The new headset has improved and enlarged speakers (50mm) and for interface, you can choose between the original 3.5mm flavor or the new USB 7.1 surround version. I’d go with the surround, as long as you can turn it off during movies (it can make incompatible audio sound pretty weird).

The big Korean MMO, Aion, is due for release here in North America on September 22. It’s true. What else is true is that SteelSeires has a fancy, new keyboard lined up for the game’s release. Behold!

The full name of the keyboard is the SteelSeries Zboard Limited Edition Aion Keyset. I’m going to assume that a working knowledge of the game would be helpful here, but here’s my best shot. As you’d expect, the keyboard has a whole host of dedicated keys that are related to the in-game world. I spy keys like Inventory, Fold Wings, and Charge.

Eh, you know what, let’s face facts: it’s a keyboard with a frill design and a couple of dedicated keys. If that type of thing interests you, great. If not, then no amount of words would change your opinion.

At the very least the keyboard is inexpensive, coming in at only $19.99. There’s even a matching mouse pad, and that’s only $14.99.

The new Xai laser mouse isn’t your standard Dell OEM. This baby is designed for some serious gaming. The mouse processes 12,000 frames a second at 5,001 CPI – I’m assuming that’s some high-end stuff there. The mouse even has an LCD embedded on the underside where users can customise the tracking speed and sensitivity without the need to install any programs or drivers.

The Xai is a full size ambidextrous mouse, but some folks like their mice smaller. SteelSeries is out the Kinzu mouse which is based on the same shape as the Xai, but is 7% smaller. This guy processes at 9,375 frames/second at 3,200 CPI.

Lastly SteelSeries has a new gaming surface called the 9HD. From the presser,

The finely textured surface consists of tens-of-thousands of light reflecting microscopic points, enabling the user to perform exceptionally precise mouse operations, including minimal movements as well as high velocity “slingshots.”

Enough said.

The trio will be available in August for $79, $34, and $34, respectively.

Here’s what the pros are saying about the mice. Enjoy.

SteelSeries Unveils New Blizzard Entertainment® Co-Branded StarCraft® II Gaming Surfaces

StarCraft® II QcK Limited Edition Mousepads Provide an Optimized Textured Surface for Smoothness and Glide During Game Play

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Today, SteelSeries, a leading manufacturer of game peripherals and accessories, unveiled a new line of gaming surfaces featuring art from Blizzard Entertainment’s highly anticipated StarCraft® II. The QcK Limited Edition Terran Marine and Kerrigan vs. Zeratul editions are designed with a non-slip rubber base which prevents the pads from sliding, no matter what surface the mousepad is placed on, and is optimized for optical and laser technology providing an overall more reliable gaming experience.

“StarCraft and its expansion have together sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, and we believe StarCraft II will prove equally influential and popular, making this a great opportunity to provide gamers with surfaces that help to improve performance and game play,” said Brian Stech, SteelSeries President of the Americas. “We are incredibly excited to have an opportunity to continue our partnership with the designers from Blizzard Entertainment and develop surfaces that we know StarCraft players will enjoy.”

The SteelSeries QcK Limited Edition Terran Marine and Kerrigan vs. Zeratul gaming surfaces are made of high quality cloth material and optimized textured surface which guarantees both smoothness and glide. The special surface graphic on each mousepad depicts characters from the upcoming StarCraft II, which will pick up where the events of StarCraft: Brood War left off, following familiar characters and new heroes through the next chapter of the series’ epic story.

The gaming surfaces will be available in July 2009 and will be sold for $14.99 from GameStop and Amazon.

SteelSeries, the professsional gamer-oriented hardware makers, have been biding their time lately, but their marketing VP Kim Ron took an hour out of his day to talk to CG about what they’re planning, their philosophy, and all that good stuff. One thing we discussed was how in the recession economy, support for things like gaming tournaments and professional gamer teams is dropping: their natural habitat, the LAN party, is shrinking as the great funding springs dry up.

