It’s always a pleasure to meet with Series at the shows as they are quite passionate about what they do and that always makes for good gaming products. This time round they were more than happy to talk to me about not only the extremely lightweight 7XB wireless headset but were thrilled to talk about the new Diablo III deal that they had signed.
We didn’t talk too much about the SteelSeries 7XB Headset but I got a chance to try it on and check it out. The sound quality was quite good and the noise blocking was great since we were deep in the heart of the World of Tanks booth where it was extremely noisy as one might imagine. But there were bigger fish to fry in this meeting.
Diablo Needs Mouse, No Keyboard
Let’s face it, the gameplay mechanics of the Diablo series has never required a full-fledged keyboard. In fact, you can pretty much just use the mouse and maybe a few keys. Keeping that in mind SteelSeries pitched a line of Diablo III gear to Blizzard, that did not include a keyboard. I’m sure many of you are groaning in disappointment, but really, it would have just been a standard keyboard with Diablo III logos on it, which you can do yourself anyway. OK, SteelSeries would have done more than that, but honestly, do you need a big keyboard for Diablo?
Instead, SteelSeries is focusing on the mouse and a hearty little guy it will be. SteelSeries sat down with the Diablo III designers and talked about what makes the game what it is. They looked at visual elements of the menus, the environments and the feel of the game.
They then took all of that and set to work. While the unified PC/Mac driver for the SteelSeries Diablo III mouse won’t be built right into the game, it will look exactly like the menus in the game, thanks to this collaboration with the game’s design team, so you will be right at home with the interface.
Since the control scheme in Diablo III is highly streamlined, so to will the SteelSeries mouse be with just a few buttons, sleek styling and some ornamentation to give it that very Diablo look and feel.
Now, games like Diablo are clickfests and so, where a normal mouse might last some 3 million clicks, SteelSeries will be guaranteeing theirs for 10 million clicks. In fact, they’re so sure it will last that they will have a click counter right in the mouse driver itself. That’s certainly putting your money where your mouth is.
The prototype that they had on hand was an ambidextrous design with dual sets of side buttons that could be easily configured and activated without having to cramp or barely even move your hand. While the design isn’t quite final yet it certainly looks like it will be comfortable, stylish and ergonomic. The SteelSeries Diablo III mouse is also set to have a braided cable for flexibility and so that it doesn’t interfere with movement.
The whole project shows that SteelSeries are passionate not only about Diablo, but about the gear you need to play it when it has their name on it.
They’re even including both left and right-handed modes as well as the ability to store profiles per character and probably multiple profiles for each character so you’ve got one for single vs. multiplayer, tank vs. support, etc.
In true Diablo III style, the SteelSeries mouse is enhanced with “demon red” illumination in 3 areas on the mouse – the scroll wheel, CPI Indicator, and Diablo III logo. You can also customize the logo with ON/OFF illumination and 3 levels of pulsation. While the mouse hardware was built for battle, including the double-braided nylon cord and gold-plated USB connection, the software and setting capabilities are easy to navigate through preloaded, SteelSeries Engine software. Compatible with both Mac and PC, the software offers players a drag & drop Diablo III-themed interface with pre-defined skills and game commands. All 7 mouse buttons can also be quickly remapped for a personalized set-up. The SteelSeries Diablo III Mouse’s MSRP will be $69.99 / €69.99.
