Image: Microsoft
One of the first optical mice and one of the most legendary peripherals in gaming, the Microsoft Intellimouse – of all things – is coming back.
Microsoft had plenty of announcements today: their mixed reality headsets (although the Samsung HMD isn’t coming to Australia), a new Surface Book with GTX 1050 and GTX 1060 GPUs, and the latest Creator’s Update for Windows 10.
But amongst all of that, buried on their website, was the return of a gaming icon: the Microsoft Intellimouse optical mice.
There’s no release date, and no price either. But Microsoft says the refreshed classic will be inspired by the Intellimouse 3.0 (rather than the smaller and lighter 1.1a, with its two massive side buttons).
“The new Microsoft Classic IntelliMouse has exceptional tracking and the firm scroll wheel that fans loved about the original,” the listing says. “Tracking is now even more precise with a DPI range up to 3200.”
I’ve still got a working Intellimouse at home, actually, but scrolling around your desktop with a maximum of 400 DPI is a right pain in the arse. There’s no word on whether it’ll have the exact same button configuration as the original gaming mice, but you’d imagine there will be some kind of in-built software.
The 3200 DPI limit indicates that the new Intellimouse will use an optical sensor as well (rather than laser), which is all good news. As soon as I can get my hands on one, I’ll let you know how it is. There’s a reason I’ve kept an Intellimouse 3.0 and 1.1a in my cupboard for all these years, after all.