SteelSeries can’t stand to see this majestic species of gamer die out (especially considering they’re their target demographic) so they’re doing their part: buy one of their (sweet) mousepads branded with major team graphics, and a portion of your purchase will go to restoring and preserving the once-mighty herds of pro gamers. They’re not quite available yet, but we’ll keep an eye out and update when they are.

The mousepads (or gaming mats, as I believe they’re called properly) are a bit big for me… well, I won’t lie, they’re enormous. But some people like that, and they’re so beautifully printed that you could mount them on the wall. The Meet Your Makers one (above) in particular is striking colorwise and very detailed. Maybe I’ll get one and scissor it down to size. I’ll have a few to give away soon so you’ll see for yourself.

Kim, an avid gamer himself (and old school like me, we agree that the first Tribes is one of the greatest games of all time), has really shown his dedication to the pro gamer world with all the sponsorships and events dedicated to that purpose. Many in the US still scoff at pro gaming, or are only exposed to fatuous peacocks like Fatal1ty and other proto-celebrities, but elsewhere in the world — Europe and East Asia primarily — pro gaming is not only serious sport, but serious business. The enormous success and widespread coverage of pro Starcraft in South Korea is one important data point for seeing just how big this stuff can be. With gaming increasing in stature next to other media (and somewhat recession-resistant), it’s practically inevitable that this stuff will blow up, and serious money going into advertising in online games or game services and sites like BringIt and UGame.

I’m sure the guys in the teams SteelSeries are sponsoring will be glad for the boost, but we’re nearing a watershed point in US gaming history where games will become truly mainstream pop culture; as it is, they’re sort of a major but parallel culture, still talked around in polite conversation as if it didn’t exist except in ads — like impotence (not that us virile bloggers know anything about it, of course). Hopefully soon that taboo will be lifted, and pro gamers will flourish again.

SteelSeries also mentioned a few interesting little hardware tidbits that are coming our way soon, but it’s all very secret and I don’t want to spoil their fun. Rest assured CG will have that stuff as soon as it hits the street — or maybe a tiny bit before.

The thing about reviewing mice is that you’re actually looking at two separate entities. Yes, you’re looking at the mouse itself, the hardware, but you’re also simultaneously taking into account the software that powers it, the drivers. A mouse without adequate drivers might as well not exist. And as I’ve said this week, SteelSeries hasn’t yet released Mac OS X drivers for its World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse, forcing me to instead rely upon ControllerMate, a $15 application that breathes life into the mouse on OS X. Without ControllerMate, this review would have been delayed by some time.

With that out of the way, let’s take a closer look at the girl.

The $99 mouse, officially the SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse, is, as the name implies, designed for Wow (and other MMO) players. There’s a total of 15 buttons present, the mouse’s flashiest attribute, and each one can be programmed and re-programmed to your heart’s content. There’s seven buttons on the top, six on the left and two on the right. (The photo gallery, which took me an awful long time to shoot, shows the exact location and shape of the buttons). The default setup has the buttons controlling the following functions: left click; right click; dismount; bring up the battle map (or mini map); character; assist target; focus; bring up the world map; bring up the character screen (“C”); autorun; select last hostile; stop all; nearest enemy; win button 5; and win button 4. The scroll wheel zooms in and out, as you might expect. But, again, you’re encouraged to re-map the buttons to your own personal playing style.

The mouse also has built-in LEDs that can change color, as this video shows. Nothing more than mere eye candy, I suppose.

So that’s the laundry list out of the way.

A little on the big side, the mouse may take some getting used to if your current mouse is a small one. (I use the smallish Logitech G5 as both my gaming and everyday mouse.) I guess I have tiny, feminine hands—tee hee—but I felt like I had to stretch to reach the left D-Pad thing. Then again, I’m not used to using my thumb as a primary component of my mousing, so maybe this little hiccup is more a result of my own incompetence than anything else.

