Things are really going pear shaped at Microsoft when it comes to the consumer and PC gaming market..

After initially killing off the Sidewinder gaming peripherals in 2003 because they were poor sellers, Microsoft in their wise wisdom then decided to give the market another stab by  bringing the Sidewinder vMouse back in 2007.

Now in 2011 they are again killing off the brand because no one is interested in buying PC gaming peripherals from Microsoft.

The big killer has been the success of the Razer and SteelSeries as well as new offerings from the likes of Logitech.

Microsoft has also fallen behind in releasing updated devices.

Among the products killed off immediately is the SideWinder X8.