanic keeps players from going back and experiencing old stories because they leveled too fast, and really detracts from the overall feel of a game. What if I wanted to go back and play old quests (World of Warcraft, I'm looking right at you) and get some reward for them? Well, thankfully, City of Heroes/Villains has just implemented the Ouroboros System to allow you to go back and play previous missions you couldn't. But how is this going to affect the industry?
CoX: Mender Silos has a puzzle for you
"Old Man Stauf built a house, and filled it with his toys. Six guests all came one night, their screams the only noise." So began The 7th Guest, lo these many years ago. Now NCsoft provides the residents of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles with an equally intriguing time-related puzzle in the new trailer for Issue 11, provided to us by the mysterious Mender Silos, the founder and visionary of Ouroboros. Aside from showcasing some of the powers and regions accessible in the new chapter, tantalizing hints of a puzzle -- and of the game's future direction -- are revealed.Who is our greatest enemy, how will we be able to set aside our differences with our current foes, and what is causing all of the temporal anomalies? We have the questions, and now we need the answers: if we don't find them, then our world -- our future -- is doomed. Discuss amongst yourselves the mysteries. What are the secrets hidden within Issue 11: A Stitch in Time? Only time will tell.
70 new badges in Issue 11
A full listing of the new 70 new badges available in City of Heroes and City of Villains is available on Badge-Hunter.com's site. While Issue 11's new badges are split into Exploration and Achievement areas, the vast majority seem to be focused on the new Ouroboros-based missions. I'll even give you a hint on where to find the Chrononaut badge: it's placed in a similar location to two of the badges found in Atlas Park. And don't forget that you can change or clear your badge title at any time. After all, why be known as a Keeper of Secrets when you can be perceived as Justice Incarnate?[Via Kill Ten Rats]