Despite the size, all the buttons and crazy flashing lights, the mouse is a light one, even though, as a matter of fact, I don’t mind a heavier mouse. (I use several of the Logitech G5 weights to give it some girth.) Moving it around my mousepad takes no effort. You’re not saying, “Man, this mouse is annoyingly heavy,” in other words. The two little fins, or whatever you want to call them, along both sides seem awkward—what purpose do they serve? They’re just sorta there, not in the way or anything, but it gives the mouse a strange look, like an attractive girl wearing a stupid hat.

The buttons do as they’re told, which is the highest praise that can be expected. Using ConrollerMate, eventually, I was able to tool around Shattrath City and Outland all the more efficiently. No more having to take my hand off the mouse just to dismount my Death Knight’s mount, no more having to shift my finger all the way over to the M key just to bring up the map. That type of thing matters to WoW players. Now, I used the word “eventually” a few words ago, which is an allusion to how long it took to figure out how to use ControllerMate. It’s a truly powerful piece of software, but one with an immense learning curve. Configuring SteerMouse and USB Overdrive is much easier. Too bad neither of those work with the mouse.

So that’s about it. SteelSeries has succeeded in creating a mouse that doesn’t suck, and should be commended for it. While not exclusively for WoW (or other MMO) players, I can’t imagine too many other people who need 15 buttons at their disposal. So if you are a WoW you shouldn’t be disappointed

Oh, also! Included in the packaging is a WoW trading card and an offer for a free WoW t-shirt from Jinx.com.

http://www.gamingstore.de/en/shop/index.php?warenkorb_id=54886&domain_id=1&als_liste=&tab_id=&detail=true&produkt_id=332&kategorie_id0=2

An update to the ongoing Steelseries Word of Warcraft saga. As you know, there’s no Mac drivers for the mouse thus far, but one of our readers, Jim Krenz, pointed me in the direction of ControllerMate, a $15 application/driver/thing that lets you use the mouse as intended. I bought it late last night, and after about an hour of trying to figure out how to use it, got the mouse up and running.

The above video shows off the neat but useless ability to change the LEDs of the mouse.

A full, proper review is on the way. Give one or two more days with the mouse before I give y’all my final report.

Attention, Mac World of Warcraft players. You may want to consider holding off on buying that SteelSeries MMO mouse till January, since that’s when the company plans to the release Mac drivers, as I just learned. Without those drivers, those 15 buttons are useless. Well, like three of them work when using SteerMouse, a fancy third-party Mac mouse driver, but that’s not exactly ideal.

I have the mouse sitting on my desk right now, but without Mac drivers I have to use my underpowered MacBook just to try it out under Windows.

Just a heads up to my fellow World of Warcraft players, especially those of you who use a Mac. You know that SteelSeries MMO Gaming Mouse that came out a few days ago? It doesn’t ship with Mac drivers, meaning that you’re not able to use all 15 buttons as intended. (That’s even when using fancy, multi-button mouse drivers like SteerMouse.)

In other words, the mouse isn’t nearly as useful to Mac users right now as it is to Windows users. (Windows users can download the drivers from Steelseries’ Web site.) Mac drivers are said to be on the way, but we’re looking at around one month from the mouse’s release till the drivers are released.

Meanwhile, I have to install Wow on my Bootbamped MacBook just to be able to use it properly for the review I’m working on. Shouldn’t be more than a few days till that “drops,” though.

They worked with Blizzard and designed the mouse around the idea that it’s practically a replacement for your keyboard; all your spells and shortcuts are there for most things, and you can switch profiles or customize super easily so you’re not always in battle mode or all-purpose mode. It’s also kind of cool-looking, which I didn’t expect, and it can be illuminated in pretty much any color you can think of. I don’t play WoW but I’ve seen enough of it to know that this thing might actually be useful. I have a feeling Nicholas will be checking this one out.

If you’re looking for a new pair of cans, look for some in the upcoming flurry of reviews (including some SteelSeries stuff), but I can tell you right now that the Siberias are a solid buy.

There’s also a lot of empty space here so I’m going to fill it.

With text.

That’s probably enough.

