BSG #61

Recently, OSL0rd participated in the Bronze Silver Gold SEA tournament (BSG).
OSL0rd has made it to the Ro4 which makes him top 4 for that particular tournament and securing a spot in the BSG cup which is held monthly.
You can watch the replay and cast for the first 2 Bo1s in the ro32 and ro 16 here: http://www.twitch.tv/benjisc2/b/329049372

Review: Steelseries Sensei Gaming mouse

Hey guys, as you all should have seen if you keep up with the Youtube channel, I have just gotten a new mouse, the Steelseries Sensei Gaming mouse. Recommended by Ivan (NaviC) our team coach and after much extensive researching, I finally decided the get it and am now doing a review after I've used it for awhile.

Experience
So far so good. So far, so fantastic actually. This mouse has been absolutely fantastic. I was a bit skeptical at first, but soon after a few games of Stacraft, Diablo and Counter strike online, this was simply amazing. The feel of the mouse is really really nice and it fits really nicely despite my fingers being a little short and my hand rather stubby. A small annoyance is probably the buttons at right side of the mouse (if you're a right hand person), I tend to press them sometimes while browsing the internet and it goes back one page if you press that or forward. Eventually I got used to it so its pretty much fine now. For gaming wise I have no key programmed to it so even if i do hit it, it doesn't affect the game.

About the mouse
Here are some specs and details of the mouse:
Weight: 102g
Height: 38.7mm
Length: 125.5mm
Width: 68.3mm
Dpi range: Default (1-5700), double usage (5701-11400)
Laser sensor: 10.8 megapixel HD image correlation up to 12,000 fps (150 inches/s movement speed)
5 Macro buttons (comes with steelseries engine software that can program these buttons and etc)
16% of bottom of mouse is glide pads
18 million different colour combinations
Plug and play system
PC/Mac compatible
Bottom of mouse contains LED screen to put names/logos etc
Braided cable

Advantages
Well most of the good stuff I have placed at the experience section, go read that up. But anyway I'll break down any other things to do a proper full on review on this.

Of course height, weight, length etc don't really matter as much, maybe except the detentions to the mouse for your hand, but its mainly calibrated to an average hand size so you should be pretty fine. Even if you're not average, it should still be totally fine to use. For example my hand is rather small and wide, but it fits really nicely and feels really good.

The Dpi range is completely absurd. Not only is there one Dpi sensor, there's 2, cranking the total possible Dpi range from 1-11400 Dpi. 11400 Dpi? That is bloody INSANE. Steelseries have said the extra Dpi range is for multiple connected screens that form one single image. Like 1 game spread out to occupy 3 screens, then you might need the high Dpi.

The laser sensor is also exceptional. Responsive to the millisecond like all gaming mouses.

The glide pad at the bottoms are rather interesting. My old Razer Lachesis had like 8% of glide pads at the bottom, this as 16%. Its sure to help it last longer as well as further reduce friction. Really good call by Steelseries to add the extra amount of glide pads.

18 million colours is really a lot of colours. So pretty much all your favorite colours should be available. It illuminates the mouse wheel, the small dot behind the CPI button below the mouse wheel, and of course, the most obvious, the Steelseries logo at the very back of the mouse where your palm would be. Really nice aesthetics by Steelseries.

Another interesting thing is that you can download something called the "Steelseries engine" which allows the utmost full customization of the mouse. Full as in everything full. The rate, colour, dpi all in precise numbers down to the decimal all at your disposal. Very nice program to have there.

The plug and play system also is great if you're an outgoing Lan gamer or playing in offline tournaments where downloading and installing a software may be a hassle to do so.

Standard braided cable for keeping your wires nice and neat.

DisadvantagesNot much really. Price tag is pretty high thou. Costing around 120-160 (SGD) depending on where you get it is a pretty darn heavy price tag for a gaming mouse. But hey, you get what you pretty much pay, although fixing it at 120 would be really nice.

This mouse is pretty much designed for almost all grip types, however i find that people that grip the mouse in a whole would have some problems as the buttons are quite annoying. If you're using my grip type, which is like using the bone below the thumb as the pivot point for the mouse movement and using mostly your wrist to push and pull the mouse to position it, its perfect for you.

The grip is a bit off thou. The smooth finishing is a nice aesthetic design from Steelseries but it reduces grip on the mouse for people with small hands especially. It would be nicer if they had some parts that the hand mainly keep in contact with the mouse having some high grip padding to prevent the mouse from slipping or for users feeling that the mouse might slip out anytime soon resulting in the need to hold the mouse tighter and using more force that what is required resulting in higher levels for fatigue, especially in high level tournaments.

