Gaming Weapons

Alienware have announced their latest gaming laptop, the M17 Notebook.

If you’re a gamer then I’m sure you’ll be familiar with Alienware and their uniquely styled machines, and the M17 carries on the tradition. It comes with a matt black case that features Alienware’s signature Skullcap design, and is finished in a soft-touch surface that is resistant to fingerprints.

The full-sized keyboard features backlighting in a choice of red, blue or green. Below the keyboard is a biometric fingerprint reader that improves security if you want to hide your private files.

As far as hardware is concerned the M17 is right up there with the best. Processing power comes from an Intel Core 2 Quad, while graphics are delivered by ATI CrossFireX with a pair of HD 3870 GPUs. That should be more than capable of powering the latest games at full resolution on the M17’s 1920×1200 17-inch screen.

The M17 can be ordered with a pair of 500GB hard drives that can be configured for either RAID 0 or RAID 1. With up to a terabyte of data storage to hand you’ll have tons of space for your games, movies, pr0n and music.

The price for this high-spec luxury? Well, if you pick the goodies mentioned above you are looking at almost $4,000, and if you pick all of the available options you could get to over $4,500. If you have more sense than money you’ll be more interested in the base-spec M17, which gives you the following:

• A single 512MB ATI HD 3870 graphics card
• Intel Core 2 P8400 processor
• 17-inch 1440×900 WXGA LCD screen
• 2GB Dual-Channel DDR SO-DIMM at1066MHz
• 160GB Hard Drive

All this can be had for a far more reasonable $1,399. Why not pop onto the M17 configurator and spec up your own dream machine?

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Intel and Fiat have got together to produce the fantastic-looking Abarth Powerplay Extreme.

It’s a top-spec PC in an amazing bespoke chassis that features the Abarth badge, a division of Fiat who are responsible for tuning some of the Italian manufacturer’s racier hatchbacks.

Although full specs aren’t known, the machine is powered by Intel’s new Core I7 Extreme, so will be fantastic for a few laps of the Nurburgring.

If you want one - tough! There’s no news yet on how much it’ll cost or even if you’ll be able to buy one.

Source: Driving Spirit

I’ve been waiting impatiently for the release of the Roccat Kone for some time now, and the day has finally arrived where I’ve got my hands on one.

After Komplett closed their doors to UK customers I was struggling to find a UK retailer who would take pre-orders at a sensible price and eventually decided to wait for the launch. Now I’ve got my Kone, courtesy of Ebay. It cost £48.99 plus £4.39 P&P and arrived within two days.

First impressions are very good! The packaging is extremely well presented, being a large grey polystyrene case with a window on the front that allows you to see the Kone in all its glory. On the back is a mini booklet that opens out revealing the features and specifications.

Pictures and a full review will follow soon - I hope the Roccat Kone lives up to expectations!

With the release of Wrath Of The Lich King getting ever closer, Steelseries have decided to take advantage of the increasing WoW fever by releasing a new gaming mouse aimed at MMO players - the World of Warcraft MMO Gaming Mouse.

To backup its claim to be a MMO mouse, Steelseries have included 15 programmable buttons, each one of which can be given a macro of up to 160 characters. That makes for a lot of spell combos and should prove to be a useful tool for WoW gamers of any level. On top of that you can store up to ten different profiles, so you could setup different profiles for each of your characters.

It’s a smart looking mouse, which helps in the current market that’s packed full of stylish gaming mice. Sporting a stainless-steel effect shell, the WoWMMO mouse also features LED lighting that can be set to practically any colour (choose from 16 million) and features three levels of intensity and pulsation effects. It’s an ambidextrous design, so will suit both left and right-handed gamers.

For some strange reason there are no details available on the sensor that will be used in the mouse, so its difficult to say how it will stack up against other gaming mice.

The World Of Warcraft Gaming Mouse is available to pre-order now and is priced at an excessive $99, which might put off casual WoW players, but included in the price is a loot card from the World of Warcraft CCG with which you can claim a free in-game item.

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Apparently some users of the Razer Lycosa keyboard have expressed a dislike of its rubbery keys, so the Razer Lycosa Mirror Edition has been developed to counter that criticism.

