Peripherals specialist SteelSeries has announced a new mouse, the Rival 500, which it claims is designed from the ground-up to be the 'world's first MOBA/MMO optical gaming mouse designed around natural hand movements.'
The SteelSeries Rival 500, is, according to its creators, a unique beast. 'The Rival 500 is the first true multi-button gaming mouse engineered to maximise gaming efficiency, while keeping the gamers movement and comfort in mind,' boasted Ehtisham Rabbani, SteelSeries' chief executive, at the launch. 'We created a MOBA/MMO [Multiplayer Online Battle Arena/Massively Multiplayer Online] mouse that fits your hand and not the other way around.'
Quiet on exactly what 'the other way around' would be - presumably it involves designing a hand that fits a mouse - SteelSeries' claims for the design run long. According to the company the mouse 'reimagines the traditional multi-button grid layout by incorporating natural hand movements into the design' and is 'engineered for comfort and performance.' Specifically, the Rival 500 replaces the grid-format side buttons common to MMO-themed mice with what the company calls a 'next-gen side-button layout' designed to make identifying the button of choice, clicking it, and setting up combinations as quick as possible.
The new layout uses 'flick-down' switches: the user's thumb rests in a central portion from which it can flick up, down, backwards, or forwards to press any of five buttons arrayed around the edge, without lifting from its home position and without having to push down to 'click' the buttons, plus a sixth button found under the ball of the thumb. In total, the mouse features 15 buttons including a button-lock on the underside which disables the side-mounted 'flick-down' switches if required.
The Rival 500 is available now from SteelSeries' official website, priced at €89.99 (around £76).
The SteelSeries Rival 500, is, according to its creators, a unique beast. 'The Rival 500 is the first true multi-button gaming mouse engineered to maximise gaming efficiency, while keeping the gamers movement and comfort in mind,' boasted Ehtisham Rabbani, SteelSeries' chief executive, at the launch. 'We created a MOBA/MMO [Multiplayer Online Battle Arena/Massively Multiplayer Online] mouse that fits your hand and not the other way around.'
Quiet on exactly what 'the other way around' would be - presumably it involves designing a hand that fits a mouse - SteelSeries' claims for the design run long. According to the company the mouse 'reimagines the traditional multi-button grid layout by incorporating natural hand movements into the design' and is 'engineered for comfort and performance.' Specifically, the Rival 500 replaces the grid-format side buttons common to MMO-themed mice with what the company calls a 'next-gen side-button layout' designed to make identifying the button of choice, clicking it, and setting up combinations as quick as possible.
The new layout uses 'flick-down' switches: the user's thumb rests in a central portion from which it can flick up, down, backwards, or forwards to press any of five buttons arrayed around the edge, without lifting from its home position and without having to push down to 'click' the buttons, plus a sixth button found under the ball of the thumb. In total, the mouse features 15 buttons including a button-lock on the underside which disables the side-mounted 'flick-down' switches if required.
The Rival 500 is available now from SteelSeries' official website, priced at €89.99 (around £76).
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