steelseries
Latest
Reminder: Win WoW Insider's stuff!
Dear readers, you've probably noticed that WoW Insider is downright eager to give you guys free things the last few weeks. To give everyone the best possible chance of winning, here's a reminder for our two current, ongoing contests for those that may have missed them. Your window of opportunity is closing quickly if you want to enter our Arthas: Rise of the Lich King giveaway. It's 3:00 PM Eastern as of this posting, and that contest ends at 6:00 PM Eastern. That's three hours! Head over there and throw your name into the ring! Our Fan Art contest is still ongoing, and you only have until Monday night to enter that. Remember. creativity is more important to our judges than anything else, so even if you think you're a bad artist, you probably have a chance to win if you can make us laugh! Remember to go through the official rules for each contest (linked on their pages) before entering, and note which regions are able to enter. Good luck to everyone who participates!
Steelseries looking for Facebook fans, offering epic loot
Steelseries, who you may remember from such releases as the Zboard and the official World of Warcraft mouse, has teamed up with Upper Deck, Bradygames and J!NX to give away four Ultimate World of Warcraft Prize Packs during April, that's one each week. The best part is it's really simple to enter: all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is to add them as a fan on Facebook. The list of loot is actually quite impressive and includes: World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition Wrath of the Lich King Keyset Zboard Gaming Keyboard SteelSeries 5C Limited Edition Mouse Pad (featuring everyone's favourite Frost Wyrm Sindragosa) SteelSeries Qck Limited Edition Mouse Pad (featuring the Lich King) Wrath of the Lich King Strategy Guide World of Warcraft Atlas Set $100 World of Warcraft Apparel Gift Certificate World of Warcraft Trading Card Game - Drums of War 2 Player Starter Set World of Warcraft Miniatures Core Set Booster One again, it's open to everyone, and all you have to do is click here and add them as a fan. As contests go, it's an easy one to enter and you stand the chance to win a lot of cool swag. I particularly like the rather old school atlases (which have recently been updated) and are perfect for RPers who would rather consult an oversized tome of knowledge while the Drums of War starter deck holds the somewhat small chance of winning precious in-game loot. But before you rush off, starry eyed at the prospect of some loot, don't forget we're also running a Fan Art competition with Steelseries! Don't forget to enter as the closing date of April 20th is creeping ever closer.
WoW Insider's Fan Art contest
We here at WoW Insider see every day just how many great artists are out there in the World of Warcraft community. We've interviewed them, we've written about them, and now we want to know if you're one of them so we can give you some sweet prizes.We have in our hands four prizes from SteelSeries to award the best and most creative artists in our audience. All that you need to do to enter is make us a piece of fanart. Draw (or paint or whatever it is you do) a picture of how you imagine the WoW Insider crew would look in the World of Warcraft. One of us, two of us, many of us, whatever you like. You don't get pictures of us to work off of, just let your imagination do as it will. Are we heroes fighting epic battles? Are we just lowly Stormwind commoners? Are we cute little beasts going on zany adventures?You have from this very moment (Noon of April 7th) until 11:59 PM Eastern on April 20th to send your submission to wowinsidercontests@gmail.com for a chance to win one of the following prizes from SteelSeries:
Steelseries partnering with Best Buy, credits WoW for growth
We've heard before about World of Warcraft strutting up the PC gaming market before, but could this game also be holding up the PC game accessories market? Seems that way for Steelseries -- they're the makers of the WoW mouse that we've mentioned (the one that might not be quite kosher with Blizzard's Terms of Service, use with caution). They've just recently inked a deal with Best Buy to carry some of their products (including the WoW mouse), and World of Warcraft played so much of a part in the deal that CEO Bruce Hawver credited Blizzard's MMO with creating his "high-quality gamers": "The way I used to pick up the phone after school, now, kids log into World of Warcraft and chat... Online gaming might cost $14 to $18 a month – less than a single movie visit for two people."It does follow -- if WoW is one of the only reasons left for people to spend money on PC games, it does seem that it would be one of the only reasons for them to spend money on gaming accessories. High-end mice and keyboards use to be the domain of the FPS player -- guys like Fata1ity pimped their own lines and all the mice bragged about their resolution and ease of use. But the PC market has changed, and MMOs are the game of the day now -- everything is about squeezing function into as many buttons as possible and reaching this 11 million player group roaming around Azeroth. If Steelseries and other accessory manufacturers want to sell their products, they've got to try and sell them to us.
