For the hardcore PC gaming fan out the the MSI Big Bang XPower II Intel X79 Gaming Motherboard  may be right up your ally with it  gun metal black and military grade design and Intel X79 chipset support.

Detailed Specs:

CPU
• Supports 2nd Generation Intel® Core i7 processors in LGA2011 package.
Please refer to CPU Support for compatible CPU; the above description is for reference only.

Chipset
• Intel® X79 Chipset

Main Memory
• Supports eight unbuffered DIMM of 1.5 Volt DDR3 1066/1333/1600/1866*/2133*/2400* (OC) DRAM, 128GB Max
- Supports Quad channel mode

Slots

• 4 PCI Express gen3 x16 slots
- PCI_E1 supports up to PCIE x16 speed
- PCI_E5 supports up to PCIE x16 speed when PCI_E3 is empty, or supports x8 speed when PCI_E3 is occupied
- PCI_E3 & PCI_E7 support up to PCIE x8 speed
• 3 PCI Express gen2 x16 slots
- PCI_E2, PCU_E4 & PCI_E6 support up to PCIE x1 speed

On-Board SATA
• SATAII controller integrated in Intel® X79 chipset
- Up to 3Gb/s transfer speed.
- Supports four SATAII ports (SATA3~6) by X79
• SATAIII controller integrated in Intel® X79 chipset
- Up to 6Gb/s transfer speed.
- Supports two SATAIII ports (SATA1~2) by X79
• SATAIII controller integrated in ASMedia® ASM 1061 chipset
- Up to 6Gb/s transfer speed.
- Supports four SATAIII ports (SATA7~10)
• RAID
- SATA1~6 ports support Intel Rapid Storage Technology enterprise (AHCI / RAID 0/1/5/10) by Intel X79

USB 3.0

• 1 USB 3.0 internal connector by NEC® D720200
• 4 USB 3.0 rear I/O ports by NEC® D720200

Audio
• Chipset integrated by Realtek® ALC898
- Flexible 8-channel audio with jack sensing
- Compliant with Azalia 1.0 Spec
- Meet Microsoft Vista Premium spec

LAN
• Supports dual PCI Express LAN 10/100/1000 Fast Ethernet by Intel 82579V and 82574L.

IEEE1394 / FireWire
• VIA® VT6315N chipset
- Supports up to two 1394 ports. (Rear panel x1, pinheader x1)
- Transfer rate is up to 400Mbps.

Internal I/O Connectors

- ATX 24-Pin power connector
- 2 x 8-pin Power connectors
- CPU x 1 / System x 5 FAN connectors
- Front panel audio connector
- Front panel connector
- 1 x Chasis intrusion connector
- 2 x USB 2.0 connectors
- 1 x USB 3.0 connectors
- 4 x Serial ATAII connectors
- 6 x Serial ATAIII connectors
- 1 x IEEE1394 connector
- 1 x Clear CMOS jumper
- 1 x Power button
- 1 x Reset button
- 1 x OC Genie button
- 2 x Base clock buttons
- 1 x Multi BIOS button

Back Panel I/O Ports

- 1 x PS/2 Mouse/Keyboard port
- 1 x Clear CMOS button
- 1 x Coaxial SPDIF port
- 1 x Optical SPDIF port
- 1 x IEEE1394 port
- 2 x RJ45 LAN Jacks
- 6 x USB 2.0 ports
- 4 x USB 3.0 ports
- 1 x 6 in 1 audio jack

BIOS

• The mainboard BIOS provides “Plug & Play” BIOS which detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the board automatically.
• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.

Dimension

• 34.5cm(L) x 26.4cm(W) XL-ATX Form Factor

Mounting

• 12 mounting holes.

The LG Optimus 4X HD is one powerful beast of a phone. With its Nvidia Tegra 3 processor not only are you going to see a fast and smooth experience with Android, you will also have a great gaming experience as well. In this video demo below you will see Brian from LG showing us a great hockey game that takes advantage of the quad-core processing power of the Nvidia Tegra 3 on the Optimus 4X HD.

Rumors have surfaces about a new Xbox and it’s not the “Xbox 720” that many have been talking about. This new “Xbox Lite”  one instead is a low-cost machine set to compete with the Apple TV. It will come in a small simple box design with no optical drive and made to work with apps, Xbox Live and Kinect Games and stream movies, tv shows and music. Its said that the “Xbox Lite” will be “price competitively with the Apple TV.

With what we know not this could be the box that helps launch the Xbox Live Diamond TV service that we heard about last year and while we don’t know how powerful the system would be but I could also see the OnLive gaming technology being used on this box as well which could give it the edge over the Apple TV that it will need.

