peripheral
Latest
Memo shows $20 gap in Xbox and PS3 Rock Band guitar
Nailing down a Rock Band peripheral price has been almost as difficult as explaining how Keith Richards is still alive. An employee of Game Crazy sent us a printout of the pricing list which they received on July 3. The only thing that really jumps out is the Xbox 360 guitar price being $20 more than the PS3 (more on this in a second). Much of the information is still in line with the GameStop pricing reported months ago. Officially a Harmonix representative says, "We have not released any pricing details regarding Rock Band as of yet, but stay tuned."The price discrepancy could go back to the issue from last year regarding Red Octane and their attempt to get a wireless guitar on the Xbox 360. Turns out to license Microsoft's proprietary wireless technology would have increased the cost of the wireless guitar and the company decided not to do it. Could $20 be the magic number being tacked on for the consumer? This would also assume, if the pricing is correct, that neither the drum set nor the microphone would be wireless given the lack of a price difference between the two systems. Although, we do have a statement regarding the price discrepancy as well. We were told by the Harmonix rep, "I am not aware of a price discrepancy." It looks like it's going to be a while before the actual, solid, final price of the peripherals gets nailed down. Right now, it's still all rumor and speculation -- officially.[Thanks Anonymous]
It could work: HDMI cable for non Elite 360s
Feeling the need to connect your white Xbox 360 to your television with HDMI? In other words, do you have Elite HDMI envy? Well we just might (and we emphasize might) have stumbled across a solution that'll be available in the next few months. XCM announced that they will be coming out with an adapter that'll allow your core or premium 360 to connect to a display via HDMI and in full 1080p. But be warned and don't get your hopes up too much, because XCM is the same company that created the XFPS that our very own Richard reviewed back in the day. And let's just say it was a huge disappointment. No matter, XCM will be releasing the HDMI adapter and we'll get an official opinion on this little device when judgment day arrives. But we're staying pessimistic and you aren't going to change our minds.[Via MaxConsole]
Ace Combat 6 stick cheaper than a real jet
Namco Bandai has announced that it will release a special bundle for its upcoming aeronautical adventure, Ace Combat 6. The bundle will include the game, a limited edition Xbox 360 faceplate and the sweet flight stick combo seen above. The stick is manufactured by HORI, makers of the ultra-hard-to-find Dead or Alive 4 arcade stick. But how much does it cost, you say? Not $89.95! No, not $79.95. Not even $69.95! That's right, the Ace Combat 6 bundle will retail for ... $150! The bundle is expected to arrive this holiday season. Any flight sim junkies out there willing to take the plunge? [Via Joystiq]
Tiltboard gets priced and it's spendy
Talismoon's little Tiltboard project is finally blooming as they just announced that the Tiltboard will available for purchase next week. But be warned, it's expensive ... very expensive. This board, which allows tilt control on your 360, will retail for $39.99 (ouch!) not including a controller or soldering iron. Though, we have to admit it does have more features than we initially expected including adjustments for sensitivity, zero degree setting and an option to invert the Y axis. If tilting is important to you and your bank account/mod skills can handle it, then we must say that the Tiltboard looks to be your only best choice.
Logitech's PS3 controller: No motion, but yes to rumble
IGN recently got some time with the Logitech Cordless Precision for PlayStation 3. The controller costs $10 less than the official $50 Sixaxis controller and is very similar to their famous PS2 wireless controllers, which worked quite well. This controller should also not be confused with the air-blowing PS3 wired controller Logitech previously released.This new controller (pictured) is heavier than the Sixaxis and uses two AA batteries, giving 50 hours of play according to Logitech. The most bizarre thing going on with this controller is it doesn't have any motion control built into it, but it does come with rumble -- a feature that none of the PS3 games use. Of course, in time, the rumble will come back to Sony, but it is funny that Logitech placed rumble importance over getting the motion control feature license. For all we know at this point, Logitech made the right bet.
New DS game comes with slide controller attachment
A new DS game revealed in the latest issue of Famitsu, Slide Adventure: Mag Kid, features an unusual control method: sliding. The game comes bundled with a slide controller that attaches to the bottom of the DS like a stand. Sitting the system on a table (or desk, or frozen pond) you slide it around to control the magnetic main character. Push the DS toward an enemy to paralyze the foe and attach it to Mag Kid. When you're ready to drop the baddies, just give the DS a shake. Sounds just gimmicky enough to work, but we're eager to see it in action. Slide Adventure: Mag Kid is set for release in Japan on August 2.
