We ran into Kim Rom from SteelSeries at E3 and he gave us a little tour of their newest gear. I’m pretty pumped about the 7XB headset, which we’ll be reviewing soon — I travel with a headset a lot, and the flexibility and breakdownability make it an attractive option. Check out the video inside.
I also get a surprise from a lady in red right at the beginning there. Why didn’t I follow up on… → Read More
People have been modding gaming consoles since the beginning of recorded history. There were glyphs found deep in Mayan temples telling a tale of how ancient gamers customized their rocks and sticks to better describe their gaming attitude. But never before has case modding been this trivial.
Calibur11′s solution involves off-the-shelf components that when combined, make a clever case mod. We… → Read More
OnLive did E3 big this year. The remote gaming company launched a ton of new games, a universal controller, and displayed their tablet apps. In fact more than a few of our commenters disagreed with our dueling assertion that the Wii U and the Vita won E3 this year; they thought OnLive deserved our meaningless nod. That’s why we made sure we spent sometime at OnLive’s rocking E3 booth.
There’s no… → Read More
At E3, we had the opportunity to talk with Martin Rae, who is the President of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences, an industry group akin to the more well-known Academy that puts on the Oscars. The idea is the same, but the industry is younger, and although their conventions and yearly awards are less well-known, they are gaining popularity and are part of the growing movement towards… → Read More
Although region locking doesn’t affect the majority of gamers, among the hardcore it tends to be a sticking point. Some games have better or earlier releases in other countries, and the ability to import and play them is an important one for, say, JRPG fans or expats. Fortunately, the Vita will be region-free, meaning you won’t have to worry whether your device or game is Japanese… → Read More
I was lucky enough to be able to play a partial round of Battlefield 3 yesterday, but unfortunately DICE and EA were very insistent that no cameras would be allowed inside. That rule seems to have been laxified today, as there’s a pair of videos up showing off the very experience I got. Curious? Watch on. → Read More
OnLive ain’t new, but they’ve been updating their service and are showing off a few interesting new features here at E3. We spent some time at their booth, hearing about the service and the improvements they’re making. We saw a little footage of From Dust and heard about their cool tablet interface.
Head on inside for the video. → Read More
We had a pleasant morning checking out the Sony and Nintendo booths, getting hands-on with a few launch games and feeling up the hardware. The device really is remarkably light; you’d expect such a powerhouse to be heavy and bulky, but it’s quite petite. Unfortunately the units there were all tethered, and all their untethered units were broken. Just block out the cords with your hand and it’s… → Read More
Last night we got a live tour of the latest from Mad Catz, including this rather comprehensively-featured headset for the Xbox 360. The big “what’s new” on this one is that it’s “truly wireless,” with no cord to the controller — making it the only wireless Dolby 7.1 headset out there. That may be putting somewhat of a fine point on it (there are other “truly wireless” headsets, of course)… → Read More
When I look at this odd, immersive screen, called the jDone, I’m reminded of Coleridge’s epic poem:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately jDome decree:
Where guns roared out, soldiers ran
Through caverns measureless to man
In a boot of Battlefield 3.
The J-Dome costs $1,200 and sets up in a few minutes. It fits in a package about as big as a pack ‘n’ play playpen for kids and works with any… → Read More
It’s time for another day of live video down here at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles. Today we’ll be covering the massive South Hall, where we’ll find the big publishing houses showing off their latest. But first, we’re dropping by the Sony booth (signal permitting) to spend a little time with the Playstation Vita, their powerful new handheld. After that, a… → Read More
We’re big fans of John Carmack. He knows his business better than anyone else and tells it straight. He doesn’t speak in PR nonsense and it’s almost guaranteed that he’ll teach you something . This may be one of the best interviews to come out of E3 2011. I just wish we did it. Oh well, CVG snagged 20 minutes with the gaming legend and it’s embedded after the jump for your viewing pleasure. → Read More
There’s seemingly a philosophy inside Nintendo that form factors and ideas don’t die, but rather are shelved and re-released once the proper technology is ready. The Wii U is just the latest in a long line of consoles that use rather old form factors and ideas. Just look at this chart we found on Reddit. The Nintendo Watch & Game spawned the DS 24 years later, the Power Glove preceded the Wii… → Read More
IndieGames supports indie game developers by showcasing them at various events and putting them in front of the big boys. The results? Cooler gameplay, exciting new titles, and lots of fun. Yesterday we played some of the coolest indie games we’ve ever seen including the Rogue-like Desktop Dungeons and Q.U.B.E., a game that is reminiscent of Portal but completely different. Take a look at both and… → Read More
Watch us interview people while drinking! Here we go again: talking to the exhibitor’s at this year’s Showstoppers at E3 where we can sit down and get up close and personal with a few fascinating tech companies. We’ll be streaming for about an hour and then we’ll start up again at 10am Pacific when the show floor opens again. Expect live hands-ons of the Vita and the Wii U as well as lots of great… → Read More
Nox’s Admiral headset has been around since CES, in a way — it’s still not quite final, and by “not quite final” I mean “not final at all.” But it’s still awesome, and once you get over how… shall we say, not lightweight it is, you can kind of see just how great it could be. They’ve changed a bit since CES so we dropped by to get a tour. → Read More
Matt may think that the Wii U is the E3 champion, but I’m not convinced. It looks like a fun and versatile device, but I’m not sure it’s as accessible as the Wii, which focused on motion and a few primary buttons to make gaming as simple as possible. The Wii U is clearly powerful in some ways but not nearly the breakthrough device the Wii was.
