When any company throws down and declares to the world it's got a new mouse made especially for gamers, I just can't resist checking it out. Saitek recently did just that with the new Obsidian Wireless Mouse, and I was lucky enough to take the $49.95 input device through a few heated firefights.

First off, the Obsidian has a really wild design. A flat, circular recharging cradle hooks up to your PC via USB. Connected to this cradle is a USB receiver/transmitter. What's cool is that the cradle can charge both of its two batteries at once--one while it's sitting in the mouse and the other in a special charging receptacle. When one battery dies, just swap in the other.

As for gaming, I found the Obsidian pretty responsive--even a bit too twitchy. After a few minutes, though, I got used to it. But the mouse's wide, flat shape began to cramp up my hand within just an hour of play. That's a real problem in my book. I guess I'm used to the extreme comfort of Logitech's line of gaming mice. I also couldn't get into the Obsidian's touch-sensitive buttons, which proved unreliable in the heat of virtual battle. I'm gonna stick with old-school wired gaming mice, at least for now.

Post by Brian Bennett