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The Naga 2013: Improving on a classic by degrees
One of the hardest things to do is look at something you've created and try to make it better. Because sometimes you can't. I first picked up a Razer Naga back when I was first working at Massively, mostly because it suited my piloting style in Star Trek Online. Once I had it in my hand, I never wanted to let it go. It was small, which was a welcome fact for someone with small hands. It had a useful thumb-pad for keys that felt comfortable and intuitive. It was responsive, it was attractive, it was everything I could want from a gaming mouse. Of course, the Naga was getting a bit long in the tooth. So it got redesigned. I was sent a review copy of the mouse to take for a spin, to see if this new edition of the product was nearly as good as the existing mouse that I've been using for nearly four years. Is the new Naga a worthy inheritor, or did something beautiful get ruined by a redo?
Razer unveils redesigned Naga MMO mouse
Razer has just revealed the newest edition of its MMO-centric Naga gaming mouse. Changes to the peripheral range from big to small: the 12-key thumb grid is receiving mechanical keys that are easier to access and a slight redesign, the mouse wheel now features tilt-clicking, and the interchangeable body pieces of the Naga 2013 have been replaced by a one-size-fits-all design. Also new with this edition of the Naga is an in-game configuration tool that allows users to set keybindings to the device directly from the game of their choosing. The tech specs look like this: 19 programmable buttons, 8200 DPI 4G sensor, green LED backlighting, 7-foot braided cable, and 1000Hz ultrapolling. Perhaps most interesting: Razer is releasing both right-handed and left-handed versions of the new Naga. Our own Eliot Lefebvre is taking a run with the updated mouse and will be reporting his findings here once he's put it through its paces. [Source: Razer press release]
Logitech G600 mouse targets button-craving MMO gamers, social life costs extra (video)
If you thought that Logitech was just going to let Razer's Naga MMO mouse go unanswered, you've got another thing coming. The G600 MMO Gaming Mouse matches the Naga's 12 side-mounted buttons and one-ups the rival across the aisle with a toggle that gives each key a second function -- if you can't bind it to a mouse button, odds are that it doesn't belong there. Just in case the prospect of spending an evening programming a mouse isn't all that enticing, the G600 has three profiles right from the start, two for online role-playing and one for when you'd rather play a Call of Duty shooter instead. Of course, the laser tracking and USB response times are fast enough to keep up when you pull aggro from monsters. Gamers willing to wait until July can drop $80 for a G600 in black or white, although we'd also set aside the costs of stepping outside every now and then.
Razer confirms plans to release left-handed Naga gaming mouse
It promised that it would do so if it received enough Likes on Facebook, and now Razer has confirmed that it is indeed proceeding with plans to release a left-handed version of its Naga gaming mouse. That comes after it received the required 10,000 Likes in less than a week -- a full three weeks ahead of its April 21st deadline. Unfortunately, there's no indication of a release date just yet, but you can rest assured that the MMO-focused mouse will be otherwise identical to its right-handed counterpart. The complete specs can be found in the press release after the break.
Razer to arm lefties with the Naga if it gets 10,000 Likes before April 21st
Jealous of all of your right-handed mates and their Naga-wielding gaming rigs? Well, it appears Razer has heard the clamoring and plans to produce a southpaw version of the gaming mouse. The catch? A Facebook page must receive 10,000 Likes in a month in order for the project to move forward. Before you get too excited, the outfit warns that the left-handed Naga will take a year or more to complete -- but if the vote quota is reached, Min-Liang Tan gave his word to make it happen. Seems like it'll happen, too, as the page has currently received over 6,000 Likes. So if that lefty DeathAdder just isn't cutting it anymore, hit the source link below to further the cause.
Razer Naga Hex Gaming Mouse asks your single thumb to do sextuple duty
It's time to whip that lazy right thumb into shape, to end its freeloading ways and make sure it's fully maximized. The Razer Naga Hex is the way to go. Think of it as a somewhat simplified version of the Razer Naga MMO, dropping to six buttons and re-arranging them into a hexagonal pattern. It's designed for the burgeoning action-RPG gamer -- or for those who spent too much time playing Battletech with little painted figures. The $80 mouse is available for pre-order now and will ship later this month before popping up in stores in March.
