They had requests from the gaming community to put lights in their mice? Right. Mouse looks like shit with corny gimmicks like putting your name and picture on it
"SteelSeries Sensei can be fast, like really light-speed fast, if you need that kind of speed. Because we use a 32 bit ARM processor in the mouse, we can double (x2) your mouse sensitivity.
Our default CPI range: 1 to 5,700 CPI.
Our Double CPI range: 5701 to 11,400 CPI.
This feature is particularly useful for people using multiple monitor and similar environments. "
"OK for the sum of the parts" doesn't mean "lighter would not be better". In fact lighter IS better. Screw LCD displays and lights. Screw this redhead in the video almost cuming when he explains how everyone will spend hours switching the colors of their senseis. Seriously. It's not like Logitech has this sort of stuff for friggn YEARS.
So the company who specialised in no-bullshit mice has out-bullshited Razer... great!
I hope they have something else in store for people who don't fall for this crap.
It's a shame because, assuming it has a flawless sensor, this same mouse without the LEDs and the ARM processor (who the hell needs that many CPI?) would be a winner.
ILLUMINATE: light up your wheel, cpi indicator or steelseries logo. or just turn it all off. .... yeah just turn it off lol
gonna work my ass for a week, and than buy it!!! im gonna ILLUMINATE all over the bloc baby!!!
glad they asked the pros what the mouse should feature:
Anton "Cooller" Singov: "I hez problemz wiz mouze light. Razer only provide green and blue to me. Zet is not enough. I wanted lightz: red, blue, white, like mother Russia!"
Even if it tracks absolutely perfectly (which is highly unlikely, it's a steelseries mouse) there is no way I'm buying a fuckin mouse for 90 euros.
Plus they put so many unnecessary things into a mouse, ridiculous. Just more sources for problems imo..
I got a bit confused when it says (on youtube): "the one so very few can master". But I stopped watching at 'We got a request from the community for lights".
Now if the sensor was worth something and they somehow had the decency to allow custom firmwares it could be a huge success..........lol who am I kidding, it's steelseries, they will fail like every time.
If they have an improved sensor compared to the XAI this might be a nice mouse....I loved the shape of XAI but couldnt stand the jitter + freak out when dirt got in.
I suspect that this features exactly the same processor as on the Xai. I base my claim on their given information. They state that the mouse is technically using the on-board CPU to double the dpi (which is in fact just doubling your sensitivity in such a case).
That means that the actual sensor is 'only' capable of performing at max 5700 dpi.
As far as I can remember, the Xai was capable of being ran at 5001 dpi max. However, Logitech used the very same sensor (ADNS-9500) on their G500 which afaik achieved 5700 dpi due to a tweaked firmware or w/e that thing is called, so that would suit.
Take WMO mouse shape. Dont change it or tweak it.
Put a good optical sensor with 400/800/1600 steps or near that
Add side buttons to the left side of the mouse. Ignore lefties.
Add a good scrollwheel and some random dpi buttons on top that can be remapped to do something useful.
Become a legend.
Edited by 2ShellBonus at 16:49 CDT, 11 August 2011
hmm so it's less attractive to steal the mouse because you can have your name under the mouse on the lcd.. but could't the one stealing it just change it right away? XD
Hi everyone. My name is Kim and I run marketing for SteelSeries, I would like to address a few issues I see mentioned here.
We have made a few "performance" mice by now. Mice that from a performance perspective were designed from ground up for competitive gaming. From a visual aesthetic perspective they were designed "for ourselves", we like simple.
Our aim with those products was to create mice that performed well, without all the BS and fluff we saw in other products. We received glowing reviews from a lot of reviewers who totally got that approach. We even sparked a debate here and there. But we didn't see sales that was comparable to the positive reviews. End-users standing at the isle at Media Markt, Best Buy or other major retail chains in Europe and US went with shiny, fluffy and the inflated DPI numbers. It looked and sounded better to them I guess. The buyers who put those products on the shelves want shiny, fluffy, they want the high DPI numbers.
We were faced with a choice - we could keep making mice "for ourselves", and possibly a small select group of people who appreciate our approach and our philosophies. But it would limit our distribution, our reach and ultimately our ability to also work in other product categories. That is not sustainable longterm, the company would either get bought or go under.
..... Or we could listen to the market and try to make products that move volume - and which still embodies our approach, philosophies, core values (and on top of that have some shiny fluff). Not all features we add to our products are added because we believe they are essential for performance - but they may be essential for the person who buying the product. Either because that person likes a feature (say illumination) or because he has been led to believe it is important (say a very high DPI value).
With the Sensei we added fluff, we added shiny. Totally. But that doesn't mean it doesn't perform well. The shiny surface is, if I go by both personal opinion AND the feedback we got from all the people who tested it, the best surface we have ever done. And yes, we do test with those people we claim we test with. We don't do this for marketing purposes (those people don't move product in retail), we do it because they can tell us when it "feels right". They can rarely tell us how to get to that point, but they are amazingly good at validating when we get there. My guess is that is why you see a gamer in a video referencing it as sleeker - it is the same shape as the Xai, but it feels a LOT different. It feels sleeker. I can totally understand why he would use those words.
There is illumination in the Sensei, a million trillion colors in 3 different zones. And it can be turned off. The Sensei on my desk at home is turned off. I like it that way. Judging from the vast majority of comments I have seen since we went live with the announcement - and the feedback I saw in the vast majority of reactions of the people we tested with, I am very much in the minority for that preference.