Also rumored is that  as soon as this launches the next generation of the Xbox aka “Xbox 720” will launch soon after and said to have graphics close to “James Cameron’s Avatar-level” graphics, and a tablet-like controller with a touch-screen and standard dual-analog stick controls/buttons. If the graphics can be pulled off alone you’re looking at a serious game changer from Microsoft.

While all this is cool its just rumors from now and reportedly good info from an anonymous Microsoft employee but only time will tell what’s truth from fiction. Share your thoughts below.

Via Walyou

Image courtesy of DigitalTrends.

Nvidia is really pushing the boundaries on gaming on a tablet. They want to give people as close to a PC/Console graphics experience as possible while also giving them lag free gaming on the go. In this demo the Nvidia Tergra 3 tablet is running on Verizon’ 4G LTE with zero lag and plays like you are using a landline connection.

Tritton announced at last year’s E3 that they will be doing a co-branding line of Xbox 360 products. The first of these products in the Primer Xbox 360 Wireless Gaming Headset. The Primer uses 5.8 GHz wireless frequency for uncompressed sound and no interference issues which you can have on 2.4 GHz with other products using the same band.  They also include 40mm neodymium drivers and controls to adjust separate in-game and chat levels. The packaging has both the Tritton and Microsoft Xbox 360 branding and is consider the first wireless headset for the Xbox 360. It retailing for $100.

Press Release:

Mad Catz® Announces Shipping of The Primer™ Wireless Stereo Headset for Xbox 360®
First Co-Branded Xbox 360 and TRITTON™ Wireless Stereo Headset

San Diego – January 09, 2012 – Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (“Mad Catz”) (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) announced today the shipping of the Primer Wireless Stereo Headset, for use with the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. stated, “The Primer is the third of our co-branded headsets to be released for the Xbox 360 and the first wireless product in the range. We are excited to bring passionate gamers high quality, wireless gaming.”

The Primer Wireless Stereo Headset uses 5.8GHz wireless technology to connect with the Xbox 360. In addition, the Primer includes precision balanced 40mm neodymium drivers and controls which allow gamers to separately adjust volume and in-game chat levels.

Additional information is available at: http://www.trittonusa.com/primer

About Mad Catz
Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) is a global provider of innovative interactive entertainment products marketed primarily under its Mad Catz® (casual gaming), Cyborg™ (pro gaming), Tritton® (gaming audio), Saitek® (simulation), and Eclipse™ (home and office) brands. Mad Catz also develops flight simulation software through its internal ThunderHawk Studios™; operates flight simulation centers under its Saitek brand; operates a videogame content website under its GameShark® brand; publishes games under its Mad Catz brand; and distributes games and videogame products for third parties. Mad Catz distributes its products through most leading retailers offering interactive entertainment products and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For additional information please go to www.madcatz.com.
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This product is manufactured under license from Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft, Kinect, Xbox, Xbox LIVE, Xbox 360, and the Xbox logos are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
Safe Harbor
This press release contains forward-looking statements about the Company’s business prospects that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. The Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new information or future events or developments. You can identify these statements by the fact that they use words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “goal,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial performance. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are the following: the ability to maintain or renew the Company’s licenses; competitive developments affecting the Company’s current products; first party price reductions; the ability to successfully market both new and existing products domestically and internationally; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; or a downturn in the market or industry. A further list and description of these risks, uncertainties and other matters can be found in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian Securities Administrators.

The Mad Catz Pro Circuit Gaming Controller is design to bring the high quality and customizations you find in a fight stick and bring it to a control pad. The controller has the option to switch your analog and D-Pad configurations to suit the game and style you want to play. You can set the controller up for PS3 or Xbox 360 style or have two D-pads and 1 analog stick and so on. it’s a wired controller to avoid latency but you can detach the cable for easy travel. The controller goes for $129.99 for Xbox or PS3.

Press Release:

Mad Catz® Announces Shipping of Licensed Major League Gaming® Pro Circuit Controller

Tournament Grade Controller Delivers Customization and Quality for the Competitive Gamer

San Diego– January 10, 2012 – Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (“Mad Catz”) (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) announced today the shipping of the licensed Major League Gaming (“MLG”) Pro Circuit Controller. The new tournament grade controller has been specifically designed for the competitive and professional gamer. Engineered to perform at the highest possible level, theMLG Pro Circuit Controller is available now for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system from Sony®.

“The MLG Pro Circuit Controller with its tournament grade components and ProModule™ system has been very well received by the pro gaming community.” said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. “We anticipate the MLG Pro Circuit Controller will be the weapon of choice for the most demanding gamer and professional player.”

