Razer Switchblade impressions: It's a 7" gaming PC with an LCD keyboard

Razer may be best known for its well-regarded line of angular, extreme gaming peripherals for the core PC gaming set – think mice, keyboards, mouse pads and yes, motion controllers – but the San Diego-based company is looking to branch out into an area you may not have expected: efficient (and graphically anemic) netbook computers.

While it's an unusual move for the peripheral maker, it's not a departure from their core competency. Gaming laptops may have whittled down the bulk required for a high-end gaming experience but they're still far from portable. Inversely, netbooks are steadily becoming increasingly capable laptop replacements, but fall short when performing the most demanding tasks ... like video gaming.

So Razer's been working behind-the-scenes for some years, having hired many of the people from portable computing pioneers OQO, waiting for the intersection of minimum specs necessary for an acceptable, low-end gaming experience. And now, at CES 2011, it's finally ready to share the fruit of its labors: the Switchblade, a "concept design" with no price, no launch window, and no guarantee we'll ever see it on store shelves. But that doesn't mean it's vaporware; Razer didn't spend time and money on a flashy (and functional!) prototype with no intent on productizing it. It's just not clear what the final product will look like.

But we do know what the Switchblade looks like. We had a chance to play with it at Razer's CES booth and came away very impressed with what we saw. In short the Switchblade is a netbook running Windows 7 on Intel hardware. Up top is a 1024x600 7" multitouch display; on the bottom is a pretty fancy keyboard featuring an LCD screen covered in a touchscreen layer and transparent keyboard keys. That keyboard offers two significant features: 1) the ability to create custom, game-specific controls and 2) the transfer of UI elements from the already small screen to the far more functional keyboard.

While in Windows, a slick UI skin occupies the top screen and a traditional QWERTY keyboard layout takes up the bottom "screen" – boot up a game (we were shown Warcraft 3) and you get those game-specific keys. Sometimes those are parts of the game's UI, other times it could be a stylized keyboard, with a Warcraft-y alphabet.

The diminutive Switchblade doesn't offer much in the way of physical connectivity – along the right side, you'll find a small AC port, and a mini-HDMI output. On the left side you'll find a single USB 2.0 port (for hooking up a Razer mouse, no doubt). As far as invisible ports go, the Switchblade packs Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and though the unit we saw didn't have it, Razer is hoping to add 3G to the mix as well. The prospect of effortlessly bringing your WoW experience on the go, anywhere cellular data is available, is certainly thrilling to both WoW players and Razer execs.

And that's the pitch for the Switchblade. When asked (repeatedly) about the cost or release date, a Razer rep told us that they were targeting a netbook price range since, simply, that's the competition. They can't price it much higher and can't afford to price it much lower, so we imagine a target tag of rougly $300 to $500. As for when we'll see it on store shelves, he was much cagier. This unit is a prototype and even the name "Switchblade" is a codename (you can tell since it doesn't follow Razer's increasingly goofy "deadly predators" naming convention). Razer will undoubtedly have more to share at E3, but we're guessing a 2011 launch is out of the question. But until things are a little more official, we can all imagine a future where miniature gaming PCs abound ... and where MMO junkies leave their gaming caves.
Source:Joystiq

Fable Coin Golf, Game Room coming to Windows Phone 7

After dropping details on Avatar Kinect and the crazy amount of Kinects sold in its first 60 days on shelves, Microsoft's Steve Ballmer moved onto another recent Microsoft product launch: Windows Phone 7. While the Crackdown and Halo brands already have some presence on the platform, Ballmer took the opportunity to reveal that another major Microsoft Game Studios brand is making the leap to the small screen. Fable Coin Golf brings everything you know and love about Fable to your phone ... specifically, the coin golf part.

Alright, so we didn't see what Fable Coin Golf is exactly, but Ballmer did reveal that all the gold earned in Fable Coin Golf (presumably earned playing golf?) will be sent straight to your Fable 3 character on the Xbox 360, ala Fable Pub Games and Fable 2, for the old-timers in the house. During a montage that followed the reveal, we also spotted the retro-themed Game Room service, specifically arcade classic Centipede. We'll try to dig up more on the service's mobile offering during CES this week. For now, make your best guess as to what precisely Fable Coin Golf is.