The 11,400 DCPI thing is a lot. And it obviously has a lot of calculations behind it, we don't hide that, we even state this and thats part of the reason for using our ARM processor. And in the SteelSeries Engine software accompanying the mouse, it will have a very visual change when you adjust past the 5,700 CPI mark, to tell the user what is happening. Again I don't feel we are betraying ourselves or our values, but we are giving the user choice. They will not become more precise with this feature, but perhaps we (the industry) can finally stop talking about CPI values as if they are oh so important and move on? That is what we want, that is why we doubled our CPI value. That is also why the Xai had 5,001 CPI when we released it - the last +1 was literally a joke meant to spark debate and point attention to how little it matters.
Xai had slight positive acceleration. And yes, we use the same sensor in Sensei. And, yes, it has the same slight positive acceleration. The referenced video with Markeloff is not something we pay him to do, it is something Natus Vincere did all their own, we didn't even know they were making it. I will guarantee you that he is being honest. He may or may not be right, but from his perspective he is being honest and describing how the product feels to him.
Kana will be optical. I think you already guessed the sensor direction we are taking.
Oh and just for the record. We moved our blog from a wordpress platform (fragyou.net) to tumblr (steelseries.tumblr.com) a while back. We didn't do this to "hide" anything, let's stop the conspiracy theories. The post from 2007 is even referenced on our Ikari page and it can be found on our new blog: tumblr
I probably missed a ton of questions, but will be happy to answer what I can going forward. And I am genuinely sorry that we have disappointed some of you, both by sensor choices, acceleration issues and other things. We really want nothing more than to make great products, but I also know that my personal preferences (and those shared by the other geeks in my company) aren't necessarily mainstream enough to be sustainable.
"but I also know that my personal preferences (and those shared by the other geeks in my company) aren't necessarily mainstream enough to be sustainable."
Which suggests that his personal preferences, along with "geek" preferences were actually attempted with one of their mouse products.. hence my question.
I really hope the Kana will be something good.
They should just hire Bullveyr or any other supergeek (I mean in a good way!:D), he would set them straight on some things and we all would be happily using the mouse for the rest of our lifes and SS could keep coming up with the flashy stuff to battle Razer, Roccat and the rest.
I just want to add, the Kana will be using optical sensor (probably PixArt PAN3305DK-H), but there is one issue - steelseries use a bigger lens (=high cpi value but lower IPS number) - 1.0x lens: 3200 CPI 68 ips.
Instead put "smaller" len and make the mouse with 1600 cpi but with 136IPS=higher max speed of the sensor.
The mouse also have build in prediction alittle above the average prediction found in the IME3.0, WMO1.1a etc.
The kana also will be lightweight.
[quote of mine when found the legendary, kana and sensai before 3 weeks]
"A little searching for the Steelseries kana with its product code: http://up352.siz.co.il/up1/zz1mnartzlwe.jpg
About the shape - you cant you say that in advance before seen the model shape itself, that steelseries sansai can be just 1 that have glossy surface not meant that all the models in the new steelseries series will have it."
*Also attracted the picture that in the link above
The prediction on the IME3.0/WMO etc is minimal ("no prediction").
The kana will mostly have alittle more noticeable prediction but not as the EC's series/MX's series/G400.
With that said, few members (F u r u y á, Skylit and Derp) will get the Kana simples for review probably next week, so my suggestion will be wait alittle to see how the kana turns out.
Also, it seems like steelseries make also Kinzu V2.
It doesn't really matter what the packaging is like.
You will throw it away or put in the loft and never look at it again.
All it matters how the mouse will perform according to your requirements.
Lots of fancy features that no one will use, but no word on unwanted acceleration. It baffles me that most mouse manufacters can't release devices that meet the most basic requirement a mouse should meet: proper tracking with no acceleration.
But OH SHIT they putted a LCD SCREEN ON IT NOW!!!!!!!!!!
Truth be spoken. All we want is a light mouse with a modern sensor without accel or prediction that don't skip (I dunno 400-1800 dpi maybe?). It really is that simple. It's silly :).
By 'we' you mean us hardcore gamers. About 5% of gamers are considered 'hardcore'. THats obviously a small part of the income. What manufacturers tend to forget is that the other 95% mostly come ask us what to get.
I like my mice small but heavy, like 135g-180g~
They feel a bit more precise when flicking because they're planted a bit better and small finger adjustments and genaral small movement adjustments feel a bit more precise.
I always liked the idea of weight cartridge adjustments that the g9 and g5 had and I wish they made a small g3 like mouse with a cartridge and a centered near flawless sensor.
all that hype with accel and prediction is plain bs
zero4 used to play with a fucking ball mouse and a sensitivity of 9 or so and he would outaim any of you who whine so much about mice having some accel or prediction
same goes for rapha/cypher/cooller and others using a wmo which has A TON of neg accel and they were all using in game accel also
as long as a mouse has good shape and proper weight (subjectively) and it doesnt skip or jitter IT WILL DO
companies earn money by selling products FOR KIDS not a bunch of esr nerds and kids like shiny devices with milion fucking dpis
even your fucking retarded brains can learn to aim with any accel and any prediction
I can according to enotus I flick 1.1-1.7m/s with wrist flicks with my salmosa so I could prolly neg accel an intellipoint senor mouse with a wrist flick at 10cm/360 :/
The shape looks awesome tbh. If the size is between the Kinzu and the Sensei it will be superb.
The wheel is big I like it it will probably fit my '3fingers on top' grip.
But TTC switches in a 45euro mouse and the sensor is a question mark atm :(
It's time for Kim to announce it so we can read the reviews of the OCN trio who have it already.