The standard Lycosa keyboard has a slightly glossy finish and soft rubber-coated keys that (I think) are rather pleasant to the touch. The Mirror Edition replaces that with a high-gloss black finish applied to both the case and the keys, giving them a smooth slippery feel. Whether this makes the Mirror Edition a better keyboard for gamers remains to be seen, but at least Lycosa buyers are free to choose which they want - the Mirror Edition is exactly the same specification and price as the standard Lycosa.

One disadvantage I can see is the job of keeping that glossy finish clean. The standard Lycosa was prone to showing off dust and fingerprints, so if you’re the sort of gamer who likes to eat while gaming then you might be advised to avoid the Lycosa Mirror Edition.

It will be available to buy from December 2008.

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There’s a new budget gaming keyboard in town, and its called the Razer Arctosa.

Available in a choice of silver or black, this is Razer’s attempt at a budget keyboard. The Arctosa takes a Lycosa keyboard and strips out some of the flashier features to bring the price in under $50. Gone are the backlighting, the microphone and headphone jacks and the USB extension port, as well as the rubber finish on the keys. What you do get to keep is the anti-ghosting capability, 1ms key response time and ability to program the keys through Razer’s software.

Razer have kindly laid out a comparison chart that lists what you get on each of the three Lycosa-based keyboards - the standard model, the new Lycosa Mirror Edition and this new Arctosa.

One of the most significant differences is the price. The standard Lycosa and Mirror Edition both retail for $79, while the Arctosa comes in at $49 - a saving of $30. That seems like good value, as you’re getting to keep the main gaming features that are the Lycosa’s strongest points.

The Arctosa black-on-black edition and silver-on-black edition will both be available to order online and in stores from November 2008.

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The need to fuel your body can be a great distration when you’re in the middle of a good gaming session. Hunger pangs don’t help your concentration, but breaking away from the game can be difficult if you’re in the middle of a group dungeon raid or a critical round of Counterstrike.

So what do you do? Keep a few bags of crisps by your keyboard? Well, they’re fiddly and messy and you end up with greasy fingers. What about making a sandwich in advance? Nope, it’ll probably have dried up by the time you’re hungry and it’ll feel like you’re chewing cardboard. You could phone for a pizza - but you’ll still have to get up and answer the door.

No, apparently what you really need is Gamer Grub, a “performance snack formulated especially for gamers”. It comes in a variety of flavours and is stored in a handy container so you can eat with one hand and frag with the other.

With flavours including Action Pizza, Racing Wasabi, Sports PB&J and Strategy Chocolate, and a scientifically formulated recipe that “that boosts your core gaming systems—such as visual input, cognitive processing, signal transmission and muscle reflexes”, Gamer Grub sounds like the ideal solution to an in-game attack of the munchies.

Whether it tastes good is a different matter, but you’ll be able to find out when it hits the stores in 2009.

Source: GamerFront

Razer have been enjoying a bit of high profile success recently as 18 year old Belarusian, Alexey “Cypher” Yanusheuski, has emerged as Quake 3 Champion after two days of competition. Cyper was kitted out with some of Razer’s best gaming peripherals including a Tarantula keyboard, HP-1 headphones and a Goliathus mousepad.

To celebrate Cypher’s success Razer have decided to produce a limited edition Deathadder. The snappily titled Team Serious Gaming “Cypher” - ESWC ‘08 Commemorative Edition Razer DeathAdder comes in white (Cypher’s favourite colour) and is adorned with the Razer logo and the legend ‘Serious.Gaming.Cypher’. Hmm, not taking themselves too seriously then!

It’s not entirely clear from the press release if the Deathadder was the mouse that led Cypher to victory. If it was, and I’m assuming it was otherwise why make a commemorative Deathadder, it doesn’t say a lot for the rest of Razer’s range and their obsession with high DPI. If you can be a champion with an 1800DPI Deathadder, why on earth do we need a 4000DPI Lachesis?

Anyway, there are only twenty of these mice available. You can try and buy one through the Serious Gaming website, or win one in a competition on the Razer website.

Source: Razer

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the likes of Logitech, Razer and Saitek, all manufacturers of popular gaming mice. But have you heard of a company called Silverstone and their new gaming mouse, the Silverstone Raven?

