By John Christopher Aquino and Jonas Ryan Nitura
The revolutionary mouse has seen some improvements far from its trackball roots. Today, it has undergone some drastic changes as further advancements have helped gamers hone their skills as they use the suitable mouse amid a wide market of gaming mice.
Aside from the various design choices that range from flashy to minimalistic, the market offers various types of mice that gamers can choose from. There are types of mice that have extra buttons on the left and/or right sides where gamers can map various actions toward.
“The buttons on the side definitely help a lot when it comes to games. I assign macros for it so it's easier for me to play games. For example in DOTA 2, I use the side buttons to use items in the game,” said Iggy Bernardo, a Logitech G502 HERO user.
While Diego Yap, a SteelSeries Rival 310 user, added that the side buttons will make you feel comfortable because of the modifiable side buttons.
“If you are playing video games, having extra mouse buttons or side mouse buttons is very useful. You can change some of the game settings into your mouse, giving you more comfort as you play the game,” the gamer said.
Pricier options also come in the form of wireless mice which ease the problem of a wired connection that may restrict movement.
“I use a wired mouse because a USB ensures a much more stable and responsive connection with minimal input lag for optimum gaming performance. The only downside it has, is the restriction of the wires,” claimed Yap. “Both have their perks but a wireless mouse is definitely more advantageous in terms of practicality as it is easily portable and the absence of wires is convenient,” added Bernardo as he aims to upgrade to a wireless version of his mouse.
Even when using a wired mouse, Dave Yadao, a Logitech G102 owner, said that he would prefer wireless mice over a weird mouse.
“I observe in my day-to-day life that my mouse cable gets tangled up which becomes a hassle for me. I am all for a cleaner desk setup,” the user explained.
When asked if the gaming mice users would revert back to a normal optical mouse, they all declined as their current mouse can both serve as a normal mouse in addition to the features added to it.
“I would not go back to a normal office mouse because of the familiarity I have with my macros settings and my in-app DPI configurations,” said Yadao.
“I wouldn't mind using an optical mouse for daily tasks. However, I really wouldn't buy one for myself since a gaming mouse is more ideal for me to use since gaming is a hobby of mine that I do regularly,” added Bernardo.
They also added that a gaming mouse is more sensitive and more responsive than a normal optical mouse. As the said gamers are using a wired gaming mouse, all of them said that they would want to upgrade to a wireless version someday.
