Nyko, a steadfast name in the 3rd-party gaming peripheral market, has been busy expanding their business focus this year. At this year’s CES, they unveiled their Yo Gabba Gabba! line.
The first, flashiest item that caught our eye was the Yo Gabba Gabba! Muno Time combination clock/radio with integrated portable charger. Looking somewhat like an animated red pickle, the charger is listed as supporting iPod, iPhone, Nintendo DS and 3DS devices. The alarm feature can play songs off the connected portable device or one of the included songs like “Don’t Bite Your Friends”.
The second Yo Gabba Gabba! product is the Brobee Hip Pack. Primarily designed as a mobile device carrying case, the Hip Pack has multiple internal pockets to keep cords and other peripherals off of your portable device screen. A screen cleaner comes included in the pack. Both products will be released in the summer and prices have yet to be released.
Nyko also had a few of their new portable device offerings as well. The PlayStation Vita received a lot of love with the Power Grip, Speaker Stand, and Game Case Pro among the more interesting offers.
The Power Grip triples the available battery life of the PS Vita and helps give the device a more console controller-like feel. Fortunately, the additional size can be retracted to maintain portability. The non-obtrusive attachment on the back keeps the Power Grip from interfering with the function of the PS Vita. When the Via launches in North America, the Power Grip will retail for $24.99.
For a more stationary boost to the PS Vita, the Speaker Stand give you a wired charging dock and powered speakers. A line-in jack gives you the ability to hook up most other portable audio players to the dock as well. The Speaker Stand will retail for $29.99.
While not a flashy as the previous two toys, the Game Case Pro provides a sleek, minimalistic way to bring up to 10 PS Vita games and 4 memory cards along with you wherever you need them. The Game Case Pro will retail for $4.99.
Beyond extending the Kindle Fire’s battery life, Nyko’s Power Case seeks to resolve one of the design flaws of the device. Due to the power button position of the Kindle Fire, unintentional power downs can be frustrating. The Power Case relocates the power controls on the bottom edge around to the front of the device. A built in stand allows you to prop up the Kindle Fire for optimal movie watching, hands free. In Spring, the Power Case will retail for $59.99.
McGinley’s Impressions
I was pleasantly surprised to see that Nyko secured a licensed line of merchandise. Nyko has been actively shaking off the stigma of the “3rd party device” manufacturer. I’m not sure why doing 3rd party peripherals is thought of as a bad thing; the devices fit an obvious need or they wouldn’t sell anything. Personally I own a few of their charging devices, as the convenience is worth its weight in gold.
Trauben’s Impressions
I’m not entirely sure what I thought of these devices. As peripherals they were quite solid, and the Nyko Power Case would certainly be handy for Kindle users. The Yo Gabba Gabba! stuff didn’t really make a huge impression, but all in all, I thought their lineup was fine.