On Wednesday of CES, my appointments finally brought me into the Las Vegas Convention Center to begin the meat of my schedule.  As Dan and I have both mentioned before, audio seemed to be the primary focus of this year's show, and sticking with that theme brings us to the Sennheiser booth.  The goal at this booth was to get my hands on the latest PC gaming headsets that Sennheiser had to offer in the form of the U320 and the PC363D.


U320 Gaming Headset

The U320 is a multi-platform gaming headset, meaning it isn't just for use with a PC or a Mac.  Sennheiser realized that console gamers need some love as well, so the U320 has been made to be fully compatible with the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.  The highlight of this headset is the fact that a user can change the audio levels independently to either raise the in-game volume, or to raise and lower the volume of the other players in the match.  The sound quality is stereo sound, so it is not a surround sound headset.  Still, even with it being just a simple two-channel audio headset, the sound quality was excellent.  There was no cracking at higher levels and the comfort of the headset itself is good initially.

The U320 Gaming Headset retails at $169.99



PC363D Gaming Headset

This was the headset I was really wanting to try out.  Sporting a virtual 7.1 Surround Sound system in a powerful package, the PC363D was directly developed with Dolby to ensure a beautiful array of audio while playing any proper title.  The 363D is designed to be used with a computer system only, due to the output of sound that it needs.  Comfort isn't an issue here either, and the microphone is specifically designed to mute when moving it up from the talk position to a side position on the headset, which is a great feature to have.  If it's a great surround feeling that you are looking for in a headset, the PC363D may very well be your best option.

The PC363D Gaming Headset retails at $299.99

One of the great things about CES is the proverbial "shows within in the show" that are attended in the first half of the week.  One of these shows is called ShowStoppers, which gives a chance for companies to spotlight specific products in a more intimate setting instead of on the main show floor at the Las Vegas Convention Center.  Dan and I had the chance to meet up with Peter Nygren, the CEO of Mionix, at ShowStoppers to check out a couple of the new products that Mionix is bringing out for PC gamers in the form of the Zibal 60 keyboard and the Naos 8200 mouse.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:

Naos 8200

Right handed truly ergonomic design, full palm grip
Netto weight: 320 g



Zibal 60 Gaming Keyboard





Impressions of the Naos 8200

The mouse is incredibly comfortable.  Having larger hands, it can be difficult for me to find a mouse that truly molds to my palm and fingers, but the Naos 8200 is about as good of a fit as I've found.  The design of the mouse is very ergonomic and has a natural grip to it.  The material is soft and offers a nice cushion for long sessions of gaming.  Of course, the impressive part of the mouse is the 8200 dpi laser that it offers.  Gamers that require quicker motions need the extra dpi to make sure that there is a distinct advantage over their opponent.  The Naos 8200 looks to be a good choice, though I want to have longer sessions with it instead of the few minutes we had at ShowStoppers before coming to a final conclusion.



Impressions of the Zibal 60 Gaming Keyboard

This isn't your everyday gaming keyboard.  In a world where there are a ton of gauges, monitors, macros, and so forth, on just about every keyboard, it's nice to see a company provide a product that is built to last and is no frills.  The Zibal 60 stands out simply because it is a beast of a keyboard.  It is heavyweight, durable, and can take a beating from any gamer.  The solid body of the Zibal 60 means that durability isn't an issue, and the keys are quick-firing even though they stand out higher than standard gaming keyboards.  

One of the overriding themes at the 2013 International CES was lots and lots of audio products, including headphones of all shapes and sizes.  One of the companies that is now producing headphones is Onkyo, who is usually known for their high-quality A/V components.  Sean and I went to visit with them in the Gibson tent, which is an awesome place to check out products as musicians are strumming away on a variety of guitars.  Heck, while we were in there, Felicia Day gave away a guitar to one luck guy in the audience.

What we went to see was the Onkyo ES and IE lineup of headphones.  I posted about them early last week, but after we actually had a chance to try out the ES-HF300 over-the-ear headphones, both Sean and I were quite impressed.  After listening to a variety of music, the one word that we came up with to describe them was “precise.”  Meaning that whatever song we listened to, the music came out beautifully, as we would expect and without any sloppy audio sounds or muddiness.  The ES-HF300 on display were in white, black and purple and were quite comfy and with an MSRP of $179, on the lower end of what you would normally pay for that type of quality headphones.

