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While the show wasn’t exactly the most exciting, there were a few sights worth seeing. One such view was the interior of this rediculous i7 system at the Overclockers stand which had Quad SLI GTX 680 cards running in it. Unecessary doesn’t even come close to describing it.

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There were quite a few Star Wars Kinect stands available for trial. They suck. It’s a horrible game. Laggy, feels antiquated and gimmicky and doesn’t even look that great. You also feel like a complete ass.

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I did like checking out these mechanical keyboards from “The KeybOard Company.” They had some nice spreads of black, blue and brown Cherry switch boards, so look out for reviews of them here soon.

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The Kingston combo Zotac stand was fun to check out as we’ve been working with those guys and their PR people for years. There was a new Z-Box on display, and Kingston had a revamped, cheaper version of its Hyper X SSD.

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Gadget Show 2012 was a show dominated by audio. Lots and lots of headsets competing with the speaker firms. These were most evident in the few heavily modded vehicles on display.

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Easily my favourite part of the day was the big spread of retro arcade games. Granted I lost in steet fighter against one of the other XSR writers, but I did pull off a resonable score on Donkey Kong. Good luck beating it if you’re showing up in the ensuing few days.

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Cooler Master had a few keyboards to show off, again we should be getting these for review soon. There were a few mini and full options which seemed from the quick look we had to be relatively nice. I particularly liked the large wrist rest on this model.

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There was also had a small action figure on display. Captain Cooler Master. There’s about 3,000 of these, so try and get one if you can. It might not be as rare as the NZXT swords given out a few years ago, but if you’re a fan of the company, this could be a fun collectible.

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Here’s one such example of the many, many headphone companies showing off their wares. I’m not joking either. 50 Cent was there with his new range, Ludacris’ Soul headphones were on show, Sony had some, so did Plantronics, Sennheiser, Turtle beach and at least ten more.

Really how excited can you get after listening to high quality music through your 10th overpriced headset?

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Scan had quite a good stand going as usual with some overclocking demos, but it’s more there to try and sell hardware than anything so it’s not really there for the press punters like myself.

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And that’s it really. There were some bits I didn’t snap pictures of, like the we’re-seen-it-all-before thin LED displays with the over-done 3D technology. There was also a fair few F1 racing experience pods which have been around for at least three years now and were all over the place at last year’s Gadget Show Live.

Altogether a pretty underwhelming show. I’ll be attending again next year, but I hope there’s some more innovation in the intervening 12 months to give companies more to show off.

At CeBIT, Sharkoon – and their host exhibitors, Wave Computer – again impressed me. They’ve got a new line of peripherals coming out soon, including three keyboards, three mice and three mouse pads.

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Let’s have a look at the gaming mice first. The flagship product is the Sharkoon DarkGlider, which boasts a massive 6,000 DPI sensor and 10 programmable keys. The DarkGlider is dressed in a matte black rubberised finish as the name suggests; an altogether more subdued look than the rather ostentatious FireGlider. The mouse includes an LCD display (black on red) showing the current DPI as well as a four-way scroll wheel and removable weights; all of the hallmarks of a top-end gaming mouse. I found the software quite good on the FireGlider, and will hopefully be as easy to use here. The DarkGlider was sitting on its own DarkGlider-branded mousepad, which looked quite substantial. The DarkGlider itself will cost €39.99, and the mousepad €9.99.

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The next mouse is the most distinctive looking – the Drakonia. It comes with a glossy dragon scale finish, and much of the same tech as the DarkGlider – eleven programmable keys, a slightly less intense 5,000 DPI sensor, removable weights and on-board memory. It also came with a Drakonia branded mousepad, which I’ll come to a bit later – this mouse pad also cost €9.99, and the Drakonia itself will be €25.99.

The Squad Mouse is reportedly a smaller mouse made for smaller hands, although I don’t remember seeing it at CeBIT – I certainly don’t have any pictures of it. According to the press release though, it should come with six programmable keys and a 1600 DPI sensor – an altogether more pedestrian release at €12.49.

I did see another mouse pad – the 1337 gaming mouse pad. It’s not new, but still seems a good example of a wide but thin mouse pad, giving you a good mousing surface without providing a thick edge that digs into your wrists. Again, I’ll write a bit more on this later – for now, let’s have a look at the keyboards.

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The first keyboard was the Sharkoon Nightwriter, which is Sharkoon’s first keyboard with backlit keys. The rubber dome (non-mechanical) keyboard has a standard three block layout, with the addition of 13 media keys along the top edge of the board. It’s a relatively thin keyboard, with a low-profile design that’ll suit some. The Nightwriter surprisingly costs the most of their keyboard range at €21.99.

