Mouse Gaming

Mice are often used as an interface for PC-based computer games and sometimes for video game consoles. They are often used in combination with the keyboard. In arguments over which is the best gaming platform, the mouse is often cited as a possible advantage for the PC, depending on the gamer's personal preferences.

First-person shooters

A combination of mouse and keyboard is a popular way to play first-person shooter (FPS) games. The X axis of the mouse is used for looking (or turning) left and right, while the Y axis is used for looking up and down. The left mouse button is usually for primary fire. Many gamers prefer this over a gamepad or joystick because it allows them to turn quickly and have greater accuracy. The right button is often used for secondary fire of the selected gun, if the game supports multiple fire modes. It can also be used to throw grenades in games where grenades are supported. In a few games (usually historical/simulation fps), such as Call of Duty 2, it allows users to look down the barrel of the gun for better aiming. A scroll wheel is used for changing weapons, or controlling scope zoom magnification. On most FPS games, these functions may also be assigned to thumb buttons. A keyboard is usually used for movement (for example, WASD, for moving forward, left, backward and right, respectively) and other functions like changing posture. Since the mouse is used for aiming, a mouse that tracks movement accurately and with less lag will give a player an advantage over players with less accurate or slower mice.
An early technique of players was circle straffing, where a player could continuously strafe while aiming and shooting an opponent by walking in circle around the opponent with the opponent at the center of the circle. This could be done by holding down a key for straffing while continuously aiming the mouse towards the opponent.

Invert mouse setting

In many games, such as first or third person shooters, there is a setting named "invert mouse" or similar (not to be confused with "button inversion", sometimes performed by left-handed users). It allows the user to look downward by moving the mouse forward, and upward by moving the mouse backward (the opposite of the default setting). This control system is similar to aircraft control sticks, where pulling back causes pitch up and pushing forward causes pitch down; this control configuration is also typically mimicked in computer joysticks.
After id Software's Doom, the game that popularized FPS games, but which did not support vertical aiming with a mouse (the y-axis was used for forward/backward movement), competitor 3D Realms' Duke Nukem 3D was one of the first games that supported using the mouse to aim up and down. It and other games using the Build engine had an option to invert the Y-axis (moving the mouse forward aims up, moving the mouse backward aims down). The "invert" feature actually made the mouse behave in the way that we now regard as normal. Soon after, id Software released Quake which introduced the invert feature as we know it now. Other games using the Quake engine were released and kept this feature. Probably because of the overall popularity of Quake, this became the current standard.

Super Nintendo

In the early 1990s, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game system became the first commercial gaming console to feature a mouse in addition to its controllers. The best-known game to have used the mouse's capabilities was Mario Paint.

Jagath Krishnakumar