Since SteelSeries took over Ideazon, they’ve assumed control of the zBoard brand, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they put out something completely separate soon.

The full release:

SteelSeries Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Keyset Brings Gamers Closer to the Action

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, SteelSeries, today announced the release of the Warhammer® Online: Age of Reckoning™ Limited Edition Keyset for SteelSeries Zboard™. Designed specifically for the highly anticipated Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning PC game by Mythic Entertainment™, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS), the keyset will immerse gamers in a rich and chaotic fantasy world where the armies of Order and Destruction battle for survival.

Working closely with Mythic Entertainment, SteelSeries has developed a custom Warhammer Online keyset with dedicated short-cut keys and beautiful game graphics that will enable quick mastery of the game, increase the users’ actions per minute (APM) and deliver unparalleled levels of immersion.

“Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning is one of the most anticipated MMO’s in 2008,” said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. “SteelSeries is thrilled to be working with Mythic Entertainment in creating a keyset for the SteelSeries Zboard designed specifically to bring more realism and ease-of-use to Warhammer Online fans everywhere.”

“This Limited Edition Keyset is a valuable offering for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning gamers,” said Jeff Hickman, Executive Producer for Mythic Entertainment. “Our collaboration with SteelSeries makes it easy for players to immerse themselves in the game, and to bring their performance to new heights.”

The Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Limited Edition Keyset for SteelSeries Zboard gives gamers:

* An intuitive layout for faster reflexes in battle;
* 16 dedicated keys for commonly used chat, group and social commands;
* 12 popular single-press emote keys including Shout, Brandish, Mad and Laugh; and,
* Immersion in the epic war with official game graphics

With every purchase of the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Limited Edition Keyset, gamers receive a bonus in-game item – Kemmler’s Arthritic Hand. When used, this exclusive item will temporarily increase a character’s action point regeneration rate.

The Zboard Gaming Keyboard also comes equipped with gaming terrain and tactical features, including:

* Instant remapping capabilities;
* Gaming Keyset including integrated gaming terrain
* Standard Keyset with Windows and Internet Explorer commands labeled on keys; and,
* USB base with two extra USB peripheral ports.

Also available is the Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning FragMat with official game graphics for a retail price of $14.99 USD. The Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Limited Edition Keyset retails for $19.99 USD and will be available at game launch; the SteelSeries Zboard retails for $49.99 USD and is available now at all major gaming retailers and etailers.

The video’s a little longer than the others because I… I mean you love hearing my voice.
It’s another one! For our fourth mouse in the glorious Mouse Review Week here at CrunchGear, it’s the SteelSeries Ikari laser mouse. Sounds serious! We’ve already handled mice for the large-handed and small-handed — will this be the one for the rest of us? Let’s find out. Death from above, text from below! I mean video from above.

I’m using SteelSeries’ own pictures at the moment because I left my flash drive with the pictures at home. I’ll update it later with my own shots.

So — SteelSeries’ flagship mouse. SteelSeries likes to talk about their gear as if secrets of design have been passed down generation to generation. They certainly had the right idea with the 7G keyboard, but as we’ll see with the Ikari, it’s a mixed bag.

The mouse is well-put together, although it looks more tanklike than it really is. It’s in fact pretty light; I expected it to be of the same mold as the heavyset 7G keyboard, but it isn’t, for better or worse. It is however still of excellent build quality.

The shape of the mouse is such that it is meant to accommodate a hand at rest, which isn’t the way I grip my mouse but certainly is a legitimate grip once you get used to it. The thumb buttons are very well-placed, although the sensitivity button is a bit out of the way, probably intentionally. It’ll switch you between user-set high and low sensitivity settings, and you can change it in the mouse as well by holding down the button and then scrolling to adjust the DPI. A niche capability but a cool one.

