In an interesting scenario, hundreds upon thousands of first-shipment ‘Rock Band’ guitars were losing their licks in mid-game and the Musical Gamer world was rocked. Trust me, not like a hurricane - but more or less like the sound of a thousand angry phone calls all uniting under the same “faulty guitar” banner. How we were supposed to be righteous and tour the globe with our band when our guitarists were having to involuntarily go on hiatus?

I personally didn’t believe it and kind of shrugged it off for awhile until I got that fateful phone-call that was like a manager telling you that your lead singer just got popped for heroin possession. “Oh, hey. Candice? Apparently .. see, the boys were playing your game.. and now the guitars don’t work.”. To which, I replied; “Kill those little bastards.” and to which, SHE replied - “But apparently it’s happening a lot. I’ll bring them back to your place, but you should check into it.”. As I rushed into my living room and scurried to get the machine hooked up, it was apparent to me that it would be horrifically ironic if, for once, my non-gamer chick friend knew something before I did. Had my guitars killed themselves? Turns out, they did.

However, EA, in a move that wasn’t quite expected and usually unheard of, came out and said “Look, we borked the hell out of that first shipment. We get it. Let’s fix it and you know what? If it takes too long - we’ll get you a game. Yeah, that’s us. We want you to keep shredding tasty licks, guys. Totes.”.

Alright, so maybe they didn’t say that — but check out the statement coming directly from EA and if you’re experiencing any issues ( Such as your fret button being non-responsive and such-and-so forth ) then call their phone number or drop them an order there on their website! They’re waiting to hear from you so they can fix their blunder!

Tell them the lead singer to “Bloody Tigol-bitties” sent you. 

Today on TEK, we’re going to take a look at the SteelPad S&S precision gaming mouse pad by SteelSeries. Let’s get this out of the way first: This isn’t your plain, ordinary, $2.00 foamy, generic, mouse pad you pick up at your local computer chain store. This is a mouse pad like no other. The S&S gaming pad weighs in at a rather large 12 2/3″ x 10 2/3″ x 1/12″ or 320 x 270 x 2mm. If you are dimensionally challenged, this basically means that the S&S will be taking up a pretty large chunk of real estate on your computer desk. But this isn’t without good cause! You’re going to need this space if you plan on gaming to your best abilities; which is exactly what the S&S may enable you to do.

I’ve used many (and I do mean many) mouse pads with different type surfaces over the years since I got my first PC back in 1992. Like many of you, I started off with the generic foam $0.75 mouse pad; thinking that it was all I needed. Truthfully, back when we all still used ball-mice, maybe those foam pads weren’t so bad. Fortunately, in this day and age, we’re used to technologies like optical and laser and trackball (if those are still used by some people, I don’t know). Although our mouse technology has come a long way, people still seem fit to use those cheap, cheesy, foam mouse pads with their expensive $75.00 and up gaming and precision optical and laser guided mice. Why? Well I don’t have a good answer for that but I guess people see it like this: “Hey, I’ve got a $100.00 super gaming mouse with a bazillion DPI precision. Why do I need a mouse pad that costs half of what I paid for this mouse?” Well, that ultimate gaming mouse isn’t going to perform as good as promised on the back of the box without a decent surface to go along with it.

This is where the SteelPad S&S comes in. If you are a casual computer user with a standard optical mouse, then you can stop reading this review right now because it is not meant for you nor would it benefit you very much. If you are a gamer, passionate about winning and performing to your skill’s peak, you just might want to continue reading on. The SteelPad S&S is a professional gaming mouse pad. Which means that the precision, comfort, and usage of this mouse pad is something you will want to have if you play intensive FPS, MMO, Action, Adventure, RPG, basically any genre of game outside children’s games and point-and-click adventures. The tactile feedback on the S&S is unlike anything you’ve ever experienced in a mouse pad before. SteelSeries has been producing professional gaming mouse pads for years and their expertise is definitely shown off with the SteelPad S&S. After tossing away my generic mouse pad and giving the S&S a whirl, I don’t think I could ever go back to a normal mouse pad. The surface is a hard, textured, plastic that enables you to use minimal but precise movements to excel in the games you normally play. The backside of the S&S is that of a soft, rubbery feel that firmly plants the pad and keeps it stationary on your desk. No more sliding mouse pads!

The SteelSeries S&S also comes with a soft nylon carrying case and special glide “foot pads” for your mouse that you stick on the “feet” of your mouse to enable even faster glide capabilities between your mouse and the S&S pad. The SteelSeries S&S can be had for $39.99 + shipping for the complete package. Also offered is a solo package for $29.99 + shipping that just includes the pad an no nylon case. Rest assured that whichever one you choose, gaming on your computer will never be the same again.

SteelSeries is about to redefine laser gaming mice with two new products set to release shortly. There is an excellent article posted on FragYou.net about the upcoming products. Here is an excerpt from the article below and you can read the entire article at http://www.fragyou.net/?page_id=24.

“15 months of research and development went into the SteelSeries Ikari mice. 15 months where we looked at ergonomics, technology, shape, motion, hand grip and various play styles. From the very beginning our approach to this project was to develop gaming mice based on input and feedback from professional gamers. We did research and testing with our American partners in New York and Dallas. We did testing with our European partners in Sweden, Germany, France, United Kingdom and Denmark. We did testing and research in Korea and China.
The result is two gaming mice which feature the same chassis, but utilize very different technology. Proven (and optimized) optical technology in the SteelSeries Ikari Optical Mouse and groundbreaking new “gaming grade” technology in the SteelSeries Ikari Laser Mouse.”