October 24, 2006, 7:16 AM PDT
DIY FragBox
Posted by: Rich Brown

If you jump on over to NewEgg.com this morning, you'll find a new desktop PC chassis for sale. The Falcon Northwest FragBox case runs nearly $300 ($289.99, to be exact), but for that price, you get a small form-factor case with the spec standards of premiere, high-end PCs. Falcon has sold its Northwest FragBox directly from its Web site. According to the press release issued this morning, however, the act of unleashing the item on NewEgg was less at-odds with Falcon's own custom-PC business.

The case doesn't come with a power supply, and you have to bring your own motherboard, too. We've seen the FragBox running with a pair of 3D cards in it, however, making it quite friendly to PC builders wanting to make a small-but-deadly semiportable gaming system.

It has room for four expansion cards, so it is a little bigger than a typical, small form-factor PC, but we have a feeling most gamers won't mind the added capacity.

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October 17, 2006, 7:53 AM PDT
ATI cleans up CrossFire
Posted by: Rich Brown

Nvidia's SLI dual 3D card technology has become more or less the de facto winner in high-end gaming rigs, not necessarily because its cards are faster (Quad SLI notwithstanding), but because it was out first, and it's had a much cleaner design than ATI's competing CrossFire mode. ATI still has to challenge the perception that SLI is a more robust, stable solution than CrossFire, but at least its technology has finally caught up, by way of the Radeon X1950 Pro, announced today. Now you don't need a special, more expensive CrossFire Edition of a particular 3D card to run two side by side. ATI has also improved the aesthetics by moving the connector between the two cards to the inside. Good-bye, stupid dongle!

ATI pitched this card to us with an MSRP of $199, to compete against Nvidia's new GeForce 7900 GS card. Confoundingly, Froogle turned up prices more along the lines of $299. ATI assured us that it was just speculative preorder pricing and that NewEgg will have the card at or close to the MSRP when it updates its listings. If it comes in at the lower price, early returns on performance are that the 256MB Radeon X1950 Pro is an impressive midrange deal. If it's more like $300, we suggest that you wait to see what Nvidia has up its sleeve with its next-gen cards, due to be announced within the next few months. Our review is almost ready to go, so stay tuned for full performance results and hopefully the final word on pricing.

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October 12, 2006, 2:51 PM PDT
Next-gen gaming at Digital Life; minimal for the masses
Posted by: David Rudden

With just more than a month until the Sony PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii release, your average, everyday, nonjournalist gamer still hasn't had the opportunity to try out the upcoming consoles. The burgeoning Digital Life show, open to press and public alike, would have been a great chance for folks to get some hands-on time with the consoles, but both console manufacturer and game developers conspired to deliver few opportunities to do just that. The PS3 had a dedicated area in Sony's booth, but only two demo units and two playable titles--NBA Live 2007 and Resistance: Fall of Man. Additionaly, Sega had the PS3 version of Sonic the Hedgehog in playable form, though its presence was largely negated by the similar-looking Xbox 360 version just feet away. The Nintendo Wii was even more scarce. Nintendo had no presence at the show--no big surprise--but Konami did have a playable demo of Elebits. which was surprisingly fun.

While Digital Life may have been lacking in next-gen goodness--wait a few weeks for retail kiosks to start popping up--it's still well worth the trek for any gamers in the Metro area, with the aforementioned companies as well as UbiSoft, EA, Microsoft, GameTap, and various others showing off some sweet upcoming titles such as Guitar Hero II, Splinter Cell Double Agent, Contra for Xbox Live Arcade, and Sam & Max Freelance Police. If you have a couple of bucks and a few hours to wait in line, hit up the Jacob Javits Convention Center--or, as I call it, the Dub-J--and get your game geek on.

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October 12, 2006, 2:45 PM PDT
Digital Life: Xploder HDTV player aims to blow up the PS2's resolution
Posted by: David Rudden

While the Xbox 360 and the upcoming PlayStation 3 are excellent HDTV companions, finding high-def love on older consoles is a bit more difficult. Unlike the somewhat HD-friendly Xbox1, the PlayStation 2 has only had a small fraction of its library available in 16:9 aspect ratio and resolutions of 480p or higher. U.K. gaming accessory company Blaze Games has developed an upconverting solution for folks who want to game in high-def without the high cost with the Xploder HDTV player for the PS2. The Xploder will be brought to the States next month by Mad Catz and should retail for $50.

The Xploder HDTV Player runs on PS2 via a bootup disc that allows you to toggle between various VGA and component resolutions (a component cable is included in the package). The company boasts compatibility with roughly 95 percent of the PS2's library, though I detected a hint of regret when a company rep informed me that Wallace & Gromit did not make the cut--apparently they still really like those movies across the pond. The title on display at Digital Life, Burnout Revenge, was running much cleaner when the Xploder was in play, but you can never really be sure what kind of cable chicanery is in play at trade shows. We'll take the player through its paces soon and give you a final verdict when it releases.

