Posts Tagged ‘April’

Best Gaming Mouse? Logitech vs. Razer

Friday, May 23rd, 2008

So here’s the thing, how are YOU controlling your gaming experience? I ask only because I recently got a new rig, and of course I had the “shiny new toy, let me buy some other toys to go with it’s shopping” experience afterward.

That being said, I use my machine not only for pwning some n00bs, but also for graphics (photoshop and illustrator) and purchased a wacom bamboo graphics tablet. I also like to edit video, and purchased a NuLOOQ to rapidly scrub through unedited video (it also makes for a very handy iTunes controller).

But when it came time for a main HID, I really started to look around. I’ve had the Logitech MX Laser pretty much since the first day it came out (before it was even labeled the MX1000 laser) and have been very happy with it. But lets face it, we’re all techno junkies, and if there’s something better out there: well goddamnit, I gotta have it!

So I started searching various other forums and pages, reviews and corporate homepages. The two names that I saw over and over were Logitech and Razer.

Logitech:

Logitech offers 5 ‘Gaming Grade‘ mice with only one cordless option. Sure, everyone tells me that I’m going to get a better response from a corded mouse, but personally, I’ve used a wireless mouse for so long now, I’m not sure I could really go back to giving up another USB port. But hey, maybe I really don’t know what I’m missing.

The two Logitech that showed up most often were the G7 (cordless, btw) and the G5 (corded, but with a swanky skin over it). While the G5 offers a custom weighting option, it looks as though the G7 does not. Similarly, Logitech’s newest offering the G9 also offers the included weights that you can either insert or remove from the mouse to fine tune you playing style. Neat concept, but I haven’t read any “OMFG u gotta get the G9, FTW!” reviews. It also looks slightly odd in my opinion. And alas, none of these mice have Mac support, which may not be the death bell, because technically, the MX1000 Laser doesn’t offer mac support either, but yet, a quick trip to the support downloads does offer a Mac OSX driver. Again, I know it’s time for a new mouse.

Razer:

Razer’s got 10 offerings currently available for your pwning pleasure. Until recently, Mac users were forced to deal with the (in my opinion) cheesy cousin of razer’s badboys. But, as of April 29th, Razer’s added the DeathAdder Mac edition for those of us playing on Jobs’ OS.

What can’t be said about Razer? I had the opportunity to use the Boomslang Collectors edition at a friends place, and I can honestly say that it’s the smoothest, most comfortable, most responsive mouse I’ve ever used, gaming or no gaming. Alas, no mac love for the collectors edition. Sure, I’ve read the forums where I can try and trick the mac into believing that it’s a mouse (as it normally shows up as a keyboard upon a simple plug in), but really, it’s just not as good as original drivers.

Fair enough, I’ll grant that Razer is not offering a cordless option, and maybe I should be taking notes on this one. Razer offers a wide variety of mice each with it’s own twists and quirks, sizes and weights.

So really: now it’s your turn *peeps* hit me back in the comments, what’s your personal preference when it comes to the mouse FTW!?

 

Wii dropin’ bombs on PS3 and Xbox in April

Monday, May 19th, 2008

Market research firm NPD released April data on Thursday putting Nintendo’sWii on top.

Nintendo also released their own press release using the NPD numbers:

According to NPD, the Wii outsold Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and Sony’s Playstation 3. The Wii moved 714,000 units in April bringing it’s total US sales since launch to 9.5 Million units.

NPD’s numbers show that Microsoft milked the cash cow for 188,000 units and Sony, 187,100 PS3′s.

Perhaps having a bit of advanced knowledge of the upcoming numbers, Microsoft released a statement of their own on Wednesday that they’d reached the 10 Million units sold mark, making the Xbox 360 the first  next-gen console to reach this landmark. Microsoft gave itself a pat on the back, arguing that this is the landmark that that usually indicates the eventual winner of each console generation.

Speaking of April, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV launched on the 29th on Xbox 360 and PS3. Granted, GTA IV had only been out for 2 days last month, and box Microsoft and Sony saw an increase in these sales, and yet Wii still came out on top.

NPD’s data on GTA IV places the game in two of the three top slots of software sales, with the Xbox version cashing in with 1.85M copies, and the PS3 version selling 1M units.

Again, Nintendo backs that ass up with Mario Kart Wii coming in as the second best selling game for the month of April, pushing 1.12M bananas out the door. Overall, 6 out of the top 10 best selling games during April were Wii games.

Let’s not forget about the other white meat: handheld gamers. The Nintendo DS and the Sony PSP outsold both the Xbox 360 and the PS3. The DS cranked out 414,800 receipts, with the PSP paling in comparison at only 192,700.

Overall, NPD’s research indicates what we’ve already mentioned, even though the economy sucks, the gaming industry is still partying like it’s 1999, with total sales in April racking up $1.23 billion. Yep, that’s Billion. That’s a 47% increase over the $839 million only one year earlier. Likewise, hardware sales were up 26% from $339 million in April 2007 to $426 million in April 2008.