Win an epic Age of Conan system with GameRigs
Funcom and GameRigs are teaming up to bring you the Age of Conan Barbarian Sweepstakes where entrants will have a chance to win over $3000 in prizes. There is no purchase necessary to enter this contest and it is open to any legal resident 17 years of age or older of the 50 United States, District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec). Be sure to read the official rules to ensure your eligibility.First prize includes a pretty sweet gaming rig with an Intel quad-core processor, 2GB of Crucial Ballistic DDR2 RAM, and a NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX+ video card. First place also wins a 24" NEC AccuSync LCD display, a SteelSeries accessory pack (keyboard, zBoard, mouse, and headset), all AoC pre-order items, a 1-year subscription to AoC, a 1-year subscription to Beckett's Massive Online Gamer magazine, and a BradyGames Official Strategy Guide. They will also draw one second place, one third place, and 10 bonus prize winners. Check out the official contest submission page for details of these additional prize packages and enter for your chance to win.
SteelSeries WoW mouse dangerous in no uncertain Terms (of Use)
We had an article here not too long ago about the SteelSeries WoW mouse, purportedly das ubermaus, replete with glowing fissures and lookin' all like a Templar helmet. We actually had kind of a hard time finding out just how the mouse performed -- it was advertised months before it came out, and it doesn't appear that many gamers actually got to use the mouse prior to pre-ordering it and did so based on Blizzard's official licensing of the WoW name on the product.The few that did use it, those that played around with it at BlizzCon, actually reported to us that it felt cheap, flimsy, and about to break. That was a bit disconcerting to read, of course, and it wasn't actually an isolated incident--all of the emails we've received about it thus far have been negative reviews. Folks complained of broken buttons or strange key reassignments with the accompanying software.Now, our sister site Engadget just released their own impressions on the device and they appear to like it, offering a large size, good weight, and robust software among their list of pros.The inconsistency in reviews of the product thus far isn't what really bothers me, though. It's the fact that the mouse is a WoW-licensed product that performs functions that are against Blizzard's policies.
SteelSeries World of Warcraft Mouse equipped for hands-on impressions, +14 agility
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.%Gallery-42824%
Steelseries WoW mouse not so wow-worthy?
Reader Richie mailed us a review of the Steelseries World of Warcraft mouse some time back, but it's gotten to the point where his frustration made him put a post up on his own blog. Some of his major concerns involve the custom software remapping his keys, such as making his character jump when he presses 'M' to bring up the map. He also claims that some of his buttons now stick, instead of springing back into place as they should after a few days of playing. He writes that he's contacted customer service several times and was told that it was "a known issue" and was told to "snap" his buttons.How has your experience with the Steelseries mouse been? Are you one of the lucky Europeans who won one in Blizzard's Holiday giveaway or managed to snag one of these lately? There aren't too many reviews over the web by players who actually play World of Warcraft, so it's interesting to see if Richie's is an isolated case (although a couple of posters on his blog concur with his findings). The mouse doesn't have a driver for the Mac, and Steelseries doesn't seem to be producing one soon, so I haven't popped out the $99.99 (or more expensive 89.99 EUR) for it. After reading Richie's review -- or rant, rather -- I'm not certain I still want to, either.
Blizzard's European A Very Warcraft Christmas Contest
Blizzard's European arm has partnered with Steelseries to offer some cool prizes this Christmas for folks that send in pictures of a World of Warcraft themed Christmas decoration. The contest is only available to a slew of countries in Europe, and there is no indication if there will be a US version of the contest (though I wouldn't be surprised).They're offering some pretty cool prizes from custom WoW keyboards, to gaming mice, to mouse pads. You can browse through our gallery bellow to take a look at what you can win.I'm most interested in the keyboard. I tried one like it at a convention a couple years ago, but never had any extended play time with it. I have to wonder what it would do for my prolific use of macros during raids and groups. Check out after the break for some more contest rules from Blizzard, along with a list of exactly what countries are eligible.Remember, send your entries to Blizzard! Not us!%Gallery-38666%
World of Warcraft mouse available for pre-order
Although we'd heard about the World of Warcraft mouse as early as a month ago, there weren't much details about the reportedly $100 mouse and what made it so remarkably expensive. But tipster Marco wrote in today to point us in the direction of the new SteelSeries World of Warcraft mouse designed exclusively for the game. Although I recently bought a new Razer hoping to improve my PvP, this steeply priced gadget looks so remarkably, temptingly sweet that I just might pre-order one today.Aside from the unique form factor and slick brushed metal enclosure, the $99.99 price tag will give players the ability to make macros with up to 160 characters, a whopping total of fifteen (oh man!) programmable buttons, the ability to drag-and-drop macros, and -- get this -- 16 million illumination choices with 3 intensity and pulsation levels. I have absolutely no idea what that last part means, but it sounds pretty wicked. Probably unnecessary and overboard, but wicked nonetheless.The mouse, the first ever designed purely for playing World of Warcraft, promises to be beneficial to all players regardless of style or level of play. [CLARIFICATION: It probably works for other applications or games, but it's the first mouse designed from the ground up specifically for playing WoW] Looking like the bastard love child of a Worn Turtle Shield and Tim Burton's cocooned 1989 Batmobile, the mouse will start shipping on November 13 -- around the same time as some sort of game expansion, I think. It's all pretty cool, and I'm just about sold despite the stupefying price tag... I've just got one question: will it work on a Mac?