Additional information is available at www.madcatz.com/mlg

About Mad Catz

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (AMEX/TSX: MCZ) is a global provider of innovative interactive entertainment products marketed primarily under its Mad Catz® (casual gaming), Cyborg™ (pro gaming), Tritton® (gaming audio), Saitek® (simulation), and Eclipse™ (home and office) brands. Mad Catz also develops flight simulation software through its internal ThunderHawk Studios™; operates flight simulation centers under its Saitek brand; operates a videogame content website under its GameShark® brand; publishes games under its Mad Catz brand; and distributes games and videogame products for third parties. Mad Catz distributes its products through most leading retailers offering interactive entertainment products and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For additional information please go to www.madcatz.com.

Since this is my first article for this site, I feel that I should explain who I am before getting into my reasoning.  I am a 26-year-old PC gamer, and have been primarily gaming on PCs since Quake 2 came out, desperately trying to connect to any server that would have me on my 56k connection.

In terms of the kind of PC gamer I am, I would say that I am “that guy.”  I will always say that a keyboard and mouse is the best controller, and will always moan and groan when you tell me you purchased the latest Call of Duty title for your Xbox or PS3.  Playing first person shooters with thumb sticks is like trying to hit a home run with a broken piece of plywood.  It just doesn’t work. That being said, I absolutely cannot wait for new consoles to come out.  Why?

Graphics Are All Dated

The Xbox 360 and PS3 are pretty long in the tooth as far as hardware goes, and although it’s impressive to see what developers can still do with the hardware they are still severely limited by it.  The cores in my current PC processor are taking turns napping and my video card is now in a coma because of developers holding back to make their titles multi-platform.  There have been a few exceptions recently (Skyrim, Battlefield 3), but even those 2 aren’t really pushing the envelope.

New Control Methods

Don’t get me wrong, I am a huge fan of consoles.  That being said, I’ve always wanted to use my precious keyboard and mouse and play Halo, Resistance, or whatever other console exclusive shooter is out.  Yes, I am completely aware that there are products that allow you to do this, but I really think that it should be a native thing.  Screw balance.  There are ranking systems now.  Let the people who want to play with controllers hover in the low levels while the people who want to seriously play get up to the intermediate/expert levels.  Will this ever happen?  Probably not.  But one can dream.

Consoles ARE Better for Some Things

When I want to play competitively, which is most of the time, I’ll boot up my PC.  If I want to sit back and relax and maybe take some story in, I’ll boot up my 360 or PS3.  Cinematic storylines are a better experience on a console than on a PC mainly because of my home theatre setup.  Bigger screen, bigger speakers, more to take in. While you CAN do this with a PC, it just doesn’t feel the same to me.

Although I am a PC gamer, I am realistic.  I know that consoles are the future and that they do bring in a lot more revenue than PC games.  Whether or not I will be able to keep using my keyboard and mouse for years to come will be up to the gaming industry.

Follow Ryan Chua @THEREALCHUA

We finally gets some hands-on time here at CES with the Star Wars: The Old Republic gaming lineup. They have everything from headsets with  5.1 surround sound Tai Fighter stylized headphones with LED and interchange faction plates to choose your alliance. A MMO-Optimized mouse with 17 buttons fully programmable with 5600 dpi, 1 ms response time, charging dock, interchangeable faction plates and mult-color LEDs and a mouse mat that has both factions on each side and made of performance grade surface material that’s non-slip and anti-reflective.  The main feature in the line is the Gaming Keyboard with a mult-touch LCD based on the SwitchBlade Concept. It comes with ten dynamic programmable keys, fully backlight keyboard with adjustable LEDs and 1 ms response time.  This is the set that hardcore MMO players will want especially if your going to be play a lot of The Old Republic which I believe many of you are doing now.

Razer is making their first attempt at gaming laptops with the Razer Blade. The Razer blade is 17 inches of portable gaming power with a 2.8 GHz  Core i7-2640M processor, 2 GB Nvidia GeForce GT 55M graphics chip using GDDR5 video ram,  17.3 inch LED HD display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, two USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 3.0 port HDMI and a 60 Wh integrated battery.

These are the specs that you would expect to see on any other gaming laptop but what sets the Razer Blade apart is the LCD trackpad on the right side.  It’s based on the SwitchBlade concept we saw last year from Razer at CES  and comes with 10 customizable LCD buttons and one 480 x 800 LCD multi-touch trackpad. This allows some great gaming customization developers can use for their games to give a new experience to owners of the Razro Blade laptop and SwitchBlade UI products.

With all that packed into a laptop the machine still keeps a thin profile of 0.88 inches and relatively light for a gaming notebook at 6.97 lbs. Its expected to hit the market at a price range of $2799.99.

Press Release:

RAZER UNVEILS THE WORLD’S FIRST TRUE GAMING LAPTOP

Razer launches the Razer Blade at PAX Prime featuring true portability, incredible performance, and a revolutionary user interface.

