NYKO
Long are the days when NYKO made only a few great products a year. The time is now when NYKO has been completely kicking butt with their lineup of great 3rd party products and solutions to your greatest videogaming needs. At this year’s E3 there were only 2 completely new products on their lineup, the Intercooler TS for both the 360 and PS3 and the Media Hub+ for the PS3 but over the last couple of months they’ve added many new hardware items to their lineup of products.
The Intercooler TS is the rightful successor to the Intercooler EX for the Xbox 360 and PS3 in that it gives even better cooling power with more efficient fans and a higher amount to boot. Also, the product has an external AC power supply so that it can remain running despite whether or not the PS3 or 360 is on, to help reduce the amount of heat at all times. Also, there is a new temperature sensor included on this model that allows the sensor to know when to turn on or off to save power. Finally, there is a feature that allows you to turn the fan speeds down if you’re watching a movie or playing something where you don’t need as much cooling. The MSRP for the Intercooler TS 360 version is $24.99 while the PS3 version is a bit steeper at $34.99 (due to the increased amount of cooling necessary on such a hot running machine). Both of these products are set to release in September of this year.
The other new item, the Media Hub+, is built solely for PS3 owners that purchased the 40 GB PS3 and suffered a loss of 2 USB ports and an SD card reader (both included in the 80 GB PS3 but not the 40 GB one).This item extends your PS3’s media ports by providing 3 USB ports and an SD card reader through one of the front USB ports on the PS3. At $19.99, this is a great investment in making your PS3 equally as capable as the high end ones (for $80 less). The release date for this miniature media hub is this August.
Other items that have been released in the last couple of months include the 360 and PS3 charge stations, the Energy Pak for Wii Balance Board, the Kama wireless nunchuk for Wii, the Cord-Free wireless Nunchuk adaptor for Wii, and the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii Frontman guitars for Guitar Hero or Rock Band. Each of these items was equally invaluable and had the perfect functionality/features necessary to maximize convenience in gaming.
The 360 and PS3 charge stations are convenient rechargeable battery solutions for the 360 and PS3, much like the invaluable Wii Charge Station for WiiMotes. These allow you to easily dock your PS3 or 360 controllers on their respective docks for quick charging and long battery life. The Energy Pak for Wii Balance Board is a very intuitive and invaluable solution for the battery draining balance board. You’ll actually never need batteries again as this acts as either a seamlessly integrated battery pack or it allows you to even plug your Balance Board into the wall for continuous AC power without getting in the way. For $19.99, this baby is probably the most necessary addition to your Wii.
And just when you think the lineup of great items is finished, the next two are even better options. First of all, the Kama is a slick wireless nunchuk that’s perfect for eliminating the annoyingly short cord of Nintendo’s first party nunchuk. A small attachment, very akin to the WiiMotion Plus is plugged into the back of the WiiMote to provide a wireless connection with the Nunchuk. At $34.99, this nunchuk is probably best if you don’t already own one of Nintendo’s nunchuks. But if you do…
The Cord-Free wireless adaptor for Wii is the perfect item to make your 1st party nunchuk wireless. You plug the nunchuk seamlessly into a small plastic shell and wrap/tuck the cord into the bottom part of the dongle, plugging in the end of it into the nunchuk shell and this all connects to the same type of wireless device from the Kama. This is a great adaptor to make your Wii’s controls fully wireless and I can’t say enough at how impressed I was with the two options.
Finally, the Frontman guitars for 360 and PS3 are perfect for rocking on either Rock Band or Guitar Hero and they come with an effects panel that acts as the wireless connector. On the effects pane, there are 5 different colored LEDs to represent the different buttons that you must push in your respective music game. This adds as a nice room effect for the party atmosphere and also shows you exactly which buttons you press and how quickly they are received (so that no one can complain about the wireless signal screwing them up). The Wii Frontman has a better look with a more realistic design but its only issue is that it will not work on the upcoming Rock Band title for Wii (a new guitar is in the works). All 3 of the guitars have mini USB charging plugs as well as the ability replace the faceplate for customization of the design.
NYKO has really become one of the premier 3rd party accessories creators with top notch products and solutions and we’re always excited to see what other innovations they have in store for the gaming world. And just as they did last year, NYKO managed to impress me once again with their lineup of premium products. Check some of them out today in stores or later this year.
