SuperMary Productions!

Please note: I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. My camera and I haven’t been getting along much recently.

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The recently released Logitech G13 Game Board is clearly something I have been drooling over since I stumbled upon it back in November. I’ve used both the Saitek Command Unit and Nostromo N52 gamepad pretty extensively for several years, so a lot of this review will be a comparison between these. I’ll still be as descriptive as possible for the people who use other products, or haven’t used one yet.

If you currently are using a gamepad of any sort, it shouldn’t be a surprise to hear that transitioning to the G13 will be a hurdle. I’ve recently hopped back and forth between the other gamepads I own, and both took some getting used to, but nothing in comparison of moving to the G13. I even kept a near identical key layout to try and smooth it along, that just made it worse. So be prepared.

A horizontal look between the Nostromo, Saitek, and Logitech. Due to the poor resolution I have a line marking the topmost point on the Logitech gamepad to show the height differences between the three.

If you have the patience to overcome the transition, I can promise that you won’t regret it. The G13 is everything I expected and so much more. I can’t stress what a great buy this is - even at it’s hefty $80 pricetag. If you play MMOs or even a heavy computer gamer in general, this baby is for you.

The re-occuring reason I’ll get into on why the G13 is superior, is options and customization. They give you the option of having an almost excess amount of features, instead of assuming you won’t use certain ones and just omitting them altogether.

It has 25 programmable keys, but one of those is a thumbstick press (it’s awkward to use, but hey - if you want it, you got it). So yes, there are a large number of keys, and they are not tiny. Reaching G1 and using the thumbstick effectively is pretty much impossible. I can’t be upset with this, when I just transferred from the Nostromo. On the N52, I couldn’t use any keys while using the D-Pad since its over sized and difficult to press directional buttons required 90% of my hand’s focus.

My girly hand resting naturally.

Key placement is apparently where both Saitek and Nostromo decided to drop extra keys since they can’t be used in conjunction with oppositely placed keys. They were very wrong in doing so. In the 3 days of using this product (mind you it’s been for over 8 hours each day) I’ve found it second nature to slightly angle my hand up or to the side to press keys out of my normal reach - without hesitation or fault. That is something you cannot easily do with the Nostromo since it’s bulky design forces your hand into a certain position, leaving the stretching for your fingers.

The design and comfort of this product is flat out amazing. The “hourglass” feature is not too prominent, and even with my smaller girly hands I have found it comfortable. Keep in mind, I didn’t just say “not painful” I said “comfortable”. My hand actually enjoys resting on this game pad. The angle in the middle is placed so well that it is easy to stretch out and curl my palm, both with equal comfort.

The only downside to the design is the fact that it’s huge. HHHUUUGGGEEE! Seriously this thing’s footprint is not allowing it to fit on any keyboard tray. It’s taller than my freakin keyboard!

Footprint comparison between the three. By far the Logitech has the largest footprint. It’s not fitting on a keyboard tray unless it’s alone. And then it *might* fit.

The key layout being angled downward I initially disliked, thinking it was unnatural, but it was just the transitioning from the Nostromo talking. I can easily curl my fingers back to hit the bottom three keys, and since they are positioned higher than the others, it takes no effort to press. Which, obviously, is another great thing to alleviate strain.

The thumbstick is incredibly sturdy. The motion is very tight, and it will not budge easily. This could be a downside to some who are used to an easier glide that the Saitek has. But, after having the thumbstick on my Saitek break, I can’t be one of those people. Another great feature of the thumbstick, is how it’s not in the way for those who don’t want to use it (some people prefer the WASD keys I realize). You can either tuck your thumb between the keys and thumbstick, or even just rest your thumb upon it, and it won’t get in the way or cause discomfort.

*edit* After a few months using the product, I can say my only let down is the thumbstick, it’s advertised as an analog stick but it’s really just four buttons. The good news is they’re apparently working on implementing analog.

The G15 LCD display is a pretty neat feature. They give you a good number of choices, even on the desktop. You can have your date/time, display RSS feeds, etc etc. I was surprised how incredibly simple it was to obtain G15 displays for my games. I don’t have WoW installed on my computer anymore, so I can’t tell you it’s features, but I gotta say I was happy with what they had for EQ2. I was expecting a generic player stats window and that was it, but there were six choices total just for the default game. I know of a display for damage meters mods. The refresh rate of information is also extremely fast. While it had the toggle for the refresh speed within EQ2’s interface, it was very accurate and fast even in it’s default settings.

The different LCD screens. On the desktop it shows the time and date. Once in EQ2, it has the choices of: a generic welcome screen, network statistics, experience and levels, player statistics, group window (with power and health meters), and voice chat channel listing.

The ability to change the colors on the backlit keys and LCD is a neat perk. The fact that the color is tied with the different profile buttons (similar to the Saitek) makes it practical as well as fashionable. Switching between the three profiles cannot possibly be easier. I don’t have a need to switch between profiles myself, but this is a great feature for MMO players who play a large variety of characters. I was personally thinking about assigning a few different profiles to my favorite races in Age of Empires 2.

The programming software is the easiest I have used yet. It even pulls a bunch of preset buttons based on the game you have selected too - not just generic “MMO” buttons, but ones that actually tied to EQ2. Unfortunately, they were all the EQ2 default keys, and I sure as hell don’t have a layout anything like the original so it was pretty much useless to me (IE: WASD for movement is actually FEDR for me). Again tho, at least they have this feature, instead of assuming it won’t get used. Oh, and also, on your game pad itself you are actually able to create macros on the go without even having to use the programming software.

I’m not sure how the G13 could be any easier to program or use. The feel is extremely natural (once you untrain yourself from the previous game pads) and the ease of set up is immaculate.

I can’t stress what a great buy this is. If you considered picking up a gamepad before, this is it. Do not settle for the chunky and overpriced Nostromo, or the pretty but flimsy Saitek. It may be a bit more on the cost, but it is worth every penny.

Here it is.