The age old question, do I really need a gaming mouse?

Gaming mice are kind of one of the big staples when becoming a PC gamer. If you haven’t been around the PC gaming scene for a while then you will probably wonder about a gaming mouse vs a regular mouse. It is the equivalent of game controllers to consoles, which a PC gamer can also own for their computers. You hear so much about the Razer mice, SteelSeries, Logitech, Cougar, Corsair and the many others out there. These brands push the products hard, as they should. It is still a business, a business that has market control over what they want you to see in the industry. They push their products to the right influencers and have their brands plastered all over E-sports. This is fine, but not all of us can afford an $80.00 mouse.

That is why you are here. You want to decide if a gaming mouse is right for you, or if you should go with a budget gaming mouse. Maybe even go with a stand ergonomic mouse.

Gaming mouse vs regular mouse

TLDR Does it really matter? no not really (IMO).

My experience with gaming mice varies from a super cheap ergonomic Kensington mouse that I got on sale from Newegg for $10 years ago. To a gaming industry standard Razer Naga that I got for around $80. Between these two mice that I have owned they both share one common aspect. They both broke after a fair amount of use. The Kingston actually lasted a good 3 years compared to the 1 year with the Naga.

Obviously there are a lot of factors here. Did I win the silicone lottery with the Kingston and lose it with the Naga? Quite possibly there will never be a way for me to know or have the statistics of how many mice from both companies have broken from gaming.

The only real differences between the two mice is that one mouse was expensive and the other was cheap in price. Also the Naga had a lot more buttons and button customization that was good for MMO’s. Sure the buttons made doing things a lot more convenient, but it wasn’t something that was 100% necessary.

These features were really just luxury features. The only real feature that is a must have for me on a mouse is a scroll wheel, back and forward side buttons, and DPI control. There were all offered on the super Cheap Kingston mouse.

I don’t want to dog Razer, but I have seen many reviews and complaints of the mouse failing in one way or another. Of course we would hear about a large company’s product failing more than an ergonomic mouse under $20. Everyone is always looking for a chance to put down a company for whatever reason. Just in my experience I could buy and replace the cheap mouse 8 times for the price of the expensive one.

My gaming/ mouse habits

I am a pretty light to moderate gamer. Not a lot of my time is spent playing games, but a good amount of my time can be found gaming at night. I am pretty light handed on my mouse and don’t smash the clickers hard at all. I do tons of scrolling with the scroll wheel.

My current mouse

I currently own a Corsair raptor gaming mouse that I got on Amazon for super cheap 3 years ago. It had absolute shit reviews when I got it, but I needed a quick replacement. When I got it I thought the left click was broken already, but it was just a little sticky and I have not had any problems with it since. It is still going strong and gets the job done. If this one fails anytime soon I might splurge a little and get its predecessor the Corsair Raptor M45-5000.

Gaming Mouse VS Regular Mouse conclusion

So in my opinion one does not need a fancy gaming mouse. Unless you are trying to have something fancy, well known brand, and has more customization for you gaming needs. You can definitely get by gaming on a plain Jane mouse. A expensive gaming mouse is more of a luxury than anything else. If you can afford it do it, if you can’t afford it spend the money elsewhere to fit your needs.

My mouse recommendations?

Just a list of mice that I would recommend purchasing . Nothing really special, I am sure you can find something out there that will suit you well. Just if you sound like me and use a mouse like me. Then these are for sure the mice I would consider purchasing.

Gaming mice



“Regular” mice