Gaming Hardware

When the Nintendo Wii was first launched, many people laughed at it because of its kiddy-like controls, where you will need to wave this thing called the Wiimote while using it in tandem with the Nunchuk peripheral in certain games, but the craze has certainly caught on with it being the best selling home console of this generation by far, also partly due to its much lower entry price point compared to its rivals. Well, both Sony and Microsoft has certainly realized the error of their ways, and have already worked on a motion controlling system which have yet to be revealed on either platform just yet. Microsoft hopes to beat Sony to the punch with their Project Natal, but the latest news is Halo: Reach won’t utilize Natal motion controls, which would certainly go a long way in deflating the hopes of many fanboys who won’t mind blazing their way through levels while swinging their arms away wildly.

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Razer, gaming peripherals manufacturer, have come up with yet another model for those who take their gaming seriously. We’re not talking about a brand new mouse, but something that falls literally one level below the mouse – the all essential mouse pad. Any self-respecting gamer would not just rely on the stock surface for their high end mice to glide over while they let rip bullets into their opponents – no sir, they would definitely have a mouse pad to go along with it, and a good one at that. Razer knows this fact and have come up with their latest Vespula gaming grade mouse mat.

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Laugh at the Nintendo Wii all you want – the Japanese gaming giant has had the last laugh to date, doing so all the way to the bank with the unprecedented success of its Wii console. Despite being inferior in many ways to its rivals, the Xbox 360 and Sony PS3 in terms of hardware and graphical capability, what made the Wii stand out was its relatively lower entry price as well as bunch of casual titles which tied in with the motion controls very nicely. Sony seemed to have realized this error on their part (alongside Microsoft with their upcoming Project Natal), and hence aims to correct this by announcing an upcoming Motion Controller for the PS3. Amazingly enough, the folks at Sony have yet to come up with a formal name for this new Motion Controller, so we’ll just have to wait until this fall in Japan when it is released there, alongside other Asian regions and countries, North America and Europe/PAL territories. Needless to say, what is a hardware release without relevant software to accompany it? Sony is also preparing an extensive line-up of exciting software titles to go along with the new controller which will work with the PlayStation Eye camera in order to detect the natural and intuitive movement of the hand and reflect the precise movement within the game, delivering a whole new entertainment experience on the PS3 right smack in your living room.

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We were starting to wonder whether Razer is just going to limit their scope to just computer gaming peripherals, and are pleasantly surprised to know that the company has started to venture into the potentially lucrative segment of home consoles with a couple of new gaming peripherals known as the Razer Onza as well as the Razer Chimaera. The former is a professional gaming controller for the Xbox 360, while the latter is a professional gaming headset that is also meant for the same console, offering something different from the stock controllers and headsets you get from Microsoft.

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You know that you’re never going to lose weight while bumbling about in your living room with the Wii Fit, but perhaps the eternal optimist in you hopes otherwise. Well, the results speak for itself as you not only failed to lose a couple of inches off your waist, but found that your clothes are tighter than ever especially after the Christmas holiday feasting. Gamercize hopes to combat this trend by allowing you to experience exergaming in a new manner, where trading in your Wii Fit discs allows you to enjoy a mail-in rebate worth up to $150, alongside a full 3 month virtual gym membership of their GZ Personal Trainer programme free.

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Polk Audio has just rolled out a brand new speaker which aims to target music-centric games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero to a totally new level where depth and detail are concerned. The HitMaster will see Polk Audio apply their audio prowess to a new category of gaming stage monitors which were specially designed to function with the latest music-based games. According to Mark Suskind, Vice President of Product Line Management for Polk Audio, “Rock Band and Guitar Hero are a blast, but what impresses me the most about these games is the extraordinary attention to the quality of the recording masters themselves. But with all this attention to the quality of the soundtracks, most games are played through standard TV speakers, which are dismal at best.

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Sony’s PSP was originally meant to take over where the Game Boy left off, featuring way superior hardware at the time of its launch compared to the Game Boy Advance, and it had the momentum of the PS2’s phenomenally huge success worldwide behind it. Unfortunately, it seems that Nintendo is a tougher nut to crack than expected in the world of handheld gaming – after all, they have been dominating it for the better part of a few decades to date. Still, the PSP is no slouch when it comes to quality titles over the years, and has a pretty huge install base (nothing compared to the DS base of course), where the handheld console has already made it to the third revision with a latest variant being released – the UMD-less PSP-N1000, also known as the PSP Go.

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Sony has recently rejuvenated itself with the introduction of its PS3 Slim that lost the hefty console some size and weight while looking sleek, carrying 120GB of storage space this time round. Well, the company has just announced that they will be rubbing shoulders with the Nintendo Wii next spring by unveiling the new Motion Controller. We’re pretty sure that they are going to come up with something nifty for its name before January 2010 rolls around, but for the moment, Motion Controller will have to suffice.

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Razer is a name synonymous with quality gaming peripherals, and the company has yet again teamed up with PAX 2009 – the convention that celebrates all things Penny Arcade, one of the major webcomic forces in the world today. This 3-day festival that caters for tabletop, videogame and PC gamers will see the release of the limited edition PAX series Razer Moray+ mobile gaming communicator that is powered by Razer technology. This limited edition PAX series Razer Moray+ will feature an in-ear noise isolating earphone that is accompanied by an omnidirectional inline microphone, offering a smart, portable solution for gamers on the go and will come in just one color – PAX Blue. You won’t be able to get this anywhere else, as the PAX series Razer Moray+ will be available only at the merchandise booth which is located on the fourth floor.

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Sony is back with yet another bundle for the masses this coming October 20th, where those who are looking forward to picking up a PSP for the first (or subsequent) times can look forward to the Limited Edition Gran Turismo PlayStation Portable Entertainment Pack, where it will retail for $199.99 throughout North America. This will be the first Gran Turismo title for Sony’s portable console after the latter has been in the market for so many years, and hopefully the end results will not disappoint.

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