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Ideazon ZBoard Review May 07, 2003 Jakub Wojnarowicz |
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Summary: Is your trusty old keyboard on the fritz? Perhaps you're looking to upgrade to some l33t gaming hardware? Ideazon has come up with the ZBoard and they think it's just for you. What does Jakub think? Does he think? Find out more here!
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Designs
Try as they might, peripheral manufacturers have yet to adequately substitute, never mind supercede, the standard keyboard and mouse. Through sheer numbers, the combination has managed to establish itself as the favored gaming tool. So much development has gone into making keyboards and mice work with games, that any alternate control devices have an even larger obstacle to surmount.
Ideazon has taken a new tack on the old problem. Rather than trying to introduce an elaborate, unorthodox device, they’ve simply updated the old design with the ZBoard. A ZBoard is really nothing more than a keyboard base on which a variety of keyboard designs can be placed. Oversized and re-shaped WASD/QE buttons are standard on their MOHAA layout, for example. More conventional designs, like the Microsoft Word or Age of Mythology keyboards have labels on the keys that match default control schemes.
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Any good?
While we might question the use of a Microsoft Word layout for anything but secretary training, the game designs – particularly MOHAA’s – spoke to us. It’s not that we’re dissatisfied with keyboard/mouse controls. Far better that than the traditional alternative – gamepads.
The ZBoard’s appeal is more in improving what we already have. The MOHAA keys are centralized, mapped in a familiar fashion by default and easy to hit. These improvements won’t make anyone a noticeably better player, but they do make movement and other commands more comfortable. At extreme levels of skill – either the truly great or the hopelessly pitiful – one may see improvement. For most of us, it will be a matter of comfort.
Well, relative comfort. As large and user friendly as the main keys are, the remaining ones are small, round and slippery. The numeric keypad is sacrificed and compromises were made in the layout of the standard keys, but they remain easy enough to negotiate for quick bursts of chat. Besides, if you’re using the MOHAA layout, you’re there to play a game, not type a treatise on the long-term cultural effects of Homer’s epics on the Roman mind.
Our Age of Mythology experience was less thrilling. Although AOM hardly lacks keyboard shortcuts, the improvements from the ZBoard design didn’t seem as noticeable. Maybe it is precisely because there are so many commands, there is no way to localize them in one area as there is with a first-person shooter.
SIDEBAR: I told you, don’t read this!
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Problems
A few things struck us as rather odd with the ZBoard. Layouts are game-, not genre-specific. Ideazon clearly has the idea of selling a separate keyboard top for every major game out there. This is really unfortunate since so many games – from Quake through Deus Ex – use relatively standard controls forced on the industry by the prevalence of keyboard/mouse control. While a more generic design might not be as successful with any single game, we had no problem remapping Rainbow Six: Raven Shield controls to the ZBoard, for example. True, some games may not fit perfectly (the lack of enough buttons for weapon choosing is a particular drawback), but the MOHAA layout is robust enough to serve most shooters.
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This immediately questions the need for any more overlays. Why bother buying Battlefield 1942, Counter-Strike and Rainbow Six layouts if you can simply customize your favorite game to work with the MOHAA layout? This is more of a business model problem than one that affects gamers directly, but it does have some unfortunately consequences for us. Most notable is the actual look of the layout – it is clearly for Medal of Honor. Playing Rainbow Six on it may feel silly to some. Then again, being computer geeks, we can’t even color co-ordinate a wardrobe.
Final thoughts
The various layouts provided by Ideazon are surprisingly compact. They fold over twice, converting some of that keyboard length into thickness. Being rather thin in the first place, this is a great decision and makes toting these around rather easy. It’s too bad nobody at Ideazon decided to make the base of the keyboard foldable as well. This would make it perfect for LAN parties or even cluttered desks.
For all its upsides, however, the ZBoard suffers from one huge drawback – the price. At almost $40 for the main package and nearly $20 for each additional overlay, this is a questionable expense for most gamers.
SIDEBAR: She got a smile
That it seems to me
Reminds me of childhood memories
Where everything was as
Precious as a bright blue sky
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Pros
MOHAA design
The MOHAA overlay is quite useful and can be adapted to work with other games, particularly those that use Q and E for additional movement (such as leaning around corners.)
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Cons
Price
For this kind of money, you can hook yourself up with a gen-yoo-wine OmniKey. Personally, I swear by the 101. Kenn and Thresh prefered the Ultra.
Keys
The MOHAA key spread for the left hand is great. Everything else is marginal. The small, slippery keys that jut out a quarter inch from the keyboard are round and, lacking an edge, are difficult to grasp.
Practicality
Ideazon seems to be planning on selling an individual overlay per game. Not exactly what gamers are looking for.
SIDEBAR: Slippery keys are NOT hot and sexy.
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