Razer’s touchscreen ‘Star Wars: The Old Republic’ keyboard hands-on (video)

We got our hands on Razer’s premiere $249.99 Star Wars: The Old Republic keyboard today and swiped our fingers across its LCD-equipped keys and multitouch auxiliary screen.

by Sean Hollister

Jan 10, 2012, 8:30 PM UTC

Gallery Photo: Razer’s touchscreen “Star Wars: The Old Republic” keyboard hands-on pictures

Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge

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Sean Hollister is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.

When we first heard that Razer was building a line of Star Wars: The Old Republic-branded peripherals, we didn’t know what to think, but it’s becoming clear that the company’s developed something special for particularly hardcore gamers. We got our hands-on the company’s premiere $249.99 keyboard today and swiped our fingers across its LCD-equipped keys and multitouch auxiliary screen.

Though the software’s definitely not final and the LCD-keypresses were a little iffy with the prototype model, it does loads of awesome stuff. We set up a Half-Life 2 gravity gun grenade macro right on the touchscreen, performed pinch-to-zoom multitouch gestures on this very website, and watched a YouTube performance of Katy Perry’s “Firework.” It’s also a touchpad, of course, and you can set up macros with actual graphical icons under those LCD keys as well, using the bundled software. No release date except “soon,” but we’ll have video for you later today!

Update: Video below!