Jimin-with-the-big-FLAC-collection and I met with one of the SteelSeries guys today. It’s funny: you think you understand where a company’s coming from, but then you sit down and actually talk to them and it’s like, “Wow, OK, you guys are pretty cool.” So to the people who will walk out of Sunday’s Grammy Awards with one of those fancy gift bags you always hear about, I can say this: you’ll probably enjoy the SteelSeries headphones you find in there. → Read More
SteelSeries continues to work that IP license with Blizzard by announcing two new products aimed directly at gamers: a Zboard StarCraft 2 keyset, and a World of Warcraft: March of the Scourge mouse pad. → Read More
Short version: An elegant, functional, and attractive mouse, best suited for those with normal-sized or smaller hands. Aficionados may crave more buttons or a non-ambidextrous design, but the Xai does just fine without. Like other SteelSeries products, it’s a bit expensive, but you knew that. → Read More
The Short Version: The Siberia v2 is SteelSeries’ entry into the virtual-surround headset market, and it holds its own against the excellent Logitech G35s and Razer’s Megalodon headset — at least, in sound quality. However, it doesn’t offer much to distinguish itself, and some minor but troublesome issues may have you springing for the Siberia’s competitors. Plus: I’m giving these away! A lucky reader will be wearing these in a week or so. Details in the full review. → Read More
Pro gamer outfitters SteelSeries have put out a new headset, joining in the USB-audio virtual 7.1 surround battle royale. With extremely good options available already from both Logitech and Razer, the Siberia v2 has its work cut out for it, but SteelSeries makes good gear, so they’ve at least got a fighting chance. → Read More
The big Korean MMO, Aion, is due for release here in North America on September 22. It’s true. What else is true is that SteelSeires has a fancy, new keyboard lined up for the game’s release. Behold! → Read More
Can’t wait for StarCraft II? Who can? SteelSeries is ready to cash in on the anticipation with $14.99 gaming mousepads sometime this month. Two different themes will be available: the Terran Marine pad or the Kerrigan vs. Zeratul pad. Both of course are optimized for gaming with a special surface that improves mouse tracking. Want one? They will be sold at GameStop and Amazon sometime soon. High-res shots of both are after the jump. → Read More
Who couldn’t use a sweet 15-button mouse or mousepad the size of a desk? SteelSeries is giving away a bunch of gear this month and while the prizes aren’t all listed out, you can be sure they’ve got a few of their awesome keyboards and other devices just itching to get out the door and into your hot little hands. All you’ve gotta do is sign up as a fan on Facebook. I know, a pretty transparent play, right? But it’s no skin off your back and there might just be a free mouse in the deal. → Read More
SteelSeries, the professsional gamer-oriented hardware makers, have been biding their time lately, but head honcho Kim Ron took an hour out of his day to talk to CG about what they’re planning, their philosophy, and all that good stuff. One thing we discussed was how in the recession economy, support for things like gaming tournaments and professional gamer teams is dropping: their natural habitat, the LAN party, is shrinking as the great funding springs dry up.