Video demonstration makes sense of N-Control Avenger

Remember that Xbox 360 controller attachment that turns your gamepad into a monstrous tangle of levers? Engadget met up with creator N-Control during CES, capturing just what the Avenger thing is on video.

After the break, see how the Avenger uses an elaborate, Mouse Trap-style arrangement to allow access to all of the controller's buttons without moving your thumbs off of the sticks -- ostensibly saving you valuable milliseconds of reaction time. Of course, the adapter requires several minutes of explanation, so perhaps it's a wash.

Razer Hydra impressions: Super-precise motion controllers make it to PC, Portal 2 support in tow

Sixense was back at CES this year, showing off its TrueMotion-powered gaming wands. While a partnership with computer gaming peripheral maker Razer was announced at last year's CES, the fruit of that partnership was on display this year, with a brand name (meet the Razer Hydra), some industrial design, and some new Valve-created content for the hardware in the form of custom Portal 2 tech.

During our hands-off tour of the still-prototype hardware, we were consistently impressed with the controller's accuracy. Imagine dual-wielding two PlayStation Move controllers except – in place of the relatively cumbersome process of requiring a PlayStation Eye to track a glowing sphere to position the controllers in 3D space – the Hydra uses a small base station that creates an electromagnetic field with a radius of about six feet. That's it. That base station serves double duty as a stand to rest the presently wired controllers on. Worry not, wire-haters, a wireless model is in the works but, much like Razer's other hardware, it's going to perfect the technology with a wired release first before chasing the wireless solution.While there's no release date or price yet, we were told to expect them early next year which, considering it will be released in a special bundle with the April-released Portal 2 packed in makes sense. As for price, Razer's targeting a sub-$100 tag or, roughly what two PlayStation Move controllers would run you. That Portal 2 bundle will include a special version of the game, that includes not only native support for the Hydra controllers, but new maps and puzzle mechanics built exclusively for Hydra. In our brief tour, we saw "scalable cubes" which can be stretched along the x-axis. Stretch one side, rotate, stretch another side, rotate again. In one puzzle, a scalable cube was stretched into a bridge; in another, it was stretched on all sides until it was large enough (the mass increases as well, conservation of mass be damned!) to shatter a glass floor below.

In order to manipulate the cubes, you enter 1:1 mode by pressing '1' on the right stick, which locks free-look on the right controller and remaps it to control the object. You can then rotate, move, and place the object with an impressive amount of accuracy. Remember that PlayStation Move multitouch demo from the Engadget Show? Adjusting the size of a scalable cube is pretty much that. You're also able to rotate and reposition portals. Instead of simply reshooting a portal to another position, you can grab it, move it, and even twist it. The exit velocity of anything thrown into a portal will carry through, meaning some Hydra-based puzzles may take advantage of your ability to twist and re-align portals.

While Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 was shown off last year with 1:1 sword controls, the Sixense rep we spoke with couldn't confirm if that would ever be released. He did, however, share a video of Call of Duty: Black Ops being played with Sixense, using the Sixense MotionCreator tool, which remaps traditional keyboard/mouse controls to the twin motion sticks. You can also see apps like Boxee being controlled with Sixense, though with a 6' radius, you may need to park that electromagnetic base station on your coffee table for proper couch navigation. Since that range is wholly dependent on the size of the electromagnetic coil and power provided to it, it's possible we may see a larger range if consumer demand is there. Also not included in this launch release: Mac support. With Razer working to make its entire product line compatible with Apple's OS, we'd imagine some consumer demand there would go a long way.
In short, Sixense technology and the Razer Hydra product are very impressive. If you're not inclined to believe us, that's fine, but we'd also point out the tacit endorsement of Valve, not only one of the most talented FPS developers in the industry but one of PC gaming's most successful and influential supporters.