PAXPrime, Seattle – August 26th, 2011 – The PC industry today has never looked bleaker. The world’s largest PC-maker Hewlett-Packard just announced their intention to explore the separation of its PC business. With PC manufacturers increasingly abandoning design and technology in lieu of outsourcing and cost-cutting, the PC industry has seen a severe dearth of innovation in recent years. Gaming consoles have also taken advantage of this innovation slump in the PC industry to garner attention from game developers and gamers alike, to the extent that now PC versions of cross-platform games are often sub-par ports of their console counterparts.

Razer, the world leader in high performance gaming hardware, introduces the Razer Blade – a full aluminum chassis gaming laptop featuring true portability, incredible performance, and an all-new revolutionary user interface. With the introduction of the Razer Blade – a feat of modern-day systems engineering and technology, Razer is reinvigorating technological and design innovation for the entire PC industry, and encouraging gamers and developers to return to the PC as the primary gaming platform of choice.

Mobile systems developed for gaming today compromise on portability and form factor for game performance. While such machines run games well, they are over 2 inches thick and can weigh more than 10lbs. The Razer Blade measures 0.88 inches thin, less than half that of current mobile gaming systems, and weighs only 6.97lbs, achieving a balance between portability and performance – making it the world’s first true gaming laptop.

Developed in partnership with Intel, the Razer Blade features a fast Intel® CoreTM i7 processor and a high performance NVIDIA GeForce® graphics processor. The hardware was designed to run the most demanding games of today without sacrificing the laptop’s portable form factor. The Razer Blade also does not compromise on screen size as it comes with an incredible LED- backlit high-definition 17″ display.

The Razer Blade features the Switchblade User Interface – Razer’s multi-award winning, highly intuitive interface technology. The interface is comprised of 10 dynamic adaptive tactile keys for easier access of in-game commands, and an LCD capable of two modes: one mode that displays in-game information when a mouse is in use; and another mode that functions as an ultra-sensitive, multi-touch panel designed for gaming on the go.

“The Razer Blade was designed to give gamers a laptop they could truly use on the go,” said Min-Liang Tan, CEO and Creative Director, Razer. “Its sleek, lightweight aluminum construction makes it the thinnest 17-inch gaming laptop available today.”

“We’re proud to co-develop this revolutionary gaming laptop with Razer,” said Mooly Eden, VP and General Manager of the PC Client Group, Intel. “Utilizing our fast Intel® CoreTM i7 processor, the Razer Blade delivers top-class gaming performance in a portable form factor.”

“Powered by an advanced NVIDIA GeForce® GPU with award winning NVIDIA® OptimusTM technology, the Razer Blade has the muscle to run cutting edge games with intense graphics while still offering amazing portability,” said Rene Haas, General Manager of Notebook Products, NVIDIA.”The Switchblade User Interface on the Razer Blade is a revolutionary innovation that truly defines the new standard for gaming experiences on a laptop,” said Min-Liang Tan. Watch the “Introducing the new Razer Blade” video at www.razerzone.com/blade

About the Razer Blade gaming laptop

The Razer Blade is a 17″ gaming laptop that delivers incredible performance and a revolutionary user interface in a sleek, portable form factor. It features a fast Intel® CoreTM i7 processor and a high performance NVIDIA GeForce® graphics processor designed in a lightweight aluminum chassis. The revolutionary Switchblade User Interface, found next to a full-size keyboard, was designed from the ground up to enhance gaming experiences and provide more control at the gamer’s fingertips. It features 10 adaptive tactile keys and a multi-touch LCD panel that can also display in-game information. And at just 0.88 inches thin and only weighing 6.97lbs, the Razer Blade is the world’s first true gaming laptop.

Price: US$2799.99
Availability:
North America Q4 2011
Product Specifications:
- 2.8GHz Intel® CoreTM i7 2640M Processor
- 8GB 1333MHz DDR3 Memory
- 17.3″ LED Backlit Display (1920×1080)
- NVIDIA GeForce® GT 555M with NVIDIA® OptimusTM Technology
- 2GB Dedicated GDDR5 Video Memory
- Built-in HD Webcam
- Integrated 60Wh Battery
- 320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
- Wireless Network 802.11 b/g/n Compatible
- 16.81″ (Width) x 10.9″ (Depth) x 0.88″ (Height); 6.97lbs (Weight)

The SteelSeries ION Wireless Portable Gaming Controller aims to give you full game control feeling on a mobile device like a tablets, smartphones or PCs. It’s a Bluetooth Enabled controller that has a classic design and button layout similar to the PlayStation controller with dual analog buttons. The controller isn’t that big only being the side of a deck of playing cards which is good to fit in the pocket. The ION removes the need to use touchscreen controls which are in most cases difficult to use and you can’t see your game while your playing it.  Check out the video below from CES 2012.