titleIt’s difficult to write about items themed around Diablo III and resist the urge to write about the success (or lack thereof) of the game itself. There are plenty of opinions about the game, but one thing we can agree on is that they stem from high expectations created from such successful franchise. Love it or hate it, you most likely remain a fan of the series.  SteelSeries has a line of peripherals inspired by Sanctuary to help scratch your Diablo itch.

 

Product Line: Diablo III mouse, Diablo III Headset , Qck Surface

Review Samples Provided by: SteelSeries

Written by: Wes and Adam

Pictures by: Wes

 

Specifications

Diablo III mouse

Sensor Specifications

Frames per second: 12000

Inches per second: 150

Mega pixels per second: 10.8

Counts per inch: 90 – 5670

Maximum acceleration: 30 G

Sensor data path: True 16 bit

Lift distance: ~2 mm

Maximum polling: 1000 Hz

Size and Weight

Weight: 90 grams (0.2 lbs)

Height: 38.7 mm (1.5 in)

Width: 68.3 mm (2.7 in)

Length: 125.5 mm (4.9 in)

Compatibility

Windows 2000

Windows XP

Windows Vista

Windows 7

Mac OS X

 

Diablo III headset

Headphones

Frequency response: 18 – 28,000 Hz

Impedance: 40 Ohm

Cable length: 3 ft.

USB Cable extension: 6.5 ft.

Microphone

Frequency response: 50 – 16,000 Hz

Pick up pattern: Uni-directional

Sensitivity: -38 dB

Active noise reduction: Up to 20dB

 

Qck Surface

Height

2 mm (0.08 in)

Width

320 mm (12.6 in)

Length

270 mm (10.6 in)

 


Packaging
There should be no doubt in the consumer’s mind of what they are getting into with the Diablo III peripherals. Each box is themed with Diablo 3 color schemes, font, and even the logo itself. If that is somehow misleading, each item provides some sort of preview window; the mouse and headset both open up clamshell-style, while the surface is sleeved in a clear-plastic crimp.

Inside all three of the boxes you get a SteelSeries product guide and a sticker. The Headset and mouse both also come with quick start guides and a paper with a link telling you where to download the software needed to use them. Some people will find this to be a downside because they don’t include the software on a cd, but this way they do offer the most up to date software, you just better have internet.

image 2

image 3

image 4

image 5

image 6

image 7

image 18

image 19

image 21

image 22

image 24

image 25

image 26

image 27

 

 


Diablo III mouse
I remember seeing the teaser shots of this mouse and loving what I saw. I was introduced to PC gaming with the original Diablo, a combination of it, Age of Empires, and an online game Graal ate enough of my free time for my concerned parents to force me outside most days. I was always impressed with the attention to detail Blizzard invested in the interface, in the lore, and even in the manuals. Playing on an awful in-the-county dial-up connection, I killed countless loading screens reading the stories and admiring the art that came with Diablo II. I felt the same nostalgia when I saw the Diablo III Sensei Raw.

image 32

image 33

 

SteelSeries has mimicked that detail themed on this mouse. The shell is a dark onyx, not quite black, bordered with the architectural weavings that are present in the game environment. The scroll wheel resembles dark coal with embers glowing underneath, functionally riveted for the finger to grasp and turn easily. Matching with the under glow is a pulsating Diablo III logo on the palm. Even the braided cord has red fabric stitched every now and again to pay homage to the burning world that inspired it.

image 34

image 35

How do these facial upgrades translate to functionality? From a company that has built a reputation by focusing on performance over appearance, it’s understandable to be skeptical. Let’s start with an obvious one: Diablo III, truly any Blizzard game, requires a lot of clicking. Enough clicking that one begins to wonder just how many times you’ve clicked (hold on to that thought, we’ll revisit it in the Software section). SteelSeries has built the Diablo III mouse with Omron switches, which guarantee 10 million lifetime clicks. In fact, I’ve been using the D3 mouse on my main gaming rig since it released, before we received our review sample. Not only do the switches and scroll still accentuate like new, but the decals have maintained, something I was concerned with after seeing the wear of my previous main mouse. Taking the mouse to LAN parties has also been a non-concern, since the cord we talked about is actually double-braided and plated gold to ensure a lifetime of plugging and unplugging.

image 36

image 29

image 30

A few more subjective statistics include a CPI scale capping at 5,700 and a lift distance of approximately 1mm, for those grip styles that lift the mouse when moving. The mouse is also designed to be ambidextrous, so lefties and righties alike can slay in comfort. This is achieved in part by positioning symmetrical, mappable buttons on both sides of the mouse, which combine to a total of 7 programmable buttons that can be assigned within the software.

image 31

image 37

image 38

image 28

image 1

The software uses the SteelSeries Engine, a suite that combines all SteelSeries product software into one program. The Diablo 3 editions are unique when compared to other SteelSeries products, they actually create a theme for the Engine, transforming the grayscale UI into one based on the color palette and designs of the Diablo universe.

lifetime 1

When the Diablo III mouse is selected in the device menu, the center screen becomes populated with four tabbed options and a corresponding menu for each. The Buttons tab features the mouse in a ‘mug shot’ manner, with side and top views calling out each button and assigning it a number. The corresponding number can be set to an action or macro via a drop down menu, while multiple profiles can be made depending on what game, or class, you are playing. The Properties tab is used to further customize the profile, and set it to auto-switch when a game executable is launched.

