Razer's Firefly Hard Gaming Mat Features Customizable Lighting Effects

Razer's Firefly Hard Gaming Mat Features Customizable Lighting Effects

Razer continues to illuminate gaming setups around the world with its latest introduction of the Firefly - a hard gaming mouse mat with customizable lighting effects that joins Razer's Chroma series of mice, keyboards and headsets. Yes, you heard correctly. This micro-textured gaming surface sports Razer's colorful Chroma lighting feature bordering the bottom, left and right sides of the mat, which can be fully customized with more than 16 million different color options and eye-catching lighting effects like waving illumination, color spectrum cycling, fade breathing as well as a reactive illumination effect that works exclusively with Razer gaming mice. 

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Xbox One, The New Next-Gen Entertainment Console

Microsoft seized today with its special unveiling event where the company announced its impressive next-generation gaming console, the Xbox One. A redesigned "all-in-one" living room entertainment console meets set-top box built from the ground up, packing a slot-loading blu-ray drive you'll only need to be using once to play games. The Xbox One downloads the game data automatically while you play onto its non-replaceable 500GB hard drive (expandable using external storage) the first time you insert a disc so it'll be playable without it from there on.

Powering it is an AMD and Microsoft developed 8-core processor with an on-board GPU chip and 8GB of RAM. The One's Windows operating system is a combination of three OSs engineered to respond intuitively and powerful enough to run apps alongside a game simultaneously without loss in performance. The Xbox One instantly powers up with a Windows 8-like home screen interface ladened with TV, movie, music and app integration with instant switching from one place to another.

Microsoft has also designed a new Kinect 2 motion sensor that'll accompany the new Xbox One which boasts a 1080p wide-angle camera with heart rate monitoring capability, gesture recognition and voice recognition so you can interact with it thru various voice commands like powering the console on just by saying "Xbox on", which will also turn on your TV. Voice commands are snappy to deliver instant results even when wanting to bring up a certain channel without having to use your TV remote.

Switching between inputs is a thing of the past now that the One features several USB 3.0 ports and HDMI pass-thru which enables you to watch live TV right on your Xbox while your TV, TV provider box and Xbox are interconnected. Built-in WiFi naturally of course. And yes you can game without being online.

With a new sleek console comes an improved wireless controller that utilizes Kinect to automatically recognize which individual has picked up the controller to bring up a personalized player experience on-screen. The new Xbox One controller sports a more ergonomic shape and is fitted with newly designed thumbstick shape and grip texture as well as vibrating impulse triggers with force feedback, and several more improvements - notably a built-in rechargeable battery. The new impulse triggers are perhaps the most impressive new feature to come with the new controller where you'll be able to feel the tightness of a car breaking and the vibration of a motor thru increasing throttle.

The best gaming controller just got better with over 40 technology innovations. New Impulse Triggers deliver precise fingertip feedback for more realistic experiences. We have streamlined the thumbsticks, D-pad, and contours for improved precision and comfort in your hands. Simply put, it is the best controller we've ever made.

The Xbox One runs four times quieter than its predecessor thanks to its redesigned cooling system. Microsoft confirmed that it will not run Xbox 360 game discs. 15 new game titles were also announced including an exclusive launch of Call Of Duty: Ghosts, Forza Motorsport 5, Fifa 12, NBA Live 14, Madden NFL 25, EA UFC and more.

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GameStick, The New Portable Console Controller

We've seen numerous gaming consoles brought up by independent companies looking to rival the big guys at Sony and Microsoft, with the power of less costly consoles and games. The GameStick is a unique, $79 portable-sized gaming console powered by Android Jelly Bean that fits into your pocket. It's a dual analog stick controller and a console all in one package, and it connects to your TV using a small HDMI dongle which then wirelessly pairs up with the GameStick console controller over Bluetooth. So while it's not the next PlayStation Vita, it is the next modern portable TV gaming console. 

The hardware is able to support full 1080p HD streaming of content, and it consists of an Amlogic 8726-MX processor with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of flash storage, WiFi 802.11b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0. Gamers will of course have direct access to the Android ecosystem of affordable games, and as many as 200 titles which are fully compatible with the GameStick. Although the GameStick features very little on-board flash storage, users will also have access to cloud storage for games. The company behind the GameStick console controller are working with developers to bring more compatible content that is both free and affordably priced. No word yet on battery performance or access to movie and music content via the Android marketplace.

Where can you get one? You guessed it, it's available for pre-order now on Kickstarter.

Nir Schneider

Editor-in-Chief

Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 Live Action Trailer Released

The new Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 live-action commercial trailer titled "Surprise" hit the web today featuring Robert Downy Jr. (you know him...), FPS Russia (YouTube) and iJustine (YouTube) amongst others. It's pretty damn awesome too. Black Ops 2 is scheduled to be released on November 13 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Check out the video below for some crazy action.

Nir Schneider

Editor-in-Chief

Logitech G710+ Illuminated Mechanical Gaming Keyboard For The Quiet Gamer

Logitech has released the G710+, a mechanical gaming keyboard with programmable back-lit keys. The G710+ keyboard delivers on the G-Series front with awesome game-grade, tough design and features Cherry MX Brown mechanical key switches that are optimized for rapid key entry and serve up a uber tactile, quiet gaming-grade responsive key presses without making loud clickity-clacking noise thanks to the rubber dampening underneath each key cap. For your $150 you'll also find anti-ghosting firmware, adjustable dual-zone backlighting with brightness control, a side row of 6 programmable G-keys, a removable palm rest, volume roller and loads of buttons for you to play with. 

Logitech's G710+ is but of course, PC-only and will begin invading retailers in the US this month while European folks will have to wait till December. Logitech was nice enough to demonstrate its new G710+ keyboard, so see it in action in the video down below!

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Razer Drops BlackShark Aviator-Inspired Gaming Headset

Razer is known for its extreme and unique naming and designing of gaming peripherals, and its latest gaming headset dubbed the BlackShark is no different in that regard. The BlackShark is an aviator-inspired gaming headset designed after those retro military helicopter headsets said to offer superior comfort and sound isolation thanks to giant over-ear, leatherette covered memory foam ear cups. The BlackShark features a long detachable and adjustable boom mic, 40mm drivers with enhanced bass response and a combined 3.5mm audio and mic plug with a splitter adapter for old school computers that use separate inputs. Razer's BlackShark lands later this month for $120.

Nir Schneider

Editor-in-Chief

PowerSkin Gaming Case Brings Power And Bulk To iPhone & iPod Touch

PowerSkin's Gaming Case miraculously fits the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3G/S and all iPod Touch models adding more grip for better handling those racing games while also providing additional battery power thanks to a 2050mAh internal rechargeable battery that promises to double your battery life. The Gaming Case is a one-piece silicone rubber case and lets you charge and sync your iOS device while still inside the case. PowerSkin's Gaming Case doesn't look very tempting when compared to Mophie's Pulse gaming case made for the iPod Touch 4G that not only adds an internal battery backup, but also adds vibration feedback and better built-in stereo speakers in a more appealing design. 

PowerSkin's Gaming Case is now ready to pre-order for $69.99 and is expected to start shipping early next year.

Nir Schneider

Editor-in-Chief