The first mouse I ever really spent any time with was attached to an Archimedes A3000.
Advanced for its time, it featured three buttons and a robust ball tracking system that would rival most modern mice. It also had the added benefit of not knowing when to stop - a quick flick of the wrist would have the ball spinning at such a velocity that the primitive graphics adaptor would be unable to draw the pointer fast enough as it streaked across the screen. With the rather scant library of games available on Acorn's otherwise excellent platform, you had to make your fun where you could.
Times have certainly changed, and there's no shortage of mice on the market from a multitude of suppliers, so why should anyone choose hardware produced by a software company anyway?
Well, irrespective of your personal allegiances, you can't escape the fact that Microsoft make some damn good hardware. With a few exceptions, there's very little cause to suspect you'll ever buy a terrible peripheral product from the Redmond giant. The SideWinder suite of gaming hardware has been with us for quite some time, and despite a four-year hiatus in the middle of the decade, Microsoft have shown increasing support for the brand and have continued to push out additions to the series over the last two years, presumably to make up for lost time.
The last SideWinder products we looked at, last year's X6 & X5 keyboard and mice redesigns, were certainly great peripherals in their own right. Unfortunately, as much as they hit out at the competition, they certainly handed out a thumping to your wallet too. So, Microsoft's boffin department has gone back to the lab and created something a little less weighty for the cautious money-conscious, soon-to-be-laid-off consumer; the X3.
The X3 continues Microsoft's downsizing trend, as it's noticeably smaller and more nimble than its X5 older brother, which was in turn smaller than the SideWinder Gaming Mouse used for the relaunch of the brand in 2007. The X3 is really more the type of mouse you'd use for endless RTS or RPG battles, rather than hardcore FPS matches. The 2000 dpi laser input can process images at up to 7080fps, which sounds impressive, and for all we know is. The five programmable main buttons can be used to create macros through Microsoft's ubiquitous IntelliPoint software, and just like the X5 and Gaming Mouse before it, you can adjust the input sensitivity on-the-fly.
So what's it like to use? Well, as much as I despise the term "ergonomic", it certainly applies here. The X3 has clearly been designed to accommodate as many different shaped hands as possible, and the slightly sinister amongst us will be quietly satisfied to see "ambidextrous" and "gaming" used in the same sentence on the promotional material. There's no messing about with additional weights either; the X3 emits a confident aura only really found when product developers are certain they've made something that nobody in their right might will ever need to customize.
The scroll wheel is smaller and lighter, and a far cry from the flywheel included with the original SideWinder Gaming Mouse. Coupled with the easy-glide feet, Microsoft have produced an altogether simpler and more compact device that is sure to win favour with gamers who want something a little less ostentatious, and desktop junkies who want something a little more.
Watch out for it on sale this May, at NZ$69.00 it's priced to move.
