Are Split Spacebars the Next Big Gaming Keyboard Trend? (pcgamer.com)
- Reference: 0181011690
- News link: https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/26/03/16/2231202/are-split-spacebars-the-next-big-gaming-keyboard-trend
- Source link: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/split-spacebars-are-surely-the-next-big-gaming-keyboard-trend/
> While it's often very easy to reprogram your spacebar to do a different action via your keyboard's software, it's a lot harder to reprogram your brain to hit any other key when you try to jump in game. Spacebar makes you jump. Everyone knows that; it's practically etched onto your brain if you're a long-time mouse and keyboard player. So, why does a split spacebar help with that? It comes down to this: once you know which side of a spacebar you tend to thwack with your thumb, you can program the other side to do whatever you want. I hit the right-side of my spacebar every time when I'm typing. Therefore, when I started using a Wooting 60HE v2 with a split spacebar, I set the left-side to be the delete key; the keyboard lacking a dedicated delete key for its 60% size.
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> Though for gaming, the split spacebar offers much more varied purpose. People do strange things with the WASD keys that I won't litigate here, but I'm pretty sure most gamers use their left thumb to strike the spacebar for gaming. Right? Right. If you fall into this category, you have the option of using the right-side spacebar for things like a chunky melee key, or, my personal favorite, an in-game voice chat key.
[1] https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/gaming-keyboards/split-spacebars-are-surely-the-next-big-gaming-keyboard-trend/
wot (Score:5, Funny)
if i've my left hand on wasd, thumb on the left of space, and my right hand is on my mouse. How on earth do i hit the right side of my space bar without you know, moving either hand. , In which case i have about 90 other keys I could use instead. What's that you say ? oh right yeah , ..unzips...
Re: wot (Score:2)
I came here to ask the same thing, my right hand is on the mouse.
Re: (Score:2)
How do you hit 'b' right now? It's a common key used in many games. The split spacebar would have part of it under it and would be trivial to reach with the average thumb while still being able to reach the ~ key in the top left as well.
Or you have Trump hands in which case I'm sorry for making fun of your disability.
Re: (Score:2)
I don't hit b. nothing bound to it. No wait, not strictly true I have a 'comedy' chat bind on 'b' that i hit usually by moving my left hand I don't use it while I'm using my left hand on wasd. I DO use ALT though. And i removed the win key as it's too annoying to accidentaly hit. so my thumb presses both alt and space as required.
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From some of the pics, it looks like it might split three ways Space-NewKey-Space.
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Is that an AI tell? I suppose a more correct word would be "dispute" which AI cannot distinguish from "litigate" which is a legal dispute.
litigate? try indict and prosecute! (Score:2)
The gamer police will bust down your door and arrest you if you use the wrong brand of mechanical key switches on your keyboard.
Ergodox (Score:2)
Ergodox layouts solved this a while back. Most people map one of the long 2U keys on the thumb cluster to space. I've had one mapped to space and the one right next to it mapped to backspace since my earliest Ergodox layout:
[1]https://battlepenguin.com/tech... [battlepenguin.com]
Although, it did take a long while to get use to. Ortholinear are not easy to rewrite your brain for. But it was totally worth it. Just check out the cool layout/builds you can do with Ergodox!
[2]https://battlepenguin.com/tech... [battlepenguin.com]
[3]https://battlepeng [battlepenguin.com]
[1] https://battlepenguin.com/tech/recent-keyboards-the-model-m-slice-mk-and-royal-kludge-84#slicemk-wireless-ergodox-clone
[2] https://battlepenguin.com/tech/w-ergo-split-keyboard/
[3] https://battlepenguin.com/tech/if-ergo-keyboard/
Split space bar is a poor start to thumb clusters (Score:2)
Split space bar is better than a standard one but it is only a poor start to separated thumb clusters which provide somewhere from 6 to 9 easily reachable keys per thumb.
