In search of a new gaming mouse

bout three years ago (I think), I treated myself to a really good gaming mouse: the Logitech G7. It had a frikkin' lazer, adjustable DPI (which I actually never used and just ended up reprogramming the buttons for other purposes), and most importantly was cordless with a very clever battery charge and change system.

It was great. But a couple of weeks ago my son managed to break the radio receiver of my brother in law's G7, and so I was left with the burden of having to replace it. I decided that the best thing to do would be to let him have mine, and get myself a new one.

Now, I figure it would be foolish of me to simply go out and buy another G7, since it has been three years since I bought that mouse, and things could have come a long way in the meantime.

So I have been looking around, and to be honest really haven't seen anything of interest at all.

Logitech have the new G9 which looks interesting with its interchangable grips, but it has a cord. I really don't like a cord when I'm playing games as they always tend to snag on things at the most inopportune time.

Razer are a well-known gaming mouse brand, but they don't seem to have any cordless options at all. Microsoft are a company I'd rather avoid, but in any case they don't have a cordless gaming option either.

It is starting to look like the G7 really is still the mouse for me, but just in case there is something out there I have missed, I thought I'd see if anybody out there has any recommendations?

Mouse sensitivity in FPS games

I've been playing Unreal 3 a bit lately and discovered that I'm still just as mediocre at this type of game as I used to be.

So I did some searching around for some tips, and found one about mouse sensitivity that caught my eye. I'd always tried to teach myself to be able to use a high sensitive setting so I could do everything I needed to do with the minimal of physical movement. However, this tip suggested bringing the sensitivity setting well down.

It notes that a lot of the professional players have their settings so low they have to frequently lift their mouse from the table when turning a lot; having to do this is one of the things I was trying to avoid by using a higher setting.

The pros don't mind this because of what they gain by using a lower sensitivity setting: accuracy. The lower the sensitivity, the more accurate you are. It's that simple.

So I thought I'd give it a try, and decided to halve my setting. After a bit of getting used to it against some bots I joined a game.

I finished mid-table in the game I joined, and stuck around for the next level (which just happened to be the same level: apparently this server plays "Deck" 24/7).

I shot at people and actually hit them. Quite a bit actually. And in the end I won the round by two points. I actually threw my hands up in the air in delight. Yay! I don't think I ever actually won a round at ut2k4, so this was quite an achievement for me.

I've not had time to play since, but I'm enthused; I really think this is going to make quite a difference. So if you're a casual gamer who has also been using a higher mouse sensitivity, give a lower setting a go and concentrate on being accurate: it might work wonders.