Razer Synapse 2.0: take your fussy gaming setup wherever you go
Ever go to a LAN party and find it's taking too long to get your gear set up the way you like? Probably not, especially if you own a Razer or other gaming mouse that stores your preferences on its internal memory. Still, it would be far easier if your tweaks were stored in the cloud and available everywhere -- which is the thinking behind Synapse 2.0. All of your button, axis and sensitivity adjustments will be available for you to pull down and use with the company's range of peripherals if you're at home, the LAN center or at work (after hours, of course.) The service is currently in internal beta but 500 lucky Razer Naga owners will get access to the second beta if they sign up at the source link below. There's also a press release -- scroll down at 5600dpi and click "Read More."
Reviewing the Razer Nostromo: A comfortable place to rest your hand
Back in July, I featured a submission on Reader UI of the Week from reader Steppinrazor which featured a dual-peripheral setup of the Razer Naga MMO mouse and the Razer Nostromo. The Razer Nostromo is a peripheral that acts as a keyboard for input commands, with buttons for clicking, a D-pad, a scrollwheel, and much more. In my discussion of Steppinrazor's UI, I made note that I was not privy to the Nostromo, having never had the pleasure of resting my fingers on its keys. Now, however, I've spent considerable time with the Nostromo and can tell you my story. Here is my review of the Razer Nostromo. The Razer Nostromo features: Ergonomic form factor and tournament-grade layout 16 fully programmable Hyperesponse keys Programmable eight-way directional thumb pad and scroll wheel (can be used as keys) Instantaneous switching between eight key maps Unlimited macro lengths (this is really cool) Storage of up to 20 different game profiles Adjustable soft-touch wrist pad for exceptional comfort Backlit keypad and scroll wheel for total control, even in dark conditions Enhanced Razer configurator software Works with Mac or PC
Reader UI of the Week: Pathanos' clean and simple setup
Each week, WoW Insider and Mathew McCurley bring you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you'd like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you're using to readerui@wowinsider.com, and follow Mathew on Twitter. Last week, Reader UI of the Week profiled Lellee's UI and a call for help in fixing up a non-widescreen UI and just making the whole thing work a little bit better. One thing that I try to do during a call-for-help-type article is point people in the direction of an example of what I am trying to articulate. In this case, I wanted to profile a user interface that is simple enough to replicate on your own with a minimal amount of configuration addons, with an acceptable amount of time needed to create it. That's what today is about -- the philosophical process and a general outline to making your user interface look nice and tidy, just like our friend Pathanos has here. Pathanos' UI is built around a Razer Naga-plus-keyboard setup for his tanking paladin. In the screenshot, you will see his sparse raiding UI, a clutterless view space that allows for plenty of information gathering while not being an addon monstrosity. Hopefully we can get you up to speed as well as to what is needed to set up something like this, with a quick understanding of the concepts needed, where to start, and what you want to look for when building it.
Reader UI of the Week: Peripherals take center stage with Steppinrazor's UI
Each week, WoW Insider and Mathew McCurley bring you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which spotlights the latest user interface addons. Have a screenshot of your own UI that you'd like to submit? Send your screenshots along with info on what mods you're using to readerui@wowinsider.com, and follow Mathew on Twitter. Reader UI of the Week is an interesting experience for me. There are moments of awe, moments of sadness, and (more than you probably would guess) moments of utter perplexity. Today's submission from Steppinrazor features a peripheral that many players have been asking me to do a spotlight on: the Razer Nostromo. Once developed by Belkin, the Razer version is the updated model, still created in partnership with Belkin but featuring spiffy new features. Many people ask me about peripherals like the Razer Nostromo, and while I would love to have an answer for them about the usefulness of something like the Nostromo, I can't give the best account. I'm a keyboard and mouse guy, through and through. However, there is nothing on the books that says I can't bring in someone who seems to know what he's doing with a peripheral as versatile as the Nostromo. If you've got an interesting UI setup that features peripherals out of the keyboard-and-mouse box, let's see them! Email your UI along with an explanation of your addons, setup, and other details to readerui@wowinsider.com. The community will love you for it, I promise.
Razer puts the power of the Force in your hands [updated]
Razer famously brought PC peripherals to the MMO market by giving the gamer the wildly popular Naga mouse. In celebration of the upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic, the manufacturer has launched four new accessories for the TOR gamer: a keyboard, mouse, headset, and mousepad. The developers at BioWare have said that macros will not be available in game at launch, but apparently that will not stop the SWTOR Razer keyboard from allowing you to macro commands via its LED track-panel and 10 dynamic tactile keys. The mouse sports 12 programmable thumb buttons, much like the Naga. If you have played any MMO with a Naga, you know that this mouse makes activating your special attacks easier and faster than reaching with your fingers over the keyboard. However, this mouse does have a slightly different case design than the classic Naga, and of course, displays either the Galactic Republic or the Sith Empire logo. You can't have a Razer mouse without a SWTOR Razer mousepad (well, maybe you can). This mousepad is specifically designed to help the Razer mouse glide evenly over the surface and give you precise movement with the cursor. Lastly, the SWTOR Razer headset yields 5.1 surround sound. Cutting someone in half with a lightsaber sounds best when you can hear it in 3-D sound. After the break, check out the video by Razer showing off the SWTOR Razer keyboard. [Update: Dover from Darth Hater spoke to Razer at E3. The full video interview is after the break.]
