Sidewinder Strategic Commander

FPS devices - Parade of trash

We've all seen and heard the hype on specialized controllers that purport to be better than mouse and keyboard for online play. The SpaceOrb was basically a gamepad with a large, tumor like appendage that let players aim in all directions. The Mad Catz Panther XL is a joystick married to a trackball - supposedly this setup is supposed to be better than a mouse and keyboard too? And the ill conceived Fragmastr was laughed right back to the factory by hardcore FPS players. The bottom line is that no company has made a device that truly made gamers into better FPS players. Even Microsoft has been down this road before, with a two handed, rotatable gamepad. Yet through all the thousands of dollars poured into R&D , Mouse and Keyboard is still the best for FPS gaming. I know all the Panther XL fanatics are now going to yell and scream at me, but face facts - when's the last time one of you won a major tournament or major money or beat a name player? Yup. That's what I thought.

Strategic Commander

A device for RTS?

So Microsoft has decided to buck the trend - now they've made a device that's supposed to make RTS players even faster and better than they would be with a mouse and keyboard - behold the Sidewinder Strategic Commander. I've been a serious RTS player for years, as well as a FPS player. I've seen and tried just about all the silly devices created for FPS, so I was rather skeptical at first when presented with the Strategic Commander.

Side view - see the switch and the shift buttons?

Having said all that, I really think this device might actually be useful to serious RTS players. The unit fits in the left hand, featuring 6 buttons, 2 of which can be pressed by each of the ring, middle, and index fingers. The thumb has access to 3 shift buttons that can alter the functionality of the 6 top buttons. Combine that with a three way switch underneath the 3 shift buttons and you have…let's see…6 buttons + the 6 buttons x the 3 shift buttons x the 3 way switch = 72 possible buttons or macros that can be bound to the Strategic Commander. Did we mention that the entire 2 piece unit moves in your hand for easy map scrolling and camera control? It's very ergonomically designed - even my large paws felt right at home on it

My hand on the device

Playtesting

I briefly played around with this device in Age of Kings and Sim City 3000. Although it was awkward at first, use of the Strategic Commander became more intuitive fairly quickly. 3 different sets of bindings can be used for an RTS game - one switch position can be for early game, one for middle game, and one for late game. Or you can use the 3 way switch to separate economic functions, military functions, etc. Each of the 72 button bindings can correspond to a programmed set of macros as well, not just one keyboard button. For example, the Microsoft folks bound one button to find idle peon AND create house in Age of Kings. Another button was bound to zoom to my scout. Yet another brought me back to my town hall. By pressing three buttons at my finger tips I was able to efficiently manage early recon, base building, and economic duties without thrashing my mouse around frantically.

Fits pretty well

Yes, this could be done with the keyboard, but imagine later in the game binding a button to instantly and automatically queue up 4 Paladins, 2 battering rams, and 6 pikemen as you're managing a battle. Imagine pressing another button that allows you to redirect the rally point of ALL your unit producing buildings to near the enemy town that you're besieging. You've done in 1 second what would have taken 10 by thrashing your mouse around and clicking/pressing the keyboard. High level RTS competition is a game of seconds. The more seconds you can save from the "macro game" (managing your economy, army buildup), the more you can spend on the "micro game" (tactically ordering your troops in battle, making the minor adjustments that could spell victory in an even fight).

Conceivably, the Strategic Commander could give players the kind of massive control that only the computer or the hyper fast clickers have. Also, having the map scrolling divorced from the pointer control was rather helpful in the time I played. I can only imagine how useful it would be in a 3D RTS. It remains to be seen how well received the device will be in the hands of the truly great RTS players, or if they'll be willing to pony up the $60 just to try out the Strategic Commander. The gadget comes out in October and it will come with a variety of preprogrammed settings for the most popular games in order to give players ideas on how best to use it. For now, only Microsoft playtesters have their hands on the Strategic Commander - so if you're getting whipped by someone in AOK next week, and you can't figure out how he's managing a 3 pronged attack AND running his base…maybe now you'll have a better clue.