SteelSeries can’t stand to see this majestic species of gamer die out (especially considering they’re their target demographic) so they’re doing their part: buy one of their (sweet) mousepads branded with major team graphics, and a portion of your purchase will go to restoring and preserving the once-mighty herds of pro gamers. → Read More
The thing about reviewing mice is that you’re actually looking at two separate entities. Yes, you’re looking at the mouse itself, the hardware, but you’re also simultaneously taking into account the software that powers it, the drivers. A mouse without adequate drivers might as well not exist. → Read More
An update to the ongoing Steelseries Word of Warcraft saga. As you know, there’s no Mac drivers for the mouse thus far, but one of our readers, Jim Krenz, pointed me in the direction of ControllerMate, a $15 application/driver/thing that lets you use the mouse as intended. I bought it late last night, and after about an hour of trying to figure out how to use it, got the mouse up and running. The above video shows off the neat but useless ability to change the LEDs of the mouse. A full, proper review is on the way. Give one or two more days with the mouse before I give y’all my final report. → Read More
Attention, Mac World of Warcraft players. You may want to consider holding off on buying that SteelSeries MMO mouse till January, since that’s when the company plans to the release Mac drivers, as I just learned. Without those drivers, those 15 buttons are useless. Well, like three of them work when using SteerMouse, a fancy third-party Mac mouse driver, but that’s not exactly ideal. I have the mouse sitting on my desk right now, but without Mac drivers I have to use my underpowered MacBook just to try it out under Windows. → Read More
Just a heads up to my fellow World of Warcraft players, especially those of you who use a Mac. You know that SteelSeries MMO Gaming Mouse that came out a few days ago? It doesn’t ship with Mac drivers, meaning that you’re not able to use all 15 buttons as intended. (That’s even when using fancy, multi-button mouse drivers like SteerMouse.) In other words, the mouse isn’t nearly as useful to Mac users right now as it is to Windows users. (Windows users can download the drivers from Steelseries’ Web site.) Mac drivers are said to be on the way, but we’re looking at around one month from the mouse’s release till the drivers are released. Meanwhile, I have to install Wow on my Bootbamped MacBook just to be able to use it properly for the review I’m working on. Shouldn’t be more than a few days till that “drops,” though. → Read More
When I was talking to SteelSeries about this beast, they insisted that this wasn’t part of an “arms race.” No, because in a battle of ergonomics, doubling the buttons isn’t always a good idea. But they assured me that they have been working really carefully on this thing to make it usable in the first place, and actually useful in the second. I’m thinking that the diamond-shaped button goes four ways and there’s another on the far side, which, added to all the other buttons there, makes 15. → Read More
Remember the Zboard? Remember how Ideazon got swallowed by SteelSeries? Well, they’ve regurgitated the Zboard and it looks pretty nice. I like the typeface they’ve used, although this keyboard in particular appears to be permanently marked up with WoW-related commands. Doubtless the non-special-editions will be a little less WoW-y, but in the meantime it’s BlizzCon out there and the Lich King is about to run rampant, so we’ll forgive SteelSeries for focusing on that little “niche” market out there. → Read More
Although one of the things that attracts me about SteelSeries is its understated design aesthetic, this new cherry-red version of their Siberia headset is actually quite fetching. Anything but black, please. If you’re looking for a new pair of cans, look for some in the upcoming flurry of reviews (including some SteelSeries stuff), but I can tell you right now that the Siberias are a solid buy. There’s also a lot of empty space here so I’m going to fill it. With text. That’s probably enough. → Read More
I’ve always been slightly skeptical about custom key setups. But, of course, I don’t usually play the types of games where a truly custom keyboard might be really handy. Maybe in Guild Wars. But I can certainly see, for games like WoW, EVE Online, and now Warhammer: Age of Reckoning, that a custom keyboard might actually be a real plus. As much as I’m used to it, it does feel a little weird hitting something like just “h” for an AoE heal when I could be hitting, you know, the “AoE Heal” button. Since SteelSeries took over Ideazon, they’ve assumed control of the zBoard brand, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they put out something completely separate soon. → Read More
The video’s a little longer than the others because I… I mean you love hearing my voice. It’s another one! For our fourth mouse in the glorious Mouse Review Week here at CrunchGear, it’s the SteelSeries Ikari laser mouse. Sounds serious! We’ve already handled mice for the large-handed and small-handed — will this be the one for the rest of us? Let’s find out. Death from above, text from below! I mean video from above. → Read More
Today, reader PG reviews the SteelSeries SIBERIA Full-Size headset. Want to be a citizen reviewer? Post a review of one of your current gadgets on BFF and we may just send you something nice. The Siberia set was designed for both gaming and MP3 players. First thing you’ll notice is the clean high-quality open design. The headset is built using a minimal amount of materials supporting an overall light comfortable feel. Other full-size headsets can get uncomfortable after extended use, but not these. The headset is of the open air type, so if you’re looking for complete sound isolation then look elsewhere. → Read More
