As a ComputerUser reviewer, I get all sorts of mail, faxes, e-mail, and boxes. Many of them are unsolicited, but greatly appreciated and generally a surprise. Just such a surprise came to my door the other day from none other than Microsoft.
Microsoft, better known for its operating systems than gaming, almost never sends anything unsolicited. When I opened the box, I found the most peculiar piece of hardware--the Microsoft Strategic Commander. Shaped more like some futuristic cycling helmet, this is Microsoft's latest contribution to input controllers. At first, I could hardly figure out how it worked or why anyone would want to have one. But as I read the press package and horsed around with the controller, its usefulness began to dawn on me. The controller is totally innovative and is unlike anything I've ever seen or used.
As its name implies, the Strategic Commander was created with strategy games in mind. This would include games like StarCraft, Myth 2, and MechCommander. In recognition of this, Strategic Commander ships with profiles of more than 30 games. It also can be programmed to work with new games. It has your typical game-profile setup, in which you can set the keys of your game to match movements and buttons on the controller. The Strategic Commander also comes with a button that lets you record a set of movements and apply it to one of its buttons. This gives gamers a distinct advantage, because they can make complex movements with a single touch.
The Strategic Commander was built to be comfortable during long hours of gaming. The cycling-helmet design is actually the ergonomic design of the controller. It fits your hand like a glove, and if your desk is not too high, its use seems very natural and cozy. Some of the market's futuristic controllers have poor design and durability, but the Strategic Commander seems the opposite. The controller itself has a very sturdy feel, and the moving parts are well designed. The major moving part is the rotating axis control. It moves in all directions to give you fast navigation in 2D and 3D strategy games. You can also twist the controller, which can be handy when playing some complex games. Although it seemed awkward at first, it didn't take me long to be using it as naturally as I use my keyboard.
One of the striking features of the controller is its array of buttons; the controller has six buttons for game use. The buttons are also sturdy and have what I would call a positive feel (they don't click as on cheaper controllers). But it also has modifier buttons. These buttons are used in combination with the six play buttons to increase key possibilities. With the Strategic Commander's profile-switching function and all of the buttons, you can have up to 72 possible key mappings.
The controller itself is very easy to hook up to your PC. Because it's USB-based, you can plug the controller in even with your computer powered on. To complete the installation of the controller, you must install drivers from the included CD-ROM. Strategic Commander requires an equivalent of a Pentium 166 processor or higher, 16MB of RAM, and about 25MB of hard-disk space.
