We can't claim to be real hard core gamers here, though we have enjoyed the occaisional multiplayer game at lunchtime. The guys from Steelseries popped in to see us yesterday and show off their latest products.

What interested me most about the meeting was that really serious gamers, the ones who actually make money, don't want any of the fancy bits and peices that are pitched as gaming devices. Just high quality keyboards and mice.

What is undeniable is that the products did look very professional. The keyboard uses PS/2 if possible rather than USB. This is because USB is limited in the number of keypresses it can respond to. Eight sounds like enough but this is often split up across different areas of the keyboard, so the limit may be even smaller in practice

The mouse on the left, the Ikari, is a little special because it is possible to adjust the dpi in increments of one. Two settings can be saved to switch between normal movement and careful aiming. The LCD screen shown here on the bottom of the mouse is used to set the dpi.

It will probably take a little while to find the perfect setting but this is an investment most gamers would be willing to make.