Sidewinder Mouse Review

The first rule of Sidewinder Mouse? Download software from the Web. With no disc included in the otherwise comprehensive packaging, the bright startup guide is insistent that that's where you start. It's a 14MB download you need, and cleverly it's grouped with standard mice rather than the gaming menu under Microsoft's tree structure.This, then, is Microsoft's long-promised re-entry into the PC gaming hardware sector, to which it made a token gesture with the release of an Xbox 360 gamepad for PC, but otherwise left alone since abandoning the original Sidewinder gaming line many years ago. The new Sidewinder Mouse is promised to be the first in a line-up of accessories aimed very much at the serious gamer.As is clear when you examine this new rodent. It comes, for instance, with a separate box of weights that you can add and remove to customise it to the feel you desire. This box also doubles up as a cable anchor, so you can restrict the length of the USB lead with which the mouse attaches itself (this is a strictly wired rodent, which is just as gamers seem to like it).Likewise, it supports one-click DPI readjustment, so you can easily make the device more or less sensitive using three buttons mounted into the centre of the unit. The default variables are 400, 800 and 2000dpi, although these can be configured using the software. A bonus is a small LED screen built into the mouse that tells you the current DPI setting, although this is more novelty than anything actually vital.The software turns out to be something of a treasure trove. One of the features of the Sidewinder mouse is a 180-degree quick turn, highly useful in first person shooter games. Given that the Sidewinder has a left button, right button, quick launch button (with the Vista-only assignment of opening your games folder), DPI buttons, scroll wheel and two side buttons, you can assign one of these to the quick turn function in the aforementioned software and still have plenty left over.One other fascinating addition is the ability to record a macro. Should you encounter a game where you need to occasionally repeat the same manoeuvre - a run and strafe, for instance, or consistently shooting at the same place to remove an obstacle - you can record a macro to memorise this, and a click of one of the chosen buttons will then perform the function for you.It's a feature we've not found full use of yet - and we tested the mouse across a range of RTS and FPS games, none of which really required such a stringent repetition of an action - but we can still see its value in perhaps an RPG, where repetitive actions can be more prevalent.It's a selection of features that lives up to the gamer-focused approach of the device, and while the majority are very much take-it-or-leave-it, it's hard to find many other devices on the market that demonstrate such depth of thinking.The bonus at the heart of it is that it's a neat mouse to actually use. It's chunky yet ergonomically comfortable, and even in standard day-to-day working operations we've become very accustomed to it. There is, however, a problem. And that's its size.The Sidewinder is quite a beast of a peripheral, and those with small to medium sized hands are recommended to give it a test drive before shelling out for one. This big-handed reviewer was more than pleased with it, but has colleagues who quickly passed it over. There's also an argument that Logitech's latest gaming mice more than give the Sidewinder a run for its money.Yet this is still an intriguing product, and one with real merit to it if you take your games seriously. It's too expensive, really, for a standalone everyday mouse, but is still a promising sign of things to come from Microsoft's rejuvenated Sidewinder line.
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