Hardware
15 CommentsCherry Silent mechanical keyboard, reviewed
Cherry’s Silent line of mechanical keyswitches are here, and they are perfect for those who need a quieter typing solution. If you do any streaming, attend conference calls or work near other human beings on a regular basis then these are the keyswitches for you.
For a time, Cherry Silents were only available from Corsair. Its Strafe RGB in particular was known to offer them. But, after a year of exclusivity, they’re now in wider circulation. We received a demo board directly from Wisconsin-based Cherry Americas.
This newest version of the G80-3000, a classic keyboard, is kitted out with Cherry Silent red switches. Reds have a slightly lighter touch than other Cherry keyswitches, with a 45 centinewton actuation pressure. (Blues are closer to 50 cN, while blacks come in at 60 cN.) I’ve...
News
20 CommentsWhy dev thinks this gaming watch will succeed where other smartwatches failed
It took the Gameband less than a day to hit its modest goal of $75,000 on Kickstarter last week.
No surprise there.
The Gameband is a smart watch designed around the ability to play retro mini-games on your wrist. More importantly, those games include beloved classics like Tempest 2000, Missile Command and Battlezone.
The team is working with both Atari and indie devs, including the makers of Terraria, to line up a list of impressive games for the wrist gaming platform.
Packed with 10 well known retro games, you’d think the biggest selling point for the Gameband smartwatch would be those titles.
But that’s not the case says Feargal Conuladh, CEO of FMTwo Games, the company behind the watch.
“Although it is natural to focus on the minigames, we expect it to be another level of casual...
Opinion
155 CommentsGameStop employees are not your friends
Selling used games is very profitable for GameStop. GameStop exists to make money. GameStop is going to do everything it can to sell more used games than new games, and it’s the job of the people who work there to get you to buy more used games than new games. That’s where the money comes from.
A series of stories from Kotaku described how a long-standing system for tracking how well employees sell used games and accessories has been ratcheted up, to the point where employees are scared for their jobs.
“The program, called ‘Circle of Life,’ gives each GameStop store different percentage quotas for 1) pre-orders; 2) reward card subscriptions; 3) used game sales; and 4) game trade-ins,” Kotaku reported. “Each of these quotas is based on the store’s total transactions. Pre-orders and...
News
95 CommentsSony is finally adding external hard drive support to the PlayStation 4
Downloading a game for your PlayStation 4 can be a lengthy process, and the size of the files can be prohibitive. Even games purchased on disc require extensive space to be installed. The upcoming Fallout 4 update for the PlayStation 4 Pro requires an extra 58 GB of hard drive space. Something has to give, and something has: Sony has finally announced support for external hard drives is coming to the system.
“It’s easy to upgrade the HDD that came with your PS4, but if you’re still looking for more storage space on the console, we’ve got you covered,” the PlayStation Blog post states. “With this update, you have the option to store content to an external HDD. Just plug a USB 3.0 HDD into your PS4, and voilà, you now have more space on the console.”
The update supports USB 3.0 hard...
Hardware
2 CommentsRazer rolls out BlackWidow Chroma V2 mechanical keyboard
Razer today starting selling an update to its BlackWidow Chroma mechanical gaming keyboard.
The BlackWidow Chroma V2 adds an included detachable wristpad and the option to get the keyboard with a new linear, silent Yellow mechanical switch. The Yellow, Orange and Green versions of the board will sell for $169.99 each.
The V2 still includes Razer Chroma customizable backlighting with 16.8 million color options, 10 key roll-over anti-ghosting, USB port and audio jack pass-throughs as well as a braided fiber cable.
Razer
Razer BlackWidow Chroma V2
I spent a bit of time with the V2 using the Orange switches and found it to be a fairly solid mechanical keyboard. The Orange switches, which like the Yellow require a relatively light 45 grams of force to activate, are...
Hardware
18 CommentsThis controller makes your iPad or iPhone look like a Nintendo Switch
Gamevice today announced a slew of new game controllers for the iPhone, iPad Mini, iPad Air and iPad Pro which come with improved buttons, thumbsticks and a lightning port.
The Gamevice is designed to frame your device with game controllers. The first version of the controller hit in 2015. It is similar in some ways to the design of Nintendo Switch’s Joy-Con, though the Gamevice controllers are held together with a strap that runs behind the device.
The Gamevice controller features a thumbstick, directional pad, trigger and shoulder button on the left side and a menu button, face buttons, another thumbstick and trigger and shoulder button on the right. The controller, which now draws directly from the iPad or iPhone to power itself, also includes a Lightning port for charging the phone...
Hardware
27 CommentsWhy the best smartwatch for your iPhone isn’t made by Apple
The best watch for the iPhone isn’t made by Apple. It’s a Samsung creation.
I was already a big fan of the Gear S3 Frontier when it came out late last year, but Samsung’s decision to add robust iOS support to its latest smartwatch has pushed my enthusiasm for the device over the top — and the Apple Watch from my wrist.
The Gear S3 comes in two designs, classic and Frontier. The Frontier is one of those chunky watches, like something you might wear while hiking or going for a run. It’s slightly thick for a regular watch, but considering the fact that it can also function as a stand-alone phone, I’m willing to overlook the additional bulk. Besides, that never really bothered me.
