[Copyranter via Gawker]

While the cross-competition issue is obvious, our suspicions became more solid because of the bit buried in the announcement of Alienware's mondo 17-inch gaming notebook that Alienware was going to move into budget gaming PCs for more mainstream gamers. Why cannibalize themselves on both the upper and lower ends? Course, this just means the Alienware name is going to be tied even more closely to Dell, so whatever cachet left in the name is probably toast, like your wallet after buying one. [WSJ]

[smason]

Just think, if Macbeth were a gamer, he might have said, "Is this a 16-bit cartridge which I see before me?" And then Shakespeare would have beaten the murderous Scottish witch-fancier to death with the MiWi, saying, "I said 'IAMBIC PENTAMETERS,' not freestyle, you stupid twunt." [Sportsgame via Technabob]

Sure, Immersion uses an alter ego, "Internet Services, LLC," as an alias for when it licenses the rights to its "teledildonic gaming devices" patent to pleasure seekers of the flesh variety, but it's still the same tech at heart. Next up: A DIY project that turns the Wii Fit balance board into a customized Tantric sit-and-spin BMI calculator. Who's with me? [Boing Boing Gadgets]

In an interview in the Gizmondo forums, Freer claimed that, "There is still incredible value in the Gizmondo. And with the enhancements we're adding... we feel it's only the beginning of where we can go with the product."

Gizmondo version 2.0 will include a new graphics chip, Windows CE 6.0 (which comes with "a lot of 'new' goodies," Freer says), and a bunch of original content to be downloaded off the gizmondo.com website. It'll be ready by Winter 2008, and the developer community can expect more announcements soon.

Left unanswered by the interview was why Freer thinks anybody is going to trust him with anything a second time around. Maybe he hasn't heard the adage: "Fool me once, your CEO gets sent to jail for three years and your company gets liquidated. Fool me twice... well, you ain't ever gonna fool me twice." [Gizmondo Forum]

References to gaming in the filing also serve to rehash old rumors about gaming and Apple TV as well as how a controller like this might fit into such plans. Naturally, I have my doubts about such theories given Apple's stance on gaming over the years, but as with all rumors and patent filings, we will just have to wait and see what comes of it. [Appleinsider via MacRumors]

The trailers aren't HD trailers like you get on the Xbox 360 Marketplace. It's more like grainy YouTube videos before YouTube raised the quality of their videos. You can pause, and you can skip around in the video by hitting B. The videos go fullscreen if you click on them. There are DS titles, which is nice. Edit</>: Corrected errors.

Downloading DS demos is probably a big part of why you'd use this channel. It's easy, just flip on the DS, pick a demo, and start transferring.

The titles section lets you see what's upcoming and get relevant game stats. There's little worse than buying a game you think is multiplayer and getting home and finding out that it's for you only. Or just plain lousy, in the case of Iron Man, but the Nintendo Channel doesn't give game ratings. It does give you a big image of the box art though.

Their supply chain break down goes along three steps. After a hard drive rolls out of the oven at either Seagate or Toshiba, it's preloaded with software and OS stuff (like Xbox Live). Next, it goes out to a Value Added Reseller, who buys the drives for about $75 a pop, and then slaps them inside the Xbox 360 compatible casing and pretties 'em up. They also do the retail packaging. This costs them about $5. They turn around and hit Microsoft up for $100 each. So Microsoft probably pulls about $80 of profit out of each one (though Amazon's got them on sale for $150 right now).

While that's a hell of a margin, it's actually less than I figured, because I didn't expect Microsoft to eat $100 on a drive a consumer would pay $45 $70 for, even with the little bits of plastic and software tacked on. Granted, these are all just estimates by iSuppli, so it's possible they're paying less and are reaping in totally obscene profits on each drive sold, but I actually don't relish assuming the worst all the time. [Multiplayer via Kotaku]

The Gear
From Razer, I got the Lachesis mouse, Lycosa keyboard, Piranha headset and Destructor pad. That's $80 each for components plus a $40 mouse pad, totalling $280.