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The next keyboard we had a look at was the Sharkoon Tactix, a more substantive keyboard that offered full programmability as well as swappable textured keycaps. These keycaps, which are designed to replace the standard ones on the WASD and cursor keys, have a fine bumpy finish that should make locating them easier in a firefight – although WASD and particularly the cursor keys should be pretty easy for most to locate without a special texture. The Tactix also supports 18 key rollover, impressive for a non-mechanical keyboard, but didn’t have any media keys. The Tactix will retail for €10.99 – a great price.

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The final Sharkoon keyboard on display was their flagship board, the Skiller. The keyboard includes the same programmability, 18 key rollover and replaceable keycaps as the Tactix, but in a wider body that included 20 media keys (including traditional media controls, as well as customisable shortcut keys for opening programs and the like.) The keyboard supports ten different profiles, each with three levels, and will cost just €14.99.

I wanted to come back to these mouse pads, and that’s because I’d like to give a shout-out to Wave Computer rep Dominik Reinhardt. He spent a good hour talking to us about the Sharkoon products and Wave Computer in general, and was kind enough to not only gift to us two mouse pads, but to find us in the crowded exhibition hall ten minutes after we’d left the booth in order to do so. It was an unbelievably kind gesture – so thanks Dominik. We owe you one!

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So shoutouts aside, I’m feeling good about these Sharkoon peripherals. It’s a broad lineup and looks very competitive for 2012 when you take into account the extremely low price points for each product – a factor which explains the omission of any keyboard with increasingly popular but expensive mechanical. The mice and mouse pads will be released in April, while the keyboards will hit shelves in May, so keep an eye out for a review closer to that date.

Verbatim were on hand at CeBIT with a full range of storage solutions, from mobile formats like CompactFlash and USB drives, to more recent entries in the SSD market. Mobile storage solutions are less interesting, so let’s have a look at the solid state drives that were available. These came in two ranges: SATA-II and SATA-III.

The SATA-II line was limited to 128 GB at its highest capacity, with speeds of approximately 250 MB/s read and write (a limitation of SATA2). This product came with a nice installation package however, consisting of the hard drive itself, a USB enclosure and cloning software. The idea is that you put the hard drive in the enclosure to start, then run the cloning software. This will make a full copy of your hard drive (including operating system, programs and media), then copy it to the SSD. Once this step has been completed, you swap the two drives – the SSD goes into your computer, whilst your mechanical hard drive goes into the enclosure. You can then boot into your OS as normal, saving you from reinstalling the OS, and can continue to put your (likely higher capacity) mechanical drive as USB storage. It’s a sensible solution for sure, and well worth the additional cost.

The second line is available in sizes up to 240 GB; these SATA3 drives offer competitive read and write speeds at 500 – 550 MB/s. The drives use Sandforce controllers, as is typical of SSDs produced by smaller manufacturers (e.g. not Western Digital / Hitachi / Samsung). The glitches that plagued many Sandforce controllers some time ago have since been repaired through driver updates, and the Verbatim drives will ship without these issues. The line doesn’t include the USB install package at present, but this option is expected to be added in the future. The 240 GB drive will cost around €240 at retail.

There’s little to differentiate Verbatim’s SSD solutions from others in the market using Sandforce controllers. The install kit, including the enclosure and cloning software, is a nice touch but is only available on the slower SATA2 model, which isn’t an attractive proposition with SATA3 drives available for relatively little extra. When Verbatim have offerd the install kit with the SATA3 drives they may be worth a look, but likely will lose out to more established SSD manufacturers overall.

Verbatim were on hand at CeBIT with a full range of storage solutions, from mobile formats like CompactFlash and USB drives, to more recent entries in the SSD market. Mobile storage solutions are less interesting, so let’s have a look at the solid state drives that were available. These came in two ranges: SATA-II and SATA-III.

The SATA-II line was limited to 128 GB at its highest capacity, with speeds of approximately 250 MB/s read and write (a limitation of SATA2). This product came with a nice installation package however, consisting of the hard drive itself, a USB enclosure and cloning software. The idea is that you put the hard drive in the enclosure to start, then run the cloning software. This will make a full copy of your hard drive (including operating system, programs and media), then copy it to the SSD. Once this step has been completed, you swap the two drives – the SSD goes into your computer, whilst your mechanical hard drive goes into the enclosure. You can then boot into your OS as normal, saving you from reinstalling the OS, and can continue to put your (likely higher capacity) mechanical drive as USB storage. It’s a sensible solution for sure, and well worth the additional cost.

The second line is available in sizes up to 240 GB; these SATA3 drives offer competitive read and write speeds at 500 – 550 MB/s. The drives use Sandforce controllers, as is typical of SSDs produced by smaller manufacturers (e.g. not Western Digital / Hitachi / Samsung). The glitches that plagued many Sandforce controllers some time ago has since been repaired through driver updates, and the Verbatim drives will ship without these issues. The line doesn’t include the USB install package at present, but this option is expected to be added in the future. The 240 GB drive will cost around €240 at retail.

