While some people may attend the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to check out the biggest HDTVs on the planet or the most amazing home theater systems, there is also a sizable part of the trade show that is dedicated to the world of video games. Designing, manufacturing, and selling video game accessories for prominent systems like the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Nintendo Wii has become more lucrative and popular than ever, especially since video games are just as much a part of the mainstream as movies and music. Futurelooks had the opportunity to meet up with some of these video game accessory companies to see what they had to offer gamers this year. Here is what we found.
NYKO Accessorizes the Nintendo Wii
NYKO has always prided itself as being one of the best video game accessory companies in the business, especially with the Nintendo Wii platform. While they had a couple of new things for the PS3 and Xbox 360, the real stars for NYKO are on the Wii. The most prominent announcement at CES 2009 for NYKO was the new NYKO Wand. This is meant to be a replacement device for the regular Wii Remote.
The enlarged face buttons make Virtual Console titles more enjoyable and the rubberized grip minimizes the chances of it flying through your LCD television. The biggest selling point for the NYKO Wand, however, is a special proprietary connector located above the port where you’d plug in things like the Wii Nunchuk. While that port can handle input, the NYKO port can also do output. This opens up the doors for rumbling nunchuks and other innovations.
It can also accept electronic input, so something like a gun attachment can have a regular button as its trigger rather than the mechanical mechanisms that currently underlie most Wii gun attachment accessories.
One of the troubles with most charging docks is that you have no idea how far along the charge is coming. NYKO has alleviated this concern by creating a Wii Remote charging dock (an updated version of the existing NYKO Charge Station) that actually has a meter. Using the series of LEDs on the inner column, you can see approximately how much more charging needs to be done.
In recognizing the current economic crunch, we see the introduction of the NYKO Wing (classic controller) and NYKO Kama (nunchuk) in wired form. Instead of paying about $30 for their wireless counterparts, consumers can nab the wired versions for about $15 each.
Thrustmaster Goes Magnetic and Charges Through Straps
Despite the somewhat strange name, Thrustmaster does have a handful of video game accessories that are worth considering. You may recall my brief review of their T-Fitness Pro Pack NW Wii Fit accessory bundle, for example. At CES 2009, Thrustmaster also had its new T-Strap Charger for the Nintendo Wii. In essence, it is a rechargeable battery pack for the Wii Remote that happens to use the wrist strap as a charging cable. How’s that for convenient?
dreamGEAR Rocks Out (and Moves Analog Sticks)
Hopping on over to the dreamGEAR booth, their superstar is the Warbeast wireless guitar for the PlayStation 3. Rhythm games are the hottest thing around these days, so it seems like just about everyone is making instruments for them these days. How, then, does the dreamGEAR Warbeast separate itself from the pack?
Well, one of the ongoing jokes in the industry is about how these “toy guitars” are so much smaller than their “real” counterparts. People who are coming from a legitimate musical background scoff at the size of the guitars that come with these games. The Warbeast is full-sized and it is a true replication of its “real” guitar counterpart, the Warbeast by B.C. Rich Guitars. The controller is officially licensed by B.C. Rich.
It’ll work with Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and Rock Revolution and it comes with usual stuff like the second set of fret buttons on the neck. The current version is shipping black, though dreamGEAR is toying with the idea of a white version as well, possibly for the Wii. No Xbox 360 version is being planned at this point, largely because Microsoft makes it difficult for third party manufacturers to produce third-party accessories for its gaming machine.
Some people prefer the configuration of the Xbox 360 controller over the one for the PlayStation 3, particularly for first-person shooters. The Shadow Wireless controller gives PS3 gamers a more Xbox-like experience by shifting the left analog stick to the top of the controller and the d-pad to the inner portion, just like on the Xbox 360. The rubber grips and ergonomic trigger buttons add to its value.
Mad Catz Street Fighter IV Controllers
As you may already know, I’m a pretty big fan of fighting games, especially those from the Street Fighter series. This is probably because Street Fighter II is what really got me excited about the genre in the first place (I know I can’t possibly be alone). Mad Catz is capitalizing on this by releasing a series of controllers to coincide with the upcoming release of Street Fighter IV.
As if gaining access to Sheng Long wasn’t already enough to get you excited, the limited edition Mad Catz FightStick Tournament Edition brings the arcade experience to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It uses the exact same components that you would find in a real arcade cabinet, much like the previously reviewed X-Arcade tanksticks.
Other notable features include turbo programming, start buttons located on the back, and the ability to lock the Xbox/PS button panel. This way, your buddy can’t “accidentally” hit the Xbox button to interrupt your massive combo sequence. Be prepared to pay around $150 or so for the FightStick Tournament Edition, assuming that you can even find one of these limited edition controllers.
For those on a tighter budget, there is also the regular FightStick. It doesn’t use real arcade components and it’s definitely doesn’t stand up to the Tournament Edition in terms of weight and build quality, but it’s also about half the price. You still get some of the nicer features like the start button location and lockable Xbox/PS buttons, but there is a definite sacrifice in quality. For the slightly less hardcore, however, it could provide a suitable alternative to something like the Hori Fighting Stick.
Going further down the scale are Mad Catz Street Fighter IV controllers that are more like your usual Xbox controller. The difference is that you get six face buttons and only one directional pad. There are no analog sticks. To accommodate other fighting games, you can map the single d-pad to the Xbox d-pad, the left analog stick, or the right analog stick.
Expanding Your Video Game Experience
When you get into the world of video games, the investment doesn’t end with the purchase price of the console itself. In addition to buying an assortment of actual video games, you may be tempted by the huge variety of video game accessories as well. Looking beyond the first-party controllers and charging solutions, you can find a lot of great stuff from third parties.
You can really get into Star Wars: The Force Unleashed by nabbing a lightsaber attachment, for example. dreamGEAR has one that even emits the lightsaber sounds when you swing it and it has also been designed to accommodate the upcoming MotionPlus attachment coming to the Wii from Nintendo as well.
While some video game accessories, like the Wii Music attachments shown here, are little more than plastic shells with clever marketing, other accessories are really great options for giving a more authentic Rock Band experience or improving your FPS performance, among countless other things. Check out the gallery on the next page and don’t forget to stay tuned for more CES 2009 coverage.
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CES 2009 Console Gaming Accessory Photo Gallery