From SteelSeries, it's the Ikari Laser ($90), 7G keyboard ($150), Siberia Neckband headset ($100) and QcK+pad ($15). Do the math and it adds up to $355.

My old, battle-tested equipment, all Logitech: MX500, Media Elite keyboard, whatever free Logitech headset came with Unreal Tournament 2004 and a free Vista mousepad. Street (or garage sale) value of about $45.

Quick and Dirty Conclusions
It takes more than 20 minutes to get used to a new keyboard and mouse. So I spent a couple days with each set to get comfortable before actual testing with what I've been at almost exclusively on PC as of late: Team Fortress 2. I didn't want readjusting to a game like Battlefield 2142 added to the list of possible variables.

Because of my style of play (mostly heavy/sniper, offensive support), the best indicator of whether or not my game improved is still kill-to-death ratio, even though TF2 is an objective-oriented game. I've taken the results for 15 rounds of gameplay for each set of gear, then averaged them out to a single K-D ratio for each, and accounting for dominations (killing same guy three times).

SteelSeries: 2.6, with 5 dominations
Logitech: 2.42, with 2 dominations
Razer: 1.98, with 2 dominations

What It All Means
Objectively, SteelSeries made me a better gamer. Why? Because comfort level is the bottom line when it comes to gaming (or any) gear you grip or pound everyday, more so than any stupid spec or number proving how awesome a piece of equipment is. Ergonomically, the SteelSeries stuff just felt right, even after using it a short while.

Fans of Logitech's MX500 (me!) or G5 series mice will dig the SteelSeries Ikari mouse, since it's almost the exact same, but with an extra nub for your ring finger, plus it fixes the crappy scroll wheel issue that plagues the G5 and G7. The Razer Lachesis mouse is ambidextrous, and it just never felt right. (I'm not a claw gripper, though.) I kept accidentally hitting the buttons on the right side of the mouse, causing it to reboot to change profiles, which got me killed more than once. The braided cable on the Ikari, like on Logitech's G5 mouse, was a construction plus over Lycosa's thin rubber cord, though they both feel solid. I don't think either is worth the price ($90 for a mouse is insane), though—my MX500 is still just fine.

Keyboard-wise, Razer's Lycosa actually has a better layout (big backspace, small enter) than SteelSeries' 7G. It's also the much sexier of the two. But I'm not too big on its squishy laptop-style keys for gaming, and the keys' rubber coating started out as a plus and grew into a minus as it made my fingers feel weird and sorta chapped after extended sessions. SteelSeries compromises between big clacky keys and soft touch by registering the key press at the halfway point—they're tall keys—so you can go light or really slam them. I wish it had the subtle backlighting like the Lycosa , and maybe some more macro options. But the build quality of the 7G is absolutely bunker-worthy—it's incredibly heavy. I could club a family of baby seals to death with it and go back to gaming (after wiping the blood off). Yeah, it's $150, but it feels like it's going to stick around to the next ice age, so you're actually paying for solid equipment, gaming BS aside. The Lycosa feels more fragile—not crappy, but just above average.

Headsets have the same build matchup—the SteelSeries is heavier and more sturdy—but this time the cheaper Razer Piranha comes out ahead in audio quality (no surprise, actually). Positional audio was much truer, especially rear to front (a necessity to avoid getting backstabbed by a bastard Spy). Besides, as SteelSeries readily admitted to me, the Siberias suck for music.

Mousing surfaces? Whatever. Beyond the basics of non-reflectivity, it's total hype.

Conclusion
SteelSeries made me a better gamer, but the label "gaming gear" is BS. Buy what feels comfortable, because that's what you'll game better with. If you're a fan of Razer ergonomic styles (I wasn't overly) then it might be worth the extra price, but on the construction merits alone, it doesn't necessarily stack up. The SteelSeries stuff felt more substantial and like the build quality was slightly more commensurate with the higher price point (though I still think the 7G should go for like $100, not $150). Most scientific statement I can make: I was most comfortable with SteelSeries and my old gear, so I did better with them. [SteelSeries, Razer]

Potato Chase controls pretty smoothly with the Zune Pad. You push slightly on any edge and it moves you forward, backward, left or right. Click the middle, or any of the edges, and it fires a bomb toward your adversary. You can host a game, or join a game wirelessly with up to eight other players. While it is a primative demo, there was a minimal amount of slowdown while playing with two other people. There's also an API feature that uses album art to build the walls of the battle arena, however it wasn't functional on the demo units. Pretty cool stuff from the XNA team.

