Our final hardware appointment from E3 2012 was with Roccat, the German gaming hardware company. When it comes to design, the Germans have been among the elite for decades. Roccat is taking this same prowess and applying it to their new lineup of mice, as well as bringing a slick app that all gamers should embrace.
The Lua is the more compact of the two and features a remastered 3 button layout with an optical sensor of 250-2000 DPI. There are seven DPI settings that can be selected at your preference. It is Roccat's featured ambidextrous mouse with an ergonomic V-shape. When I held the Lua I immediately noticed the exterior material that was soft to touch and was resistant to my sweaty gamer hands. For such a compact mouse it felt really solid and light - perfect for someone with smaller hands or a mouse that you can pack up and use on the go.
The other mouse that I tried was the Kone XTD which was much larger than the Lua, but that was understandable since it is packed with an immense amount of features. Being the flagship gaming mouse for Roccat, the Kone XTD has everything a hardcore gamer could need. The regular cable has been replaced with a braided, non-tangle cable, the scroll wheel has been enhanced to 4D and there is sound feedback on the mouse when you make changes to the settings. It also features a 8200 DPI sensor, macro settings, and my favorite part - the easy shift system. With easy shift a player can go from a high DPI setting to a low DPI setting with the click of a button, which comes in handy when you zoom in with a sniper scope and need to be as precise as possible.
This mouse really captures everything and even comes with some cool bonuses such as the lift tracking system, context sensitive colored LEDs, as well as achievements. That's right, Roccat has incorporated cheevos into your gaming hardware that are tracked by your activity on the mouse. It was really interesting to see how much we had scrolled and clicked in our small session, could you imagine what a long Diablo 3 run would look like on the stat tracker? The original Kone had nothing wrong with it, they simply wanted to make it better - and they definitely have with this one.
The Lua is coming this July and will retail for $39.99 and the Kone XTD should hit in September at a price point of $89.99.
Now the final thing that Roccat showed us was not gaming hardware, but I could see it being necessary to every gamer's setup. They have designed a new mobile application called Power Grid, which allows you to have ultimate control over your PC without leaving your game. Powered by your smart phone, you can keep in touch with your friends through direct integration of Skype, Facebook, and Teamspeak. It will give you real time system diagnostics and even let you change your controls and media. My personal favorite button was the custom icon where you could literally put anything into it. You can pop on any in game skill, another app, or even order pizza directly from Power Grid.
Roccat wants you to use Power Grid as an extra controller to your gaming system because it is going to be free come August.