With all the games that require the simultaneous use of a mouse and the keyboard, I'm surprised no one thought of making a left hand peripheral before now. But finally, Microsoft, who is no stranger to making good game devices, has stepped up in fine form.
Basically, the Strategic Commander is made to be an alternative to the keyboard, combining the functions of the directional keys while putting whatever other keyboard buttons you like right under your fingers. While the unit looks kind of like a mouse on a stand, rest assured that the unit is a good bit larger than a mouse, because it's made to comfortably accommodate your entire hand.
The "mouse" part (as I will refer to it) slides smoothly around on the base, which usually works in place of the directional keys. The entire "mouse" section can also twist left and right, which can also be programmed. The two small black buttons on top are made especially for zooming (as in zooming a camera angle, very useful in Sierra's Ground Control). The other six buttons are, of course, programmable, however they can each be assigned a 2nd, 3rd, and 4th use by combining them with one of the 3 shift buttons on the right side of the "mouse." So, basically, 6 buttons x 4 modes (using them alone and 3 shift buttons) = 24 keyboard keys at your disposal at one time. That right, 24 keyboard commands right there, under your fingers. Before you start tearing up, consider this. See that little slide thingy on the right side of the base? Guess what that's for. Each of the 3 slide positions relates to a different profile for the device. This is great if you, like me, tend to be playing more than one game in any given week. With a slide of that switch, bam, another set of control preferences. And better yet, the switch can be used in-game, meaning that if you just needed a huge number of keys in some incredibly complicated game, you could switch between them quickly and easily.
Programing the buttons is a snap. The Sidewinder software is very easy to use, almost fool-proof. You just click the button or shift-button combination you want to set, type a name for the function in one field, put in the button combination in another field. When your done programming, just go to "file-save as" and save the profile as the name of the game you'll be using it on. You can also record functions in-game with the record button
While the Strategic Commander is marketed as a tool for real-strategy games, it certainly can be used for other things. My first instinct was to try it out with some first-person shooters. The results were varied. As far as using the Strategic Commander with Unreal Tournament and other such fast paced games, I wouldn't recommend it to most frag-heads. While the direction movements will work with these games, they just don't seem to substitute for the quick presses of the directional keys. However, in more slow paced games...like Thief...this thing is a godsend. Thief is one of those games that's always annoyed me, simply because there were too many buttons to find a comfortable setup. But now...wow, it's great, I can set Shift1 + buttons 1-6 to be weapons, Shift2 + 1-6 to be items, and still have the buttons alone to do all the other little things (such as bringing up the map, toggling the "lean" function, etc). Another game that I find works well with this device is the recently released Escape From Monkey Island. Basically, I can play EMI one handed now, with all the game funcions at my fingertips.
My complaints about the Strategic Commander are few and minor. First, the unit gives off a good bit more light than you would expect. This can be kind of annoying if you have to, say, sleep in the same room as your computer. Another small problem is that the directional movements seem to stick just a little every once in a while. This really isn't a big deal and I think it will go away once I break the unit in a little more. Really, the only major flaw of the Strategic Commander is price. Even now that the price has dropped a little, $50 is still a lot to shell out for a game device. Still, if you're a frequent gamer, especially an RTS fan, I think you'll find that this little thing is worth a look.



Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 50