The watch includes a bezel that can be rotated to interact with apps, a heart rate sensor, two buttons and a...
Opinion
55 CommentsFighting games on the Nintendo Switch will be a complicated affair
Ultra Street Fighter 2: The Final Challengers is the latest incarnation of the legendary fighting game as well as one of the first fighting games announced for the Nintendo Switch. While it looks similar to Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, this new version packs a host of new features. It also marks the first appearance of Violent Ken in a Capcom game.
Capcom shows off some of the game’s humble beginnings in the announcement trailer with footage from arcades and various young players brandishing Super Nintendo controllers at local tournaments.
This is where things will get complicated for Nintendo Switch owners.
It’s great that the Switch comes with two controllers in the box. That means you’re already set to play with a friend from the get go, and it will be enough for many...
Hardware
108 CommentsThe Nintendo Switch’s dock doesn’t do much of anything
The only way to connect the Nintendo Switch to an external display is to use the included dock; the system automatically switches to your television or monitor the moment you slide it into the plastic slot. The system switches back to the built-in 720p display when you remove it. It’s pretty simple, right?
It would even make sense to buy multiple docks if you wanted to make it as simple as possible to move the console from one room of the house to another. All you would need to do is slide the hardware out, take it to the other TV and put it into the second dock.
The only problem, as we now know, is that the docks cost $90 each. What the heck is the little chunk of plastic doing that’s justifying the price?
Why you need the dock
The dock itself is more or less a plastic shell that...
News
7 CommentsExplore Nintendo Switch’s Legend of Zelda for 3 hours between charges
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is by far the most appealing launch game of the Nintendo Switch — at least going by our traffic numbers — and the game’s graphical performance gave us another interesting detail about the system: you’ll be able to play the game for around three hours between plugging the Switch back into the dock or a wall outlet, according to Nintendo.
This actually gives us some interesting context for the battery life of the Switch itself when you’re using it purely as a portable system. The company said that the battery life will be somewhere between 2.5 and 6.5 hours if you’re playing a game on the Switch’s screen in one of the portable modes, but that’s a pretty wide variance.
Knowing that Breath of the Wild will run for around three hours in full portable...
Opinion
185 CommentsThe pricing on Nintendo Switch accessories is a bad, bad joke
One of the most surprising and pleasant aspects of the Nintendo Switch event tonight was the number of ways players can use the system. You can use it as a console, as a portable, in splitscreen, with the systems connected wirelessly and there are games that use four Joy-Con controllers if you want to play against a friend.
We’ve talked in the past about how useful it could be to just buy secondary or even tertiary dock so you can bring your console to different rooms and drop it right in to use another display, and of course the docks can’t be that expensive by themselves, right?
It’s $90.
“Includes a Nintendo Switch Dock, Nintendo Switch AC adapter, and an HDMI cable. (Note that one of each of these items are included with each Nintendo Switch system.)” Nintendo’s official language...
Opinion
47 CommentsNintendo nailed the Switch reveal, showing off a strange and wonderful system
The first few moments of Nintendo’s Switch event tonight were an emotional rollercoaster.
The price seemed a bit higher than expected at $299.99, but the March 3 release date is pleasantly close. There will be expanded online services, but they will be a for-pay service by the end of the year. The battery life is expected to be from 2.5 hours to 6.5 hours when not plugged in, and you can charge while playing using a USB-C cable. The games will be region free.
The Joy-Con controllers are cleverly designed, allowing you to hand the second controller to a friend for local multiplayer, complete with shoulder buttons. It’s like two Super Nintendo controllers when removed from the system. They also support motion controls, and we saw them in a variety of colors.
In a surprise twist, will...
Opinion
45 CommentsThe Nintendo Switch needs to be able to charge without the dock
The Nintendo Switch is expected to both cannibalize the sales of Nintendo’s portables and take over the company’s console business. It’s the Apple strategy: If users grow out of their iPods, make sure they’re growing into an iPhone.
But Nintendo needs to offer a certain feature if it wants to serve both portable and console markets: The Switch needs to be able to plug into a wall outlet without using the dock.
We’re serious
The “portable but only kind of” idea that Nintendo began with the Wii U was more powerful than some people think, and it’s something I want to see continued with the Switch. The internal battery is a great feature when you take the console out into the greater world, but I’m one of those people who likes the idea of playing longer sessions of their games from...
Opinion
27 CommentsWhy it doesn’t matter that the NES Classic Edition was hacked
The NES Classic Edition has been hacked, and it’s now possible to expand the number of games that can be put on the device. This opens the door for many new ... OK, no. Let’s take a step back.
This doesn’t really change anything of substance, and I’ll explain why.
Can you buy one?
If you can’t pick up one of these devices, you sure as hell can’t hack it. The biggest story of the NES Classic Edition remains the fact that Nintendo still hasn’t been able to meet the demand for one of its most popular — yet relatively simple — products. There’s not going to be a huge wave of hacked devices until there is a huge wave of hardware for people to actually buy.
Is this something you really want to try?
There are videos and online instructions that detail how exactly you can open up your...