ConclusionWould I recommend it? If you have the money to burn or between a Razer mouse, get this. Its a really fantastic mouse and it has been a sheer joy using it. Definitely worth considering if you're planning to get a high end gaming mouse.

Review: Astro A50

Here it is! The Astro A50 Review! I know some of you have been waiting for awhile for this and I apologize for the delay, but either way, lets dive into this!

Astro A50

Some General info:

The Astro A50s were announced on  E3 recently this year by Astro Gaming and so far they have been received with really positive feedback. If you're comparing this to an A40 or A30 and or just looking for a wireless headset as a viable option for gaming, you may be pretty impressed with this. Here are some of the features of the A50:

-Completely wireless with a 5.8 GHz frequency to minimize interference with things like wireless internet, Xbox 360 wireless controllers etc

-Dolby digital 7.1 surround sound

-Multi-system compatibility, able for use on PC, Xbox or PS3

-Weight: 363 grams (0..81lbs)

-Over ear cupping

-6.0mm uni-direction nice canceling mic nondetachable and mutes when lifted up

-Battery life 12 hours

-Built in to the headset is Astro's revolutionary Mixamp system with voice and game balance plus volume

-Modes that can be selected on the Astro A50 to balance out the sound, currently there are only 3 modes, Gaming mode, Media mode (music, movies etc) and normal mode (much like just how default A40s sound like)

-Comes with Mixamp 5.8 receiver module compatible only with Astro A50 headsets, Astro A50 headset, 2 USB wires (one for charging and one for playing or connection to PC via USB), stand for your headset (refer to picture above)

Breakdown

Sound: Starting with the most important aspect. Sound, the A50s certainly deliver the quality you paid for. While experiencing Battlefield 3 with it i was blown away by how amazing it sounds, especially if the gaming mode is on. Gun sounds sound crisper and explosions have that after shock low deep base effect that just makes the whole game sound fantastic. Footsteps are easily heard and all that on 7.1 surround sound. Simply amazing. As compared with the Astro A40 the difference is quite minute, however it can be felt and its awesome.

Weight: While slightly heavier than the A40s, the extra padding on the A50s make the headset still extremely comfortable. No problems there

Customizability: Unlike the Astro A40s, the speaker tags are non-existent in this headset, leaving you with pretty much just the default design from Astro. That is rather unfortunate.

Battery life: Definitely an area of concern for wireless headset users. While Astro Gaming may claim that it lasts 12 hours, from my usage it only lasts about 10 hours on a single charge. While not meeting the supposed time to last, 10 hours is still a long time. Especially with a headset quality like this.

Build quality: Identical to the A40s design build quality is again exceptional with metal parts encasing the wire that loops over to connect the top of the headset to the left and right ear muff. Amazing build quality really. Love it.

Noise cancellation: Some external sound can still be heard to be quite annoying however it does muffle out most of the noise to be good enough for general use. I wouldn't try to go to a firing range with these.

Microphone: Standard uni-directional noise cancellation makes it great for general talking via Xbox live, PSN or PC. Wouldn't use it for commentaries thou (mostly because i have a condenser mic already). Mic auto mutes when lift up to the vertical position. Great for gaming use as you don't need to fumble around for a mute button when you need to. 

Price: At 300 USD it is rather expensive. Along with most other Astro gaming equipment. I wouldn't pay 300 dollars for this but I would. To put it simply its a mixed opinion on whether I would pay that amount of money. Maybe if it was like 280 I will buy it, but 300 is rather costly, however the system is actually quite worth the amount. The opinion therefore falls upon you.

Conclusion: Overall fantastic headset and definitely something you should check out if you're consider high quality, high end wireless gaming headsets.  Score? 9/10. Well done Astro Gaming. Another fantastic headset yet again. 

IMBA people

As the post title says, yep, a super dope guy is coming into team and we have our first Diamond player.

Ivan, a.k.a NaivC will be the coach of Team OS and he is a Masters player on the SEA ladder with formal training from under Grandmasters that makes him a fantastic player as well as coach! We hope to see our Team improving significantly over the course of time!

Speaking of improvement Leonard "OSRusher" Tan has made it to the Diamond leauge and he is the first player in the team to do so! Congratulations and we hope you can go further and higher!

New Team OS members!

Augustine and Joshua will be accepted into Team OS after long consideration and they will be playing as Terran.
We welcome them warmly and hope their time in Team OS will result in great achievements!

Regards,
OSL0rd (SlayerL0rd)