travel affiliate programs: Star Wars: The Old Republic scores Razer promotional peripherals (update: eyes-on)

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Star Wars: The Old Republic scores Razer promotional peripherals (update: eyes-on)

A long time ago, in a boardroom far, far away... a designer (flanked by marketing execs) pitched an idea for a set of Star Wars: The Old Republic branded peripherals, and the CEO of Razer told his troopers to "make it so." Or, at least that's how we imagine it happened. In addition to mixing up his sci-fi references, whoever approved this gaming keyboard, mouse, and headset also abandoned any notion of subtlety. All three are slathered in interchangeable Sith or Jedi insignias, bright LEDs, and a texture not unlike the exterior of a Star Destroyer. The most ostentatious is easily the keyboard, which sports both a multitouch screen and two rows of adaptive buttons over an LCD (à la the Switchblade handheld). The keyboard will run you $200, while the mouse or headset will cost $130 when they launch alongside The Old Republic later this year. Check out the gallery below and the PR after the break.

Update: We just got our first glimpse of the new peripherals, and it sounds like Razer actually put some thought into the keyboard and headphones here -- while the mouse is just a jagged, Death Star-flavored wireless Naga MMO rodent, the headsets look fairly sweet, and Razer tells us their garish LED lighting apparently syncs with The Old Republic to throw signals on your shoulders to warn you of approaching enemies. Razer also has grand plans for that LCD-equipped keyboard, telling us those adaptive keys will automatically switch function based on signals from the game itself, and that multitouch LCD trackpad can display a variety of things and be used to program macros. Last but not least, you'll get some serious geek cred when you switch the keyboard's backlight off, because the only thing physically printed on each key are the letters of Star Wars' Aurebesh alphabet.

Gallery: Razer's Star Wars: The Old Republic peripherals at E3 2011