Left-handed Razer Naga in the works?
Let's face it -- the Razer Naga is sort of iconic now as the mouse of MMOs and WoW players alike. One of the biggest concerns about the Naga is that it is functionally only available to right-handed players, because the number pad interface on the mouse is controlled with the right thumb. Some lefties have come up with interesting ways of using a right-handed Naga, but the problem still exists. Razer has offered up a left-handed version of its Deathadder mouse, but MMO players have been without a left-handed option ever since the Naga released. As many people in the community (including myself) would tell you, the Naga is a powerful tool, much like the other MMO-centric mice out there. So why talk about this? It looks like Razer is entertaining the thought of creating a left-handed version of its popular MMO mouse. On its Facebook page, CEO Min-Liang Tan posted a faux propaganda poster and description soliciting comments from left-handed raiders to make this happen. The biggest downside to gaming mice is that they are not very good at being universally acceptable products for both righties and lefties. Inclusion is essential, and good tools for gaming are important, especially to WoW players. Let's hope this happens.
Reviewing the Razer Anansi MMO keyboard: A tricky little spider
Razer has very graciously sent me one of its Anansi MMO keyboards to review for you fine people. My previous experience with Razer products has been positive, mostly because its MMO-centric wares fit well into my own MMO-centric lifestyle. I face this simple fact every day -- I play a lot of games. In fact, I play a lot of World of Warcraft. When you play a game this much, you get the tools made for it. How about some features in convenient bullet point form? The Razer Anansi MMO-Gaming Keyboard: 7 thumb modifier keys 100+ programmable keys One-button profile switching (awesome for backlighting your Alliance characters blue and Horde characters red ...) Five additional macro buttons Media keys Gaming mode option
A hands-on with the Razer Anansi
When I first heard about the Razer Anansi, I was beyond excited. Razer had, after all, made the supremely excellent Naga specifically for MMOs, and the Naga is as close to a perfect peripheral as has ever been made. (The original wasn't wireless, which is a big deal for some people, but it doesn't bother me -- and there's a wireless version out now anyway.) I was pretty much certain that the same team working on a keyboard would produce the ultimate one-two punch for online gaming accessories. Sadly, the Anansi isn't the Naga. And therein lies its biggest fault -- you can't help but compare the two products, and the keyboard comes up short. It isn't a bad keyboard, but it lacks what made the Naga so excellent, and for the several things that it gets right it also manages to get a couple of things wrong. Without a doubt, it's going to serve better than the stock keyboard that comes with a new computer, but it's far from a must-have addition to your hardware.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Electric Nagaloo
I was sorely tempted to purchase a Razer Naga for City of Heroes, but it was Star Trek Online that finally pushed me over the edge. (Flying the ship with your mouse is the only way to go.) But that initial reasoning behind wanting one was a supicion deep within my brain that the mouse and the game would go together like peanut butter and chocolate, if the chocolate itself were already mixed with peanut butter. As it turns out, I was entirely right about that. You've heard me wax poetic about the little gadget before as a fine investment, but this is A Mild-Mannered Reporter, not Eliot Talks About Products He Likes. And before you drop money on a product, it's best to know how it's going to help you in practical terms rather than in abstract capabilities. So let's talk about using that Naga to really augment your City of Heroes experience, making you faster, more dangerous, and better able to manage complicated situations.
Ask Massively: The deranged J. Peterman catalog knockoff edition
I remember when I first took on the role of writing Ask Massively, sitting on the patio of Shawn Schuster's Minnesotan lakehouse. It was twilight, the last rays of sun filtering through tumblers filled with pinot noir, the haze of extravagance and of gaming fading gently into the background. Shawn idly strummed a few bars of a melody on his '54 Stratocaster, then he looked at me and he asked me if I was ready. Of course I was ready. I had always been ready. He gave me a curio then, a keepsake. As his ancestors had handed it down through the generations, so it would now be passed to me, a talisman to remind me of the importance of writing. Later that day, I tripped and splashed mud on the pants I was wearing, which I had been planning on returning. (Today's edition is about peripherals, by the by. But I felt like a Seinfeld homage.)