Be prepared to see a lot of this in your living room.

May 05, 2008 09:00

SteelSeries Introduces the 7G Professional Gaming Keyboard

Mechanical keyboard increases responsiveness by more than 90 percent and is more than 10 times more durable than typical keyboards; Eliminates anti-ghosting

CHICAGO —(Business Wire)— May. 5, 2008 The leading manufacturer of innovative professional gaming gear, SteelSeries, today announced the U.S. release of its new gaming keyboard, the SteelSeries 7G. The keyboard, designed with 18-karat gold-plated mechanical switches, sets new industry standards for advanced key combinations and Actions-Per-Minute (APM). This translates into quicker reaction times and stronger results.

Eliminates Anti-Ghosting

The SteelSeries 7G keyboard sets a new industry standard for gaming keyboards by allowing users to perform at new levels with advanced key combinations. Utilizing a powerful PS/2 buffer-system created specifically for gaming, the SteelSeries 7G keyboard eliminates "anti-ghosting" by supporting as many simultaneous key press commands as there are keys on the keyboard. What this does, for example, is allow users in a first person shooter game to walk, crouch, aim, fire and check the scoreboard simultaneously. Traditional keyboards do not allow this much functionality all at once.

The keyboard was built specifically to offer gaming-grade response times as well as an unmatched durability with a switch lifetime of 50 million operations, which is 10 or more times the lifespan of a typical "membrane" keyboard which has a maximum of 1-5 million total keystrokes in a lifetime.

"Professional gamers demand top quality equipment that provides durability and quicker response times," said Bruce Hawver, CEO of SteelSeries. "The time that we've invested into working with literally hundreds of gamers to design the SteelSeries 7G keyboard has resulted in a device that will truly change the way you play, limiting gamers only by their skill level - not their equipment."

The SteelSeries 7G keyboard is equipped with audio ports for headphone-out and microphone-in and includes a two port USB hub. With both PS/2 and USB connectors, the keyboard features the compact SteelSeries Media Controls, an essential gaming element that allows the user quick access to volume, muting and other audio controls.

Recognizing the importance of high-performance PC gaming equipment, professional Counter-Strike player, Franz "mouz/gore" Burghardt, said that, "SteelSeries creates top quality gaming gear that helps players perform at their best. The 7G has taken gaming keyboards to a whole new level by eliminating anti-ghosting and increasing the response time, which is so important for first-person shooter games. It's a tool I can rely on even on a professional level." Franz Burghardt and his teammates from mousesports recently won the ESL Masters championship at CeBIT in Germany, beating the best teams in the world and winning $50,000 USD.

The mechanical tactile system is ergonomically designed to ensure ease-of-use, and the no-click switches and iron-infused plastic make the SteelSeries 7G keyboard both comfortable and durable for professional or competitive gamers.

The new SteelSeries 7G keyboard, with an MSRP of $149.99 USD, is available for purchase at Dell.com, AlienWare.com, NewEgg.com, Amazon.com and on the SteelSeries Web site at http://www.SteelSeries.com.

About SteelSeries

SteelSeries is a leading manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, software and gaming surfaces, selling in more than 75 countries. SteelSeries has been on the forefront of professional gaming gear since its inception in 2001, thanks to continued innovation and product development in cooperation with leading professional gamers. All SteelSeries products are developed in co-operation with professional gamers to ensure optimum performance and durability. SteelSeries supports the growth of competitive gaming and electronic sports through professional team sponsorships and community support all over the world. For more information, please visit http://www.SteelSeries.com.

