Navigating 3D wonderlands can take a toll on our already overworked hands, and between the mouse, keyboard, headset, and any accompanying peripherals you may already use to play games, it can get pretty hectic. Where everyone else sees clutter though, Sandio sees opportunity and the 3D mouse is their answer to 3D movement. The Sandio 3DGameO' serves two major functions; reducing the need to use the keyboard, and enhance your ability to control a 3D environment with a mouse designed with gamepads on the top and sides. They seem to be aiming this product more towards the gaming population, but it also has its uses with such programs as Google Earth. Their tagline even says, "Get an unfair advantage" while promising six degrees of freedom. I'm always looking to make my PC gaming more convenient, especially since I primarily use a laptop, so I had high hopes when testing out Sandio's 3DGameO' mouse.

Post by Andre Bermudez

The first thing I did was remove the extra hunk of plastic that's attached to the back of the mouse and it serves as a place to put your wrist rests upon. It seemed too cumbersome for a device that's supposed to facilitate movement. When I first installed the software that came with it, I was treated to a simple interface that allowed me to choose from a list of preprogrammed gaming control schemes, add my own to the list and set up my commands from scratch. I found my favorite 3D time-sink, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion on the list and decided to jump right in without testing out the mouse on Google Earth, as Sandio had advised. Using the different gamepads offered on the mouse felt a bit unwieldy at first. There are also many other programmable buttons available to make gaming easier, such as commands for jumping, and opening up menus. The initial setup for Oblivion has the WASD keys separated across the top and left gamepads, so I felt disoriented at first and wanted to revert to my old keyboard ways.

The digital pads that the 3DGameO' mouse uses are similar in concept to a peripheral I've been using for a while now, the Nostromo SpeedPad n52. But where the Nostromo SpeedPad merely took the functionality of the keyboard, and optimized the normal keyboard functions into a more intuitive product, the 3DGameO' puts too much functionality into a device for only one hand, without a control scheme that's inviting.

Upon getting my small wood-elf head bashed in by a troll because my fingers fumbled about with the Sandio 3D Mouse, I saw that the convenience of using only one hand did not come without its set of drawbacks. I've fairly long fingers, but the placement of the buttons and gamepads felt awkward when games asked more precise movements from the mouse. After succumbing to more silly deaths like the one previously described, I switched out Oblivion for Civilization 4, and had an easier time due to the relaxed nature of turn-based strategy games. Controlling the camera, commanding my cities and troops through the preprogrammed mouse buttons was a more realistic use of the device. Even after a few sessions of use, I still found myself yearning for the familiarity of the keyboard, with a newfound appreciation for its simplicity.

I'm sure that given enough time and practice, I could have mastered the controls somewhat and at $79.99 it's not that pricey of an investment. Although, I never felt that it was that much of an improvement over the tried and true keyboard and mouse combination, and I definitely didn't notice an "unfair" edge the 3DGameO' mouse may have provided. The end result is another mouse that seems to be more of a niche product, rather than the revolutionary control scheme nobody seems to be clamoring for.