It would be easy to forget that the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) event is taking place, but with this comes not only a flood of magnificent new consumer gadgets, but also a great new set of items for the gamer community. One of the first such items out of the gate is SteelSeries' Rival 700, a gaming mouse with one big--and strange--new feature.

The SteelSeries Rival 700 offers zero hardware acceleration, as well as an optical sensor that allows for one-to-one tracking accuracy, the perfect thing for those who need high precision. Resolution settings are adjustable, going to 16,000 counts per inch, and as little as one millisecond response time for essentially lag-free operations. It can track movement speeds as high as 300 inches per second, and even boasts a removable sensor module, allowing gamers to move to multiple options like a laser sensor later on. It comes with a user's choice of three feet of rubber cable or six feet of braided for different gaming circumstances, and even a set of different lighting options for added aesthetic value.

The biggest new feature of all, that I've been hinting at all along, is a complete OLED display mounted on the mouse itself. Able to show different logos, as well as more specific in-game points of operation, this tiny little wonder is a masterwork of versatility. Those interested will be able to get hands on it fairly soon--this spring, really--and reports put the cost around $100.

While that LED screen might seem a bit like overkill--or maybe a lot like overkill--it's not half bad. It's the kind of thing that can be very valuable; think about that LED readout from Aliens that let Ripley tell at a glance just how much ammo was left in her pulse rifle. That kind of thing could be displayed on the side of the mouse. Everything from a health bar to compass directions could be displayed there, and that kind of readily-available information could be valuable. Is it worth $100 a pop? Probably not. When thrown into the mix with everything else, now, that's a different proposition, and one that makes $100 look comparatively reasonable.

The SteelSeries Rival 700 could be a potent little piece, and may be just the kind of thing that top-end and professional gamers want to get in on.