Two is fun, but three’s a crowd

The reason that this mouse stands out is that it has not one, not two, but THREE hat switches. These are integrated into the structure of the mouse, each controlling an axis in a 3D plane; so effectively giving you six dimensions to manipulate your cursor on the PC.



As complicated as it sounds, things get quite interesting when you actually play with the device. I found that my co-ordination is a little off, and as a result ended up over-compensating as I fiddled around and got used to the controls.

What is interesting to note is that the mouse comes with software that has specific profiles for specific games. So just before you play Oblivion or Doom 3, you load up the profile and let the fun begin. I must be honest here and say that the Oblivion profile that I tried was not intuitive, and I wasn’t comfortable playing with this mouse in the game at all. It might be because I have spent many hours playing the game without three joysticks involved, but even after an hour it was not much of an improvement.

I then tried to set up my own configuration, which you will have to do if your game is not part of the profile list. This was easy to do, and the instructions were very clear and concise. Unfortunately either my fingers are too long or the hat switches are in the wrong place; but either way, it was not so easy to get used to manipulating the three controls simultaneously without getting a cramp in my hand. I think maybe for a smaller hand it is perhaps ideal, but the jury is out on that one.

As an example of the way this mouse is aligned now, the best way to describe it is to imagine a tennis ball being held by the tip of your three digits (thumb, index and middle fingers). Automatically, your ring finger and little finger close into your hand, and the other three digits can manipulate the ball in almost any direction. Do this for any length of time and you are bound to get a cramp. It would be much better if your hand could be more relaxed while manipulating the controls.