So looking at the Raven you can immediately spot the unique feature of its design - the large protrusion where your thumb would normally rest (more on this in a moment). Other than that this is a typical gaming mouse, with features including:

• 3200DPI Philips PLN2030 twin-eye laser sensor with 50g acceleration accuracy
• On-the-fly DPI adjustment from 400 to 3200DPI with independent settings on X and Y-axis
• Eleven buttons, including two scroll wheels, six of which are programmable (macros etc.)
• Toggle between Windows mode or Game mode
• 5 programmable button profiles
• OLED display (128×32) that shows DPI settings and operation mode

Manufactured from strong plastic and decorated in black with a carbon-fibre effect on the shell, the Silverstone Raven feels like it will last. The left/right buttons are covered in a rubbery material that helps grip, while the rest of the case is smooth plastic.

The mouse is comfortable to hold, although is not very well-suited to gamers with small hands (mine are king of average-sized) and measures 128 x 85 x 45mm. Silverstone also claim that the positioning of the laser sensor in the Raven gives it prefect 50:50 weight balance (all 182 grams), although I doubt many people will really notice any benefit from that.

Underneath the mouse you’ll find four teflon-covered feet that allow smooth gliding, and there’s also a switch to toggle between Windows and Game modes.

So let’s get the burning question out of the way - what the hell is the lump sticking out of the side? Well, this is a second mouse-wheel that by default controls task switching in Windows XP or Flip 3D in Vista. In the centre of the wheel is a button that switches between DPI settings in Windows mode, or five DPI/button profiles in game mode.

Also in game mode, when one of the two buttons on top of the mouse are pressed (below the left/right buttons) and the wheel is moved the DPI setting of either the X or Y axis can be changed on-the-fly.

So far so good.

I decided to put the Raven to use in a few rounds of Counterstrike to see how well the 3200DPI sensor coped.

The sensor tracks well from 400DPI all the way up to 3200DPI and the buttons all act with a satisfying click. The on-the-fly DPI adjustment is simple to use and the OLED display presents the current level in a clear font, along with an animated Raven logo.

But … and yes, there is a but … the thumb-wheel is a bit of a nuisance. It’s incredibly easy to catch the DPI button at the centre of the wheel, and if you’re in Windows mode that means it’s easy to accidentally switch between DPI levels. If you’re at 3200DPI you’ll catch the button and suddenly find yourself at 400DPI … more often than not resulting in in-game death as you desperately struggle to get back up to your original DPI.

Even switching to gaming mode won’t fix it, partly because this is easy to forget as the switch is hidden away on the base of the mouse. You’ll still have the same problem with the DPI button, only this time it will be switching between your five DPI and button profiles. The problem disappears if you only have one profile, but that then makes a mockery of the ability to have ‘up to 5 profiles’.

Admittedly this is less of a problem when using the Raven for less frantic games or normal Windows applications, but the Raven is billed as a gaming mouse and FPS games are incredibly popula

The Silverstone Raven looks great when reading the specification list but fails to back that up when you’re actually using it.

Solidly built and with most of the features you’d expect of a top-ranking gaming mouse, it’s that unique side scrollwheel that proves to be the Raven’s biggest weakness. Admittedly I didn’t use the mouse for a prolonged period of time, and it might be that I would have got used to the button with time. However, first impressions count for a lot, and when there are so many other great gaming mice to choose from you have to ask why you should put up with such a strange design when the benefits are fairly minimal.

It’s a nice try from Silverstone, but unless you really like the unique design I’d recommend you look elsewhere for a new gaming mouse.

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Do you spend hour upon hour sat at the computer and eventually come away with a headache and sore, dry eyes? I know I do (work and gaming) and sometimes my eyes can get quite uncomfortable.

Well, a company called Gunnar Optiks have come up with a special range of glasses that seeks to reduce glare from monitors, and make on-screen images and text much clearer and easier to read.  The lenses of the glasses have a yellowish tint that helps to cancel out some of the blue light from overhead lighting and reduce the contrast of the white background of documents on the screen.

The Gunnar Optiks are available in a range of styles and colours, and there’s some information on the site that explains how the technology works.

There’s a review of the lenses over at Gearlog and they do sound quite promising. Priced at $100 they aren’t cheap, but if it saves you getting a pounding headache after a long gaming session then maybe it’s worth the investment.

I just wish they were available with normal prescription glasses.

Source: Gearlog