SteelSeries and Blizzard introduce us to a full suite of Diablo III products. The headset style is the same as the Siberia design, but straight from the gates of hell. This headset has impressive XL leather ear cups, a USB soundcard, and volume controls built right into the cabling. The retractable microphone will provide you with versatility in various noise canceling options.

Watch this video on YouTube.

First Impressions

I have been awaiting this headset for a long time coming. I used the SteelSeries Siberia for about 4 years. I have owned every version of them at one point or another, and now I feel blessed or cursed to get my hands on this badass gamer hardware.

XL sized leather ear cups… That is correct. Go ahead and read it again… XL sized leather ear cups. This is by far the most comfortable headset I’ve ever put on my head. Great design for a game in which you will easily lose track of time. Diablo II consumed my life for about 6 years, playing countless hours a day. I know I scheduled time off to play the beta of Diablo III last weekend. I was fortunate enough to have this gear for it, and I’ll admit my gameplay was definitely enhanced.

Durable cabling is an essential to any of your gear, but especially to headsets. SteelSeries definitely took the right approach using a double-braided nylon cable. The cable length is only 1 m / 3 ft, but a USB extension cable (2 m / 6.5 ft) is included inside of the box.  The extension is not a double-braided nylon, but a strong rubber compound.  It’s necessary to have the extension unless you’re sitting less than three feet from your USB port, so I wish it had been made with the same material as the rest of the cable to match.

There is no gold plated USB on this headset, which is not too surprising because the USB tip is a sound card. That’s right, SteelSeries has provided a sound card as the connector that will actually hold your settings within, so you can move from PC to PC without reconfiguring all of your options. Most of their other devices come equipped with the gold plated USB, but the sound card on this one is an awesome substitute.

Blazing right from the depths of hell, the illuminations of this headset are epically appealing. I woke up the other night and saw them glowing at me. They lured me out of bed in order to Frag Like a Boss. They have the perfect, deep, bloody red look, many pulsation settings, and intensities.

Performance

What? I’m sorry. I can’t hear you… If you plan on hearing anything outside of what is flowing through your headphones, these are not for you. This headset is designed to completely put you in the zone using its 50 mm speakers to bump the wax right out of your ears. Seriously. It’s gross, yeah, but they are that powerful. I have a few songs I like to use to sample bass, treble, high and low pitches. They sound incredible through the Diablo III headset.  These are easily the best headphones I’ve used for gaming as well as everyday music listening.

I love the simple to use but effective driver settings SteelSeries and Blizzard have provided here. There are only two tabs, simple and to the point. They provide you with an equalizer so you have the ability to boost the bass when you’re bashing in zombie faces in the world of Diablo III. You get the true massacre effects of the game. It truly adds a subtle intensity into the gameplay itself. I was playing a barbarian in the beta and his ground slam spell sounds badass when hitting 20 enemies at once. Imagine the sound of all those skulls cracking.  It’s fierce.

The illumination settings are also located within this tab of the drivers. There are a few standard settings for intensity low, medium, high, and off. You can also set the pulsation of the illuminations. I love the “trigger” setting. No sound equals no lights, and as you crank up the sound, the lights on the outside of the ear cups start to pulse. This headset lets everyone around you know just how hard you’re fragging out with its awesome glow.  The louder the song gets, the deeper and faster the illumination. It also bumps to any bass hits.

The microphone, much like the Siberia v2 NAVI edition, is retractable. It is a uni-directional microphone so make sure you have the receiver turned in. This also helps a lot with the noise cancellation, which is up to 20 dbs. Last night, I was on Skype with a friend and playing Heroes of Newerth. I could hear the fans in his MacBook Pro better than his voice. If he had this headset, I wouldn’t have heard his fans at all. The background noise coming out of your headset can really make you “that guy” who nobody wants to play with.

Conclusion

SteelSeries and Blizzard are starting to make it impossible to write a bad review. They truly are creating top of the line gaming products. This headset will enhance the gameplay of any game while allowing you to wear it comfortably for hours upon hours. They will fit great on any head size and give you the stylish design you’ve been trying to impress your friends with. The Diablo III headset and mouse make a pretty tough tag team of gaming gear to beat. I look forward to the launch of Diablo III so I can log hundreds of hours with this new Diablo III hardware.

Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter!

If you have any questions about this article, please contact Jeff@fragboss.com.

