Computer mice have, for some time, had a handedness, much like the spin on an electron or the construction of an amino acid. Since the end of the shapeless, single button and primitive two-button mice, gamers have been gifted with more comfortable and better performing gaming peripherals. Gamers, that is, except for lefties. Now it is time for us to rejoice in our leftishness and express it by fragging our friends for fun and profit with the Razer DeathAdder gaming mouse for left-handed gamers.

It has long escaped me how no one has managed to create a comfortable gaming mouse that is ambidextrous. I imagine it could easily be done through either snap on plates or a more amorphous design while still being useful and comfortable, but alas, none have done so. Which leads us to Razer and their new mouse.

It’s shaped specifically for left-handed use. Now I haven’t used a mouse in my left hand for a very long time. Perhaps since I had my Amiga 2000 and the mice were sort of boxy deals. So I may not have the proper motor-control to use this. We’ll find out.

First off, I plugged the mouse into the USB port and Windows 7 automatically installed sufficient drivers to get up and running without having to do a single thing. The mouse only sports four buttons and a wheel. Two standard buttons are combined with two thumb buttons and a clickable mouse wheel. Do you really need more buttons on your gaming mouse? Maybe.

Now to do some true mental left-brain vs. right-brain thinking, I left my Cyber Snipa Stinger hooked up and in its normal place on my desk, to see which I would instinctively reach for. I found that I could use either one and often switched from time to time. However, for productivity, much software is geared towards righties. CTRL-C, CTRL-V, CTRL-T are not easy to do with your right hand and it’s expected that you’ll have your right hand on the mouse when you use those shortcut keys. But this mouse is wasted on productivity and daily operations. It’s time to do some gaming.

I checked into the Lead & Gold beta first as gaming mice are critical to success in most PC-based first and third-person shooters. What I noticed was that the setup (mouse left, keyboard right) was slightly confusing because the third-person view on the screen is very right-handed, looking over their right shoulder. It’s not that it really affected anything it just felt a little strange as did using the mouse in my left hand at first.

Also I found out that after years of using the mouse in my right hand, it was hard to switch and use it in my left hand. Not through any malfunction of the mouse itself but through the lack of muscle memory. Having not used a mouse in the left hand for some time is a hurdle that many will probably have to overcome. If you’ve been one of the diehards that have always used your left hand for the mouse you should feel right at home.