Check out e.g. [1]K80CS layout [deskthority.net]. That is a custom build and there are many similar (and from my point of view slightly worse) custom keyboards in the community. People mostly do not want to build their own keyboard. They can get a usable commercial alternative which is not too bad. There are more of them, e.g. [2]Kinesis Advantage 360 [kinesis-ergo.com].
A split ke
[1] https://deskthority.net/viewtopic.php?p=250605#p250605
[2] https://kinesis-ergo.com/shop/adv360pro/
Next Game Trend: AI-RAM-Shortage Devastation (Score:1)
It seems pointless to be discussing everything but the elephant in the room. What RAM is going into the gaming machines?
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> It seems pointless to be discussing everything but the elephant in the room. What RAM is going into the gaming machines?
This is a blatant attempt to refocus gamers on something they could actually afford to buy. RAM? No more RAM upgrades available. Because AI. I just hope that AI doesn't suddenly need keyboards too. 'Cause then even us writers are gonna be in big trouble.
Gamepad (Score:3)
At that point, why not use something purposefully designed like a gamepad. Maybe if this trend continues, Logitech will bring back [1]the G13 [pcmag.com]
[1] https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/logitech-g13-advanced-gameboard
Re: (Score:2)
Because I can't aim with a gamepad.
You mean.. (Score:2)
Like the Microsoft Natural keyboard from the '90s?
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Was going to say, there were split-spacebar keyboards back in the day, I worked with lot of [1]Compaq Presarios [ayekat.ch] with that arrangement.
As a lefty it sucked because if the keyboard was set up for that left-side to do something like backspace on a public kiosk computer it wasn't readily changed to be usable.
For someone's own personal computer fine, do what you want. But don't expect it to become an industry standard anymore than say, Dvorak layout is.
[1] http://ayekat.ch/blog/var-log-computers
Not this, but there is room for improvement (Score:2)
There's an interesting space for a left-hand PC gaming peripheral. Keyboards are OK, but don't have any analog controls, and your most articulate digit(thumb) does the least while your pinky is heavily burdened. The ones I've seen are just half a keyboard made slightly more ergonomic.
I have used a Stream Controller in my left in combination with a mouse. But it's awkward to hold one handed, and it takes a lot of button remapping if the game even supports simultaneous inputs. There was also Microsoft's "Stra
Re: Not this, but there is room for improvement (Score:3)
Go look up Logitech G13. They discontinued it but I think other companies make things in that category, that's what you want.
PC gaming is just weird. From everyone owning flightsticks with hat switches and knobs on knobs on throttles, plus gamepads, to a long stretch where KB&M were good enough for any and everything, to all of a sudden its cool to use gamepads again, sort of.
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I used a [1]Nostromo speed pad [ebay.com] back when I gamed. All the functions are programmable.
[1] https://www.ebay.com/itm/147160557308
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I vaguely remember the Strategic Commander but never understood what the hell it was.
No (Score:2)
> you have the option of using the right-side spacebar for things like a chunky melee key, or, my personal favorite, an in-game voice chat key.
That would be very uncomfortable and very unnecessary. You don't get to take away 40% of a keyboard and then complain about the lack of keys and customization. Most of the authors suggestions would best go on extra buttons on a gaming mouse anyway.
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The design of the mouse in general needs a rethink. When mice contained an actual ball in a 3/4" or so diameter it was necessary for a particular shape in order to facilitate that ball having somewhere to go, and that somewhere ended up being under the joints where the fingers meet the palm. This was not the most efficient place to put movement detection since that part of the hand doesn't move as much as the fingertips do.
A modern mouse would work better if it had wells for the four fingers, and each fin
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Ergonomics is subjective. Different people grip their mouse differently. I use a claw grip, so having so much mouse body is less important. Some fully palm the mouse, and so they need the body of the mouse. Others like the sideways ergo mice, or trackballs (conventional or thumb type).
