The Sinister melds the advantages of a gamepad with the precision of a mouse

The Sinister melds the advantages of a gamepad with the precision of a mouse
Sinister, a new kind of gaming peripheral, aims to shake up the pro gaming circuit by combining the advantages of a gamepad with the precision of a mouse.

The Pro PC gaming sphere makes use of many strange-looking peripherals; we’ve seen some specialized mice and keyboards that look downright bizarre. But these devices, despite their strange appearance, quickly earn their place in the arena as must-have tools of the trade for their effective utility.

Tivitas is throwing its hat into the ring of pro-gaming, and aims to revolutionize the field with a new innovative peripheral that fuses a gamepad together with a mouse.

This new invention has the rather unlikely name of Sinister, and when you first look at it, it does look sinister indeed. Tivitas has launched a Kickstarter for their prestigious new peripheral, and so far it’s raised almost $28,000 CAD.

Chris Zhao-Holland, the President & CTO Tivitas Interactive, had this to say about their new device:

“Sinister represents an evolution in PC gaming. It provides all the advantages of a console controller with the flexibility and precision of a mouse.

“Sinister takes the best of both worlds, without compromising either.”

What makes this curious device so interesting is that it really does seem to meld the best elements from gamepads–with the comfortable face buttons–and the fine tuning available only from a mouse. Tivitas aims to sort of do away with keyboards in favor of the Sinister.

Instead of being phased out, the mouse is actively included to compliment the peripheral to make sort of an ultimate combo. Mice can be hooked right into the Sinister via USB, affording for all of the precision you’d want in FPS titles.

The device has an analog stick conveniently placed, along with the traditional four face-button combo we’ve come to know and love within console gaming. In a way first impressions make it a sort of mad scientists creation, but when we see how it works in tandem with a mouse in an actual gaming session, it’s quite appealing.

The Sinister also makes use of something Tivitas calls Flux Elements, which is just a fancy term for the unit’s modular parts. Gamers can freely move its interchangeable buttons around as they see fit, shaping it to their preferences.

Reality Link via ViviTouch technology immerses gamers into the experience, which is achieved via HD haptic feedback within the peripheral. Furthermore the Sinister appears to have an ”artificial muscle” for more precision than the traditional motors found in console controllers, which goes farther to provide a sense of immersion.

While the Sinister is in its early stages and seems an iffy prospect to gamers who already have their tried and true peripherals, it seems that Tivitas is on the right track. They are also giving out dev kits in order to glean feedback from the community as a whole, and their Kickstarter will give them the funds needed to fully mold their creation.

Be sure to drop by the project’s Kickstarter page to check it out for yourself. The team is still a ways from its projected $100,000 goal, but if enough gamers give it a go, it might get funded.