SteelSeries Unleashes 'World's First Smart Gaming Mouse' Rival 700

So much more than a pointer and clicker, SteelSeries' Rival 700 mouse has arrived bearing a customizable OLED display and the ability to deliver real-time alerts.

This seven-button mouse, made for righties, features an onboard OLED screen that users can customize to display animations and logos. The screen can also display in-game information, such as player stats, and data on the mouse's CPI (Counts Per Inch).

The mouse's CPI, a measure of its response time, can be configured anywhere from a resolution of 16,000 counts. That enables it to bring its response time down to one millisecond, which is virtually zero lag.

With its tactile alerts, the Rival 700 can discretely feed users alerts about in-game events without having an impact on their accuracy or precision. Gamers can tie those tactile alerts to anything from character and vehicle respawns to threat and low health warnings.

"The mouse is no longer merely an input device; gamers can now feel in‐game events, aiding them in critical decision‐making," says SteelSeries. "Customize every aspect of the alerts from intensity to vibration patterns."

The mouse also has a removal optical sensor, which can be swapped out should users find a better part to replace what SteelSeries has included. With all of that, from the OLED to the tactile alerts, it may not be hard for some people to imagine SteelSeries charging an outrageous price for the Rival 700. But while relatively expensive, the mouse only costs $100.

Its price may be off putting even for the enthusiast gamer, but it might be the extra edge and OLED powered beacon that draws the right attention to an up and coming eSports player.

And the mouse was certainly built with eSports in mind. The Rival 700 "is the world's first smart gaming mouse," stated SteelSeries CEO Ehtisham Rabbani. "By listening to gamers and eSports athletes, we've perfected professional gaming mice for more than a decade. The Rival 700 takes that expertise and meets gamers needs today, and grows to help them win in the future."

Now, gamers in the U.S. need not wait any longer as SteelSeries has just announced that the eSports gaming mouse is finally coming to American shores.