I don't move my mouse using only my arm and wrist. I primarily use all of my fingers, keeping my arm stationary and my wrist making only minute movement left/right. As such I have much finer control over its movement. If I swi
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Are you talking about the keyboard in the article? This Wooting somethingorother? The itty-bitty-doesn't-have-all-the-keysey one?
I don't understand it. Not even function keys? Not for me, I like a full keyboard.
The first thing I thought off (Score:1)
Was a segregated bar, humans on one side of the room, aliens on the other, and of course no droids allowed in at all...
I'm left-handed. My keyboard layout already rules! (Score:2)
Left hand: mouse.
Right hand: actual directional cursor keys, ins/home/pgup/pndn/end/del, ctrl, shift, \, backspace, AND THE ENTIRE NUMERIC KEYPAD.
wasd? ewww. Seriously?
Re: (Score:2)
You're moving your right hand a significant distance.
The QWERTY keyboard is left-handed, the mouse is right-handed: So, WASD is a natural setup and the maximum number of keys can be tapped without moving the wrist.
The problem then, is the instant-change keys, such as weapon selection: For that, I use a pointing device (mouse, joystick) with more buttons. Since many games don't require diagonal changes to in-game position, a mouse is the common choice.
Not for me, thanks anyhow. (Score:2)
I don't need that, and don't think it would help me. Maybe if you have a tiny keyboard (the one in question looks stupid small)? My hands are fairly large, but I still don't want to stretch my thumb that far.
My Z20 is the right size for a keyboard (in my never-humble opinion), and my thumb comfortably reaches the middle. But I don't want that middle to be a different button. I have a ton of other keys within reach.
Niche Trend, Maybe (Score:2)
Some people will see a benefit and get an expensive keyboard with a split space bar. Good for them. Everyone else will continue using the absolutely massive number of keyboards following the standard format.
Oldschool (Score:2)
I still use the arrow keys, you insensitive clod!
Seems like common sense. (Score:2)
I immediately looked at the topic, and went: "Duh". Seems like an obvious thing.
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Haven't I already seen split keyboards already that separate the keyboard into two sections? There are two spacebars in those models. Now none of the ones I have seen are created for gaming. The main selling point of those keyboards were ergonomics.
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Yes, these have been around for over 20 years.
They are trying hard not to report on the DLSS5 cluster that is going on right now with nVidia.
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Yes but do those keyboards send separate scan codes for the split spacebar, or allow remapping one of them?
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Some of them do allow them to be remapped arbitrarily (especially keyboards that support the QMK aftermarket firmware...)
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> Haven't I already seen split keyboards already that separate the keyboard into two sections? There are two spacebars in those models. Now none of the ones I have seen are created for gaming. The main selling point of those keyboards were ergonomics.
From what I recall, there were only single spacebars in the center of a keyboard, while the rest of the keys were split longitudinally.
Re: Seems like common sense. (Score:2)
It is obvious, and gaming keypads have been around for ages.
They talk about wasted keyboard space on a singular function and the solution is make it two buttons and continue using the thumb for one single function, seriously..
Gaming keypads with analog sticks free up so much more functionality. Analog movement is superior in modern 3d games to clunky up down left right as if we're still playing mega man or something. Even if the game doesn't support analog movement the stick still moves four buttons to you
Re: (Score:2)
Compaq (HP/HPE Intel Desktop/Server predecessor) had that in the late 1990's. It was called Compaq EasyErase/EraseEaze(I think) as one side was default used as a backspace and/or delete key. It was a dumb design especially since they defaulted it to on and initially did not have a label on the back of they keyboard telling you the key sequence to switch it into its different modes. The design died sometime later. It might have been a good idea at some level, but delivering it defaulted on using eithe
Re: Seems like common sense. (Score:2)
You can use either hand for a space bar, and there is a reason for that. Maxmizing key inputs does not maximize ergonomics or performance.
That said, I had a one hand half keyboard that used space bar as a left/right half shift for the keyboard. It was pretty usable, but you did give up some performance and comfort.