Not all that long ago, we here at Killer Betties got our hands on a new mouse called the Sandio Game O 6DOF, which acted as a 3D motion controller for PC games, specifically first-person shooters where a noticeable advantage was supposed to be seen, shaving corners and seconds off the time spent making movements. The mouse didn't work perfectly as intended, but the programmable buttons at hand opened up several possibilities for other game scenarios and people with disabilities. We finally got our hands on the next generation of 3D Game O mice, and have walked away quite impressed by the improvements.

The first thing immediately noticeable is that the mouse is a lot more comfortable and overall better designed. One of the big problems with the original mouse was the fact that it was kind of an amorphous blob with two mouse buttons, a scroll wheel, three thumbsticks, and two buttons that honestly didn't do much. The new Sandio 3D Game O2 has all of the same buttons, but the form fits much better and is more comfortable, though still not up to the comfort standards of a Razer mouse. However, depending on what kind of games you like to play, substance and accoutrements may outweigh the slight comfort nag.

The first big design change comes from the fact that the mouse is no longer one giant arch, but instead now swoops in under the left and right thumbsticks, making a sort of ledge from the side of the mouse buttons on down to the mouse's base. The ledges don't make much difference when you're focused on using the three thumbsticks, but when you're using it as an everyday mouse, the ledges let you scoot your fingers back, easily grabbing on to the mouse, and being able to pick it up off the mat and replace it, perfect for when you really need to drag and run out of mouse pad room. The reason the ledges are so practical is because it was quite hard to get a grip on the original mouse, making it hard to pickup and reposition as needed. Now, however, all you have to do is a quick slide down, grip the ledges, and replace. Voila!

The next big change comes from the thumbsticks themselves, which now have a textured rubberized feel to them, giving you less slip and making sure your fingers stay placed firmly on the sticks. The scroll wheel also has some notches placed at determined intervals, which allows you to easily fit a fingernail in for some scrolling, and overall lets you make more precise wheel scrolls than the previous mouse. The mouse also once again comes with a detachable fin, much like the original, though now it's a more rubbery feel and detaches easier than the previous model. With that said, though I still use the original mouse on my work computer with the fin, I find the new one works best without (though to be fair it's just a matter of desk space and personal comfort level).

On the design front there are some faults, namely the fact that there are so many colors fighting for dominance on the mouse (gray, black, red, and white). Of course, then you fire up the computer and suddenly bright blue neon lights shine from behind the thumbsticks and the scroll wheel changes color depending on the DPI setting. We love the bright lights that come on, but they just clash with the rest of the mouse, which is already struggling to find a color identity. The other design problem is that the plastic feels a bit cheap, mainly just the black (main base) and red (left and right buttons) portions. Comparing the mouse to its original, however, the new mouse is much preferred.

With style covered let's now move on to the substance – namely the thumbsticks. The mouse was built with the thumbsticks in mind, letting you freely navigate the X, Y, and Z axis at will…though it may take some training on your part to get the proper feel of them. By making specific thumbstick movements, such as pushing forward on the left thumbstick and backwards with the right thumbstick, you can make your character (in a FPS) turn right – do the opposite move and you turn left. Right turns are easier to make than left, but once again, something you can improve with practice. Beyond acting as an axis mover, the thumbsticks also can act as programmable buttons (up, down, left and right on each of the three), which is the way we found the mouse to work at its best.

The mouse comes loaded with pre-made mouse layouts for many popular games out there, and while some are programmed pretty good (STALKER, for example) others like Two Worlds don't really add any improvement to the game already there. Thankfully, should you find yourself with a game not on their list, you can easily click on an icon in your system tray, bring up the mouse program, and easily create, layout the thumbstick commands, and save and load it with extreme ease.

Most of my PC gaming is of the MMO sort with Lord of the Rings Online being my MMO of choice. If I wanted I could program the mouse to fully control the game, letting me not even need my left hand to control character movement. However, the mouse worked wonderfully as a quick shortcut to several important functions I use all the time while playing. For example, the down movement of the left thumbstick is the easiest motion to carryout for me, and so I programmed the Tab button to it, which in LOTRO cycles through enemies on the field you can target. It might not seem like much, but when you get in the heat of battle and need to switch off to another enemy quickly, a quick thumbstick flick worked wonders. I then started thinking of all the things I use constantly, such as my mount, and programmed it for quick access, as well as healing potions and many other important functions I use in LOTRO every day. The beauty is that your needs may differ, but you can still program whatever you want. We tried the mouse out with first-person shooters, action RPGs, and MMOs more than anything else, and it worked best as an MMO mouse, though it faired well under all the categories. The Sandio 3D Game O2 mouse is one of those things where the more you put into it the more you get from it.

The original Sandio 3D Game O mouse is my main mouse at my work computer, where I'm at practically all day long – it isn't the most comfortable mouse, but I've programmed it for easy Word document movements, so I can highlight, bold, underline, copy, paste, and cut with a wicked speed. I programmed a specific work layout just for work purposes and the new version is able to duplicate those results too. The reason I point out Word document function is that besides being a game mouse, the mouse can also interact with other programs, opening it up to those who need to speed up their daily work or to help with non-gaming programs.

The mouse isn't perfect, as there are still some design issues, but what it lacks in style it makes up for in substance. The Sandio 3D Game O2 is a mouse where the more you put in the more you get. As a MMO fan and constant player I will tell you this – after programming the mouse and hitting that LOTRO sweet spot, it's been my gaming computer's mouse of choice since its arrival, and my Razer is sitting to the side unplugged. If you're looking for an edge or a helping hand, give the Sandio 3D Game O2 a shot.

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