There’s little to differentiate Verbatim’s SSD solutions from others in the market using Sandforce controllers. The install kit, including the enclosure and cloning software, is a nice touch but is only available on the slower SATA2 model, which isn’t an attractive proposition with SATA3 drives available for relatively little extra. When Verbatim have offer the install kit with the SATA3 drives they may be worth a look, but likely will lose out to more established SSD manufacturers overall.

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These portable displays are low resolution, at 1024 x 600 for the 7” unit and 1024 x 768 for the 9.7” monitor. They are well designed though, with an integrated kick stand that is housed within the rear of the unit, and can be quickly screwed into place when necessary. The displays can also be purchased with a car holder, allowing them to be securely fixed for mobile operation. These seem ideal for specialist uses, including the development of bespoke mobile applications for research or development purposes.

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The larger displays are more of an interest to gamers, with the 27″ model offering a 1920 x 1080 resolution, and the 30″ a resolution of 2560 x 1600. The displays are Super IPS, which offer wide viewing angles and a large colour gamut (1.07 billion colours), albeit at the expense of response time.

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The 30″ monitor requires a dual DVI link, as is common with monitors at such high resolutions. The monitor looked quite solid, with an aluminium construction and a natural industrial look. The bezel was quite thin given the monitor’s size, perhaps only a centimetre wide.

The 27″ had a unique look with a white body and black bezel, with a glossy plastic finish. The wide rectangular stand was rounded on the corners, and looked sturdy but didn’t include much in the way of adjustments, with limited tilt travel. It included the standard complement of DVI, HDMI and VGA connections, as well as more advanced Thunderbolt and DisplayPort connectors.

According to Achieva, the 27″ model is the most popular of that size in Korea. That’s an impressive feat, given the advancement of gaming culture in Korea, and definitely suggests that the company’s offerings are worth a look. Achieva are also well known online for offering a 27” monitor with a resolution of 2560 x 1600, but these weren’t at the show.

The new standard Aurum range features 700, 600, 500 and 400 watt variants, each with 80 Plus gold standard efficiency and several of the features found in its sub ranges.

Split into three distinct categories, there’s the CM series, the Pro series and the Xilenser series all collected under the banner of Aurum. The first of the three, the CM (stands for cable management) features 80 Plus Gold standard efficiency for each of the three units in the range, of which there are three: the CM 750, CM 650 and CM 550. This designates the wattage power of each unit as you might expect.

As well as utilising modular cabling to help keep your rig free from excess cable, the CM series also uses something called “arrow flow technology” which essentially turns out to be arrow shaped grill holes at the rear. Here’s an over the top video explaining it:

See what I mean? You can read more about the CM series here.

The next of the three is the Pro series, which is the high end of the new Aurum PSU range. Varying in wattage from 850, through 1000 all the way to a whopping 1200w, if you need a rediculous ammount of power – and who needs over 800w anyway – then this range is for you; probably.

Each of them features just one 12v rail allowing for a massive power draw from multiple GPU configurations without any wobbly stability. Impressively it also features the same 80 Plus Gold standard as the CM range, so efficiency should also be quite high. As you would expect its SLI and Xfire certified and features an advanced modular cabling system than that of its younger brother PSUs. Each slot is labelled making this a nice dummy proof PSU range for anyone that needs monster power.

No cool video for this lot I’m afraid. Want feature list for the 1200w instead?

• True Single +12V output circuits
• High efficiency > 90%, meets 80 PLUSR GOLD Certification
• Full Japanese capacitor : Industrial Grade Component
• Complies with ATX 12V 2.3 & EPS 12V 2.92 version
• 2 x external fan connectors ready
• 6+2pin PCI-Express graphic card connector ready
• Dual-OTP (Over Temperature Protection)
• Quiet , long lasting 135mm HDB (Hydro dynamic Bearing) Fan
• Complete Protections: OCP (+-100A), OVP, SCP, OPP, OTP, UVP
•  Multiple Safety Approved: OCP, CE, FCC, CB, UL, TUV, GOST, CCC

For more on that range, head here.

The little brother of both these ranges is of course the Aurum Xilenser, which is the cool and quiet end of the spectrum. Coming in iterations of 400 or 500w, don’t expect anything massive to be powered by these, but if you want a relatively powerful, near silent gaming rig, it could be what you’re looking for.

Each of these units is completely silent thanks to its “fanless technology” or otherwise known as passively cooled. It also features 80 Plus gold efficiency which helps ease the carbon sensitive mind as well as reducing power requirements across the board.

