Razer And SteelSeries Both Team With Blizzard

By Lisa Johnston -- TWICE, 7/19/2010

NEW YORK — Razer and Steel- Series each announced they had formed partnerships with Blizzard Entertainment for Blizzard’s July launch of Star- Craft II: Wings of Liberty.

The suite of Razer products includes the Spectre StarCraft II gaming mouse, the Marauder StarCraft II gaming keyboard and the Banshee StarCraft II gaming headset.

The Spectre StarCraft II gaming mouse is billed as a lightweight, five-button mouse. It boasts the Actions-Per- Minute (APM) Lighting System with a multi-color LED that provides real-time performance feedback through changing lighting hues and adjustable mousebutton force settings for optimal mouse click speed and control, Razer said.

Other features include a 5,600 dpi Razer Precision 3.5G laser sensor and a 1,000Hz Ultrapolling 1ms response time. It will be available in the third quarter for a $79.99 suggested retail.

The Marauder StarCraft II gaming keyboard also has the APM Lighting System, as well as elevated keys, a dedicated on-the-fly macro recording system, laser-etched keys, and the company’s Hyperresponse technology. Suggested retail is $119.

Finally, the Banshee StarCraft II gaming headset — which also has the APM Lighting System — comes with a configuration utility for customized adjustments of equalizer, pitch and volume, Razer said. It also has a detachable microphone boom, 50mm drivers, built-in volume and microphone control buttons, and “a gamingoptimized design inspired by the Star- Craft universe.”

Suggested retail is $119.

All of the Razer products will be available in the third quarter.

The SteelSeries line of co-branded products includes the StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard gaming keyboard bundle, and the Limited Edition QcK Tychus Findlay and Marauder mouse pads.

The keyboard bundle includes the company’s Zboard Base with Z Engine II software, the Zboard Standard QWERTY keyset and the Limited Edition Zboard keyset (StarCraft II). The Zboard keyset is said to provide labeled commands, in-game shortcuts, official artwork from the game, and three race-specific mods featuring unique abilities for each of the races.

The new mouse pads are constructed of a high-quality cloth material with an optimized textured surface, Steel- Series said, that provides players with a smooth and consistent gliding surface.

Suggested retails are as follow: the StarCraft II Limited Edition Zboard gaming keyboard bundle, $69.99; Limited Edition QcK Tychus Findlay, Marauder, QcK Marine, and Kerrigan vs. Zeratul mouse pads, $14.99; Zboard keyset, $24.99.

The SteelSeries products will be available when StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty launches July 27.