SteelSeries started back in 2001 with the production of mouse pads and has ever since developed to an international company with the aim of satisfying the needs of gamers. In 2004 they moved into gaming headsets which have become very popular not just amongst gamers due to their qualities propelling the company to the top three of producers of gaming headsets. Kim 'rom' Rom has been a manager of the old SoA and is thus really into the gaming scene making him a specialist in gaming products.
mousesports: What was the developing process like? When did you start developing this product?
Kim Rom: Developing this mouse started 15 months ago after one of the biggest companies in the world owned by one of the richest men in the world released a laser mouse which was supposed to be a gaming mouse. However, no one bought the mouse. We had a look at this mouse which 90% of all the gamers worldwide are using and thought that there was room for improvement.
Our approach to the market is very different since the development of our new products is always accompanied by professional gamers and I know pretty much the best teams in the world and what their demands are. For this product in particular we used Team 3D, compLexity, mousesports, SK Gaming, Team NoA "and other world-class gaming organizations". All of them gave us feedback of how a gaming mouse should be and how they are using it.
mousesports: Which aims did you have in mind particularly for this mouse?
Kim Rom: Our aims were the same of all the other products we have made. Making a product that gives the player an advantage.
mousesports: So the solely target group are the gamers?
Kim Rom: Oh yeah, of course. Our products are for professional gamers only. But as everyone knows, pro-gamers have very high standards so if you develop a product that satisfies a gamer, you can be sure that it'll be liked by others, too. A headset, for instance, which sets high standards for a gamer can of course be used by other persons, too, and in fact it is used by them because of its quality.
mousesports: Gaming products, however, often have an extraordinary design with colorful blinking LEDs etc. Bearing that in mind, did you adjust the design to satisfy non-gamers also?
Kim Rom: No, our only target group are gamers - also in terms of design. But to be honest effectiveness and reliability count, not marketing efforts and colors. We make sports equipment for gamers; I have never seen sports equipment that glows blue.
We have asked a lot of pro-gamers in the world about their gaming habits and a lot of results of these surveys were quite surprising. Like the average amount of buttons on a gaming mouse is five. But the average of buttons used by gamers is only four. Even more interesting is the fact that the average amount of buttons used when they are actually playing is two or three.
mousesports: Why did you develop two mice?
Kim Rom: The simple answer for that question is that using a laser mouse for FPS games is stupid close to borderline. A laser mouse simply doesn't recognize all the fast movements you are doing when playing a shooter. Contrary to strategy games where you have really precise and accurate clicks; right there a laser mouse makes sense since it is really precise thanks to the millions of trillions of DPI.
Thus, the laser mouse of SteelSeries developed for real time strategy players has a LCD readout which shows the current DPI of the mouse; furthermore the player is able to easily adjust his DPI settings on-the-fly.
mousesports: What further advantages does the mouse have?
Kim Rom: One of the most annoying things are drivers. This mouse can be adjusted via a special programme that we have coded for it and the mouse saves all the information. So you can go to tournaments or LANs worldwide without any drivers and just plug in and play.
mousesports: The feeling when holding the mouse in hand is also of crucial importance. Does the mouse support lefthanders?
Kim Rom: No, this mouse was designed for right handed persons only. If it becomes popular we might begin selling it for lefthanders also. But what is important of the ergonomic design is that it combines three typical ways of how gamers are holding a mouse. Gamers either hold the mouse with their fingertips, cover the mouse with their entire hand or paddle with it over the gaming surface. We have watched a lot of pro gamers of how they are holding the mouse and surprisingly all the players used one of the three above mentioned techniques to play their game. We took that into account and designed an ergonomic design that makes it comfortable for the user to play with his habits.
