Two Words, One Answer.
MAC Tournament
 Unreal Tournament 2004 $34.99 I've always been a big fan of the Unreal series. I've followed every one of the releases up to this very day. In my opinion, Unreal Tournament 2004 (UT2k4) is still the best of the series. It just has so much going for it. Tons of weapons, maps, and gameplay modes. Not to mention the mass of players online as well. It's been about 5 years since the game's release and there are still people playing this game! Easy to pick up, hard to master. One of the few FPS fathers of the previous genre that is still going strong (along with Half Life, Quake, and Doom), I'd recommend this game to anyone in a heartbeat.  Spongebob Squarepants Typing Win/Mac $19.99 Our children LOVE Spongebob, but we were disappointed in this program. After trying Spongebob for a few days, we bought Mavis Beacon's basic course. Our children caught on immediately with Beacon and have continued to use it instead of Spongebob. Beacon's course starts off with the basics (home-row keys) and gradually progresses from there. It actually "teaches" and automatically reviews particular skills that the typist is having trouble with. The Spongebob program seems to take for granted that one already knows the basics of typing. It provides little more than practice tools. In a nutshell, Spongebob is probably good for an advanced typist, but Beacon is better for a beginner.  Belkin n52te Tournament Edition SpeedPad $69.99 I have played mostly FPS games in the past using both the N50 and N52 pads, which IMO are the best possible alternative to the keyboard you can get. I have read the other reviews before buying, and I see some of their points...this device is not for everyone. I am a little surprised at how many people use this basically the same way they would use the keyboard in a FPS game. I think it is much more intuitive to use one thumb on the D-pad for movement, rather than 3 fingers on the WASD. WASD is the way I used to play and I was very natural with it, so there was quite a learning curve to switching over to using the D-pad on this device, but once I got over that, it just feels much more intuitive. Then you have all 4 other fingers to use for activating all the keys on the pad for other functions. Software: I am not a heavy user of macros, and I usually only use a single bank of keys on my games. So for this use, the software works perfectly. It was super easy and intuitive to program the controls. I did not care too much about importing my previous profile as it was easy to create a new one. TIP : It sounds like a lot of people are creating a profile for each game to map the games layout into the N52. I do the opposite : I create a single profile which maps arbitrary keys to the N52, and use it for all my games. Then I just use the game's control config to map actions to my desired keys on the N52. You have to do a custom mapping in either the game or the N52, so I find it easier to just map in each game. Thus no problems with profile switching or creating multiple. Aesthetics: This is the best looking Nostromo pad yet. I like the blue lighting and glossy black finish. Looks very slick and stylish. The blue light I do not find to be too bright at all. I play a lot in the dark and it's not too overpowering. Also, you can just turn it off with a switch on the bottom of the unit. Build quality: Feels very solid. Keys feel like they will hold up well. Despite the new bottom and foot design, it stays put very well and does not rock around or anything. Feel: The D-pad feels the same as the previous N52 (I am glad). I took off the little joystick attachment and just use the pad. The hole for the joystick is so small I can't even feel it. The joystick thingy is a little too slippery and does not increase accuracy, so I will likely never use it...but maybe with a little rubber pad on it could work pretty well. The wrist rest is easy to move positions, and the back position fits my large hands well. I would guess small handers would have a bit of a stretch though. The keys I actually like a little better as well. They are low profile and have a smooth action and low throw to activate. Feel about 1/2 way between a desktop keyboard and a laptop keyboard. Very easy on the hands over a period of time. Placement works well for me. Shift key and circle key by the thumb : I use these for less used keys, as I don't want to take my thumb off the movement D-pad too much. They seem to click fine and I did not see an issue with hitting the side of the shift key. No missed clicks yet. Value: At the MSRP, I would say maybe a little too pricey, but on Amazon for fifty bucks with free shipping, it is a very good buy. Bottom Line: If you play a lot of FPSes or 3rd person action, this thing is perfect. If you are still sticking to WASD, I would say give it a little time to try using this as it was intended, with the D Pad for movement. It becomes very intuitive and will free you up to press more ancillary keys. Otherwise, you would be better off saving the money and sticking to the keyboard, as this will not give you much extra. 5 stars for me, coming from a mostly FPS gamer. |
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