The gaming hardware and peripheral arena is home to some of the world's most
imaginative mad scientists. Many of these frazzled and disheveled tinkerers
practice their own brand of high-tech alchemy, tucked away on remote mountain
tops in the Himalayas or submerged hundred of miles below sea level in domed
aquatic laboratories. But their goal is the same no matter the location: To
rule the world with their army of geeky gadgets.
Wanting to get in on the trendy world domination craze, Belkin, known for their
various lines of hubs, keyboards and other computer accessories, has just revealed
their new line of Nostromo gaming peripherals. Here we take a look at
their Nostromo N30 Immersion TouchSense mouse and NostromoN50Speedpad.
N30 TouchSense Mouse
Together, they function essentially the same as the Saitek
GM2 we enjoyed last year. However, a more comfortable design with a familiar
button layout gives the N30/N50 setup a bit more appeal than the GM2.
Plus, this baby has a sleek, stylish, futuristic motif because 'you never get
a second chance to make a first impression.' This thing looks way cool.
The N30/N50 combo is built to make first-person shooting games easier,
with all the essential buttons at your fingertips plus a couple extras
that the lab guys at Belkin thought would be of help. So considerate.
The N30 Immersion TouchSense mouse has great vibrating technology, the
same used in Logitech's iFeel mouse. So you get all those cool vibrating
options with more to download at the official Immersion site. However, the N30
mouse, unlike the iFeel mouse, is not optical (insert sad gamer face
here). This means that there is an old-fashioned ball in the bottom of the mouse
instead of the miniature camera. The camera takes several pictures per second,
which gives a much quicker response time than most ball mice, including the
Nostromo N30. But outside of Razor's Boomslang mouse, this is
one of the best ball mice you can find.
The N30 comes equipped with the standard left and right mouse buttons
as well as a scroll wheel. But Belkin went one better and included a right thumb
button like that found on the Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer. This works
great for actions like quickly dropping weapons in Counter-Strike
or as a 'back' button while browsing the Internet. Pretty handy!
But if you're at all like us, you'll still want to use an optical mouse for
your gaming. Thankfully, Belkin has recognized this by allowing the use of different
mice. Just plug in your rodent du jour and you're set to go. The N50 Speedpad
has no special allegiance to its fellow N30,so any mouse will
work..
Still fumbling around with that accursed W-A-S-D keyboard control? FPS fans
who want to rid themselves of all those unnecessary keyboard buttons will find
the Nostromo N50 Speedpad very appealing. Designed like a miniature keyboard,
this thing is made for simplified and familiar use. Ten easy-to-reach buttons
(two rows of five keys) line the top of the N50. Below that is a small
throttle very similar to the one we saw on the GM2. And to the far right
of that, exactly where your left thumb rests, you'll find the ubiquitous eight-directional
D-pad. Easy to reach and easy to use.
N50 Speedpad
All of these buttons can be programmed using the Nostromo Array Programming
Software. Just highlight the button you want to change and press the keyboard
command that you would like to change it to. Voila! Specific compatibility is
not required and that rocks, especially for older games. You can also search
the included disc or the Nostromo
website for ready-made game profiles, which configure your Speedpad
automatically for the selected game. Quake
3, Unreal Tournament, Half-Life
and many others have files ready to be used with no manual programming necessary.
This is a great peripheral setup, most notably the Speedpad. The lack
of an optical mouse is something of a letdown, however, and the price tag is
a bit steep. The N30 mouse costs $39.99 and the N50 Speedpad rings
in at $29.99 - over 70 bucks after tax, which is $20 more than the GM2.
Of course, you could always opt for just the Speedpad and use your own
mouse. At any rate, you get a lifetime warranty and I've been told that it may
be possible in the foreseeable future for consumers to buy both the N30
and N50 in a bundle for a slightly discounted price.
If you have the clam($), this is a great gaming solution for the keyboard-challenged
gamer. Belkin is offering easier, more precise gameplay in a very familiar format
with little to no learning curve. Now if they could just make this setup compatible
with current and future home consoles, they'd have an incredible seller on their
hands.
Well, today I start my hormone therapy. There are a lot of crazy side effects with brain chemistry and my body. They say its like reversing male puberty, and then going through female puberty and menopause for two years. Awkward. Anyways, this blog is gonna be about being transgender as it pertains to gaming.
For example, if you have played with me on XBL recently, I may have asked a general question about your knowledge about "transgendered". Something ... read more...
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