You can choose your hero from a swath of "legendary champions," whose ranks include a manic hedgehog, a space invader, a plumber, a bomb man, a Level 50 Elf, and some kind of Master Chief, among others. Every hero comes with a princess, and the object of the game is to rescue other players' princesses before they can rescue yours. You accomplish this task by building combo roads to other heroes' castles, firing cannons to defend your own abode from your opponents' roads, and using your special power to finally get the girl!

Nokia promises that the game will appeal to all audiences, from casual gamers—how these are going to get who the heck is Bomber Man, we don't know—to hardcore nerds. We hope so. The N-Gage platform has traversed a rocky road since its inception, and if there's any princess in need of rescuing by a wildly popular and successful hero, that's probably it.

The game is being developed by RedLynx, will feature a soundtrack by chiptune band 8 Bit Weapon and a price tag of $10 to $14 for the full N-Gage version of the game (the PC version will be free). Look forward to a Summer 2008 release.

This monster of a tower weighs nearly 50 pounds, stuffed as it is with goodies. It's based on Nvidia's nForce 790i Ultra SLI chipset, and you can choose to load it with chips ranging from the Intel Core 2 Duo up to the 45nm Core 2 Extreme. You can also put in up to four 1TB hard drives for some ridiculous reason, a whopping 8GB of RAM and Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music.

To keep all this crap running without burning down your house you can either choose two-stage ceramic H2C air cooling or just go nuts and get water cooling.

Obviously, all this stuff is going to set you back something serious. In fact, the air-cooled model starts at $3,999 while the liquid-cooled model will allow you to start adding components at the low, low price of $4,999. Start saving your pennies, gaming nerds. [Dell]

Other worthy tidbits from the show: They're not planning on a MacBook Air competitor. They're big-boned (for performance) and proud of it. Also, they're looking at making some cheaper notebooks for more mainstream gamers that can't afford to drop $3k on a sweet gaming notebook. Budget gaming notebook, I like the sound of that. [Alienware]

To begin with, you probably only want to map a single event to your games, but as your confidence improves you'll be able to do more and give your hands a break. And as the NIA can speed up response times (200ms to click fire, 100ms to think it), it means you'll be more efficient at shooting before getting shot.

We got to use the device for an extended play in the wonderfully frenetic Unreal Tournament 3, and the buzz you get when you knock up your first frag is every bit as stunning as it is scary.

The FragBox is the first gaming system I can recommend without reservations for playing Crysis at 1,280-by-1,024 resolution. Previous "DX10-ready" systems couldn't hit this level of performance, even at this less-taxing setting.

When the headphones are on, the player hears a sound (the ball) that seems to be getting closer. In order to return "the ball" you tilt your head to one side or the other depending on which side the movement is heard. The challenge is to center the sound and return the volley. As the contest progresses, the speed increases until you miss the ball or you break your neck—whichever comes first. As you lie twitching on the ground, a buzzer and a light from the machine will mock your defeat. To discover just how stupid all of this makes you look, check out the video below.

[Mike McCracken via MAKE]

And things aren't entirely rosy for Stern Pinball. While they used to pump out 27,000 pinball machines a year, they're down to a mere 10,000 now, most of which end up going to homes rather than to arcades. It's a sad state of affairs.

But the owner, Gary Stern, can't really imagine that pinball is on the way out. He thinks that it's like a sport; while it may wane in popularity, it'll never go away. What do you guys think? Have video games made pinball machines antiquated and obscolete, or do they still hold a place in your heart?

In any case, check out the profile of the factory. It's a fascinating peek into the world of gaming development that doesn't involve 3D rendering and cubicle farms. [NY Times]

Motus says their version of the device, possibly tied to Microsoft ("it looks like Microsoft is coming up with something, and we have something"), which will help pick up gesture-heavy games like Harry Potter's Wand Magic Waggle sell better on the 360.

No real conclusion was reached since Microsoft repeated their usual "we haven't announced anything like that," line and reiterated that their sales are great and don't need any fancy gesture gimmick. Here's what you should probably take away from this. Microsoft and Motus are becoming infinitesimally more talkative about the Wiimote project, even though nobody's outright confirming it. This makes us believe that the original rumor was at least a little bit on target. [Kotaku]