The Playstation Vita, on the other hand, isn’t even… → Read More
The Old Republic is, potentially, every Star Wars-loving gamer’s dream. Own your own ship, travel the galaxy, pick a side in an epic conflict… if they pull it off. Razer’s taking the chance they won’t, though, and have put out a few peripherals customized for the Old Republic experience. → Read More
Alright, everyone. You can go home. E3 2011 is a mainly bust besides Nintendo’s amazing Wii U. Microsoft added Bing to the 360 and Sony announced the name of the NGP, the Vita. Sure, there are several clever games like Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, and several new Zelda games. But there really isn’t anything new per se here. It’s a bunch of rehashing of the same, I’m sorry, tired story… → Read More
Thanks to the wonders of Ustream, we will be broadcasting live video from the floor of E3. Jon Orlin and John Murillo from TCTV are here with the same magical backpack we used at CES to bring that show to the interwebs. We’ll be taking questions, comments, and suggestions live using the #e3crunchgear hashtag. While I’ll make no promises, we’ll do our best to vist the booths and events of the show… → Read More
Nintendo just announced the Wii U, a new console/controller combo that includes a large, touchscreen controller with control buttons similar to those found on current Wii controllers. The system is considerably upgraded over the Wii and you can use the Wii U controller in many “unique” (hence the U) ways. The graphics are truly next-gen and this firmly places Nintendo in with the big… → Read More
The Next-Generation Portable we’ve been hearing about for a good five months now has finally been owned up to by Sony. It is, as rumors had it, called the Playstation Vita, and the many features we’ve heard about (dual touchscreens, cameras, Near, and so on) are all official. All the specs and stuff were already detailed back in January, but we’re just now seeing the actual… → Read More
Sony has just announced a brand new 24-inch 3D HD display designed by them specifically for gaming. It uses active shutter glasses to produce 3D, and I’m guessing from the size and terminology that it’s 720p. It comes with one pair of glasses, a 6-foot HDMI cable, and one of the major 3D games that’s launching this year (Resistance 3 is pictured). The whole package is $499.99… → Read More
According a Jack Tretton, CEO of SCEA, 30% of Netflix’s video traffic comes from Sony devices, primarily PS3s. The news came at Sony’s E3 press conference where they also apologized for the extensive PSN outage. → Read More
SCEA’s CEO Jack Tretton took to the stage today to talk about the PSN outage that has effected the gaming platform’s online play for the past weeks. Tretton thanked the PS3 supporters and reported that network activity was at 90% and that the company is “committed” to the PSN experience. He described the PS3 and new NGP platforms as dedicated to network play. He gave no… → Read More
Talk about buzz. This whole crowd is just sitting here, wondering if Sony, the almighty Sony, will actually acknowledge the massive data breach. No one is talking about the NGP, PS3, of course not the Move. Nope, it seems to be all about the hacking — and the tasty food Sony’s providing served up by some trendy L.A. food trucks. Will Sony admit responsibility, out the people… → Read More
Want to experience the joy of Kinect, but happen to have a small living room? Nyko wants to help you out. They also want to help you out if you are in any way unhappy with your 3DS. Well, no, it can’t actually make the 3D “sweet spot” bigger, but their new accessories do help in other ways. → Read More
EA’s been teasing Battlefield 3 for the last few months with demos and gameplay clips and it’s finally launching. The latest incarnation of EA’s long-standing shooter franchise is hitting this fall — October 25th, to be exact. Select fans will be able to get a taste of Battlefield 3 bit early when the multi-platform beta drops this coming September. Click through for an… → Read More
Alright, finally. Microsoft released the Kinect last year with games that turned out to be to nothing more than virtual parlor games. But today at the company’s E3 2011 presser, they took the wraps off the first round of games that finally seem to be meant for gamers — you know, gamers as in people that enjoy virtual killing and such. The headliner? Oh it must be Star Wars Kinect. → Read More
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