The video gaming industry is built upon and relies on technology. From the engines and systems used to create the games, to the consoles and kits used to play them, there would be no games without technology.
Gaming controllers have gone through innumerable iterations over the years, with specific designs reserved for specific brands and others falling by the wayside. Traditionally, we think of handheld controllers with a combination of joysticks and buttons. However, PC gaming has been steadily increasing over the years, with players making use of just their keyboard and a mouse. Gaming mouses are designed specifically for playing games. Do these mice have any uses beyond that? Many gaming mice are not just popular in the gaming sector but are used also among CAD professionals, and others. Keep reading to find out more.
What Are Gaming Mouses?
Modern games are highly complex and require a great deal of skill and dexterity. Long gone are the days when games could be played with the click of one or two buttons, today gamers must get to grips with complicated control systems that require fast reflexes and quick fingers.
For PC gamers, traditional mice are fast becoming obsolete. They are too static and unresponsive to be able to keep up with the speed of today’s video games. This is where gaming mice come in. These dedicated controllers look similar to the traditional mouse but offer a range of special features that make them perfect for gamers.
Adjustable Sensitivity
Reaction speeds differ from person to person. This can be down to a number of things, including age, gender, and biological makeup. What this means is that games must have systems in place to adapt to players’ different reaction speeds, so as to not leave players frustrated if they feel the game is too fast or too slow for them.
Gaming mouses offer adjustable sensitivity so that players can play games at a speed that suits them. The devices can be set at a specified dots per inch (DPI) rate, which determines how quickly the cursor will move across the screen when the mouse is moved. Generally, a higher DPI is used for more advanced games and for computer systems with a higher screen resolution.
Extra Buttons
Modern games are complicated, with a range of different functions and actions able to be carried out by the player. This means that the traditional three-button mouse isn’t enough, gamers require more easily accessible buttons to be able to play today’s feature-packed games.
Extra buttons make the gaming experience even more fun and engaging, with titles from massive multiplayer online role-playing games to free flash games benefiting from access to additional controls. Players can customize these buttons to correspond to whatever in-game functions they like, making for a more personalized gaming experience.
They’re Lightweight
Gaming mouses are ergonomically designed to fit perfectly in the hand. They are easy and smooth to move around and are ultra-responsive. Mouses of the past were cumbersome, heavy, slow, and sluggish. While these might have been perfectly fine for slow computer work or even rudimentary PC games, they are far less suitable for the games of today. Gaming mouses are made of lightweight material making for far more accurate handling.
What Else Can A Gaming Mouse Be Used For?
Almost all modern business and creative practices are conducted through the use of computers. Companies are constantly looking for ways in which to boost the productivity of employees and get them to work quicker and more efficiently.
The added features and benefits of gaming mice make them perfect for various activities other than playing games. Programmers often need to work at speed across multiple monitors and windows to produce fast accurate code. We’re seeing many programmers adopt gaming mice for the unique advantages they offer.
Graphic designers and CAD professionals are also reported to be making use of gaming mice. Their lightweight nature and increased functionality allow for more detailed and accurate photo enhancements and editing.
Film editors have to navigate complex editing software, often across enormous projects made up of several different parts. By using a gaming mouse, film editors can navigate these platforms with ease, mapping editing tools to the mouse’s many buttons to make the editing process far more efficient.
Similarly, sound mixers and audio engineers use a range of different software platforms to create, edit, and mix music. While there are external hardware controllers for many of these platforms, many of these are prohibitively expensive and too large to be practical. By using a gaming mouse, sound editors can have all the benefits of a hardware controller in the palm of their hand.
Conclusion
Gaming mouses were designed with one thing in mind: making playing video games on the PC more fun and more engaging. However, as with many bits of tech, people have found uses for them far beyond their intended purpose, and we’re sure to see them adopted across more industries in the future.
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