A look at GHIII's wireless Les Paul guitar
The crew over at IGN received an exclusive look at Guitar Hero III's new guitar the Les Paul and walked away very impressed. One of the biggest improvements added to the Les Paul guitar controller is that it will feature wireless technology, which will be the first time Microsoft has allowed a third party peripheral maker to do so. They've also added removable faceplates, made the neck detachable, kept the same color fret buttons, and even added a third strap knob for even more customizability. It looks like GHIII's Les Paul guitar is shaping up to be one solid controller to rock out with. But fear not GHII owners, because your X-plorer guitar will work with GHIII and vice versa. How very convenient.
Even cheaper racing wheel deals pop up
With today's announcement that the Xbox 360 wireless racing wheel received a price drop, we're seeing even lower prices hit the internet. Best Buy and Future Shop in Canada are both offering the racing wheel for a rock bottom price of $99 and website PC Nation dropped their price to roughly $104 including free shipping. We're sure there are a bunch of other deals making their way online with the news that broke today and if you find such deals please let us know. We're always up for saving a few bucks or in this case $30.[Thanks, Chris G and Tom D]
Playing easily, shooting happily
Unlike other "zapper" products like Joytech's Blaster, the Pega pistol doesn't have a cavity for you to dock the Wii's nunchuck. Instead, you connect the nunchuck's cord under the butt of the $15 gun while the remote slides and locks into its top half. We're not sure yet if this is a more cumbersome or convenient implementation, but given our experiences with cheap, third-party accessories from Chinese manufacturers, you can easily guess which side we're leaning towards. If you're wondering why we're even bothering to bring up this lackluster peripheral, it's because we love to scrutinize the packaging of these products! What's up with Splinter Cell graphics? And why is it branded with that same inapplicable Wii Sports logo we saw on Fire Bird's rechargeable controller grip? Does Pega actually expect people to play tennis with this clunky plastic attached?[Via DCEmu]
HD DVD player add-on gets an update
Over on the AVS forums, Microsoft's own HD DVD insider Amirm confirmed that an update will be released sometime today for the Xbox 360 HD DVD player add-on. The auto update is rumored to fix various sound output problems, include a night mode fix, and patch up a few overall HD DVD compatibility issues. And to get the new update simply pop in any HD DVD into your fancy player and you'll be prompted to download the update. Simple, yet effective.[Via TeamXbox]
Nintendo Wii takes Engadget Awards
Nintendo Wii Fanboy is related, in an odd sort of second-cousin once-removed kind of way, to the hyper-popular Engadget, which like totally everyone reads all the time forever. As such, their annual Engadget awards are nothing to sneeze at, and so we look with great pride (we helped, after all) at their selections for 2k6. Let's take a glance at the honors: Reader's Choice: Most Innovative Peripheral Reader's Choice: Game Console of the Year Editor's Choice: Game Console of the Year Reader's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Editor's Choice: Gadget of the Year (!!!) Yeah, that's right. That means the Wii pretty much wins at life. It's quite a series of awards, but which console will take home 2007? It may come down to one showdown: Halo 3 vs. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Which will suck up more of the average gamer's free time? Bring it, Chiefy.
Save some cash, use your own 120GB HDD
The hard drive prophecy has come true. Xbox-Scene is reporting that the new version of HDDHackr has been released allowing the use of an unlicensed 120GB hard drive for your 360 storage. The HDDHackr program uses the newly found 120GB signature and will allow anyone to use a specific 120GB WD HDD for their 360 storage saving roughly $100 over Microsoft's official Xbox 360 120GB HDD. Though, you'll need to be somewhat familiar with hacking programs and PC hardware setup to get the drive up and running. But, if that's your thing, you can save big bucks and up your Xbox 360 hard drive capacity to 120GB the l33t way. So, is anyone up for the challenge?
Logitech and Nintendo to play nice, peripherals incoming
With the incredible success of the Wii, many companies are shifting their focus to capitalize on the system's popularity. Companies such as Ubisoft, EA and now Logitech, are shifting their focus to Nintendo's latest console, offering more unique products for that console than they would the competition. Ubisoft and EA are bringing the games, but what about some nice peripheral action?That's where Logitech comes in, as they have revealed they've got some stuff in the works for the Wii. Nothing has been confirmed yet, but we know what you guys want: USB keyboard, right? We'd love one too, so let's hope that Logitech, who is wide known for some of the best wireless keyboards and mice in the PC game, can at least hook it up with a USB keyboard. We'd say wireless for the Wii, but that might be asking too much ...
