Reviews / previews
I attached Techmedia's 3DZoneMaster- a wireless
ultrasonic input device-to my PC, expecting to be
duly unimpressed. After all, new gaming devices
are popping up faster than moles in a game of
Whack-A-Mole, and initial offerings from
companies new to the field are rarely anything but
cheap imitations of previous models. And
wireless? Wireless input devices have never given
us any reason to consider trading in our mouses.
Well, the 3DZoneMaster knocked my cynicism
out of the park. Just changing the angle at which
you're holding the 3DZoneMaster moves the
mouse cursor. Unlike infrared units, it didn't even
need to be pointed at the L-shaped receptor that
rests on the monitor. Moving the cursor via slight
hand-shifts took some getting used to, but the
learning curve was much less steep than I
expected. I was expertly manipulating desktop
folders in just a couple of minutes.
This pistol-shaped device serves as both joystick
and mouse (its "dual mouse" function allows you
to retain your current input device), and its
gaming potential was equally impressive. I
configured the 3DZoneMaster for Quake II, an
easy process that amounted to simply assigning
key settings to the four-directional joystick and
three buttons on top of the device, as well as the
two triggers below.
It was swiftly obvious that picking a bead on
moving Stroggs was going to take a little longer to
learn than simple Windows maneuvering. There
was also an over-compensation factor of leaning
the 3DZoneMaster too far one way while trying to
change the angle of vision. But this was easily
handled by assigning Center View to one of the
buttons for a quick snap back to the middle of the
action. Once I got the hang of it, pistol-whipping
was a blast-especially in arcade games such as
Virtua Squad, which comes bundled with the
device (along with MechWarrior 2).
Overall, the 3DZoneMaster deserves the 3D in its
name. The price is a little steep, but even if it
doesn't replace your favorite gaming device, it's a
helluva slick way to zip around in a game.-- Joel Strauch / GamePro
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