A Gamer's Must Have

Virginian-Pilot

Logitech Gaming Mouse G500 ($70). This is the best mouse I've ever used for gaming, hands down. It has on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment buttons along the upper left edge, allowing you to change your character's swiveling response movements.

With an onboard memory chip, you can take keyboard settings with you as you move from computer to computer. These chips essentially store programming instructions so that certain keys will do certain things in specific games.

Best of all, the G500 allows you to fine-tune the weight of the mouse. It comes with a canister of small weights that you slip into a tray in the base . That way you can have the perfectly weighted mouse for your wrist and finger strength, thereby reducing fatigue. Worked for me.

Plantronics Gamecom777 headset ($110). This headset is nicely padded, is comfortable and delivers Dolby 5.1 surround sound when used with its USB adapter. While playing "Crysis: Warhead," the rumble of the tanks was ominous and rich. The pings of bullets as they ricocheted off objects near the feet of my onscreen character had the feel of direction and proximity. The headset comes with a microphone and powerful speakers, bringing gaming to life.

Saitek Cyborg Keyboard ($80). This keyboard is ready and willing to be your command center during complex PC gaming sessions. It has 12 programmable macro keys - those special keys that instruct specific games to do certain things - and features metal plating to give extra longevity for the keys used most in PC gaming: W, A, S, D, the space bar and arrows keys.

The Cyborg even allows you to change the illumination color and brightness of the glow underneath the keys, giving the playing surface a highly customized theme and feel. It's a smart choice that stands apart from the many gaming keyboards out there.

----

More game news

Game reviews

Copyright 2012 by Virginian-Pilot