Plantronics reveals GameCom 780 7.1 headsets/GameCom 380 headsets
Plantronics met with PC Gamer today to talk about their new headsets, the USB 7.1 Dolby Pro Logic II GameCom 780 (and their lower-priced stereo GameCom 380, with analog jacks rather than USB). The 780 and 380 are both set for US release on January 15th. At launch, they’ll be available at retail in Best Buy stores nationwide, or—if you prefer shopping via mouse and keyboard—you can snag ‘em online through Plantronics.com/us or Amazon.com. The 780 will set you back 80 clams, while the 380 will cost you $50. Read on for more details!
Exclusive reveal of the new M.M.O. 7 gaming mouse from Madcatz
Building off the massive popularity of the Cyborg R.A.T. 7 (PC Gamer’s highest-scored mouse ever at 98%), Madcatz gave us—and sister mag Maximum PC—an exclusive peak at the newest addition to the R.A.T. family: the M.M.O. 7.
Hard Stuff: Falcon Northwest TLX review
Got a hankering for Ferrari-like paint jobs? Check out Falcon Northwest’s TLX. Its lid is covered in an eyeball-caressing, glittery blue paint, with a majestic falcon’s head emblazoned across the middle. Nice.
Hard Stuff: Digital Storm xm15 review
For those of us whose pockets don’t bleed money, laptops priced around $1,000 are far more practical, such as the Digital Storm xm15. Of course, you should expect some sacrifices for the lower price.
Hard Stuff: Origin EON15-S review
You know those folks that dress for utility instead of style? The ones that wear flak jackets and ammo belts to dinner parties? The Origin EON15-S is their laptop equivalent.
Geek toys review: Star Wars FX Lightsabers
There are certain moments in life I’ll never forget. That time I forced my brother down a make-shift zipline constructed of clothesline rope and a wooden dowel that served as a “pulley,” and then watching him plummet into the earth, breaking his wrist (his fault—he shouldn’t have let go). Or the time when I first beat Battletoads on the NES. (OK that never actually happened.) And know what? I’ll never forget the first time I wrapped my fingers around the glorious hilt of a Star Wars FX lightsaber and fired it up. I mean yeah, the first time I held one was, like, 6 hours ago, but still: I know I’ll remember it for eternity, because this toy is quite possibly the best thing to ever happen to me. Ever.
Hard Stuff: Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 review
I’ll be frank: the GeForce GTX 590 will murder your checking account. At $700, you’re probably wondering—as I was—if it could possibly be worth it.
Geek toys review: Nanodots
When the carrying pouch is more entertaining than its contents, there’s something amiss. Inside an admittedly awesome yellow drawstring bag—complete with atomic logo emblazoned across the front—lies a handful of magnetic BBs called nanodots. That stick to each other. Awkwardly. That’s all they do. This is sort of like tearing open the wrapping paper off a massive box on Christmas morning only to discover a mouth-guard and a jockstrap within.
Geek toys review: Skitterbot!
The Skitterbot is one of those toys you buy for your kids, but end up hoarding for yourself. It’s that awesome. The stylish body of this six-legged mecha-insect is small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, and when activated, it scurries around the floor at a speedy one foot-per-second. You can choose from four different colors—red, blue, green, and white—and all of them look fantastic covering the Skitterbot’s armored shell. You control the Skitterbot via an oval remote that also doubles as a USB-powered recharger (via a retractable data port on the remote and a cord that plugs into the Skitterbot’s mouth).
Hard Stuff: Psyko Audio Labs Carbon review
This headset is absolutely massive. I’m talking Goliath-massive. After just two hours of using it, my neck ached as if I was wearing a military-grade Kevlar helmet.
Hard Stuff: Thermaltake eSPORTS Shock review
Getting a headset that rivals your 2.1 external speakers’ sound is tough to do without dropping $200 (or more). And yet, the Tt eSPORTS Shock manages to do just that, and at a very reasonable $80.
Hard Stuff: Razer Chimaera review
On first glance, the wireless Chimaera’s gloss and flat-black coloring is absolutely gorgeous, but this beauty is tarnished by some quirky design choices.
Hard Stuff: Black Ops|Enix PC review
Ever seen a honey badger? They hunt cobras twice their size and stick their tongues into bee hives. This is much the same with the Black Ops|Enix: it’s short but mighty, and it attacks gaming resolutions of 2560×1600 without fear. Tucked within the rugged metal case (that takes up about as much floor space as a full backpack) are two blazing-fast GTX 580s in SLI, a brand-new Core i7 2600K (overclocked from 3.4GHz to 4.7GHz), 8GB of DDR3 Corsair Dominator RAM, and USB 3.0 support. Digital Storm played it smart by including a Corsair H70 liquid cooler to keep the processor overclock stable. It’s pretty damn impressive how much high-end hardware they’ve packed into such a teensy area.
Blacklight 2 announced
The sequel to one of the most underrated shooters of 2010—Blacklight: Tango Down—is officially in development. Plus, Blacklight 2 is going be free-to-play, and it’ll add an enormous ED-209-like Hardsuit to your arsenal.
Onlive nukes its paid subscription plans
Before today, OnLive—a cloud-based game-streaming service—required a monthly subscription fee before you could even think about buying any games. Steve Perlman, OnLive’s CEO, has actively sought ways to avoid a paid monthly plan, including waiving this year’s annual subscription dues for early adopters. But now, Perlman’s confirmed it: the service itself is free-to-access from now until eternity, so you can explore and prod all its features—such as spectating live gameplay footage or trying out new demos—without forking over personal credit card info (much like Steam and other digital distribution platforms).