There was one other Onkyo product that really caught my eye (other that the massive TX-NR5010 9.2 Networked A/V receiver), and that was the RBX-500 3D music system/dock that was being shown.  The RBX-500 had an incredibly compact design, comes with a remote and connects with Bluetooth or digital dock.  Internally, it has a 6.1 array of speakers (six 2” drivers) including a ported 4” sub.  The best feature may be the Sonic Emotion Absolute 3D Sound Technology that drives the RBX-500.  As with all wireless speaker systems, the possibilities are endless for gaming, video or music playback.

I stopped by the Ion Audio booth again this year to see what they had in store for iOS and Android users.  While they weren’t showing off any updates to their popular iCade lineup, they did have quite a few cool accessories for gaming on hand.  As with most things at this CES, there was a heavy emphasis on audio, as Ion was showing off DJ gear, speakers and party rockers.

I first looked at the All-Star Dance, which is a wireless dance mat for the iPad.  The mat comes with a free dancing app that teaches the basic moves while playing the game, it connects via Bluetooth and lights up (with embedded LED light) as you dance on it.  It was quite responsive and works seamlessly with the iPad and application it ships with.  One other item of note, there is a stand for your iPad included that will elevate it to the height you need to watch while dancing.  The All-Star Dance will ship in May at an MSRP of $49.99

The next item I looked at was the Party Rocker cubes.  These are a combination speaker, amp and karaoke machine all in one solid wood box.  It will ship with a microphone and has an internal 50-watt amp with color choices of white or black and also connects via Bluetooth to your iOS or Android device.  The coolest feature (especially if you are hosting a slumber or New Year’s Eve Party) is the light show that moves to the music.  The Party Rocker will have an MSRP of $149.99, and a slightly smaller version called the House Party will come in at $99.99.


Probably the smallest gadget Ion brought to the show was the Clipster.  This is a very portable wireless speaker that can clip to just about any object.  It includes a built-in rechargeable battery, connects via Bluetooth and will be available in April for $29.99 in Red, Green, Blue, Black and Pink.  This would be great to use for music, games or video when you are working outside where headphones would get in the way or just chilling out sitting on the couch.

The last item that I saw in Ion Audio’s booth was their DJ accessories.  The iDJ 2 Go Plus (shipping in June for $99.99) and Scratch 2 Go ($19.99) give aspiring DJs a way to convert their iOS devices into instant music machines.  The DJ 2 Go has a physical board and works with several DJ apps (including Ion’s iDJ 2 Go app) and connects via the lightning connector, making it compatible with iPhone 5 and iPad retina or newer devices.  The Scratch 2 Go comes with physical controls that sit on any iPad, so as long as there is a compatible DJ app, this will hook up and work.  I am not big into DJ games or apps, but both options seemed to work well during the demo and should appeal to those that enjoy the creativity of being a DJ.  You can probably hook it to the Party Rocker to create some interesting effects.



I would like to thank Wendy, Ion Audio’s Product Manager, for showing me around the booth.

There was one last news bit in addition to John's impressions and our multiplayer video that came out of our time spent with the folks from Square Enix and Microsoft regarding Tomb Raider.  When the game comes out on March 5th, you can expect to find a limited edition Tomb Raider Xbox 360 controller also available for purchase.

The controller will retail for $59.99 and feature custom Tomb Raider artwork, a transforming D-Pad and an exclusive downloadable character.  You can check out the overview at the official Xbox 360 page for it or try to win the one of the five that Major Nelson is giving away if you enter before January 18th.

LG was showing off some spectacular In-Plane Switching (IPS) 21:9 monitors in their booth, and we had a chance to take a look at them.  The E93 is a 29” ultra-wide monitor featuring the LG Cinema Screen design with the ultra-thin bezel.  It can connect any number of devices as it has the LG dual-link feature that allows simultaneous connectivity of two external devices.   In the booth, we saw a smartphone, an Xbox360 and an external laptop all hooked up.

Sean spent the better part of five minutes testing out Forza Motorsport 4 on it and was pleasantly surprised at how well the extra real estate enhanced the game.  From a bystander’s perspective, the image was incredible sharp and smooth and it felt natural seeing more area within the game itself.  Unfortunately, retail price and availability were not announced at the show, so we will have to wait for additional announcements in the future.

Check out the short clip below of Sean testing Forza 4 on the monitor and just how well it looked.


