Steelseries partnering with Best Buy, credits WoW for growth
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 18th 2009 at 2:00PM
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.
Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Add-Ons, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
peagle Feb 18th 2009 2:05PM
"Strutting up"?
Is that a euphemism for something untoward?
Mike Schramm Feb 18th 2009 6:37PM
Like, holding up? With a strut?
I may very possibly have made that term up. But it makes sense to me. :)
niko Feb 18th 2009 2:10PM
.... huh?
MMO's are certainly a chunk of the market, but there are still a myriad of other genres that make up the PC gaming world. I'm not all that sure that FPS's have been overrun by MMO's just yet.
anyone got any stats on this?
Murgrum Feb 18th 2009 2:19PM
Steelseries should credit WoW, the trademark is only thing keeping them afloat their products are cheap. I have tested the mouse, it has too many poorly placed buttons and is uncomfortable for extended play. It can't be used for an FPS because it is too bulky.
Usul Feb 18th 2009 2:30PM
More than this, the buttons can only be bound to macros, or single keystrokes.
Most gamers wouldn't have minded a mouse you could bind Ctrl+Alt+Shift+` to, because we'd never use it. But the WoW MMO Mouse didn't allow for modifiers in its software.
Even worse, its "macroes" were just keystrokes...typed....in...to...the...active....window.
Let me reinforce this point. Using their "Dismount" macro would open your WoW command line and type / d i s m o u n t.
I purchased this mouse hoping that it would not only allow me to use this for gaming, but I could bind the keys to other programs like Photoshop. When I saw the tragedy that is their software, a part of me died inside. I returned it immediately.
This mouse was a fantastic idea that died a horrible stillbirth. I anticipate many true gamers would feel the same way when they realize its shortcomings.
Tumleren Feb 18th 2009 3:36PM
"their products are cheap"
I wouldn't call Steelseries products generally "cheap" (in quality). They usually sell mid to high-end stuff that gets acclaim from critics.
They were way off on the WoW-mouse though, I'll give you that
Jennifer Feb 18th 2009 3:43PM
@Usul
I agree wholeheartedly. I reviewed this mouse on my blog and posted a video of its "macros" in action here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uj5GVBFXlK4
Think of it this way...
You're doing arenas, and your mage sheeps a target you were just attacking. You hit the factory-default "stopattack" macro and you get the following text typed for you (by the mouse) into your chat window:
/stopattack
Well, what if you were strafing around at the same time (since, after all, it is PvP)...
/stoqqqqqqpqqqaqqqqttack
Is that useful?
Is that "specially designed for World of Warcraft"?
...or is that just a cheap plastic mouse with glowy bits and shiny fake "steel" with a WoW logo on it?
Blog post: http://www.wemultibox.com/blogs/vyndree/steelseries-world-warcraft-mmo-mouse
censorman Feb 20th 2009 1:45PM
I own the mouse and have used it for almost a month now. I didn't have a problem with the button placement, but I'm also using the FANG and a G5, so I'm used to juggling lots of buttons.
As for the software support. THAT is their failure. There is a HUGE bug where its not possible to use the right mouse button with two other buttons (turn camera, move, and shift druid forms for example).
At $100, I recommend people hold off until this issue is patched. The G5 with 9 buttons is almost as sexy.
qann Feb 18th 2009 2:19PM
It's time for Blizzard to start licensing junk food.
Murloc flavored Doritos! Arcane Mountain Dew! Tuskarr Slim Jims!
dawnseven Feb 18th 2009 2:31PM
LOL
Raid night Boulderfist Hot Pocket and Arcane Mountain Dew anyone?
msingletary Feb 18th 2009 2:31PM
Blizzard advertises and sells the WoW mouse in their online store. I'd take that as a pretty good sign that it's compliant with their terms of service:
http://www.blizzard.com/store/details.xml?id=1100000363
Tazerface Feb 18th 2009 2:41PM
you totally missed that article way back when then.
http://www.wowinsider.com/2009/01/24/steelseries-wow-mouse-dangerous-in-no-uncertain-terms-of-use/
Jennifer Feb 18th 2009 3:49PM
From the WoW Mouse's user manual, found on the steelseries website:
"1. Timing Control
Text (Auto Delay) - This option is selected by default and is designed to optimize the delays for proper in-game performance. If you are not sure what option to use - simply leave this option on.
Record Delay - When selected, it will record the delays in real time reflecting your typing speed when creating a macro. This option is useful when you need precise real-life timing for some advance macros.
No Delay - "...
And...
"2. Looping You can loop the macro by enabling the Loop check-box and specifying the number of repetitions."
Compare to a Blue post on timers and delays:
"Multiple key presses/uses of abilities from a single command, spoken or typed? Not okay.
Inserting pauses? Not okay. " -GM Malkorix, http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=5720292152&pageNo=2&sid=1#25
"Just make absolutely certain that you're not making more than one keypress (for the purposes of the word 'keypress' this includes a single key press AND release with no delays), or including delays between key-presses with each action." -GM Malkorix, http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=8765637958&pageNo=1&sid=1#8
More blue posts: http://dual-boxing.com/wiki/index.php/GM_Conversations#Regarding_Delays_.26_Timers_in_out-of-game_Macros
Mochon Feb 18th 2009 3:16PM
Too bad the WoW mouse is not only a horrible piece of hardware, but the software they used sucks too. The only reason that thing sold as well as it did was because it had a WoW logo slapped on it. I bought one, I won't make this mistake again.
Quickshiv Feb 18th 2009 4:17PM
With luck other high end device manufacturers have taken note of the demand for this type of device and will start releasing their own products. I would love to see a high button count mouse from logitec or razer. I don't want any macro support just the ability to emulate key presses with modifiers like ctrl+f1 etc and lots of buttons.
ss Feb 19th 2009 12:47PM
for that hefty price tag, they couldn't have made it wireless?
Syke Stryker Mar 16th 2009 6:14PM
I've not purchased one of these mice but the new company SteelSeries is horrible and most of there products will not work with vista cuz of the .NET update. After a few days I realized that they only have 1 person for customer service which is the saddest bunch of bullshit I've ever herd of.... next to Blizzard thinking of having Uwe Bowl direct there WoW movie.. seriously Blizz needs to work with better ppl/companies (FYI they thankfully didn't go with Uwe Bowl)