When is a gaming peripheral not a peripheral? When it’s an accessory. Peripheral maker MadCatz is hoping that fashion-conscious gamers will want to accessorize their accessories this spring when the company launches its new FREQ 5 gaming headset, which were specifically designed to match the look of its Cyborg line of products (like those nifty Cyborg RATs). What, looks alone don’t do it for you? Don’t worry – it looks like the FREQ 5 will also include all the bells and whistles needed to make a kick-ass gaming headset.
It’s an audiotastic kind of day at CES; if the Scosche headsets we mentioned earlier don’t quite tickle your fancy, Sennheiser’s also let loose some information about a pair of new, high-performance headsets coming in March. Like most Sennheiser headsets, the new ones look like they’ll definitely satisfy audiophiles – but that high-end audio comes with a high-end price tag.
Aesop tried to teach us that slow and steady wins the race and he used a turtle to drive the point home. That's cute, but out here in the real world, companies are blitzing the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) with pre-show announcements quick as can be, and that includes Turtle Beach, which unveiled a bunch of new products spanning wireless, mobile, and Dolby Surround Sound technologies.
There's a ton of competition in the gaming headset market, but that didn't deter Corsair from rolling out its new Vengeance line. Corsair says these headsets "reflect our desire to build the products we want to use and can't find anywhere else," and what might be most appealing to gamers are the price tags. Each one costs less than a Benjamin, and one of them doesn't even cost half that much.
Razer just gut punched every 5.1 gaming headset on the market by launching what it claims is the world's first discrete 7.1 surround sound headphone. It's called the Razer Tiamat, and it packs a total of 10 drivers -- five in each hear -- to pound your eardrums with positional sound from nearly every direction. Sound like overkill? Razer also released a 2.2 stereo version of the Tiamat with a total of four discrete drivers, two of which focus entirely on bass.
Harman’s audio products, which comprise brands like JBL, AKG, and Harman/Kardon are known as much for their high-tech aesthetic as for their audio quality and have never included a gaming headset—until now. We were excited to get the GHS 1 into the Lab to find out whether the design-conscious company’s first foray into the gaming peripheral landscape was a success.
Not all geeks are created equal, as Maximum PC readers no doubt know. Hardware geeks and miniature wargaming geeks don't necessarily grunt the same language; sticking a Star Trek geek and a Firefly geek in the same room is just asking for trouble. BioWare and LucasArts are hoping to strike nerd gold by tapping into the combined power of gaming geeks and Star Wars geeks with the upcoming MMORPG "Star Wars: The Old Republic." Now, Razer's getting into the action and trying to suck hardware geeks into the mix with their new line of SWTOR-branded peripherals.
As you go bouncing from one LAN party to another, you'll want to bring a solid set of cans, and preferably 5.1 if you want to know exactly where the bad guys are coming from (or good guys, depending on how you roll). Or maybe you've been getting complaints from your wife/parents/neighbor/landlord over those late night gaming sessions being blasted through your gnarly speaker set. Either way, Cyber Snipa has come out with a new 5.1 gaming headset the company hopes will find a home in your, well, home.
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