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October 12, 2006, 10:28 AM PDT
Digital Life 2006: Dell's overclockable gaming laptop
Posted by: Dan Ackerman

Digital Life, conveniently scheduled right before the big holiday shopping season, is a hotbed of new product announcements. Dell is hoping to get on some wish lists with its latest gaming laptop, which keeps the same model number as its predecessor but adds enough new bells and whistles to warrant a second look.

The new XPS M1710 offers high-end parts such as Intel's overclocker-friendly Core 2 Duo T7600G and the new Nvidia GeForce Go 7950 GTX GPU. Dell won't overclock the processor for you in the factory, but just the fact that the company is encouraging it is a bold step (although not as bold as its overclocked XPS 700 desktop).

There are strobe lights built into the wrist rests that, according to Dell literature, "strobe, pulse, or fade the system's 16-color lights to the beat of a song or whenever a game character fires a weapon, moves, or gets fragged." It works with mainstream music apps, such as Windows Media Player and iTunes, but the compatible game list is still up in the air. The flashing lights are either massively cool or entirely lame, depending on your personal aesthetic sense. We'll leave it up to you to judge for yourself.

The revised XPS M1710 is available now. The tricked-out version with the components referenced above will set you back $3,498.

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October 11, 2006, 10:07 AM PDT
Happy Final Fantasy Day!
Posted by: Will Greenwald

Wednesday, October 11, is officially Final Fantasy Day in New York City. The day was commemorated at the Times Square Visitors' Center, where Square Enix president Daishiro Okada and Final Fantasy XII executive producer Akitoshi Kawazu were given a letter commemorating the legacy of Square Enix's Final Fantasy series. The event was timed to happen just before the October 31 release of Final Fantasy XII for the PS2. Several dedicated fans of the series showed up in costume, including three winners of Square Enix's cosplay costume contest. With the dozen or so funnily dressed people parading through Times Square, Final Fantasy Day...really seemed like any other day in New York.

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October 04, 2006, 8:39 AM PDT
Interview: Falcon Northwest CEO Kelt Reeves on the HP-Voodoo PC deal
Posted by: Rich Brown

First Dell bought Alienware, then HP scooped up Voodoo PC. If those deals are bad news for Falcon Northwest, it's not because CEO Kelt Reeves isn't dedicated. Dude just answered our questions from his Hawaiian vacation. Maybe it's all that sun, but he doesn't sound too worried.

Were you surprised by HP's acquisition of Voodoo?

I don't know anyone who wasn't surprised. That said, with the Dell/Alienware deal as precedent, it was a logical fit from a business perspective. What was so surprising about it is that [Voodoo President and CTO] Rahul [Sood] has made a name for himself as a blogger by predicting other deals, such as the ATI/AMD buyout and Dell's aquisition of Alienware. The one he could've predicted with perfect accuracy was the one he was very good at keeping secret.

What do you think it means for the future of Falcon Northwest and the boutique PC market in general?

That's probably a more loaded question than either of us can imagine right now. This is definitely an "inflection point" for the entire PC market. It depends on how the two companies fit together. We found that as Alienware grew, they strayed further from the enthusiast/custom/boutique market. The Dell deal seems to have clinched that. It works out well for us because essentially we're serving two different markets. Alienware may be sleeping on a big bed of money these days, but it hasn't seemed to come at our expense...the net effect on us is neither Dell nor Alienware seems to be on our turf anymore, and strangely, their combined impact on us is less than it used to be with Alienware alone.

HP's aquisition of Voodoo PC seems to be structured much more effectively, and if it works, it could keep the rest of the boutique market on its toes. It appears HP understands that a boutique's real value isn't from volume, but as a proving ground for showing off new technologies and getting real-time enthusiast feedback. And most importantly, filtering enthusiast PC ideas to mainstream products quickly. Another Web site likened it to HP buying a Formula 1 team. In that sense, they could be very valuable to all of us enthusiasts by bringing enthusiast PC thinking to more mainstream customers.

Do you plan to capitalize on your new status as the best-known indie PC vendor?

I've received a lot of "what's it like to be the last one?" e-mails this week. While not technically true, I can see how a lot of people are viewing us that way. The enthusiast market perceives going mass market as "selling out." The very day Alienware went into Best Buy years ago we heard nothing from our clientele except "they sold out." A bit unfair on day one, but I guess it's just the price you pay for making ties with any big company. Falcon's not going to go taking out advertisements saying "Hey we're the last of the 'big 3' independents, so you should buy from us and stick it to The Man!" We're going to do what we've always done: provide hardware and services that are an alternative to the big PC makers.

Alienware has Michael Dell's checkbook; Voodoo has the keys to the HP R&D kingdom. How does Falcon plan to compete?

