Gaming isn’t what it used to be. Putting aside the obvious advances on the hardware technology side (faster processors, better GPUs), you once only needed a board and a rodent to get up and going with your favorite RTS, FPS, or simulation. Now things are a bit more specialized, and niche markets have sprung up everywhere, for everything. This SteelSeries WoW Gaming Mouse illustrates this trend perfectly.

                                              This mouse will surely attract many buyers if SteeSeries offers other logos and ingrained designs.

True, World of Warcraft is currently one of the most successful and widespread franchises ever to grace a gamer’s PC, so calling this SteeSeries product “niche” is not wholly accurate. Yet at the same time, there are perfectly good alternatives that are a bit more understated and competent, albeit less functional than this official World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse. “Understated” it is not, but many gamers wouldn’t mind this peripheral’s over-the-top design and cool aesthetics – I’m pretty enamored with it myself, and I don’t even play WoW.

                                              With Wrath of the Liche-King just around the corner, WoW gamers are on their toes with their game.

In this, it overrides its niche-market nature (a peripheral designed for one game) through sheer brute design – brushed metal, a smooth carapace design awash with LED lights, inscribed designs on the thumbrest, and 15 programmable buttons – all of which can be controlled through an in-game configuration utility. Well, be it for WoW or not, it surely looks sweet enough for any PC user’s desk, perhaps minus the logo.