Useless FM radio attachment for the DS
Note to peripheral manufacturers: Being able to attach a device to a video game system doesn't make it inherently better than similar existing products. Case in point: this DS FM radio attachment. Sure, it's kind of cool that this radio draws power from the DS' rechargeable battery. But when you can get a cheapo portable radio for a little more than a buck, it seems silly to spend $14 on a portable radio that takes up your DS' Game Boy Advance slot and doesn't even get AM stations.This unit doesn't even use the DS' features for touch screen control or nifty music visualizer or something -- it's just a radio that happens to stick out the bottom of your DS. Are people really clamoring for portable radios so much that this product needs to exist? Or are the manufacturers just hoping that a small sliver of the massive DS user base will be dumb enough to buy any attachment available? [Via Gizmodo]
It's like a traveling Xbox 360 notebook
Xbox 360 gaming on the go just got a little easier with manufacturer Hori finalizing their plans for the Compact TFT Monitor EX LCD monitor. This 12.1" LCD monitor easily attaches to an Xbox 360, displays at 720p via component, and includes two built in speakers. Its flip down LCD makes it just like a gaming notebook, but really fat. The only drawback is the price (roughly $300 US) and, being a separate peripheral, it needs its a separate AC adapter. Does this notebook style LCD monitor make your 360 the ultimate portable machine? Not really, but it is pretty nifty and we would never reject it if one should appear on the Fanboy Towers doorstep. The Xbox 360 Compact TFT Monitor EX will get a Japanese release in July.[Via gearfuse, Thanks Steve]
360 HD DVD doesn't play by AACS's rules
The DRM enforcing AACS has officially gone into a tizzy. The hacking communities of Xboxhacker and Doom9 came together and found a way to view Volume IDs for any HD DVD played in the Xbox 360 HD DVD player add on. This of course allows any disc to be played, bypassing any AACS authentication and even playing Volume IDs that the AACS previously revoked. Ultimately, the 360's HD DVD player is pretty much the easiest way to bypass DRM and is an integral part of "backing up" your HD DVDs. It'll be interesting to see how the AACS combats this new hack (which makes last week's effort a wash), will they revoke the entire lot of Xbox 360 HD DVD players or will they force a simple firmware update? Be afraid HD fans, this is when DRM enforcement gets scary.[Via Engadget]
Xbox 360 controller keyboard out in the wild
The folks over at the Gamerscore Blog posted additional pictures of the newly announced Xbox 360 text input peripheral. The pictures show off how the device plugs into the controller, how it's shaped, and how comfortable it'll be when connected. The curvature and look seems odd at first, but fits snugly into the 360 controller almost as if they were separated at birth and are finally reunited. It's also interesting to note that the text input device will be back lit and include a separate headset to plug into the device. A complete set of new pictures are viewable after the jump.
Tilt control on the 360 for the masses
Everyone knows that the Wii and (to some lesser extent) PS3 controllers have motion controlled goodness, but what about our 360? Well, if you are yearning for some sort of motion controlled experience then today we have good news. The tiltBoard (as seen in the demo above) will soon be mass produced by Talismoon and will be available in the not too distant future. If you aren't familiar, the tiltBoard allows control over the d-pad and left thumb stick simply by tilting the controller in the direction you choose. It's a nifty little project that could be a big hit if priced just right. Though, we couldn't imagine tilting to ten kills in Gears, so we'll leave it to the racing fans. Anyone interested?[Via Engadget, Thanks UnboundEdog]
Logitech blob-jumping advergame actually good
When it comes to online advertising games, our expectations are decidedly low. Basically, if it's better than whack the fly, we're impressed. Those low standards notwithstanding, Logitech's Jelly Jump is actually pretty good.It seems incredibly simple at first -- just use the arrow keys to jump around an on-screen keyboard, hitting the green keys as quickly as possible. But a variety of hazard keys and some clever level design means the action gets tough pretty quickly. The game automatically saves your progress for a later play session, which is good, because getting the best scores on all 50 levels might take a while.Sure, there's a coupon for Logitech keyboard if you get through the first ten levels, but we would play this game even without the promise of a good deal. And for an advertising game, that's saying something.[Thanks stupidiot]
Retractable Wii Sports Cuff fails to reel us in
The Retractable Wii Sports Cuff replaces the subtlety and elegance of the Wii remote's wrist strap with a bulky band that we wouldn't be caught dead wearing. We don't doubt that the adjustable neoprene cuff has an agreeable fit, but did anyone ever find the original straps uncomfortable, if even noticeable at all?And what sort of human does the retractable thirteen inches of slack benefit? Are there people whose hands extend that far away from their wrist? Or are these cuffs marketed towards some sort of video-game-playing race of long-fingered mutants? Creepy!You would think that the shop would take advantage of all the "faulty Wii Strap" controversy and emphasize the durability of the cuff's cord, but the product description makes no mention of any improved toughness. What's there to reassure us that we won't end up with a Wii remote sticking out of our television after a heated game of Wii Tennis? Even at a sale price of $5.99, you'll probably want to stay clear from this accessory.[Via CAG]