In theory they do, but I doubt it's that simple. Alienware has a sliver of Michael Dell's checkbook, and Michael Dell is using many more slivers to make his own gaming-focused XPS line. It must be maddening for Alienware's management, but they wouldn't be allowed to say so if it is. Voodoo may find HP already has a long list of its own projects, and Voodoo may not be as important to HP's $80 billion worldwide sales as it is to Canada's enthusiast community.

These trade-offs could be tough on a small company that's used to moving fast and not having to ask for budget approval on projects. But it would be foolish to suggest that having big company funding was on balance a disadvantage. I'm sure the funding will give them a competitive advantage. But Falcon has always fought the big guys; I've never seen being small as a disadvantage. On the contrary, being small means I make our decisions quickly, without politics, and with our clients a bigger priority than stockholders.

One speculation is that Gateway or another large vendor might come knocking on your door. Thoughts?

Obviously, the fit between a boutique and a volume player makes sense to a lot of people, including me. That said, it would be very hard for any bigger fish to swallow Falcon without destroying what it is that makes it special. We've passed up many opportunities to "go big" over the years. These opportunities may have made a lot of business sense, but I'd rather protect what Falcon Northwest is and who it serves.

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October 03, 2006, 8:12 AM PDT
Sony's PS3 controller named, accessories priced in Japan
Posted by: David Rudden

After eight years of the DualShock being the company's primary PlayStation controller, the loss of vibration functionality has forced Sony to rename it. The PlayStation 3's standard first-party controller will be called SixAxis, referring to its ability to sense six degrees of movement. The SixAxis will sell for approximately $43 when it comes out in Japan and will run for almost 30 hours on a single charge via USB. Other accessories announced at the show with pricing in Japan include the USB Memory Card Adapter, available at launch for about $13, which will allow you to transfer PS1 and PS2 saves to the PS3, and the PS3 Blu-ray remote for roughly $31, which will come out on December 7. Will the U.S. launch adopters be stuck using the controller to watch Blu-ray flicks, too? We should know more concrete U.S. accessory details after the company's annual Gamers' Day conference on October 19.

Source: Kotaku

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October 03, 2006, 7:13 AM PDT
The scariest video games ever
Posted by: Will Greenwald

The world's most terrifying mascot is getting three of his own video games this holiday season. The Burger King, Burger King's megacephalic spokes-stalker, will appear on three budget Xbox titles, available at Burger King from November 19 to December 24. Pocket Bike Racer puts the King and BK spokespeople Subservient Chicken and Brooke Burke onto minibikes for racing fun. Big Bumpin' puts the three into bumper cars. Sneak King has the King stalking people and giving them Burger King food. OK, these won't be epic sagas, but at $4 each with the purchase of a value meal, it's still hard to say no to them. Even if it's just so you can say to your friends, "Silent Hill? Fatal Frame? That's not scary. Check this out..."

Source: Game Informer

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September 29, 2006, 4:34 AM PDT
HP and Voodoo pull a Dell and Alienware
Posted by: Rich Brown

As you may have heard, HP and Voodoo appeared together on stage last tonight to announce their new partnership. Voodoo CEO Ravi Sood and his brother Rahul, the chief technology officer, will now report to HP's Phil McKinney, the CTO of HP's personal systems group. In short, once the deal has finalized, HP will have acquired a boutique PC maker to give it leverage in the profitable high-end gaming PC market, similar to the way in which Dell subsumed Alienware earlier this year.

According to Rahul's blog, Voodoo's operations will remain in Calgary, and you can continue to purchase Voodoo PCs. As for the future, "our strategy for the HP gaming portfolio is yet to be revealed--but expect the unexpected." And here we thought we were at the Manhattan Center last night for a simple fourth quarter HP product refresh.

With no new Voodoo products at the time of the announcement, it's hard to say whether this deal is any different from Dell's acquisition of Alienware. That marriage seems so far to be a hands-off kind of situation, for better or for worse. You don't see Alienware PCs among the Dells in your Sunday circular, but Dell's XPS desktops technically compete with Alienware's products for high-end gaming dollars. According to Rahul, the HP-Voodoo deal is different. Both in his blog and at last night's event, Rahul said that he had been given the keys to HP's R&D lab and that that would give Voodoo access to innovative muscle it didn't have before.

If Voodoo and HP really do pool resources and mindsets, I would expect that we'll see some very exciting products coming out of the partnership. Despite its rep as a pusher of printer ink, HP has impressed us with its creativity on the PC side over the past few years. Its Personal Media Drives and the z555 Digital Entertainment Center have both demonstrated HP's willingness to take risks. And Voodoo most definitely knows how to make a performance PC. What we also hope is that HP's mass-market background rubs off on the Voodoo team. We've always admired Voodoo's attention to detail and the level of craftsmanship behind its PCs, but we've also often found Voodoo systems overpriced, even for high-end gaming desktops.

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