Awhile back SteelSeries introduced us to a mouse they call the Sensei. SteelSeries and Blizzard strike again, modifying the Sensei to become the Diablo III mouse. Finally, a true ambidextrous mouse with a sleek design, the most durable switches in existence, very lightweight, and very intuitive Diablo III themed drivers.

Watch this video on YouTube.

First Impressions

AMAZING? Oh, too soon? This was the most exciting project for me to work on. As I unboxed this product, it felt like Christmas. Even though this mouse is a Sensei replica, it’s still fascinating to get your hands on.
In previous reviews about the Sensei mouse we mentioned how the rubberized/gloss finish was kind of a downfall. This mouse offers you a rubberized finish on both the top and the sides providing an easy to grip surface. Within the rubber grip is a perfect design for this mouse to give it the Diablo III appearance. On the butt end of the mouse is the fire red illuminating Diablo III logo. The scroll wheel also shares the same illumination and pulses along with the logo. There are many options available in the driver that lets you control the speed and type of pulsations.

This mouse is fully ambidextrous and shaped to fit any gamer grip. There are eight buttons on this mouse which are very well placed. It has two buttons where your thumb rests and two at the pinky/ring finger depending on your grip. The button located below the scroll wheel is used to toggle your CPI. There is an LED light above that button indicating when it is active.

Like many SteelSeries mice, The Diablo III mouse has a 2 m / 6.5 ft. double-braided nylon cable and a gold-plated USB connection. The cable actually matches the mouse very well; the second braid is a deep red coinciding with the illuminations.

Performance

I’ll admit the first thing I did with this mouse was play Counter-Strike: Source. One thing I noticed going from a Razer DeathAddar for my FPS mouse to this was the correction. The Diablo III mouse has no correction and I actually had to aim. I found it to be a lot better because I had to actually try and my performance increased. This mouse is ideal for any game whether its MMO, FPS, RTS, etc.

Now I am trying to hit a malfunction point on this mouse and it’s just not happening. I know all mice have limits but this laser mouse has some seriously great tracking. I am currently using the QCK+ FNATIC pad and I am just knocking things off my table and pulling my shoulder out of its socket trying to make this mouse malfunction. I think it’s safe to say if you have to perform a serious swiping action you can rely on this mouse to stay on track.

I got the chance to use the Diablo III mouse in the open beta and I will admit it was quite a tool. As soon as I plugged this mouse in and started playing, it was instantly useful. The buttons are default programmed to your spell bars. Of course you can customize them and create macros as well. The impressive part was the true “plug and play” aspect. I for the most part am a very default user. I rarely change many settings in any game, for that matter. Diablo has a very simple layout as far as spells go, and the game honestly could be played with just a mouse. This game requires no keyboard actions at all unless you want to type to your friends or shift click your left mouse button spells.

Since the Diablo III mouse is, for the most part, a replica of the Sensei, I figured the focal point of this review should revolve around the drivers. In the driver tool, there are 4 main tabs entitled ‘buttons’, ‘settings’, ‘properties’, and ‘statistics’.

The ‘buttons’ tab gives you the option to choose left-handed mode. This was pretty impressive and yet so simple. Since the mouse is completely symmetrical and ambidextrous you simply click ‘left-handed mode’ and you’re done. It will switch left and right click, also the side buttons will become reversed as well. The last part of the ‘buttons’ tab is the assignments. You may assign all buttons of the mouse to perform whichever actions you like. You have 3 action types including macro, launch application, and disable key. You can even change the font, color, and add tooltips to each action button.

The settings tab consists of your CPI and polling rate. There are two bars you can set, LED off and LED on. This is actually pretty interesting because most mice are usually set in increments of 400. This mouse allows them to be set in increments of 100. It offers you a range of 100 all the way up to 5700 CPI. Now I have the LED off set to 800, which is my comfortable default CPI. I have the LED on set to 5700 CPI. When you press your CPI toggle button located below the scroll wheel it will kick into the DPI you have set under LED on. Polling rates available 125, 250, 500, 1000.

The ‘properties’ tab is pretty sweet as well. You can, of course, create custom profiles like most mice allow you to do. This one has the ability to automatically switch into a specific profile each time you load an application. For example, I play Counter-Strike: Source, World of Warcraft, Heroes of Newerth, and Diablo III. When I load any one of those given games, it will automatically switch right into whichever profile I use for that game. I particularly love this feature.  It’s very useful because I gotta tell you, I always forget to switch profiles for each game. This mouse is just smart enough to know how forgetful you are and does it for you!

