New Gaming Peripherals from SteelSeries and Razer

SteelSeries showed off their latest gaming mice and keyboard at Blizzcon.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/26/blizzcon-2010-steelseries-shows-off-cataclysm-mmo-mouse-pro-ga/

http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/27/razer-announces-specialized-mmo-gaming-keyboard/

SteelSeries has just announced that they will have a MMO key set for their new SHIFT keyboard.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/11/18/steelseries-introduces-new-shift-key-set-for-mmos/

UPDATE:  Kotaku has a review, complete with video, on their website of the SteelSeries Shift.
http://kotaku.com/5709650/review-steelseries-shift-is-a-mighty-morphin-power-keyboard

Razer has a headset, keyboard and mouse set geared for Starcraft 2 fans.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/blizzcon-2010-razer-demos-the-naga-epic-starcraft-2-gear/

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Addons for the Mouse Addict

If you prefer to navigate via your mouse instead of keyboard, you may be interested in Healium.  This addon for healers sets up heals so they can be clicked on to activate.  There's a video of it in action embedded in this article.  Note that Clique can also be set up to be activated by mouse clicks.  Speedy Actions is also spotlighted as it helps make mouse users faster.  The article also mentions the Logitech G-15 keyboard and the G-13 keypad, which are particularly useful for disabled players.
http://www.wow.com/2010/09/09/addon-spotlight-addons-for-clickers/

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Hardward and Connection Tips for PvP

A few hardware and Internet connection tips for PvP players.  Basic, commonsense information but I think the tips for turning your video settings low might be useful for some players and there are good ideas for minimizing latency problems in PvP.
http://www.wow.com/2010/09/02/the-art-of-war-craft-a-handy-guide-to-winning-at-everything/

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Using Your Mouse More Effectively

Gravity on learning to use your mouse to turn and using situational awareness--
http://pwnwear.com/2010/08/06/guide-on-learning-to-mouse-turn-and-situational-awareness/

Here are the two tutorials he references in his article.  They have great information about using your mouse, orienting yourself with the camera and learning to use situational awareness while playing.
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/07/12/situational-awareness-and-you-part-1/

http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/07/15/situational-awareness-and-you-part-2/

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Kae's Keyboard and Mouse Key Bindings

Kae of Dreambound talks about (and diagrams) how he keybinds macros to his Steel Series gaming mouse and his Logitech G15 gaming keyboard.
http://dreambound-druid.blogspot.com/2010/03/kaes-keybinds-and-peripherals.html

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Reviews of the WOW Gaming Mouse, G13 Game Pad and ZBoard keyboard

Review of the WOW Gaming Mouse, the Zboard keyboard, and the Logitech G13 game pad.
http://roguewindsrants.blogspot.com/2010/02/product-review.html

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Hardware Roundup

WOW Insider says Razer has updated the software for their 12 button gaming mouse called the Naga so that key mapping is possible.
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/razer-naga-now-supports-key-mapping/

Here is more about the Naga from the Razer website.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-naga/

Razer  also has a new gaming mouse compatible with Macs.  It's called the Imperator.
http://www.razerzone.com/gaming-mice/razer-imperator/

In other hardware news, a Kotaku story led me to this Steam hardware survey that shows what hardware Steam users own.  Thanks, Luke!  (If you don't know already, Steam is a game download service run by Valve, the makers of the classic Half-Life series and also Portal.)
http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

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Clearcasting's Mouse of Doom

Arioch (who I believe plays a mage and priest) compensates for the loss of function in her left hand by key binding spells to her letters instead of numbers and uses the "Mouse of Doom" for other spells and functions.
http://clearcasting.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/the-keys-that-bind/

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Changes to SteelSeries WOW Mouse

The WOW mouse from SteelSeries has received an upgrade to its software so that you can bind buttons without leaving the game.  This apparently makes it compliant with Blizzard's end-user requirements which brought SteelSeries and Blizzard a lot of ridicule as Blizzard had marketing arrangements with a product that broke its end-user policies.  Details here:
http://www.wow.com/2009/10/29/steelseries-wow-mouse-gets-new-functionality/

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WOW Insider Reviews Razer's New Naga Mouse

WOW Insider reviews Razer's newest mouse (the Naga) which is aimed squarely at WOW players in the link below.  Note that the Naga mouse is for right handed players only, isn't wireless and works with both PCs and Macs.  Also note that this is a multi-page review.  Don't overlook the subtle links to following pages at the bottom of the page.
http://www.wow.com/2009/10/16/gearing-up-for-wow-the-razer-naga/

WOWHead also reviews the Naga mouse (as well as Razer's new mousepad) here.  This is a brief review but it has good information about the video tutorial to help you get started and how to use the little stickers called trainers that come with the mouse.
http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=122142

The YouTube video is here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIBhd-_2rdo

WOWHead is giving Naga mice away in a contest for folks with a WOWHead account who are logged into that account during the drawing.  More information here--
http://www.wowhead.com/?blog=126619

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Changing Key Bindings

Xella's posting about changing her key bindings on her keyboard and mouse prompted an article at WOW Insider.  Here is what Xella says...
http://community.livejournal.com/worldofwarcraft/8030242.html

...and here is what Mike Schruamm wrote in response.
http://www.wow.com/2009/09/06/keybindings-and-how-to-change-them/

However you normally position your fingers, there is information for you in these articles.  You may also be interested in the explanation of key binding in the URL below.
http://www.wow.com/2008/12/24/wow-rookie-leaner-meaner-character-controls/

If you are interested in key binding macros, search on "key binding" in the upper left hand box to find a  blog entry linking to what No Stock UI says about these.
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Razer Announces New MMO Mouse UPDATED

Razer has revealed a new mouse at the Gamecom game convention in Germany this week. It's called the Naga and has twelve buttons to be used by your thumb. The photo and links to more information are on WOW Insider. They are also releasing a new mouse pad.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/19/razr-announces-the-naga-mmo-mouse/

CNET has a better photo that shows the side buttons better. Note this is a PC mouse and is wired.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10313500-1.html

Razer makes great mice.

UPDATE: WOW Insider tried out the mouse at BlizzCon. Here's what they had to say about it.

http://www.wow.com/2009/08/25/blizzcon-2009-hands-on-with-razers-naga-mmo-mouse/

UPDATE #2:  WOW Insider does a second review after playing with the Naga mouse for a while.
http://www.wow.com/2009/10/16/gearing-up-for-wow-the-razer-naga/

UPDATE #3:  Razer has added the promised key mapping functions to the Naga software.
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/08/razer-naga-now-supports-key-mapping/

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PvP Gear Review (Systems, Mice, Mouse Pads, Sound Systems, Keyboards)

WOW Insider has done a series of articles about various hardware and peripherals you might want to invest in if you are interested in playing PvP. The first article is about your computer's video settings and cooling.
http://www.wow.com/2009/07/20/the-art-of-war-craft-gearing-up-for-pvp/

The second article is about various gaming mice.
http://www.wow.com/2009/07/21/gearing-up-for-pvp-your-mouse/

The third article is about keyboards and mouse pads and the small game pads.
http://www.wow.com/2009/07/22/gearing-up-for-pvp-gaming-surfaces-and-keyboards/#continued

The fourth article is about sound systems. I'll post it here when it is published.

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