Not keen to be left out of the CES party, Mad Catz showed off two new highly adjustable mice as part of its new GameSmart initiative at the Las Vegas tech convention.
Mad Catz' GameSmart products are meant to be as universal as possible, compatible with a massive range of products and operating systems, and the R.A.T. M and M.O.U.S. 9 are no exception.
The futuristic-looking new mice are successors to the R.A.T.7 gaming mouse, which Guinness World Records named the most adjustable mouse in the world, a Mad Catz representative pointed out to TechRadar at CES.
But of the two new Mad Catz mice, only one is actually considered a gaming mouse.
M.O.U.S.9
"What we found was that hundreds of consumers were buying [the R.A.T.7] because they dug the way it looked, they loved the way it felt, but they weren't gamers. They weren't using the gaming features," a Mad Catz representative told TechRadar at CES.
"The M.O.U.S.9 takes everything that consumers love about the R.A.T. but reinvents it for everyday use," he continued.
One key difference between the M.O.U.S.9 and its predecessor is the inclusion of Bluetooth 4.0 smart technology, which allows it to sync easily with any Bluetooth device (alternatively, a USB dongle that sits nestled in the mouse's underside when it's not in use can provide compatibility with non-Bluetooth devices).
The M.O.U.S. 9 also has a new optical sensor that works on "any surface," according to the Mad Catz rep, horizontal scrolling on the thumb wheel, and other "pre-programmed functionality for everyday use," including a zoom, an "image viewer" that displays all open windows, and a precision control button that slows down the mouse's DPI.
And thanks to the power-efficient Bluetooth 4.0, a single AA battery provides a rather astounding full year of use, according to the company representative.
R.A.T.M
The R.A.T.M, on the other hand, is for "hardcore gamers," Mad Catz' representative told TechRadar.
"This is an uncompromised R.A.T. performance, but for a mobile audience," he said, adding that the R.A.T.M is "the world's first mobile mouse to feature a gaming-grade laser sensor - a 6400 DPI twin eye laser sensor - and Bluetooth smart technology combined in one unit."
It features 11 programmable buttons, including a unique 5-way directional side switch, and can go for a year on two AA batteries.
Both new mice also feature Mad Catz' patented adjustable palm rest, and they're set to become available in early 2013 for $129.99 (UK£81, AU$123) each.
Getting GameSmart
The Mad Catz spokesperson on hand at CES told TechRadar that the San Diego company believes it's "unfair" that gamers can purchase products without knowing whether they'll be compatible with all their devices.
"We're trying to spearhead a standardization for the industry," he said. "What we're trying to do with GameSmart is introduce an industry standard so that gamers can buy a product that's got the GameSmart logo and know that it's going to work across a wide variety of different devices."
In addition to the R.A.T.M and M.O.U.S.9, Mad Catz unveiled the F.R.E.Q.M mobile headset and the C.T.R.L.R wireless gamepad - a Bluetooth device that resembles an Xbox 360 controller - at CES as part of the new GameSmart initiative.