Reviewing the Razer Naga Epic mouse: 12 buttons you never knew you wanted
The Razer Naga gaming mouse is one of those designs that, at first glance, you scoff and laugh at -- because frankly, the thing can look a little ridiculous. A second glance, however, becomes one of cold adoration, slowly letting the fact sink in that Razer, a company already known for quality gaming products, put what amounts to a number pad on a mouse. A third glance is silent wonderment. The number of skills you wish you could have bound to your mouse begins to take hold. "What if I put my tanking cooldowns on the second row, and let the top row deal with movement based abilities like Intervene and Heroic Leap?" I'd think. "No, it's too risky. I'd have to learn an entire new system of button presses and get an entirely new feel for a foreign mouse." But I did. For you. What follows is my week with the Razer Naga Epic, the newest product in the Razer Naga line that takes the Razer Mamba's wireless successes and adds them to the Naga's MMO-focused capabilities. The result is an MMO mouse that is solidly built, gorgeous on the eyes, and -- after the initial shock of change to the Naga's own brand of world view -- a customizable powerhouse that has your thumb doing acrobatics you never thought it could.
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway Day 5: Razer Naga gaming mouse
12 Days of Winter Veil is under way here at WoW Insider. That means 12 days of giveaways, from loot codes to literature and gaming mice to graphics cards. Even if you've been a good goblin or a naughty night elf, there's a chance that WoW Insider has a holiday gift for you this season. Next on the Winter Veil giveaway list is the Razer Naga, a 17-button MMO gaming mouse. This mouse works with both PC and Macs and includes WoW addons plus a customizable interface. And don't forget the keymapping for the side buttons. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Monday, Dec. 27, 2010. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Make sure your email address is up to date, because that's how we'll get hold of you. We will pick one winner randomly. Official rules here. Don't forget to check back every day through Jan. 2, 2011, for new contests celebrating the 12 Days of Winter Veil! EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks and good luck to all who entered!
12 Days of Winter Veil Giveaway Day 1: Razer Naga gaming mouse
12 Days of Winter Veil is underway here at WoW Insider. That means 12 days of giveaways, from loot codes to literature and gaming mice to graphics cards. Even if you've been a good goblin or a naughty night elf, there's a chance that WoW Insider has a holiday gift for you this season. Next on the Winter Veil giveaway list is the Razer Naga, a 17-button MMO gaming mouse. This mouse works with both PC and Macs and includes WoW addons plus a customizable interface. And don't forget the keymapping for the side buttons. To enter for a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before 11:59 p.m. ET, Thursday, Dec, 23, 2010. You must be 18 years of age or older and a legal resident of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec). You can only enter once. Make sure your email address is up to date, because that's how we'll get hold of you. We will pick one winner randomly. Official rules here. Don't forget to check back every day through Jan. 2, 2011 for new contests celebrating the 12 Days of Winter Veil! EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks and good luck to all who entered!
Razer announces specialized MMO gaming keyboard
Looks like those folks over at Razer are having quite a busy year designing all sorts of cool peripherals, such as the licensed products such as TRON and StarCraft 2 gaming gear, and making recent announcements such as the upgrades to the MMO-centric Razer Naga. They aren't letting up, either, it turns out. Razer recently revealed plans to launch a keyboard designed specifically for MMO gamers, the Razer Anansi. The difference between this keyboard and other gaming keyboards is simple. There are seven configurable modifier keys below the space bar that can assigned to the common modifiers such as Alt, Ctrl and Shift, making all those keybinds and macros even more accessible. Designed by Razer to be paired with its MMO gaming mouse, the Razer Naga, the Anansi also sports features such as 100 programmable Hyperesponse keys, one-button profile switching (for up to 20 profiles with the built-in software driver), five additional gaming keys, and an option for those multi-colored lights that are becoming in vogue with most gaming peripherals lately. It also has an optimized key matrix that prevents the ghosting that typically happens when more than two keys are pressed simultaneously. The engineers at Razer have reconfigured the hardware to enable recognition of up to six simultaneous keystrokes, centered around the left-hand cluster generally used for gaming (the W, A, S, D keys). It's a cool feature that most MMO gamers probably won't need, but all you button-mashers can rejoice. There's a nifty gaming mode option that temporarily disables the Windows key so you can stay in the game without having to remap your Windows key for fear of hitting it the chaos of a raid or arena match. The Razer Anansi is compatible with Windows and Macs and will retail for $99. It is scheduled to ship in December, with pre-orders starting soon.
