Posts with tag steelseries

Not only is BlizzCon a great place to get the latest news straight from Blizzard's mouth about Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo, but all of the exhibitors and vendors are showing off their official merchandise and some of the new stuff coming out soon. Being the interface guy around here, the powers that be thought it would be nice if I checked out some of the vendors showcasing their interface products -- mice, keyboards and more. There is a lot of exciting stuff to show.

On Day 1 of BlizzCon 2010, I got to run over to the Steelseries booth and meet with Philippe and Kim, both awesome designers who gave me the grand tour and showed off their products -- and, to my great interest, their design philosophies for their hardware.

Because it's always good to have options, not long after the last week's announcements of special and epic edition mice, Steelseries reveals its own entry into the MMO gaming mouse arena with the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse. The product name is a mouthful, but it has equally hefty features, which are nearly identical to the original Steelseries World of Warcraft gaming mouse. It has 14 buttons -- one less than the original -- that can be configured in game without the use of any addons, 16 million colors and four levels of intensity and pulsation, support for up to 10 profiles that are linked directly to the armory, and it appears to sport a better, more ergonomic form factor and surface texture than its predecessor.

The World of Warcraft: Cataclysm MMO gaming mouse is compatible with both Windows PCs and Macs, with software that supports drag-and-drop functionality that can be used to program the mouse buttons with 130 preset game commands. The 10 profiles stored in the mouse's on-board memory can be configured with their own macros and commands as well as personalized illumination schemes. There's no estimated ship date or pricing yet, but players interested in an official Cataclysm-themed mouse developed in conjunction with Blizzard can sign up to be notified over at the Steelseries website.

Steelseries and J!NX have teamed up to give away some loot over the next three weeks -- hardware from Steelseries and some outer wear from J!NX, as well as other pretty cool stuff. The contest is open to Facebook users, who will be eligible to win one of six loot packs to be given away. Two loot packs will be given away each week, and each pack consists of the following:

• 1 SteelSeries World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse
• 1 SteelSeries March of the Scourge QcK Mouse Pad
• 1 SteelSeries Zboard Wrath of the Lich King Gaming Keyboard
• 1 J!NX Talking Murloc Plush Toy
• 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Hoodie
• 1 J!NX Frost Resistance Hoodie
• 1 J!NX Green Linen Shirt
• 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Shirt
• 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Wallet
• 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Cut out Sticker
• 1 J!NX Horde or Alliance Keychain

The first week simply asks Facebook users to 'like' or become fans on both the Steelseries and J!NX Facebook pages, with two winners to be determined randomly on May 5, 2010. The second week will require Facebook users to flex their social networking muscles a little bit as contestants are asked to post a screenshot of their favorite person, place, or activity in Azeroth on the J!NX Facebook page and garner as many "likes" for their entry until May 12. The screenshot with the most "likes" will win one loot pack, while a panel of judges from J!NX and Steelseries will determine who wins the second pack.

The third week is a similar exercise in social network popularity, but contestants are asked to submit a video of an in-game dance party on the Steelseries fan page. As with the week before it, the video that ends up with the most "likes" at the end of the period, May 19, will win one loot pack. J!NX and Steelseries will select the winner of the second loot bag. If you're not averse to the whole social network experience, this promotion seems like a relatively painless way to try and score some cool swag.

For the final give away of WoW.com's 12 Days of Winter Veil contests we thought we'd end big. How big? With a pack of four Steelseries gaming accessories worth $275. It includes one of each:

• World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse
• World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Mousepad
• World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lick King Z-board
• Steelseries Siberia v2 Full Size Headset

The contest is open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), and everyone who enters must be 18 or older. To enter, leave a comment on this post before 11:59pm ET Sunday, January 3, 2010. Please be sure to use a real email that you check often to enter, so we can contact you should you be the winner. You may enter only once and one winner will be selected randomly. That winner will receive 1 World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse, 1 World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King Mousepad, 1 World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lick King Z-board and 1 Steelseries Siberia v2 Full Size Headset with a retail value of US$275. Click here to read the official contest rules.

EDIT: Contest closed. Thanks everyone!

