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CES 2011: Power A

by: John -
More On: CES 2011
We’re no strangers to Power A as Chuck was pretty high on their PlayStation 3 controller that’s built in the same style as an Xbox 360 controller. I visited Power A in the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino where they were showing of some new items for the coming year.

The first item shown to me was their updated line of mini Wiimotes. You can see from the picture that the purple remote has nice large buttons giving you easy access to them all. They will have Motion Plus incorporated and in a very nice smaller form factor. Holding one in the hand, I liked the soft material that covered it and it felt pretty solid as well. With a push of a button, you can cycle through some of the colors that buttons can light up in. To help power the Wiimotes, they now take AA giving you some more juice over the previous version that used AAA.

One of my favorite older controls was the MicroCON by Mad Catz, and Power A has taken that concept and put it into a PlayStation 3 controller. It’s still got the analog stick configuration of the Xbox 360, which I prefer. The Mini Pro Ex and Mini Pro Elite controllers come in various colors giving you a variety to choose from. The 360 only has the Mini Pro Ex version since it’s a wired controller. The PlayStation 3 Mini Pro Elite is a rechargeable wireless controller featuring a USB dongle for wireless communications with the PlayStation 3. While I was a horrible driver in Gran Turismo 5, I felt pretty comfortable using the Mini Pro Elite and enjoy the smaller size as well.

The folks at Power A also showed me some of their hit LEGO controllers that feature a back that let you attach various bricks. The LEGO Wiimote has that LEGO branding around it, but it lacks Motion Plus, although you can use the attachment with it. Evidentally, the LEGO Wiimote sold really well at places like Toys R Us.

For the last of the controllers, the Air Flo controllers for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 feature little vents in the palm areas that blow cool air to help keep your hands from sweating during long hours of gaming. You might remember NYKO having similar products a while ago, and here Power A has their own line. They both have some nice glowing areas that give both of them very pleasing aesthetics. Trying out the Xbox 360 version, I had no problems going through a level in Call of Duty: Black Ops and my palms felt very nice and dry. They are wired controllers and while both were a little louder than I would’ve liked, the final product should be pretty quiet I was told.

There was various DS related items there as well branded with various IPs from Pokeman to Star Wars. I was also shown a nice executive like DS case that looked very professional. Power A also has a line of Nintendo 3DS carrying cases too as you can see from the pictures.

Power A has a nice line of third party controllers and accessories for those that might want to save a few bucks and get some good quality items to use. I especially liked the smaller Wiimotes and the Air Flo controllers even with the limited exposure I had with them. Look for Power A’s range of products to be released throughout the year.