Best PC peripheral for gaming? (1 Viewer)

[Dan Mercier]

I picked up a Belkin Nostromo Speedpad on the weekend.
After failing to get it installed according to the instructions.
I looking in the trouble shooting guide and found out the proper order to install things...
Besides that I got it working and fired up Halo for the PC.
I immediately felt a lot smoother playing the game than I was
with the keyboard.
Mind you my keyboard FPS skills are a little rusty.
After talking with some fellow gamers I decided that although it felt ok,
I would prefer the Microsoft Strategic commander better for it's mice like look and feel.
So I'm found one and hope to get my hands on it in the next day or so.

Anyone here have any specific gaming devices they love?
Which games do you use it for?

Dan

 

[Phil Levy]

My Logitech MX700 is like a tiny god. I don't know how I ever used a mouse that wasn't as good as this before...

 

[Scott L]

I prefer to use a lighter, corded mouse when gaming so I put the MX700 back in its caddy. For stealthy games great positional audio is important. The M-Audio Revolution paired with some Sennhesier cans is a great setup.

Dan that Belkin speedpad looks interesting. Here's a pic of it I found here:



How are your keys configured? I wonder how this guy moves forward.

 

[Phil Levy]

Heathen!
On my mousepad I couldn't really see a utility for a lighter mouse, I can just nudge the MX700 and it glides across the pad.

I've heard good things about those Nostromo thingies, they're pretty popular.

 

[Chris Bardon]

I'd like to give one of those Nostromo things a test drive at some point-looks like it could at least save on KB wear and tear, and possibly give you a better angle for playing.

 

[Dan Mercier]

So the keys are configured to map to a specific keyboard key.
Or they can have macros. Or they can just be assigned as
a gamepad button in some games like halo.

In Halo i had the keys assigned to things like jump,
crouch, reload, switch weapon, score (gotta know if I'm getting my ass kicked)...

The D pad on the side is what I was using for movement with
the mouse used for aiming and shooting.
I didn't like the d pad much because the awkward angle compared to where I wanted to move.

Ie up on the d-pad is essentially move left and down is right.
Forward was forward but the left right seemed awkward.

Check out what I'm moving to.
http://www.microsoft.com/uk/sidewinder/strategic/

 

[Mike*U]

Phil I do agree the MX700 is a joy to use. I also use an Everglide mouse pad and Mouse skates. This combo works wonders. Instead of a keyboard I use a product from Thrustmaster called the Tactical board. It is bigger that the speedpad and has more buttons including a seven button cluster for your left thumb. I am not sure I could ever return to a regular kb again.

 

[Scott L]

Thanks to Dan's post I went ahead and bought the Nostromo n30 force feedback mouse. The thing looks small and slick, only downside is it doesn't come in optical form :frowning:

As for keyboards, is there anything that straps to your hand to control movement that way? Not as bulky as the Power Glove, just something the size of the Nostromo n50? That would be perfect for HTPC gaming.

ps- Mike that's quite a keyboard!

 

[Jay Mitchosky]

Those things look wild. A few years back I bought this nifty Microsoft controller that was designed primarily for first person shooters. Can't remember what it was called but the shape was a large'ish wing style with a pivot in the middle, joining two halves, with a variety of controls on both sides, triggers, etc. Worked really well. Don't know if they still make it. Made it very easy to move and look simultaneously (the pivot point became your look control).

 

[BenS]

Dan,

Can you use the speddpad and a mouse combo at the same time? Or does the speedpad take place of the mouse and keyboard combo?

 

[BenS]

Anyone??

 

[BenS]

anyone have an answer for me I want to buy this but I do not want it if you can't use a mouse with it

 

[Dan Mercier]

Yes you use the mouse at the same time.
As I mentioned in my post I was using the speedpad in my left hand(it's designed for the left hand) and the mouse in my right hand.

Speedpad for movement plus other keys and mouse for aiming and shooting...

I have used the Strategic Commander now for a while and
I like using it more than the speedpad. It could be
designed for smoother movement though as i find it sticks a little.

Dan