Belkin, a hardware manufacturer once silent in the game controller world has recently released a number of hardcore game controllers to the market.  The obvious "sit back and wait" approach has worked for Belkin.  The SpeedPad and Game Mouse take the features most games look for and deliver them in sleek little packages.  To round out the product line they have added 2 gamepads offering either a basic d-pad design or a more advanced dual analog stick pad controller.

The sleek little N30 Game Mouse starts to look like a normal mouse but then a grip wing is added to the left hand side of the mouse for more accurate control.  The mouse has the standard 3 buttons, scroll wheel and USB connection.  To finish it off it uses Immersion TouchSense technology to allow the user to feel the action in supported games (see Immersion web page for patches and info).  A perfect companion to the N30 is the N50 SpeedPad.  The N50 takes the commonly used keys from the keyboard for first person shooters and the like and places them comfortably on a comfortable base.  Add to this a 8 way d-pad and scroll wheel and you have everything you need at your fingertips.

The programmability of each device is pretty straight forward.  You can jump right into use, programming the button actions in each game individually or create elaborate functions for selected buttons.  For example assign a series of keystrokes to a single button to open a dropdown menu, scroll down to a selection and activate it.  A good number of game profiles are available from the Belkin website.

Installation under Windows is simple (including XP- patch may be necessary).  Depending on the device you are setting up your device manager may be flooded with virtual devices- no worry, this is normal.  The Nostromo Array Programming Software will be installed during setup with all but the Gaming Mouse.  The software is pretty well laid out for beginner and advanced users alike.  I strongly suggest a study of the manual for instructions on its use.  Manuals are well written in a time when manuals are skimpy at best.

Gamers of all types will be happy with the efforts of Belkin!