For a run down of those, head here.

The final PSUs that FSP were keen to show off were the +92 range. This is Platinum people, that means expensive, but it also means incredibly efficient. Its dubious whether the power savings over its several year lifetime will equal the usually inflated price tag of something like this, but it might make you feel better about slamming a couple of extra GPUs into your gaming rig.

The example on show at CeBIT was a 650w offering (though it will be available in 550w and 450w alternatives) that was powering an i5 2400k, 8GB of RAM, 560GTX Twin Froze, an SSD and a pair of 500GB HDDs. It will use a “hybrid synergy” rail design, full Japanese capacitor along with “industrial grade components.”

Thanks to FSP for having a chat with our correspondant, we’re always keen to learn about added efficiency. I know that sounds like it should be an innuendo for something but I swear it’s not. Really.

Introduction

Want to know a perfect definition of pissing on someone’s bonfire? Game holding their own gaming fair a week before Eurogamer. You think companies are going to spend more money on different stands? You go to Gamefest, you’ve seen it. If you can stomach the queues.

So yesterday I went along and tried out a few titles. Unfortunately I didn’t find out about the show early enough to get a press pass (I may have only heard of Gamefest on Thursday morning…), so I had to enjoy queuing along with the average Joes out there. What’s the use of being a journo if I can’t laud it over others?

Welcome to Gamefest

Welcome to Gamefest. Want a hint? If you don’t have a pass, just tell them there was supposed to be one left for you. That’s how I got in.

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One of my favourite locations during the show was the retro booth. Bit of Bomberman, some wolfenstein; they even had a Jaguar console.

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There was a huge Prototype 2 poster which looked great. The guys occasionally standing in front of it dressed up as characters from the game, were less so.

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Free mountain Dew. Now that’s what I’m talking about.

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The Boat

The date is 08/09/2011. At 1800 hours I’m marching to the Thames to board the HMS Belfast. Sega have invited us to a press event to get some hands on experience with their latest Xbox Live Arcade title, Renegade Ops. Despite living the furthest from this location, I’m the only XSR staff member aboard. That’s dedication for you.

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Having not seen this game in action before, I had no idea what to expect. An RTS? A 3rd person shooter? It could be anything at all. When I stepped into the Wardroom I saw Renegade Ops for the first time on the screens of 10 Xbox 360 stations set up to demo the game. I was greeted with a beautiful looking isometric view of a lush jungle steadily being destroyed by machine guns and rockets. Surprisingly enough, I wasn’t expecting it to be an Arcade title. My only prior experience with the game was a couple of shots of the comic book style artwork of the characters. Since this event was hosted on a boat (a large one at that), I was half expecting some sort of naval history based RTS over all else.

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Renegade Ops is a top down shooter, using a strong, well-established control scheme (Dual-analog sticks) in order to control movement and weapons. It combines this solid gameplay with stunning visuals and a modified Farcry engine in order to bring a brilliant experience for a top down shooter.

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There’s 4 characters to control, each with their own unique special attack and skill trees to improve their performance and attacks whilst on the battlefield.

From the available demo, there was a lot of fast-paced gameplay and action sequences packed into just one level. We haven’t seen a lot of the game yet, but with the first level alone being nearly 30 minutes long, we would expect a lot more content in the full game. We didn’t even get to play around with the skill trees.

The story is delivered with comic book artwork cutscenes and interjections during missions. It reminded me of Dynasty Warrior, with characters giving you mission updates on the fly and dropping personal comments from time to time. It definitely helps to give you a sense of immersion.

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If you want my personal opinion, it’s got a -lot- of potential. It’s better looking than most of the top down shooters out there, it’s not tied to any existing franchise and there’s the possibilities of sequels/franchising.

The thing that worries me the most is the price to content ratio. It could be expensive and not worth a purchase. It could be cheap but not contain enough content to warrant buying it. Some rather careful eavesdropping (By which I mean I asked the Sega representatives) unearthed that it’s final price is going to be 1200 Microsoft Points. That averages out at less than £15.

Gears of War 3

Available for play at the Gears Stand was this multiplayer level, though unfortuantely it seemed to only be against bots, not the other players around us. Still, it was fun to check out. The game seems like a very polished Gears 2, with improved lighting and weapon effects. The shotgun, assault rifle and chainsaw attachments all make a comeback, as well as smoke grenades and the ever faithful handgun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvHMb96Q4Fs

Duke Nuke’m Forever

The single player level available for play should be familiar to those that watched any Duke trailers in the past few months as it features the player taking down a reasonably large alien in a football stadium. Not filmed here is the end sequence where Duke summarily kick’s a field goal with the dead alien’s detached eyeball.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFfTrNjBg3g