General Gaming Article

General Gaming Article

PAX East 2014: Cooler Master Unveils NovaTouch TKL Mechanical Keyboard [Video]

Posted: 13 Apr 2014 07:35 PM PDT

NovaTouch TKLNew feature dampens the sound of typing

Cooler Master has unveiled the NovaTouch TKL mechanical keyboard an Pax East. Maximum PC's Jimmy Thang was able to see the new keyboard that features a silicon-based injection around the mechanical key switches. 

The silicon-based injection helps absorb the friction and shock when two mechanical pieces are rubbing against each other. Sound is kept to a minimum as well  when a user is typing. As for the feel of the switch it is similar to, according to the rep, the Cherry MX Brown key switches.

One other interesting feature is that the key stems are backwards compatible with Cherry MX key caps. A major plus for keyboard enthusiasts who like to switch out the caps with their own. 

The NovaTouch TKL is expected to come out sometime in the third quarter of 2014. No set price has been determined. 

Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook

PC Gaming is in Rude Health, Concludes PC Gamer PAX East Panel

Posted: 13 Apr 2014 05:30 PM PDT

PAX East PC Gamer Panel

Panel discussion delves into the future of PC gaming

Our sister publication PC Gamer on Friday convened a star-studded, four-man panel at the ongoing Boston PAX East conference to discuss the future of PC gaming (see video below). The starry quartet, comprising Nvidia director of technical marketing Tom Petersen, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey, PlanetSide 2 creative director Matt Higby and Star Citizen creator Chris Roberts, touched on a wide range of issues, including the prospects of streaming games and Microsoft's role in the future of PC gaming.

The first thing to come up for discussion was the rise of cloud-based streaming games and its implications for traditional gaming. Nvidia's Tom Petersen was of the view that the general direction of PC gaming's evolution is towards it becoming a "much more cloud-oriented experience," with both public and personal cloud game streaming gaining in popularity in the future.

The panel moderator, Evan Lahti (US editor-in-chief of PC Gamer), evoked widespread laughter from those in attendance when he jokingly asked Petersen if he was suggesting that people "won't have to buy a graphics card in the future." Meanwhile, Luckey and Roberts were equally unconvinced. Identifying latency associated with remotely rendered games as a major deal breaker, Roberts, an avowed 4K aficionado, said he as a PC gamer wants the best experience possible and that is something he doesn't see cloud gaming delivering anytime soon.

The panel then proceeded to discuss some of the obstacles to delivering better gaming experiences on the PC. According to Higby, overcoming hardware fragmentation remains one of the biggest challenges from a developer's standpoint. However, he also credited this variety — a byproduct of the immense control PC owners wield over their hardware — for making the PC a truly special gaming platform.

The PlanetSide 2 dev then broached the topic of piracy, noting that it continues to decline as digital distribution becomes more widespread. Others on the panel concurred, attributing the decline to the fact that it is now becoming more convenient to buy a game than to pirate it. Of course, the lesser the piracy, as Higby put it, "the more you can run a company off of the games you're making." Speaking of the economics of PC gaming, Petersen pointed out that it is currently estimated to be a $24 billion a year industry.

As soon as Lahiti asked the panel if they thought PC gaming would continue to be essentially Windows gaming, Luckey quipped, "Yeah, don't you remember Games for Windows Live?" This prompted a discussion on Microsoft's contribution to PC gaming.  While Petersen and Rogers lauded Redmond for some of things it is doing with DX12, the general consensus was that it needs to do a lot more to prevent gamers from abandoning Windows for Linux.

Image Credit: PC Gamer

Follow Pulkit on Google+

PAX East 2014: MSI Showcases GS60 Ghost Pro 3K Ultra-Thin Gaming Notebook [Video]

Posted: 13 Apr 2014 04:55 PM PDT

Sports a WQHD+ IPS Panel

Back in December, a little over a year after Linux creator Linus Torvalds famously lamented the lack of laptops with "reasonable resolution" displays, Taiwanese PC vendor MSI launched the industry's first 3K gaming laptops in the form of the GT60 2OD-261US and  2OKWS-278US. Now, the company is all set to add another 3K notebook to its lineup. Maximum PC's Jimmy Thang got up close and personal with the upcoming GS60 Ghost Pro gaming notebook at PAX East.

The 15.6-inch, 2880x1620 is the higher-res cousin of the recently launched 1080p GS60 Ghost. Apart from the WQHD+ IPS display, the Ghost Pro packs an Intel Core i7-4700HQ,  16GB DDR3L 1600MHz RAM, 1TB HDD (7200RPM), 128GB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 870M with 6GB of GDDR5 RAM.

According to the company, the ultra-thin and light laptop, which weighs less than 4 pounds, will hit the market either in late April or early May, priced somewhere around $2,000.

Follow Pulkit on Google+

PAX East 2014: Logitech Showcases Its G502 Proteus Core Gaming Mouse [Video]

Posted: 13 Apr 2014 11:29 AM PDT

Logitech G502A Mouse with a 12,000DPI sensor

If you have been looking for a mouse that will let you shoot the wings off of a fly, then Logitech's G502 Proteus Core gaming mouse might be the one for you. Maximum PC's Jimmy Thang got to see the Proteus Core, which features a 12,000DPI sensor, up close and personal at PAX East.

 

Of course, if 12,000 DPI is too much for a user to handle then the sensor can be adjusted as low as 200. Aside from the high DPI the Proteus Core has 11 programmable buttons, comes with five 3.6g weights, the sensor can be adjusted for various surfaces, and it has a dual-mode hyper-fast scroll wheel. 

The Logitech G502 Proteus Core Tunable Gaming Mouse will be out sometime this month for $79.99 in the U.S. and Europe.

So who would want to try and shoot the wings off of a fly at 500 feet with that mouse? 

Follow Sean on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook
Posted by Shri Krishna

Total Pageviews

statcounter

View My Stats