Installing the mouse was incredibly fast and easy (no restart). Configuring is simple, although it would have been nice to just have a list of common functions (back, forward, double click) instead of just the macro option. I understand their target demographic is not people who need the easy way out, but it might be nice just for quick switches. There’s a spot for changing the amount the mouse smooths your motions (remember in the Avatar it did it too much) but from what I can tell it didn’t affect anything much, if at all. And that brings us to the Ikari’s biggest problem: its wonky tracking.

When doing large movements I found the Ikari to move naturally and go where I thought it would go — to the region of an icon or button or enemy, whatever. But any kind of medium-or-small-sized, controlled movements get messed up. You’ll end up where you want to be, but that cursor is going to take a few detours along the way. A little up, a little down, maybe a little zig or zag in there — I couldn’t make it go in a straight line to save my life. I double checked for competing mouse drivers, switched up native sensitivity, changed the DPI, changed the mouse pad to a SteelSeries one, nothing I did could make it stop wiggling. And then there was the telltale wobble of the cursor when at rest, continually appearing on screen during a movie that hides the mouse when not in use. Changing the DPI had no effect on the Ikari’s nervous jitter.

The Ikari is well-built, fits my hand well, has nicely-placed buttons and a few handy features. But when it came down to it, I couldn’t use the mouse for what I needed to do. Editing video review in Premiere was a battle against the mouse’s lack of precision during small movements where every pixel counts. I’m hoping this issue can be fixed because otherwise it’s a really great mouse. If they release a revision with a less finicky sensor, I’d recommend it without hesitation, but unless you feel a real affinity for this thing after trying it out, I’d caution you against getting one for now.

The Siberia set was designed for both gaming and MP3 players. First thing you’ll notice is the clean high-quality open design. The headset is built using a minimal amount of materials supporting an overall light comfortable feel. Other full-size headsets can get uncomfortable after extended use, but not these. The headset is of the open air type, so if you’re looking for complete sound isolation then look elsewhere.



The set has a short (1.0 m) 3.5mm cord for use with portable MP3 players. SteelSeries provides an additional 1.8 m cord for use with your existing sound card, which includes a unidirectional microphone with an on off switch and separate volume control (pictured). Also included in the box is a 3.5mm – 6.3mm adapter for your stereo and a microphone mount for your PC. It is available in both white and black.

Sound quality is good; bass is not overbearing, treble response is crisp – maybe too crisp. The volume on this set can get loud with little distortion! Overall a good full size gaming set you can take with you.

The headphones themselves are… well, you’ll find out soon, I’m going to be posting a review shortly.

As an avid consumer of such accessories and peripherals, I’m glad this is happening; I know the 7G was intended to be just as straightforward as it was, but maybe a little zazz thrown in from the Ideazon side might have made it pop a little more. I’ll stay in contact with them and see what kind of new gear they come up with.

Since the most I ever do with my mouse is scroll up and down looking at dolphin porn, I don’t consider myself the best judge of a high-end gaming mouse from Steelseries. The Ikari has a bunch of insane settings including CPI modification, high sample rate, and built-in macros. It’s basically designed for the people who shoot me in the head whenever I try to play Counter-Strike online.

That said, one lucky commenter who can convince me that they’re worthy of this mouse will receive it to review and keep. All we ask is that you write a review in BFF when you’ve played with it for a while. Comment away, gamers, and become a CrunchGear Citizen Reviewer (TM) (R) (:P).

UPDATE – The winner is DrStrangelove:

Let me start by saying that I’m not a FPS person. Having me play Counter-Strike is like having Michael Vick watch your dogs for the weekend while you’re away; it’s a poor life decision. I’m an RTS guy – mostly gems like StarCraft in it’s pixilated glory.

Two months ago my mouse bit the dust. Since then I haven’t had much in the way of disposable income, so I’ve had to resort to using the track pad and little red dot in the middle of my ThinkPad’s keyboard… I could have stopped purchasing food to buy a new mouse, but eating is easily my second favorite pastime. This is no way to live, I tell you! Not only is it damn near impossible to effectively play any sort of game on my computer, but now I can no longer partake in my favorite pastime of getting hammered with my roommates and playing Portal separately, seeing who can go the longest without throwing up…

We at CG support drunk gaming wholeheartedly.