LG EA93 IPS monitor Demo

My first appointment yesterday was to swing by the Archos booth and get my first look at the GamePad, their android-based gaming tablet.  We saw a lot of information come out on the European version over the summer but I was able to get some of the specs confirmed for the U.S. version during my visit. 

I met with Steve Cederberg, Archos Product Manager, and he was able to fill in some of the information gaps regarding the U.S. version of the GamePad.  It will have the dual-core CPU along with the quad-core GPU running the 7” screen.  The GamePad memory includes 1GB of internal RAM, 8GB of internal storage and up to 64GB of external storage via micro SD.  As previously reported, it will ship with Android 4.1 Jellybean and the unit is fully Google certified, which means access to Google Play store and well as being able to be upgraded.

I spent some time playing Trial and the GamePad handled the game really well.  The screen was bright, the controls responsive and easy to get too with my fingers and thumbs.  The tablet is also incredibly light, so there isn’t much chance of getting fatigue while playing it or that awkward feeling you get when holding onto larger tablets for extended periods.  I was told that it will most likely ship with copies of Angry Birds, Trial and the usual suite of applications that Archos includes on its tablets.

The GamePad mapping tool has been tested compatible with over 6,000 games so far, and there are over 2,000 that are pre-mapped.  So if you happen to come across titles that needs mapping, the system to do this works very easily.  Steve was able to demo this live for us on the show floor, so take a look at the video below of just how easy it is to map controls of games for the Archos GamePad. 


Archos Product Manager Steve Cederberg demoing the GamePad control mapping

Archos expects the GamePad to ship this February with an MSRP of $169.99, which is very competitively priced for the combination of size, processing power and memory.  The great thing is despite the gaming form factor, it is a fully functioning touchscreen tablet, so it can seamlessly switch between a recreation product and a productivity tool just by changing the apps you are running.

With Nintendo the only company out with their next console, it was no surprise that NYKO pretty much focused on their updated Wii U lineup here at CES, with controllers, chargers and battery packs were the theme.

Right out of the gate was the NYKO Charge Station U, which is an all-in-one dock system for storing and charging multiple Wii U controllers.  You can put a Wii U GamePad and two Wii remotes on it simultaneously inn a very small footprint.  It will come on both white and black to match your Wii U system, and has an adjustable cradle for the GamePad to change your viewing angle so you can charge it while watching content on it.  The Charge Station U will ship in February with two NiMH batteries and rubberized covers for a suggested MSRP of $34.99

Next up and the most impressive Wii U accessory was the PowerPak, which is a replacement batter pack for the Wii U GamePad.  It uses the entire space provided (not just where the Nintendo OEM pack sits) allowing it have 3x the battery capacity of the standard GamePad battery.  Bets thing is that you can recharge it with the Nintendo first party docks and cables and comes with a mini screwdriver for ease of use.  It is slated to hit retail around February 2013 with an MSRP of $24.99.

The Pro Commander is NYKO’s answer to the Nintendo Pro Controller and works with any title that the Pro Controller is compatible with.  It connects wirelessly with the Wii U and features an analog stick layout and triggers like the Xbox 360 controller.  It was very easy to handle and felt good in my hands.  It is scheduled to have an MSRP of $34.99 and release in February in both white and black colors.

Other new Wii U accessories were the Power Stand, which will charge your GamePad using the original GamePad power cord.  The Charge Base Pro which uses a magnetic NYKO patented dongle to charge two Wii U Pro controllers and the U Boost, which is a clip-on battery pack that adds double capacity to the GamePad and doubles as a viewing stand.  All of these are also scheduled for a February release.

The last items we took a look at were the new Android-compatible Playpad lineup of controllers that started shipping right around the holidays.  Both the Playpad and Playpad Pro were available to demo and they worked really well.  The Playpad comes in both black and white and has a storage case that isn’t much larger than an eyeglass case.  The Playpad Pro is a full-sized controller that seemed more geared toward tablets and larger displays.  Sean mentioned that the Playpad felt a bit small in his hands, but I thought it was comfortable enough.  We did ask NYKO if any of the Playpads might work with the any of the Android-based consoles that have recently been released, but they were unable to comment at this time.  Based on where they are at and what would need to be done, I do not think it would be hard for NYKO to retool the Playpads, or refresh them to work with any new Android consoles in the future.