Orbit Blog

Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

At E3 earlier this month, Saitek demoed a peripheral sure to spark the interest of many a flight sim enthusiast. Their product, for now with no name, enables flight simulators to display different, customizable information from the “game” on three separate LCDs. Effectively, the displays emulate a real cockpit, where each bit of information comes from a separate module that is integrated into the dash. The device is scheduled for a fall launch, will cost only $99.99, and will be supported in several flight sims beyond the obvious Flight Simulator X — we’re crossing our fingers for X-Plane support.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

While there may be one very obvious Sony gaming peripheral that’s screaming out for a rumble feature, that hasn’t stopped modders from looking at adding the functionality to other Sony gadgets. A modder by the handle of FOO-f00 has given the PSP a basic rumble feature through a bundle of wires and circuitry that somehow translates the speaker volume into a signal that a motor can use. FOO-f00 made it so it only activates once a high enough pitch is reached, but we’d imagine the result is far from a perfect rumble feature. Still, the project is very much a proof of concept: and an awesome concept at that.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Continue reading Mod adds rumble to PSP

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Wearables

We’ve seen some pretty off-kilter headwear in our day, but this plush Pac-Man helmet apparatus is begging for a top slot. This uber-retro head hides no secret in-ear headphones, Bluetooth chip, or whispering voice that alerts you of colored ghosts approaching from the rear, but you’re sure to be the life of the party if you roll up with this on your noggin. Reportedly, this spectacular blast from the not-too-distant past is available in both child and adult sizes, but considering that quantities “are limited,” we’d suggest coughing up that $29.99 real quick like if this just skyrocketed to the top of your must-have list.

[Via Core77]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV

The already nicely priced Xbox 360 HD DVD player just got slashed to $179. The new US-only, retail pricing also includes 5 free HD DVD flicks when purchasing the player between August 1st and September 30th — you know, the same time period 300 and Heroes goes on sale in HD DVD format. Unfortunately, the free titles must be made from a selection of just 15 pre-selected films which Toshiba considers “popular.” Nevertheless, the $20 price cut makes the Xbox 360 HD DVD player all the more enticing as an easily hacked, USB-player for HD flicks on your PC.

[Thanks, Andrew and PacoDG]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals

Ever the sticklers for mouse precision, the folks at Razer have now gone and updated their Diamondback gaming mouse with their third generation (3G) infrared sensor, which was first put to use in the company’s unfortunately-named DeathAdder mouse. As with that mouse, the Diamondback will give you an impressive 1800 dpi resolution, along with on-the-fly sensitivity adjustment, seven independently programmable buttons, and a rubberized non-slip finish, not to mention a choice of colors to light up your desk. Look for it to be available at the beginning of next month for $60.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

We’ve been around the block a few times on this rumor, but The Hollywood Reporter is citing an unnamed source that seems to think the Xbox 360 is going to get a $50 price drop in August, so we might as well give it another go. The Hollywood Reporter is saying the pending price drop is because of the traditional sales doldrums that time of the year, and our friends at Joystiq point out the convenient proximity to a certain “Halo 3″ being launched in September, but we’re sure it’s because Microsoft is just sick and tired of making so much dang profit on these here Xboxen. Either way, August isn’t far off, so we’ll be solving this little mystery right quick.

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming

While it may not be to everyone’s taste, this one-of-a-kind God of War PSP is certainly an impressive bit of console modding, boasting not just a spiffy paint job, but a few additions that dig into the PSP itself. Those include a red acrylic window on the rear of the unit that’ll let you see the UMD spinning, as well as some red LEDs that light up the PSP’s two shoulder buttons (head on over after the break for some more pics). Only the most die hard God of War fans need apply here though, as last we checked the bidding was around the $1,200 mark. On the upside, 15% of the final sale price will go to the Child’s Play charity, and you’ll also get that classy velvet-lined case to display your new prized possession in.

[Via PSP Fanboy]

Continue reading Custom-made God of War PSP up for auction

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Alright kids, no more complaining that Canada gets all the good stuff. ‘Course, all of us North Americans still have a bone to pick with Japan and South Korea, but that’s another story for another day. Apparently, the crimson / black DS Lite that snuck up on us last week at Future Shop has made its way south to the US of A — or at least, it had. According to DSFanboy, GameStop had the specially colored bundle (which included Brain Age 2 but sadly omitted the carrying case) listed on it’s website for $149.99, but now it seems that the item has been yanked. Keep your eyes peeled Americans, it ought to pop back up in due time.

[Via DSFanboy]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Gaming, HDTV, Home Entertainment

Get your software update on kids, Sony’s latest firmware is available now for your Sony PS3 and PSP rigs. While the PSP pulls a minor 0.01 update offering a boost in both security and playable network titles under [Game], the real sauce comes by way of firmware 1.90 for the PS3. Custom photo wallpapers for the XMB, messaging emoticons, AVCHD video playback direct from Memory Stick or camcorder, DMB sorting of hard drive-based games, upscaled CD audio over HDMI or digital optical outs, and a new forced 1080p24 HDMI output for Blu-ray films. Best of all perhaps, is the new “eject disc” option from the controller to keep your lazy meat sack planted on the couch just that much longer.

[Via Joystiq]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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Filed under: Desktops, Gaming, Peripherals

We wouldn’t go so as far to say that developers in the dedicated PPU world are “firing back” over John Carmack’s statement last week that he is “not a believer in dedicated PPUs,” but we would at least say that they’re offering alternative opinions. In a recent Bit-tech article, Ageia’s Dan Forster tackles concerns over the need for PPUs, and (in)directly addresses Carmack’s statement that “multiple CPU cores will be much more useful in general,” by suggesting that no matter how many cores are involved, there are timing issues between them when being distributed to separate tasks. Forster claims “At the moment, there’s not a single game that supports multi-threading even at a basic level…” Leaving some of us to wonder just what Carmack is on about — but do you really want to question the man who created Doom? Didn’t think so.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

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