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Blue Microphones Tiki USB microphone review: a thumbdrive-sized mic for mobile recording
More Info Blue Microphones outs Tiki, Spark Digital and Mikey Digital; looks to feed your mobile recording habit Blue Microphones Tiki USB mic now available at Best Buy, coming to Apple stores July 15ths Apogee MiC review In recent years, mobile and compact recording gear has, like so many other gadget types, become smaller and smaller in stature. We've seen add-ons for smartphones and tablets that aren't much larger than a quarter, along with mobile mics that boast USB compatibility. The Blue Microphones Tiki continues the trend, offering the same premium aesthetics we've come to expect fromthe company, along with top-notch audio quality. The Tiki is said to perform at its best with Skype-style video chats and voice recording, thanks in part to an intelligent mute and noise isolation features. Let's be honest, though. Purchasing a USB microphone for the sole purpose of video chatting will be a tough sell for most folks. People like podcasters will expect a bit more functionality from a peripheral like this. Luckily, the unit boasts a "Natural Recording Mode" that promises instrument-tracking capabilities as well. But does the Tiki handle online banter, voice recording and guitar sounds well enough to warrant a $60 purchase? And exactly how smart is the intelligent mute? Read on to see what we discovered when we gave this flash drive-sized microphone the full-on review treatment. %Gallery-162897%
Blue Microphones Tiki USB mic now available at Best Buy, coming to Apple stores July 15th
Remember that miniature USB mic we saw back at CES from Blue? Well, the outfit just announced that the Tiki is hitting store shelves with the same $59.99 price tag we expected. The mobile recording peripheral is now available at Best Buy and is slated to hit Apple stores and other retailers at the month's half-way point. In case you're in need of a refresher, the diminutive unit features Intelligent Speech mode for recording interviews or meetings and Natural Recording mode for capturing your best Jack White guitar riffs. You can also expect proprietary noise cancelling technology, voice isolation and intelligent mute with the kit that is sized similar to a USB flash drive and connects via said ports. If you're itchin' for a closer look before adding one to your mobile recording setup, take a peek back at our hands-on for a few detail shots.
Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Blue (update: video embedded)
Blue's been making some noise, crystal clear noise that is, here at CES with its mobile trio of mics, following up on the fan favorite Yeti line. Blue stops by, live at 3:30PM ET.Update: Interview video now embedded.
One Shots: Dead Man's Perch
Tis the season for spooks and spectres, and we can tell you honestly - Ringwraiths are some scary, scary things! That said, today's Lord of the Rings Online is all treat and no trick! This great image was sent in to us from Tiki on the Brandywine server, who captured this image after a long night of adventure. Tiki writes in: I was in the Barrow-Downs one night, taking a break from Moria, helping lower level players and working on rep items when I stopped at the Dead Man's Perch. I saw this beautiful view of Bree town and just had to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this game. We thought the name was especially fitting for a great October screenshot.While you're out having fun this weekend, why not grab a screen from your favorite MMO for us! Just email it to oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. Halloween events are especially welcome! Yours could be the next One Shots.%Gallery-9798%
Tiki Games officially presents NovaStrike for PSN
About a month ago we discovered that a new PSN game called NovaStrike snuck silently onto the ESRB website. Since then, developer Tiki Games remained hushed about the company's new IP. Today, however, that silence is broken as Tiki is ready to spill the full bag of beans on this top-down sci-fi shooter.The objective of NovaStrike is to defend your home world from an invasion of Draelus aliens -- the very same aliens you've stolen military technology from. Ah, it's a bit ironicly satisfying to blow up aliens with their own tech, especially when you're piloting a highly customizable Scythe fighter with nine different weapon systems. As for your enemies, they've got a pretty good defense in that their ships won't go down so easy -- no, their ships are equipped with multiple destructible sections. So strategy-wise, focusing on what part of the ship to destroy first adds a bit of a spin on the usual arcade shooting experience, and it will definitely make the difference in a heated conflict.Probably one of the coolest and most welcomed features of the game is that it supports the DualShock 3. Rumble support is always a win in our eyes. And better yet, Tiki Games stated that the company will be developing additional content in the following months after the game's release. While a fixed release date has yet to be cemented, gamers should expect to see this title floating up on the PSN sometime within Q2 2008. To find out more about NovaStrike, check out Tiki Games' website.%Gallery-18140%
GDC 07: Galaxy's End hands-on
Lead designer Kevin McCann loves the PSP, and he's going to incredible lengths to show his undying affiliation for Sony's portable. Sure, Galaxy's End could be made for other systems, such as PS3, but the game was "created from the ground up" for play specifically on the PSP. Although Galaxy's End still doesn't have a publisher, the prospects for one seem better every time we see the game: after today's hands-on demonstration, it's clear that this game has what it takes to succeed.The graphics look quite nice on the PSP's screen. The game is surprisingly colorful, and features a good deal of animation. Of particular note: the flora looks especially nice; it all comes ot life through some great animation. The number of enemies on screen can be quite plentiful, but there are clearly a few things that need to be fixed later down the road: explosions need a good deal of work, and pop-in was a regularity thanks to the fog of war.It'll be months before the game ever comes out (if it does), but even at this early stage, the controls felt solid. The basic controls involve simply pressing the X and Square buttons to select troops and target enemies. Moving with the analog nub felt precise, thanks to tweaking done by Tiki Games. The simplistic nature of the controls made it incredibly accessible, in spite of some problematic AI glitches (which should be fixed later on). With solid controls, and a meticulously detailed design document, It's clear that a lot of thought and effort has gone behind this game. Expect to see more on this title soon.
Galaxy's End: help make this RTS a reality
An avid PSP Fanboy reader, Joe, sent us in a great tip about this upcoming PSP RTS. It's called Galaxy's End, and will support not only Ad-Hoc multiplayer, but Infrastructure as well. The graphics look to impress, and the gameplay looks fast and fun. So what's the problem?There's no publisher for this game. It comes from a new dev team called Tiki Games, and it seems publishers are wary of supporting an original IP from an untested team. However, this game looks like it has some awesome potential. Check out the trailer, after the cut, to see for yourself. What do you think, PSP Fanboy readers? Are you interested in this game?