If you're a resident of the United States, Canada, or New Zealand, kindly whack yourself on the head as a show of solidarity for other players who don't qualify for the World of Warcraft Five Year Anniversary Sweepstakes. If you are a resident of the aforementioned countries or are some Asian or European or Other-Unqualified-Country-an willing to subject themselves to a little geek envy, then read on. Our favorite game turns five this November 23, 2009, and to celebrate, Blizzard is giving away a whole bunch of swag every week for the next four weeks.

Essentially, as long as you're a player whose account is active when they pull your name out of a kodo-skin hat and hasn't gotten into trouble for breaking the EULA, you're automatically entered in the sweepstakes. Players qualify for certain prizes depending on how long they've been playing the game. Check out the list of prizes and player eligibility after the jump.

Long after its initial release, which saw the mouse come under fire for its dubious EULA-breaking built-in functionality, WoWVault at IGN reports that the Steelseries World of Warcraft mouse has received a functional upgrade in that players can now "bind all 15 buttons without leaving the game." Patch 3.2.2 introduced a new interface for the mouse, which allows for the creation and customization of macros and key bindings from within the game, and assigned to different character profiles. The game now recognizes the mouse buttons as completely new and unique buttons, adding more buttons to augment players' normal keyboard buttons.

This should make the mouse completely usable out of the box for all players without fear of breaking the game's end-user policies, as opposed to how it was when it first shipped as it took advantage of disallowed automated and timed scripts. The Steelseries website notes that players can "achieve faster response time(s) by customizing (their) mouse setup in-game and thereby removing a layer of software." It was this "layer of software" outside the game that delivered commands to the mouse and conflicted with the game's policies. So fear not, players! The Steelseries WoW mouse is now completely EULA-compliant! I mean, it still kind of looks like a robotic turtle, but at least it won't get you banned from the game anymore.

One of the highlights of the past two BlizzCons for me is our annual reader meetup -- every Thursday evening before the show starts, we usually invite you all out to mingle and chat with us so we can all party in expectation of all the fun stuff we'll see at the show. This year will be no exception, though the meetup is definitely bigger and better than ever. As we've previously announced, we'll be at the Anabella Hotel in the Tangerine Patio, and the event will kick off this Thursday, August 20th at 7:30pm Pacific. If you're going to BlizzCon or if you're just in LA and want to come see us, feel free to come by. There's no charge to come in (the kitchen will be open for business and there will be a cash bar), but we are asking that everyone in attendance be 18+ or accompanied by a parent.

And of course, many of our writers and editors will be there live for you to meet, as well as many other WoW.com friends and partners from the WoW community. And oh yeah, did we mention the giveaways yet? Our very good friends at Upper Deck, Steelseries, WoWTCGLoot.com, Swagdog, and Creative Labs are all bringing giveaways to pass on to you at the meetup, so if you come by, the odds are very good you'll be walking away with something free.

And as if all of that wasn't enough, you folks at home will also be able to get in on the action. DirecTV probably won't be filming from the meetup (probably), but we will -- you'll be able to tune in live on the Ustream account and join us for the fun. It should be a really terrific time for everybody, so if you're in Anaheim on Thursday, definitely come by the Anabella and say hello.

---

BlizzCon 2009 is coming up on August 21st and 22nd! We've got all the latest news and information. At BlizzCon you can play the latest games, meet your guildmates, and ask the developers your questions. Plus, there's some great looking costumes.

A few weeks ago we posted about SteelSeries giving away Wrath mouse pads signed by pro-gamers, and while that was all fine and dandy, there were quite a few people looking for more, such as autographs from Blizzard employees, perhaps. Good news, everyone! SteelSeries has made good on that, and all this week they're giving away more mouse pads on their Facebook page, though this time they're Starcraft II gaming surfaces, not World of Warcraft.

Who's donating their autograph this time around? Wei Wang, the artist behind the now-iconic image of Arthas and Frostmourne, which is plastered all over Wrath of the Lich King products. Wei Wang is also rumored to be the new Son of the Storm, the artists that basically fuel and control Blizzard's aesthetics. So while this might just be a mouse pad that he's signing, it might as well be a part of Blizzard history if you're into that sort of thing.

Head over to their Facebook page and follow the supplied instructions. Good luck!