This will be a shorter review than the others because this keyboard is really incredibly straightforward. Its layout is almost completely normal and it has no visual flair to speak of short of the built-in wrist rest that gives it a sort of, well, enormous look. It’s removable (it’s not really even attached) and I can really go either way. I prefer a gel wrist rest but the SteelSeries one is at least more substantial than Razer’s, if not quite as cool-looking.

So what does this thing have other than a bunch of keys? Well, first let me talk about the keys some more. They have a big, chunky feel to them and the depression is pretty deep. It’s described as “no-click” but that just means it doesn’t have an intentional click. It’s actually quite loud, so don’t buy this for undercover work. I feel that I end up pushing on the corner of the space bar because of how tall it is, but that could just be a personal problem. I haven’t had any problems at all with keys sticking or responding slowly.

Good for two-player SNES emulation in a pinch
SteelSeries is proud of this keyboard having every single key separately detectable — that is to say, like buttons on a controller, no matter how many you press down, it will always detect them. Most keyboards use a simple method of key-down detection that results in no more than two being pressable at a time. This only becomes a problem at critical times, so it’s not something you usually notice. No, it’s only when you’re trying to strafe diagonally, jump, and hit reload all at the same time that your keyboard doesn’t respond and you end up dead. Best avoid the possibility entirely, right? Well, SteelSeries certainly thinks so. You have to connect it through PS/2 to make this possible, so keep that in mind.

Also, just to put the idea into your head: Secret of Mana with all three players on one keyboard? Now that’s a party.

Port side
The keyboard also has the requisite (and handy) headphone, microphone, and USB ports on the back left side. I’ve been using them all and they work perfectly.

Media control comprimise
The media keys are the only departure from a regular key layout. Instead of a left Windows key, you have a SteelSeries logo. Press that and keys F1 through F6 become media control buttons. Mute, volume, play/pause, forward and back — again, very straightforward. At first they didn’t work for me, but I determined it was trouble with my Winamp. Note to others: enable global hotkeys, or whatever similar setting there may be in your player. No actual configuration of the keyboard is necessary — indeed, it comes with no software at all and requires none. How refreshing! That means it has full functionality wherever you bring it.

There is a problem with the media keys as they are set up, though. While I don’t mind the use of a modifier key to make them happen (cuts down on clutter), the way it’s set up is inconvenient for your hands. You can’t do it with just your left hand without interfering with your right, and vice versa. And if you use both, it’s a whole other operation. While using the F-keys is a natural solution and allows for track navigation without looking, it also makes things a little bit harder since those keys are out of the way for a reason. It’s not much of a problem but it’s worth mentioning.

I doubt, however, whether you’ll be bringing it anywhere. It’s quite heavy and although it seems very durable, it’s not really set up for travel. No, this is your home keyboard that will remain functional for the next 5 years, no problem.

CrunchGear’s recommendation
This is a premium keyboard, and you’re paying a premium price. What makes it premium, you ask? It’s a bit like the difference between a regular flashlight and a Maglite. Sure, the flashlight lights up and you can see stuff in the dark, but the Maglite does that and it’s also solid enough to deflect a bullet or be used as a bludgeoning tool. It’s not likely you’re going to need that capability, but it feels good to know it’s there. The feel of this keyboard is the same feel I get from a Maglite, or a hard pair of workboots, or a canvas backpack you know will never die. If you’re okay not having gimmicks like LCD screens, dials, and touch-sensitive buttons, all of which are very breakable, then this is probably the last keyboard you’re ever going to have to buy. But the fact is that few people can justify spending $150 on a keyboard at all, less still for one with as basic functionality as this one. It’s probably $150 worth of sturdy, but it’s up to you to decide whether that’s what you want in a keyboard.

Note: Now, I’m also withholding judgment for a minute until I get my hands on the Das Keyboard; after all, they’re in the same category and we’ll see whether one is demonstrably superior. Find out tomorrow.