Once upon a time there was a collection of people that eventually split up to form Apogee (now 3d Realms) and id Software.
In the old days, these people made something called Wolfenstein 3D and then came the dawn of the First Person Shooter with Doom as the granddaddy of the FPS genre, released in 1993.
The indispensable modem (then ran on an analog telephone line at the incredible speed of 4.8 Kbps) suddenly had a new function to perform: Online Multiplayer shootouts. That was a time when people were still playing exclusively with the keyboard because playing with the mouse just plain sucked and anyway, there was no free-look option.
Then, in 1996, id Software released Quake and the entire FPS scene went several gears up. Quake was the first 3D game using the Z-axis. Multiplayer was suddenly being carried out at 56Kbps, a tremendous leap and Quake Clans were mushrooming everywhere.
Featuring a free-look option for the first time the mouse suddenly came into play offering a freedom of looking around the gaming world at very high speed for improved reflexes. This changed gaming in a very fundamental way. The First Person Shooter was controlled by using the four arrow keys for looking around and moving forward, back, left and right. Strafing was a pain and shooting happened with the CTRL key while SHIFT switched between run and walk.
The mouse claimed the right hand (for right handed people at least) and looking around and shooting was independent of movement.
It was then that the WASD control configuration for the First Person Shooter was used for the very first time and such was its power, that it is now a standard control set for all First Person Shooters without exception.
Keyboard woes:
If you play FPSs as much as I do (at least 40 hours per week) then you will probably notice that your WASD keys on the keyboard are faded (maximum for W, minimum for S, and average for A and D). Your spacebar is also sporting a broad off-color patch where your thumb nudges it during jumps.
This is a normal affliction with most FPS players and when not playing games, looking at the keyboard makes one wish that there was some way to enjoy all those games without having the keyboard look like it was 10 years old instead of just six months. Moreover, you will not have to buy a replacement every year because the rubber cushion under the key has worn out.
If you ever wondered why black color peripherals are so popular with gamers then now you know. A black keyboard or mouse does not look as worn out as a white one.
Zboard:
A few years ago a company called Ideazon released a Quake customized keyboard called ZBoard. The keyboard was an instant hit with the gaming community because it appealed to the heart of every FPS fan out there. Not only were the controls easy to follow and manage but the graphic design of the keyboard was too awesome to resist. Recently, there was a similar rush to release a keyboard for Doom III.
MERC:
The most recent product from Ideazon is the MERC Gaming Keyboard. This is a hybrid keyboard that features an integrated game pad that is powered using the ZEngine technology.
The features of this keyboard include:
The ZEngine that controls the gamepad section of the keyboard is programmed with MODs. These MODs are quite similar to the graphic profiles that exist inside the nVidia GeForce control panel. When you select a graphics profile for a game, the card automatically changes its settings that you can use as default or customize to your needs. Similarly, the MODs for the MERC keyboard are control sets for different games that are loaded along with the game that you are playing.
As of August 31, 2006, the Zboard ships with 107 game control configurations supported out of the box. More MODs can be downloaded directly from the MERC support website. Loading a MOD will instantly remap all keys to suit the appropriate game.
Some of the popular titles that are supported by MERC include Battlefield 2 (including Expansions), Call of Duty 2, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Counter Strike (all versions), Doom III, F.E.A.R, Ghost Recon, GTA III and San Adreas, Half Life 2, Hitman 2, Medal of Honor (both), Painkiller, Prince of Persia (SoT and WW), Quake 4, Starwars Jedi Academy (SP and MP), Chronicles of Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay, Godfather, Tomb Raider Legend, Unreal Tournament (2003 and 2004), and World of Warcraft.
Technical Specifications:
Looks:
The MERC Gaming Keyboard looks very ergonomic and just by looking at it you get that warm internal surge that comes from the sheer pleasure of the knowledge that you new keyboard is going to help you play for far more longer with lesser amount of fatigue.
If you have seen the earlier Zboard, you must have noticed that while the keyboard was very good for gaming, the key layout for regular typing got a little weird. This created problems for people who wanted a keyboard that was good for both regular work as well as gaming.
You can see this comparison between Zboard and MERC to get a better idea.
The lower image is the Zboard while the MERC is on top. Note that this image is not to scale and that the MERC is 25% longer than the Zboard. The extra 25% length is in the orange-reddish butterfly layout to the left side of the MERC where the gaming controls have been totally isolated from the normal keyboard layout.
The older Zboard also had a problem that different games required different keysets from the typing keyset and these keysets had to be physically added and removed as required. A hassle that was only put up with the most hardened of gamers who will go that extra inch to beat someone in a multiplayer shootout.