World of Warcraft gaming mouse is extra accurate, expensive
Engadget got the scoop on a new, World of Warcraft-themed gaming mouse from SteelSeries. The mouse has 15 buttons that can be assigned to various actions via an in-game UI plugin provided by the manufacturer. It also eerily glows with a color of your choosing (there are 16 million to pick from, so you won't run out of options any time soon). The mouse will be available November 13th for somewhere under 100 dollars (yeah, so specific!) -- that's the exact same day as the Wrath of the Lich King expansion's release date, of course. We're sure that's totally a coincidence. Yep. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
SteelSeries WoW MMO Gaming Mouse makes wasting your life that much easier
With Wrath of the Lich King just around the corner, it's time to up your game and finally make it out of the low double digits with that Blood Elf mage you keep telling us about. Maybe SteelSeries can help. The high-end gaming peripherals builder recently snapped up Ideazon, and together they've built the official World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse in close cooperation with Ideazon's BFF Blizzard. There are 15 programmable buttons scattered across the mouse, and a new in-game configuration utility to graphically assign the buttons just where they're needed. You can save different profiles for different purposes, and choose one of 16 million colors for those LEDs down the back. Just don't expect any fancy auto-levelling macros or even a recommended control scheme -- Blizzard still expects you to do the hard work of lining up your favorite actions and buying your gold on eBay. The laser mouse hits on November 13th to coincide with the Lich King launch, and should retail "under $100."
SteelSeries and Blizzard partners offer BlizzCon Sweepstakes
A few of Blizzard's partners (including Jinx, Upper Deck, and SteelSeries) have all teamed up to offer you what for many, Blizzard couldn't: two tickets to BlizzCon in October. Yes, in the first of what we're sure will be many contests and sweepstakes for BlizzCon tickets, these guys have set up a giveaway to hook up one lucky winner with passes for two to the event that's a Blizzard fan's dream.All you've got to do to enter is put your info in over on their site -- the Grand Prize winner will pick up an all expenses paid trip to BlizzCon, and ten other winners will get some WoW-related gear from the contest's sponsors (SteelSeries makes the Zboard, and apparently they're releasing one for Wrath, so you might get one of those as well). There is a checklist that you can leave unchecked to supposedly keep the sponsors from contacting you, so even if you don't want your info opt-ed in, it looks like you're in the clear.If you do enter, good luck! (And if you win, we'll see you at BlizzCon!) There are bound to be a few more of these contests showing up before the big event, so even if you don't walk away with a trip from this one, stay tuned.
Hands-on with SteelSeries Ikari mouse and new 7G gaming keyboard
We've been spending some quality time with the high-end gaming products from SteelSeries, and we have to say we're impressed. The Ikari laser mouse they announced last year is particularly great, with a built-in processor and sensitivity settings to allow for a customized and precise sensitivity setting in a plug-and-play setup particularly suited to professional gamers. Settings are easy to work, and the actual sensitivity and response of the mouse easily outclasses our prior mousing experiences.New to the market is the SteelSeries 7G keyboard, which is making its debut on Monday the 5th. The keyboard is fully mechanical, with no-click switches that give it a much stronger, smoother tactile feel, while simultaneously catering to gamers by registering half presses. The keyboard weighs a ton thanks to the heavy-duty iron-infused plastic and the gold electronics, and is quite capable of handling abuse. We grew up typing on heavy-duty keyboards, and this is easily the best one we've used this decade -- though the $150 pricetag also makes it the most expensive outside of the Optimus Maximus.Both of these products are obviously built for pro and casual gamers, but we found a productivity boost in our regular day-to-day blogging operations, which requires large quantities of precise link clicking (how's that for a resume line item?) and rapidly written posts. In addition to these two, SteelSeries is bringing its entire line of Euro-popular gaming peripherals to the States, including headphones and crazily fancy mouse pads.%Gallery-22036%
SteelSeries' new Ikari Professional Gaming Mouse
We've seen a couple interesting gaming mice come out of Leipzig this year, and the SteelSeries Ikari Professional Gaming mouse is right up there with Microsoft's new Sidewinders and Razer's Lachesis. The outer shell is built to accommodate the "three major gaming grips" of "Swipe, Claw, and Palm," and gamers can select their choice of models: a high-res optical version for FPS gamers, or a laser system for RPS and MMO addicts. Both feature switchable DPI settings and five programmable buttons, with a proprietary 500MHz transmitter to reduce any lag or interference. No word on price, but SteelSeries says these'll be out in Q4, so you gamers had better start saving your pennies.[Via IGN]
