The modern gamer's lair is a radical departure from the rumpled, cheeto-dusted squalor of yesteryear. At least, it is if advertisers and social media influencers can be believed. Today's gamer, we're led to believe, demands an LED-highlighted person-cave, a water-cooled PC with more dazzling LEDs dancing through the case, LED backlighting behind the monitors, LED-lit keyboards ... Basically, if it's not screaming neon colors at you harder than a Tokyo alleyway, it's not cool.
In this context, Finalmouse's Centerpiece keyboard is clearly the new king of the playground. Within an anodized aluminum case, engraved to look like something an elf might've handed down to humanity if Middle Earth made it as far as the information age, sits a fully transparent set of keys. And beneath these keys lies a full color screen, driven by a built-in computer and graphics processor.
This screen runs interactive visuals developed in Unreal Engine 5, so you can have little koi fish swimming under your keyboard and running away from your fingers. Or the keys can explode dramatically as you type; that's got to inspire you to choose your keystrokes carefully. Or, well, you can pretty much have whatever you want going on in there, if you design it yourself and upload it to the Steam app.
Finalmouse says it's "completely gamer-proof" and "able to withstand intense abuse," a pairing of phrases that offers some sad insight into the world we live in. It runs with "custom autolubed mechanical switches" developed with Gateron, or a hall-effect analog switch if you prefer, and offers the ability for gamers to set custom actuation and release points.
It plugs in with a single USB-C cable, and its built-in processing places zero load on your computer. It'll be available sometime early next year, at a price of US$349. But most importantly, it looks absolutely sick, and would be a highlight even in the most luridly appointed neon cave. Oh, and if you actually want to play games instead of gazing in wonder at your keyboard – an act some perverts are sure to try – there's a wee knobbie on the side you can use to turn the brightness down.
Enjoy the video below, and turn the music up.
Introducing:
— Finalmouse (@finalmouse) December 18, 2022
Centerpiece.
Available early 2023. pic.twitter.com/YfJ6gOmZq8
Source: Finalmouse