With the introduction of the MERC all those keyset “plates” are gone and instead we are presented with a hybrid that is both a regular keyboard and a gamepad.
The butterfly formation of the buttons is in the familiar WASD format for movement with other keys like jump, crouch, run etc. surrounding them neatly. At the top corner is volume control along with other media controls. The best part is that all of these buttons are labeled like “Reload”, “Use”, “Jump”, “Crouch” and so on. You always know what the key is doing instead of forgetting the right keys in a game that uses too many combinations (ever use the OICW rifle in Soldier of Fortune II – Double Helix?)
Due to the addition of the game controls on the left, the keyboard tends to be a bit larger than what you might normally be used to. However, the good news is that if you have some experience with the “inverted V split” Microsoft ergonomic keyboards you will see that the MERC is not really that big. In order to save some space the area between the QWERTY layout and the Number Pad to the right, normally given over to the arrow keys and the Pg Up, Pg Dn, Home, End, Insert, Delete keys has been integrated within the numpad to the right (as you can see in the image).
This is just a minor convenience. Anyway, how many gamers actually spend time on the numpad? As gamers, we have the mouse in the right hand and the left parts of the keyboard under our left hand fingers. For gamers the whole idea of a consolidate numpad is no biggie at all because we do not use the calculator to keep track of frag counts and flag captures. The game does it for us. Neither are we typing documents that are hundreds of words long and need Pg Up, Pg Dn, Home, and Insert keys.
Considering the fact that you are getting a full-fledged US-106 keyboard this is a minor negative to the tremendously positive side of the separate gamepad.
In addition to this, when you turn off the Num Lock the number pad turns into a Windows Shortcut Keyboard offering functions like My Computer, Toggle Desktop View, Cut/Copy and Paste, Search and Replace, Left/Right text selection (without having to press the Shift key), Undo, Redo, and Quit buttons. All in all, a good deal of a good deal.
The butterfly layout (WASD + the lean left and lean right keys) is common between the Zboard and the MERC but the surrounding topography is much friendlier and easier to interpret and follow on the MERC. Because the finger layout is more ergonomic on the MERC (you do not really have to twist your middle finger into a pretzel while trying to run and duck at the same time, really you don’t), playing with this keyboard is a pleasure in itself. Further more, a lot of the time FPS games will have an angle resembling “>” between their palm and wrist. Because of the gamepad’s angular placement on the MERC that angle is more like “/” now and a blessing for those who worry (and rightly so) about carpal tunnel syndrome.
Aligned across the top of the keyboard are the multimedia controls. Immediately above and closest to the gamepad is the volume control and going rightwards you can find the Mute, Previous Track, Play/Pause, Stop, Next Track. Next are three keys that can be programmed to open any program or a website. The volume controls are a nice touch if you are using cordless phones without a volume control.
ZEngine:
Finally we come to the heart of the keyboard – or – the magic software that makes this piece of hardware a must have for most gamers. The ZEngine software runs in the system tray as an icon and is a ready helper to show you which key does what in which game. You can also use it to change from one keyboard MOD to another.
While FPS gamers will certainly enjoy some advantages with the MERC it should be noted that even RPG players, especially those who are active in MMORPGs will also benefit from it. New games are always being added to the MERC control MODs that can be downloaded from the Ideazon website.
At present, MERC does not permit the customizing of the game pad controls. You load a MOD and you have to use the controls defined therein. Very soon, Ideazon is going to release updated drivers for the MERC that will permit per key control customization and then the MERC Gaming Keyboard will truly be open to all sorts of games.
Learning Curve:
Well, actually, if you are familiar with the WASD format in your gameplay, there is no learning curve involved except allowing your left hand to get used to the slight ergonomic adjustment demanded by the angularly placed controls on the gamepad.
As far as gaming goes, right now the biggest problem that a gamer might face is the lack of customization that can lead to problems with the same key meaning different things in different games but that will change soon. However, common controls remain, well, common. Reload is reload in every game as is jump and crouch, unless you load a game that follows some rules of its own in total disregard for the known universe.
As for general use, be warned that the learning curve involved for non-gaming use is longer than the intended use one. This is because in order to save space the keys can be too cramped for some people. This should not be a serious issue. If you are a touch-typist, your fingers will adjust in a very short time depending on how good a typist you are. If you are not a touch-typist then it will take even lesser time because you are going to look at the keys anyway before you push them.
The biggest difficulty will be for people who use the number pad to the right. Now that requires some serious getting used to but we can safely assume that this population is going to be a minority among keyboard users and practically negligible among gamers.
And this keyboard is not for Office users, alright? It’s for gamers.