Hasta La Gadget!

Imagine if you could switch between your PlayStation 3, XBox 360, and your Wii or other game console seamlessly without having to remove your headphones to hear the audio, or in some cases even to talk smack with the friends you’re gaming with. That’s what the new Logitech Wireless Headset F540 was built for: superior audio, ease of use, and seamless switching between up to three consoles. The F540 headset, available for pre-order at $149.99 list, comes with a base station with three RCA audio inputs so you can connect three audio sources to the same headset.

The F540 has built-in support for voice chat through the PlayStation 3 and the XBox 360, so if you connect those consoles, you won’t have to do anything special to use voice chat with other gamers. The headset is completely wireless, recharges its 10-hour batteries over micro-USB, and features a noise-cancelling microphone so your teammates hear you and not your dog barking in the background. All of your audio controls are right on the earcup, so you can control the volume, mute the microphone, or switch audio inputs just by tapping the side of your head. 

We knew it was coming, and now here it is: Sony‘s special edition PS3. To commemorate the impending release of GT5 the console is turning blue, and while the rather vibrant version we saw in the official press photos from August didn’t do much for us, seeing the thing in the flesh (admittedly behind glass) gave us quite a different impression. It has the same matte finish as the current PS3 slim, but the rich blue gives it almost a metallic effect. It’s really quite a looker, and while we wouldn’t normally splurge for such “special” editions, how often does a new Gran Turismo come around? Once a decade at most. This Gran Turismo 5 Racing Pack hits Japan on November 3 for 35,980 yen. That’s about $420 of those dollars you’ve been saving for oh so long.

PS3 holds breath waiting for Gran Turismo 5 release, turns blue at TGS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Oh, sure — we’ve seen an Xbox 360 enclosure stuffed with x86 innards, but we can’t say we’ve ever seen anything quite like this. Gaming upstart Origin PC has just shattered every preconceived notion about its potential with the Big O, an appropriately titled luxury machine that combines a liquid-cooled gaming PC with a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 Slim. In one box. A pair of base configurations are available (though customizations are limitless), with both of ’em rigged up to run the PC and Xbox concurrently. In other words, these bad boys can actually crunch SETI@home data while you explore the vastness of Halo: Reach. The $7,669 build includes an overclocked 4.0GHz Core i7-930 CPU, Rampage III Extreme mobo, twin NVIDIA GTX480 graphics cards, 6GB of Corsair memory, a 1,500 watt power support, 12x Pioneer Blu-ray burner, two 50GB OCZ SSDs wired up as a boot drive, Windows 7 Home Premium, a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 and bragging rights the size of Texas Alaska. For those still unsatisfied, there’s a $16,999 version that’s frankly too lust-worthy to spell out here (but is in the gallery below). Hit the source link if you’re feeling ambitious, but don’t blame us for blowing your kid’s college fund in one fell swoop.

Continue reading Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle

Origin PC’s Big O desktop: half gaming PC, half Xbox 360, all muscle originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Sep 2010 10:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Origin PC  | Email this | Comments

Missing your oldie Xbox 360’s bright and airy white finish? Well, Microsoft’s still not willing to sell you a slimmified 360 in any color other than black (excepting the limited edition Halo gear), but at least you can gaze upon the singular example of what a white one may look like above. This seemingly repainted Xbox 360 250GB (to give it its official, and ridiculous, name) has been lovingly put together over in China and really makes us wonder why Microsoft is depriving us of such snowy good looks. Perhaps it wanted to draw a clear between the old and the new? Either way, hit the source for the cheapest way to peek an all-white slim 360 without giving the Colorware crew a call.

[Thanks, Anthony]

Xbox 360 slimster made over in white, just for the hell of it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  A9VG.com  | Email this | Comments

This might not be as sexy as its recent physical redesign, but the Xbox 360 is about to take what might be a major leap forward for many gamers. The console’s voice chat codec is going to be tweaked in an upcoming system update to allow a higher bit rate, and consequently better audio, through. Originally put together to run on 64k internet connections with the original Xbox, the codec’s finally catching up with our broadband times and should see itself renewed some time this fall, potentially alongside the retail launch of Kinect. Great, now when 12-year old kids destroy us in Halo, we’ll be able to hear their high-pitched gloating with crystal clarity.

Microsoft set to up bit rate on Xbox Live voice comms, pwners everywhere rejoice originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Aug 2010 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Joystiq  |  Eurogamer  | Email this | Comments