Let's face it, not everyone can afford an HP Blackbird 002, which was used for several MLG pro gaming tournaments and was awarded 4.5 stars (out of 5) by CNET. The Editors' bottom line at the time was "If you can afford it, and you want a high-end gaming PC, buy this one. End of story." The end of that story was a $5,600 hole in your wallet, which is not a very happy ending for most of us mortals (Wired gave its $2,100 successor, the HP Firebird, a 9 out of 10). The actual happy compromise is in your peripherals, which you can splurge on (within reason) without having to win the Lotto.

I'll start with the mouse. More than your keyboard, your mouse is your most important gaming peripheral. For laptop users, who will more often than not use the default keyboard built-in to their machine, dedicated gaming keyboards are a luxury rather than a necessity. Furthermore, PvP enthusiasts necessarily learn to move with a mouse, which makes it a worthy investment.

One of the most important things in World of Warcraft PvP, obviously -- as with all endeavors in a loot-driven game -- is gear. Epic items with Stamina and Resilience, PvP set bonuses and all that. Well, that's not what we're going to talk about today. Today we'll take a look at the metagame. What you do outside the World of Warcraft and how you can improve your PvP skills with so-called gaming gear and other factors out of the game.

Over the past few months, my brother built a custom trail bike that he weighed down to the gram (it's about 10.12kg compared to the 15kg bike I currently use). It cost him something in the atmosphere of $3,000, and when I chided him about spending so much for it, he explained that since he doesn't have as much skill as other competitive bikers, he tries to make up for it with a better tool. It makes sense. Obviously, a superior athlete with a mediocre bicycle could and does outperform him in competitions, but he beats bikers of identical skill and athleticism with his new, lightweight, high-end bike.

What does this have to do with the World of Warcraft, you ask? Well, my brother's reasoning applies to gaming, as well. While natural talent and skill for video games isn't something you can achieve or obtain overnight (if at all), it's easy enough to take steps to improve your metagame. Just as characters get an advantage through in-game gear, players can get an advantage using real life gear.

Just in case you aren't satisfied with one chance at winning tickets to BlizzCon, those guys from SteelSeries have teamed up with J!NX, BradyGames, Upper Deck, and Swag Dog to bring you the BlizzCon Sweepstakes. That's like an all-star crew of geek and gamer gear companies forming some sort of super team just for you. That's right, these guys want you to go to BlizzCon, too, and all you have to do is hop on over to their sweepstakes site, fill up a form, and you're in. It's that easy. First prize is a flight for two to Anaheim, 2 nights at a hotel, 2 passes to BlizzCon, and yes, even $300 in pocket money (so you can buy more of swag, I'd imagine).

Here's where the all-star crew comes in -- if you don't get to win the Grand Prize, five lucky chaps will go away with a SteelSeries World of Warcraft mouse, a $50 J!NX Gift Certificate, and the World of Warcraft Atlas from BradyGames. The rest of the lucky guys will get $25 Swag Dog Gift Certificates, Fields of Honor booster packs, World of Warcraft-themed mousepads, and a bunch of other cool stuff. Not a bad deal at all for just filling out a form. Of course, as usual, it's only open to residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Alaska, Hawaii, and Quebec). The contest runs until July 31, so feel free to dilly-dally around WoW.com before you submit your entry.

Don't like that you can't enter the contest because of where you live? We don't like it either! Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it right now. But you can! In the US contact your Congressperson, in Quebec contact the Quebec government, and in the UK contact your member of Parliament. Tell them you want things changed so contests can be open for everyone.

Blizzard EU has a pretty sweet offer to you European players out there: If you like cosplay (and you're good at it) you could win a chance to go to BlizzCon for free. The official contest page states, "All you have to do is create a costume inspired by one of our game universes, pose in it, snap a photo, and send it to us!"

Of course, certain rules apply, contests are never that simple, as I'm sure you've noticed with some of the contests right here on WoW Insider. The contest will begin on May 20th, 2009. It will end on June 22nd, 2009. Submissions sent early (or late) will be discarded. Entries are also limited to individuals 18 or older residing in the following countries:

• France
• Belgium
• United Kingdom
• Luxembourg
• Germany
• Austria
• Sweden
• Finland
• Denmark
• Norway
• Ireland
• Spain

Check out the official contest page for the rules in their entirety and the full range of prizes, including the free trip to BlizzCon as well as products from SteelSeries, UpperDeck and Panini.