decent mouse for fps games, simple and smooth, well worth the money.

Today's review will be focusing on the SteelSeries Rival which is a more recent addition to SteelSeries arsenal and one that, surprisingly, ships with an optical sensor as opposed to the ever present laser sensors mostly found in contemporary gaming mice.

I bought this mouse a while ago, and it works like a charm, but I do have one problem. This problem is the soft-touch plastic wore out were my thumb rests. Rather than that, the mouse is very good. I recommend it.

The differences between laser mice and optical have blurred over the past couple of years. While many will opt for a laser mouse because a laser mouse is much more precise, in theory at least, and is much better at tracking on a wide range of surfaces while the optical mouse are generally cheaper...

+ Very comfortable in prolonged use (right handers; + Highly Customisable; + Textured; rubber non-slip surfaces; + Fairly priced

The Rival may not have as many "bling blings" as the Sensei (which has an LCD display and a 32-bit ARM processor), but it gets back to the core of a great gaming mouse: design, performance, and comfort.

The SteelSeries Rival optical gaming mouse ($59.99) is a perfectly good product, but it should have been better. Despite an ingenious design and a smart array of features, something about both the mouse and the software that accompanies it feels halfhearted.

Comfortable design with excellent grips; Smart button layout; Comprehensive software

No DPI indicator; Weak illumination; Nothing to set it apart from other mice

"He is the Asian guy with black hair, brown eyes, and glasses," I told my friend. "Oh yeah, I know that guy!", my friend replied, albeit with a slight tone of sarcasm that can be clearly sensed from a mile away without any further explanation required.

The SteelSeries Rival is about as bare-bones as a gaming mouse can be. Only six buttons and a scroll wheel? Madness!

SteelSeries is no slouch when it comes to computer peripherals designed with the enthusiast in mind. Their latest creation, the Rival, is a precision, "back to basics" wired optical mouse.

Button Feel; Custom Illumination; SteelSeries Engine 3 Software; Extremely Accurate

Six Buttons; Very Light

An ergonomic design that works and solid features lend to the SteelSeries Rival's many strengths as a gaming mouse.