The ‘statistics’ tab is your way to truly test if this mouse lives up to its “10 million clicks” reputation. Honestly, this is sadly what I spent the most time with when I first played with the drivers. There is a click counter for your current session or an option for lifetime clicks. You simply check off the box click start and click away. It will record any action on the mouse, like how many times it was pressed in how many seconds. I may have seriously just pulled my shoulder muscle performing 98 left clicks in 10 seconds. Yeah, I’ll see you in PvP in Diablo III.

Conclusion

Overall mouse is just like the Sensei splashed with the Diablo III design and vibrant illuminations. It is a perfect tool for any game type. It is straight to the point plug and play with Diablo III. Being able to change from left to right handed with the click of a button is great. I will admit it will take something spectacular for me to remove this mouse from my gaming setup. I am a huge fan of Diablo. I have been waiting for this game since I defeated Baal in Diablo II LOD. For all of you treasure hunters in the Diablo III world, this mouse is the real-life treasure. Definitely the perfect unique weapon for all classes and styles.

Follow us on FaceBook and Twitter!

If you have any questions about this article, please contact Jeff@fragboss.com

I would like to let everyone know that our site has been 100% completely redesigned thanks to Stephen Reinstein, he has done an excellent job programming and working very hard to make sure it was finished around the same time Diablo 3 came out.

Also, I would like to announce Razer as a supporter to the site, along with the others, SteelSeries, BenQ, and ZOWIE. Razer will be sending us products for review, and possibly raffles if the site shows enough potential.

As always, I will try to bring you more prizes and contests than before, since this was a milestone for me to get finished I can now focus on the content of the site.

This month we will be raffling off the SteelSeries Diablo III Headset and Mouse, so stay tuned for that!  Next month we will be giving away the ZOWIE AM Mouse.

If anyone would like to contribute to this site, or become a supporter/advertiser, please contact myself at ethan@fragboss.com.

Finally the SteelSeries Kinzu v2 is released, and in a slew of colors.  The Kinzu was personally my favorite mouse, and I will for sure end up getting one of these guys, probably either the White or Yellow one.  I’ve done a review on the Kinzu v2 Pro, and you can relate the performance to this mouse as well.  The only real difference from the Kinzu v2 and Pro edition are the lack of really nice teflon mouse feet, and Omron switches.

Hit up the link to find out more information and where to purchase!

SteelSeries Kinzu v2

SteelSeries is on a rampage with releasing new QcK designs.  First the MLG QcK+ this week, now the UFC QcK.  For all of you UFC fans, you can now purchase the QcK at SteelSeries’ web shop!

Purchase Here

SteelSeries has finally put the MLG QcK+ editions on sale.  There are two different versions, the Red/Blue and the Splatter design.  Both look really nice, and both scream MLG.  You can pick these guys up at the SteelSeries’ webshop today.  Also, don’t forget about the 30% discount coupon that ends today: PXE2012.

Click to Purchase

There will be quite a few updates coming to this site very soon.  However, with the updates comes a lack of posting.  I am waiting to post more reviews until the new version of the site is released.  It will do away with the registration, but we will still keep commenting available.  The layout will be 100% different as well.

So with that said, user registration is closed, and all comments will be going through Disqus.  All you have to do is login with your FaceBook account or create a Disqus ID.  It’s much faster, and prevents my site from getting hit with spam users.

Keep an eye on the updated site coming out soon.  When it goes live, I will have a lot of raffles coming you way!

Penny Arcade Expo is underway, and a lot of companies are attending to show off their products to fellow gamers.  SteelSeries is no exception, but instead they are going to offer quite a discount to their customers.  A 30% discount on all existing products in their store.  To simply use this coupon, just use the coupon code PXE2012.

April 6th-9th and North America only.  No Diablo gear.

www.SteelSeries.com

PXE2012

PXE2012

PXE2012

Uh, in a surprise announcement, SteelSeries has announced what seems to be the oddest product line ever, ErgoRetro.  Instead of smooth lines on your mouse, headset, and keyboard, you get really blocky shapes that aren’t ergonomic at all.  I’m not sure how this came to a realization, but it shouldn’t have.

Can’t wait to get these for review……not.

Full PR: Here

The day when a computer peripheral company partners with a Seven Eleven is the day I will dress in a pink leotard.

Well, I guess I am going to dress in a pink leotard, because that’s exactly what SteelSeries has done.  For a limited time only, you can choose PayNearMe as a checkout option and receive free shipping.  You then print out your confirmation, and pay at your local Seven Eleven.  Who would have thought that us gamers would actually have to leave our houses…

Full PR: Click Here