WOW! (And we do mean World of Warcraft.) Gaming is about to get a little more fun for those nitpicky about their hardware and peripherals options. Microsoft is releasing the new, and long rumored, Sidewinder X6 gaming keyboard along with the new X5 mouse soon. The keyboard will have a detachable numeric keypad for the times you need to use both and remain ergonomically correct, or when your taxes, bookkeeping, and budgeting can wait. The back-lit keyboard isn’t anything terribly exciting, but it does change color and disable certain keys depending on what you’re doing. All the Windows functions keys are disabled during game play so you don’t launch the menu by accident, for example. As far as the backlights, red indicates standard keyboard function and amber means it’s business time.
The mouse looks much like the older one, but it is smaller and feels less clunky and awkward in the hand — perfect for avoiding carpal tunnel during those long raids and tournaments. While the materials used took a nosedive, the cost followed suit. At $59.99, however, it will still have everything a gamer needs such as a 2,000 dpi laser sensor and customizable buttons. Pretty wicked.