Are MOBA / MMO gaming mice usually awkward, tricky, lumpen devices? SteelSeries seems to think so, but luckily it has come up with the solution: the Rival 500 MOBA / MMO gaming mouse. The popular eSports equipment company has just launched this new mouse and SteelSeries CEO, Ehtisham Rabbani, claims "The Rival 500 is the first true multi-button gaming mouse engineered to maximise gaming efficiency, while keeping the gamers movement and comfort in mind." Snappilly summing up the Rival 500's appeal, Rabbani says "We created a MOBA/MMO mouse that fits your hand and not the other way around."
Central to this mouse's proposition is the design and layout of the multitude of buttons. The Rival 500 uses a 'next-gen layout' rather than a simple grid, which should correspond comfortably with the movement of your thumb as it reaches various zones on the side of the mouse. The lowest pair of switches on the thumb-side are of the 'flickdown' type, said to offer "the fastest response time" in that position. Furthermore, Steelseries chose to leave the central thumb grip area buttonless, serving as a central pivot area so you can both rest and ready yourself for the next challenge.
Extra buttons are provided alongside the upper pair of left/right mouse buttons. These are also sculpted for a natural, ergonomic action. Steelseries says they are "perfect for opening your map, opening skill menus, hopping on your mount, or controlling the courier".
Tactile alerts can be customised with the Rival 500 offering different, recognisable feedback for things like when cooldowns are up, ammo is out, health is low, and so on. Other key features of this 15-button mouse are its customisation through the SteelSeries Engine application, allowing gamers to change button functions, CPI, polling, lift off distance, and even macros. LED lighting is provided and glows through both the mouse logo and the scroll wheel areas.
Steelseries 500 tech specs:
- Number of Buttons: 15
- SteelSeries Switches: Rated for 30 Million Clicks
- Reinforced Left and Right Clicks
- Sensor Name: PixArt PMW3360
- Sensor Type: Optical
- CPI: 100 to 16,000
- IPS: 300
- Acceleration: 50g
- Polling Rate: 1 ms (1000 Hz)
- Zero Hardware Acceleration
- Tracking Accuracy: 1:1
- Colour Options: 16.8 Million
- Material: Matte Top Cover
- Printable 3-D Nameplate / Download 3D Files
- Weight: 129.7g
- Dimensions: 119 x 78 x 43mm, cable length of 2m
The SteelSeries Rival 500 is now available for $79.99 / €89.99 and, here in the UK, I qualified for free 3-5 day UPS shipping (but pricing is in Euros, not GBP, for now).
