Razer

Razer Mouse Advisor

Performance and comfort, contrary to popular belief, are not mutually exclusive. At Razer, we constantly push the frontiers of technology each and every time we approach the drawing board. The result of meticulous research-driven design is a three-way (user, device, play style) optimization of every product to balance the delicate equilibrium between in-game efficacy and comfort. Through validation sessions conducted with professional gamers and accumulating feedback from casual gamers, we have identified three prevalent gripstyles.

Here, we present our findings that we have established, to help gamers of all genres to fully understand the ergonomic development of our mice, and to choose one that is best suited to their needs.

The fingertip grip is considered to be a subset of the claw grip, where the user grips the mouse solely with the tips of his fingers. While this grip style strictly speaking falls within the ambit of the claw grip subset, it is a popular grip, particularly amongst proponents of certain genres of games, thus elevating it to the status of a primary grip style for gameplay. Unlike the conventional claw grip, the base of the palm is moved away from the rear of the mouse as the user is not concerned with stabilizing the rear of the mouse in his hand and wants increased precision and control of the mouse on the mousing surface instead.

The fingertip grip is defined by the fact that there are five contact points made on the surface of the mouse. Note that the sixth contact point found in the claw grip is no longer present (i.e. contact with the pit of the hand), which is a defining factor of the fingertip grip.

The fingertip grip is usually used only with small, low profile mice such as the Razer Salmosa. This style promotes the most amount of precision and agility, but can cause a high amount of fatigue due to the fact that the user’s fingertips will need to make more adjustments during gameplay.

Testimonials of pro-gamers who use the fingertip grip:

• Gareth “GaRpY” Marshall, Unreal Tournament 3, Team Dignitas

• Florian "medic" Stern, TrackMania Nations, Dignitas
"Since I have huge hands, this is the only comfortable way to hold the mouse for me. I use medium sense in Windows and in shooters; about 20cm for a 360° turn."

• Martin "PuReBall" Rome, Real-time Strategy games, Dignitas
"I use a fingertip grip because you've got full control of the buttons if you have all your weight on them.”

• Robert "Moyes" Haxton, World in Conflict, Dignitas

• Pascal Pfefferle aka Dackel, Team Dignitas Command and Conquer
"Playing RTS games mainly, the fingertip grip seems the right grip for me to use. My play style requires not only fast mouse movement while scrolling, but also high precision in battles. Also, a solid mouse with corresponding mouse pad is essential. Because of that, I am using the Razer Lachesis."

Siebe '*nutec*' Huisman, Call of Duty, Team Serious Gaming
"I play with finger grip because i dont want to move my hand across the whole surface. With this grip my hand stays where it is and it gives me
full control of the mouse."

Niels '*zemme*' van Steenbergen, Call of Duty, Serious Gaming
/"From the day I started playing first person shooters I immediately used the palm grip. Its really comfortable for my arm and hand. With this grip I can easily move my mouse to aim really precise. With my fingers constantly on the mouse buttons I click very fast."

Examples of progamers who switch between grips:

• Hendry "jo3" Handisurya, Defense of the Ancients, Team Sanctuary
"IMO, a palm grip makes the mouse easier to control. But sometimes when I want to opt for reaction speed in-game, I will switch to a claw grip. Razer mice such as the Lachesis, which I use, open up both options to me."

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