mousesoftware 1

The Settings tab collects the features such as CPI and Polling Rate adjustments, and allows customization of the LED illumination with intensity and pulsating speeds.

mousesoftware 2

The final tab, Statistics, is a really neat tool. I mentioned before the idea of tracking clicks, and SteelSeries has begun adding this function to a lot of their mice, the Diablo III version included. It seems fitting, since Blizzard is the company that introduced the idea of action per minute (APM) to me. This tool lets you record the key presses during a timed interval and displays the results by button in both numeric and visual form (and a scale of cool color to warm color, depending on the amount of use). Unique to the Diablo III version is the Lifetime clicks option, which, as you guessed, displays the lifetime clicks of each button. The results, as you can see, are quite impressive…

mousesoftware 3

mousesoftware 4

 


Diablo III Headset

We have had almost countless Siberia V2 headsets in the office in the past. We have always loved them due to their audio quality and comfort. To the point that any time we have needed a headset they are always are go to headset. When I opened up the Diablo 3 headset, I was expecting more of the same but with lighting. I was surprised right away to see how much they changed on this headset. Unlike other themed Siberia V2’s, this one didn’t leave anything untouched. They went as far to redo the molds for the side pieces to give them a proper Diablo look. The layout itself is the same as before, you have a pull out microphone with a floating support strap up top with open air ear cups and memory foam padding for comfort. From there though, each detail is changed slightly. The floating top support strap for example has the Diablo 3 logo on it. I also love that they went with the braided cable design in black and red. Even the microphone/volume control box is slightly larger than before.

image 8

image 9

image 10

But with all of these changes, did they change the performance of the headset? Well other than building the USB sound card into the cord, none of the performance aspects changed. The new found lighting is very interesting and controllable from the SteelSeries Engine, but it still doesn’t affect performance.

image 11

image 13

image 14

image 15

image 16

image 17

When I first put the headset on, I was a little concerned with its comfort. Unlike any of our other Siberia V2’s this one was a little uncomfortable at first. After I compressed the ear cups a few times that discomfort went away and we went back to the amazing comfort that we have always loved about the Siberia’s. As for audio performance, I put them through my standard audio test including in game performance, movie performance, and a variety of songs as well. Much like our previous tests the headset sounded great. It was a little heavy on Bass with some songs, but most people prefer a little extra Bass.

image 12

Overall, I was very happy with the Diablo 3 Siberia V2 headset. They managed to really do something that stands out from their other special edition Siberia V2’s. The red lighting that can flash to your audio, pulse, or stay on is cool and makes the headset easy to spot. You are going to want to be a Diablo 3 fan though, unlike other special editions where the color was the main feature, the changes to this headset scream D3.

headset software_1

headset software_2

 


Diablo III Qck Surface
I feel like the Diablo-themed Qck pads began to surface alongside Blizzard announcing the different classes. Soon, we had a lineup that featured one of each class, along with a logo option. The class-specific surfaces are available in the medium size (10.8” by 12.6”) flavor and feature official artwork of a preselected gender. The Logo edition is available in both a medium and a small (8.3” by 9.8”) edition. Like the Qck editions before it, these surfaces feature highly compacted threading to create a smooth fabric glide and a rubber base to prevent shifting.

Though our particular sample was the Witch Doctor, SteelSeries offers female Wizard, male With Doctor, male Barbarian, female Demon Hunter, male Monk, and the mentioned Logo.

image 20

 


Overall
The Diablo III peripheral bundle from SteelSeries pays a great homage to the series, a service that some fans of the franchise may feel was unfulfilled by the actual game. There is hope yet that we may be surprised by what Blizzard has in store for the future of Diablo III, and just as we don’t give up when were thrown into Fast, Vertex, Mortar Horde mob on Inferno mode, die-hard fans will continue to preserver. And these peripherals will be there by your side.

Either way, SteelSeries has introduced unique products that stand out from their normal special editions, especially with the D3 headset. The Diablo III headset is based on the Siberia V2, but they changed enough to justify dropping the Siberia V2 name. The Diablo III mouse is just as unique actually. It was introduced before the Sensei and is based on the Xia, but the similarities between it and the new Sensei RAW are also easy to see and we loved it as well. 

Author Bio
garfi3ld
Author: garfi3ldWebsite: http://lanoc.org
Editor-in-chief
You might call him obsessed or just a hardcore geek. Wes's obsession with gaming hardware and gadgets isn't anything new, he could be found taking things apart even as a child. When not poking around in PC's he can be found playing League of Legends, Awesomenauts, or Civilization 5 or watching a wide variety of TV shows and Movies. A car guy at heart, the same things that draw him into tweaking cars apply when building good looking fast computers. If you are interested in writing for Wes here at LanOC you can reach out to him directly using our contact form.

Log in to comment

garfi3ld's Avatar
garfi3ld replied the topic: #28322 30 Oct 2012 22:01
A look at SteelSeries's D3 Peripherals

We have 1661 guests and no members online

supportus