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Microsoft's Sidewinder division has been quite innovative when it comes to producing hardware peripherals that have been made specifically for gamers. Early products improved on what already existed by adding the force feedback, which became a hot technology, to steering wheels and joysticks. Microsoft then forged ahead and created a controller that reacted to tilts of the unit using an internal gyroscopic weight, making it perfect for racing simulations (most notably motorcycle games) and the like. One of the first controllers that was very genre-centric was last year's Dual Strike, a two-handed gamepad that was designed mainly for use in shooters, giving players the control they would otherwise have in the mouse and the keyboard.

However, it sometimes seems that Microsoft's devices may have been developed to work with a particular Microsoft title, and not always live up to expectations when used with other games in the genre. This was true with the Freestyle Pro, the gyroscopic device, which really made Motocross Madness and Motocross Madness 2 incredible to play but really didn't work well even with other traditional driving simulations. Though the joystick clearly has other uses, the Force Feedback 2 joystick is really coming out at the right time while Combat Flight Simulator 2 is also hitting the shelves, along with other Microsoft titles like Crimson Skies or even Midtown Madness 2. One thing can certainly be said about corporate synergy when it comes to the Redmond giant.

The timing was right for the new Sidewinder Strategic Commander as well, as it almost seems to have been paired up nicely with the new expansion Age of Empires II: The Conquerors. Real-time strategy games, until this point, has been one genre that was virtually overlooked when it came to a dedicated controller, and probably no one thought it was possible to create a control device that would serve the player beyond the traditional mouse/keyboard combination. Now Microsoft has released the Strategic Commander, which works with the mouse – rather than replacing it – to give players greater control and the ability to easily access hot key-style commands during gameplay without having to frequently hunt-and-peck on a keyboard.