Hardware manufacturer Razer, best known for high quality (and uber-expensive) PC gaming accessories, announced today that they’re producing a line of peripherals designed specifically for Bioware’s upcoming Mass Effect 3.
PC gamers will get special keyboards, mice, and mouse pads branded with Commander Shepard’s trademark “N7” armor logo, and as to be expected from a Razer product, all of these products feature some premium bells and whistles like programmable buttons and backlit keys.
360 gamers (and PC as well, I suppose) can also pick up an officially licensed Xbox 360 controller from the company as well, which also features backlit keys, an extra set of programmable macro buttons, and analog sticks with manually adjustable settings for resistance and sensitivity. Despite being a wired controller, the Mass Effect 3 edition “Razer Onza” will retail for about $60, which is a little bit more expensive than the usual going-rate for Microsoft-brand 360 wireless controllers. I suppose all those extra features come at a price, but I’m not deterred: based on looks alone, I think the ME3 controller is worth the premium price.
Buying any piece of Razer’s ME3 hardware will net you a download code for the in-game Collector’s Assault Rifle as well as some unspecified “multiplayer item packs.” EA is treading some potentially gray territory with all these licensing deals: the upcoming Mass Effect 3 action figures also feature exclusive DLC for those who purchase them, and all these DLC tie-ins may end up costing gamers a lot of money: If you want every piece of in-game Mass Effect 3 content out there, it’s starting to look like you’re going to have to buy a lot of merchandise. Here’s hoping EA offers some in-game methods of unlocking this content as well, for those of us who don’t want to spend hundreds of dollars on keyboards, controllers, and action figures but still want the most out of our ME3 experience.
Source: Razer