Your gaming experience will be ruined if the hardware you select to play with isn’t up to scratch. We’ve mentioned before the importance of a good gaming keyboard & mouse, but we’re going to go a little more in-depth with mouse selection and ask a couple of key questions.
There are many different options on the market to suit all needs, but we’re specifically looking at gaming mice, as these have distinctive features such as the more responsive sensors and software to customize and tweak settings to suit certain games.
These are the two main questions to consider before purchasing your next gaming mouse.
What are you playing?
Different genres of games and even different playing styles will require very distinct equipment. We’re stating the obvious, but playing an MMO game demands a very different mouse to casually playing some online casino slots as the latter requires little input in comparison. This is particularly true with the number and distribution of buttons. Additional buttons might make you quicker on the draw than your opponent when assigned the correct functions in the game, but could be a major distraction and impediment if left redundant. Some mice will also be furnished with some type kind of bump or texture so you can locate the correct button blindly.
In the past, the way you play also dictated if you went wired or wireless, as some people need to move about or have hectic set-ups that simply can’t handle wires. The advancements in wireless technology now though mean that few would choose to have a wire, but the difference in cost can be considerable.
What feels best?
Let’s face it, some people have fat fingers and sweaty paws. There’s nothing wrong with that, but with many of us shopping online, it can result in a purchase that simply doesn’t fit. Consider your grip type too as this can make a huge difference and there are effectively three grip types.
The palm grip is the most common and just involves resting the palm of your hand and most of your fingers on the mouse in a relaxed manner. The fingertip grip, as the name suggests, involves resting only the fingertips on the mouse with the palm of your hand consistently raised for fast, exact movement and repositioning. If you do use this grip, you’ll also need to consider the weight of the mouse, as a few extra pounds can make a difference when constantly repositioning. Some more advanced mice offer an adjustable weight feature that can be tailored to your needs. The final grip type is the claw grip, which is in the middle ground of the palm and fingertip grips requiring a short lightweight mouse.
What else?
Consider how it looks, not just a vanity selection, you should consider lighting. All the flashing lights can cause a distraction and destroy the tension of a particularly engaging game. The sensor you select will depend largely on the surface you use, as a laser mouse can be used on any type of surface, yet an optical sensor is considered to be more accurate. The size of your screen is also a factor in selecting the suitable DPI and the larger the screen the higher the DPI needs to be for more precise movement.
Let’s be honest, a gaming mouse is a want rather than a need. Whatever mouse you have, you can play PC games, but in order to get that competitive advantage and just feel more of a pro, you should ask yourself these questions rather than just buying the most expensive mouse or the one with the coolest name.