Nyko recently announced its 2011 lineup and invited us to a first-hand tour of their products. The big product the company is pushing this year is the Zoom for Kinect. It’s a detachable add-on to the Kinect that reduces the amount of space needed to be able to properly play. It “zooms” in on players, allowing them to stand closer to the Kinect and still be detected. I didn’t personally get to try this one out, but a few booth babes playing Kinect Adventures didn’t seem to be having any problems with it.
Next, they showed us three different 3DS accessories, all designed to extend the battery life, among other features: the Game Boost, Power Grip, and Shock n Rock.
The Game Boost is simply an extra battery that snaps onto the back of your 3DS and provides 1-2 hours extra battery life. It’s mean primarily for “emergency” situations, like if you walk past Notch on the show floor but your 3DS has already died before you can StreetPass tag him. The Game Boost is incredibly light, and as such, didn’t feel as awkward as it looks while hooked onto the handheld.
Nyko’s PR rep explained that the Power Grip was actually an upgrade of a previous item for the DS; it’s another extended battery, but one that extends the life of the battery by about three times its normal length. The original product required its owners to remove the existing DS battery, however, which turned many off from buying it. But the Power Grip simply hooks onto the back of the 3DS. Although heavier than the Game Boost, the Power Grip is still fairly unobtrusive – there are grooves along the back where players’ fingers are supposed to lie while holding the handheld. However, I found the grooves somewhat awkward; I guess I just don’t hold my 3DS the way Nyko wants me to.
Finally we checked out the Shock n Rock, a heavy-duty case for the 3DS that completely surrounds and protects the handheld. It comes with all the bells and whistles – including the ones that you’ll never need. In addition to provide three times the normal battery life of the 3DS, the Shock n Rock also inexplicably includes four external speakers and a rumble pack that vibrates based on what’s happening in-game. I completely understand the need for protective casing – in fact, I just dropped and subsequently broke my iPhone during the course of E3’s shenanigans. But…speakers? Am I going to be playing handheld games with surround sound? I’m pretty convinced these speakers will amplify the mediocre sound quality and simply make it sound even worse. Also, vibration? Nyko claims this adds an extra level of immersion. Nice try, Nyko – no one’s going to be fooled into thinking they’re in the game.
I had heard rumors about the Play Clock for 3DS, a combination charging dock and alarm clock with built-in speakers for MP3 players, but we unfortunately did not get the chance to try it out. Instead, we skipped right along to the Charge Base 3 for PS3, a truly innovative product, and one I’m surprised they’re not working harder to market. The Charge Base 3 allows users to quickly and easily charge two PS3 controllers at once, without the hassle of plugging in cables. It’s a new vertical design of an existing product, and is magnetized for easy “docking” of controllers. The Charge Base itself is plugged in using a normal A/C adaptor.
We didn’t receive release dates for the products, but were promised that most of them would be released before this holiday season.