What is it? Well it’s an “air mouse” or “space mouse” or one of the many other monikers this new class of devices goes by. What it boils down to is that this mouse uses accelerometers instead of a mouse ball, CCDs or lasers. I bet you can think of another device that works this way. That’s right it works just like the motion sensitivity in your Nintendo Wii or your iPhone. The best part is that I can tell you with complete honesty that the Wiimote and your iPhone are awful at it. This mouse shows them how it’s done.
I bet you can tell by now that I’m going to sing the praises of this expensive mouse. At $120, it’s certainly not your bargain bin purchase even if it is from an odd brand. At least I didn’t pay for it.
Don’t let the unknown brand fool you, however. This mouse is wonderful. I wasn’t convinced at first. I was fairly sceptical, but after a little use this mouse becomes perfectly natural to use and it provides a level of accuracy I’ve not seen in any product since the Logitech Optical Trackball.
Flick your wrist quickly one way and you’ve spun 180 degrees in Left 4 Dead. Move your thumb over the right mouse button and give that zombie the butt of your rifle to the head. Now dart your thumb left and take him out. He won’t be bothering you from behind any more. I find the acceleration on this unit to be superb. You can instantly spin right around, or make the most minute of adjustments in any direction depending on the speed with which you move your wrist. Using small movements allows you to aim perfectly. You have to hold a button down on the bottom of the device and let it go when you want to “pick up” the cursor and put it back down again, but if you master the acceleration then you don’t need to use the bottom button much at all.
If you get tired, and you might, you can always put it down on a flat surface and a laser mouse is included on the bottom of the device. This might come in useful as by the end of a Left 4 Dead campaign or two I was starting to feel what has been described as “Wii elbow” by some. I didn’t notice while I was playing but afterwards when I tried to use my arm it hurt a little. Essentially I held my arm out for about an hour on end without stop. It’s probably good to take breaks.