Saitek GM2 Action Pad and Gaming Mouse

GM2 Action Pad and Gaming Mouse

Manufactured By: Saitek

Retail Price: $49.95

Review Date: 04-16-00

I've never gotten too excited over gaming mice. Only for a brief period in my gaming history did I use a mouse and keyboard for first person shooters. The keyboard is meant for typing and the mouse doesn't have all the features I want in a gaming device. Saitek has taken the basic mouse and transformed it into the first true gaming mouse by adding a hat switch. They didn't stop there. The added the Action pad with another hat switch, a handful of buttons and a second wheel.

The potential of the GM2 can be realized by loading up the provided Quake 3 Arena Profile. With a single button press the rocket launcher is selected, the view is centered, then points downward, and a rocket is fired as you jump. A one button rocket jump! The profile also has pre-programmed circle strafing and a basic rocket jump.

If your really set on your current mouse you can forgo connecting the mouse to the action pad and use your favorite mouse as part of the setup. However, the GM2 mouse has good performance and works great as a standard Windows mouse (with scroll wheel).

Features-

• USB Connection
• 2 4/8 Way Hat Switches: One Mouse, One Pad
• 6 Programmable Buttons (up to 40 commands with shift key enabled)
• Programmable with Saitek Gaming Extensions
• One Thumbwheel, with selectable auto-centering
• One scroll wheel (on mouse)

Appropriate For-

• First Person Shooters (Quake 2 Arena, Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Rouge Spear, etc.)
• Strategy/Sims (Sim City, Battlezone, Populous, etc.)
• Others (ReVolt, Wing Commander, Mechwarrior III, etc.)

System Requirements-

Windows 95/98, free USB port

Price-

The $50 price tag of the GM2 rivals many of the good scroll mice out there but also has bonus of the action pad and hat switch on the mouse itself. The GM2 is a great deal.

Warranty-

One year limited warranty.

Performance-

The GM2 will not have you throwing out you racing wheel or flight stick. For that matter it won't have you throwing out your keyboard (how else would you type?). However, it will make using your keyboard for gaming a thing of the past. For first person shooters and strategy/sim style games the GM2 is a superb device. My only issue with the GM2 lies in its design for right handed users. I am a lefty and could not get as efficient as someone who does not have 30+ years of thinking with their "right mind" behind them.

As I already mentioned Quake 3 Arena is one of the provided profiles. You just need to assure it has the right executable selected and you can jump into play. If you have reassigned actions for other controllers you need to restore them to their original setup before the GM2 will function properly. I used the provided profile for a while before creating my own. It took about 5 minutes to set up the GM2 profile the way I wanted. I didn't use anything special and assigned most of the buttons as the default directX settings. The only exception was activating a shift key that allows me to throw out custom taunts with different key presses.

I also fired up the GM2 with Total Annihilation. One of the turn offs I have with strategy games are the obscure keystrokes required to be effective. I broke out the TA manual and created a number of handy keystrokes that allowed me to concentrate on the game without having to figure out the actions. My commander lasted a bit longer than usual thanks to the "center or commander" action I programmed on the action pad. Without the GM2 I would literally loose him somewhere on the map and have to scroll around to locate him.

For good measure I used the GM2 with a few other games such as Descent Freespace and ReVolt. Although the control was good it just didn't have the right feel. A joystick is still needed for certain types of games. The GM2 does for first person shooters and strategy games what a full racing or flying rig does for their respective games.

The layout of the buttons, hat switches and scroll wheels are good. The mouse has a high arch to it to accommodate the hat switch on its side. Every finger on your right hand has a task (some have 2 or more). The hat switch on the action pad takes a while to loosen up so it is easily manipulated. The same recess found on the action pad hat switch is unfortunately absent on the mouse hat switch making it a bit more difficult to work with. I placed a 18" x 12" piece of wood on my lap to accommodate a mouse pad that housed the mouse with the Action pad next to it while I played.

Setup -

Basic setup is straight-forward. You must read the enclosed documentation before you begin though. Have DirectX 7.0a and Internet Explorer 4.0 or higher installed on your system before you begin. Unlike other USB devices you must first install the software before plugging in the GM2. If you plug first and read later you'll find you need to run a utility located on the driver CD called NukeUSB. It removes the drivers installed from the initial setup.

Once the software is installed you will be prompted to plug in the GM2. Assure the mouse is connected to the Action Pad before doing this. Once you plug in the GM2 a test window appears and you can verify the connection. A simple calibration is needed to set the throttle wheel on the Action Pad. From here you need to configure the software.

**Software -

**The latest Saitek Gaming Extensions (SGE) package (v1.3) is a drastic improvement over the previous version that was plagued with issues. Saitek quickly posted the current SGE package and it works quite well. The software installs without a hitch. Be sure to install the software before plugging in the GM2 or you will have to use a utility (NukeUSB) to remove the errant entries that will be created from you not reading the instructions.

The SGE allows you to assign functions to the different features of the GM2. In its most basic mode it reads each of the buttons as DirectX buttons. The Action Pad hat switch can be set into 4 or 8 way mode. For most games I recommend using 4 way (more is not always better). This will allow easy maneuvering; reading the corner positions as combinations of the 2 closest directions. If you wish to get up and running right away the directX button configuration gets you started with most games. The buttons on the pad will then need to be assigned in the specific games.

Advanced users will want to explore the potential of the SGE software. The SGE uses a 3D interface representing the GM2. You can select either the mouse or action pad bringing it to the front of the interface. The new game wizard allows you to create a new (or second) profile for a game. A list of exe files will be listed. Select the one you desire to set a profile for and select the GM2 from the controller list. This creates a profile under the game in the list on the left side of the screen. Select the newly created profile and begin the command assignment process.

Button assignments can include: keystrokes, series of keystrokes, keystrokes with specific timing properties, directX button presses, mouse button presses or a series of any of these actions. Hat switch assignments include: axis movement, mouse movement or hat switch function. And lastly a axis (wheel) can be assigned: mouse movement or banded axis movement. Now throw a shift function onto all this along with timing assignment for all of the above and you have a very powerful advantage.

Documentation-

The GM2 I received came with a Reviewer's Guide in place of a manual. I am not sure what exactly what printed documentation ships with the retail GM2 so I can't say much about it. There is an on-line SGE manual available on the SGE CD for reference. Hopefully any printed manual is as thorough as the Reviewer's Guide since it was very comprehensive.

The Saitek website features many links to reviews, product details, an on-line store and downloads (including the latest SGE software and game profiles).

Overall Rating-

The Saitek GM2 Action Pad and Gaming Mouse may be the first real contender to replace keyboard and mouse control for many first person shooter fans. The GM2 offers good control rivaling the keyboard thanks to its user friendly layout. The SGE software makes the package complete.

Beginner gamers will find the SGE easy to use and configure while advanced players will find enough flexibility to keep their tweaking needs happy for quite some time. The Control Center highly recommends the GM2 Action Pad and Gaming Mouse.

Pros-

• Ability to use another mouse
• Simple or complex programming options
• Affordable control

Cons-

• Left handed users out of luck
• Action pad hat switch takes a bit to "break in"

Click for full-size image of interface.