Nyko’s CES suite featured a diverse lineup of gaming peripherals on display.
Shooting peripherals for motion controllers dominated the exhibition. First was the Perfect Shot Pro, a lightweight pistol-style peripheral used by the Wii and designed for a WiiMote, Wand, or Want+. It features force feedback running off the controller battery and comes in white, digital camo and black and orange varieties. The Perfect Shot Pro retails for $14.99.
It was joined by a bigger brother, a Perfect Shot designed for the Playstation Move™. The new Perfect Shot for the Move™ features a larger, heavier grip and uses two AA batteries to power a force feedback function. The Perfect Shot is scheduled for a March release for $14.99.
A prototype Power Shot, a similar peripheral modeled after a submachine gun, featured an extendable stock, detachable nav control mount, and a mechanical trigger. It is scheduled for release in early-mid spring.
Nyko also showed off its 360-style Raven controller for the PS3, the Charge Base S charging dock for Xbox 360 controllers, and the new Intercooler STS. The Intercooler is a cooling unit designed for the Xbox 360 powered by USB with new temperature-monitoring technology to reduce power consumption, scheduled for February release.
Trauben’s Impressions
My favorite product here was actually the Power Shot- sure, it reminded me of that old Nintendo gun controller, but it was two-handed, and the extendable stock made it enormously easier to hold it steady and take precise shots. The Perfect Shot Pro for both systems handled decently, but as someone who has some difficulty even with an ordinary WiiMote my hands’ slight tremble made me a bad choice of tester.
I was surprisingly fond of the Intercooler STS. Besides its use to cool the system, it was a remarkably stylish little attachment — its design had been compared to muscle cars, and I could very easily see a Mustang in its angular, flared vents.
Huneycutt’s Impressions
Nyko has long been one of my favorite third-party accessory companies. Their products all meet a solid baseline standard of build quality, and I’ve never had a reliability issue with their products, and the product line shown at this year’s CES promises to be no different.
We were shown a range of products for the Wii, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, most of which are already on the market, but we were treated to a few new items. Nyko’s new PerfectShot Pro (who’s already-in-market brother the PerfectShot is already a superior option to Nintendo’s Zapper) is a heftier, better-feeling model of its older sibling, sporting a far superior heft (partially due to the added weight of the internal rumble functionality) and much better-feeling build quality due to Nyko’s proprietary Soft-Feel surface.
Its line for the PS3 is (much like the Move itself) a logical progression from the Wii product line. The two products shown were both larger, heavier, and felt, for lack of a better term, more expensive than their Wii counterparts. I realize that the common misconception that heavier means better doesn’t always apply, but when dealing with gun replica controllers there is a certain satisfaction in a decently-weighted and balanced item. Their actual build material was the same Soft-Feel surface, and I can’t over-express just how much more pleasant it is than standard cheaply-slick plastic.
And finally, the new slimline Intercooler STS is just . . . well, cool. While its necessity at this point may be questionable, after replacing multiple Xbox 360’s due to the ubiquitous red ring, I’m completely sold. I will be buying this unit and I can’t pretend that its not in part to its mean styling. Its big, angry, grinning mouth on the side of your system is sure to start conversations, and the fact that its whisper-quiet and pulls power from the USB allays any of the concerns of the previous models of Intercoolers (and yet raises concerns for those of us who have multiple USB devices already installed on the device).
In any case, NYKO remains one of the most stylish and impressive of the third-party accessory manufacturers, and I’m very much personally excited about their upcoming line of accessories.