CES 2022: What Happens in Vegas…Is Probably Coming to Your Desk
Although the Consumer Electronics Show is not a game-specific event, there’s a lot of gear for gamers to covet. After all, we’re into tech. We love fancy monitors and chairs with haptic feedback. The latest processors are going to find their way into our PCs. We want to hear our games blasted through the best sound systems, and grab our Mountain Dew or G-Fuel from smart refrigerators.
There was a lot of cool stuff at this year’s CES, even if the COVID-shy crowds were not quite up to where they used to be. Here are a few of our favorite pieces of tech, most of them geared to gamers.
PSVR 2
The PlayStation VR2 was probably the biggest game-centric announcement at CES. Sony’s new virtual reality headset is meant to go head-to-head with the Oculus Quest 2, and on paper at least, it has better specs. It has an OLED display with a higher resolution, wider field of view, and redesigned controllers. Like the Quest, it uses 4 cameras inside-out tracking and even has eye-tracking, which the Quest does not. One big disappointment: PSVR 2 is still a device tethered to the console. After the cable-free Quest, it will be hard to play VR connected by a cable.
The original PlayStation VR headset was super comfortable, compared to the competition. We expect the PSVR 2 to be the same. Also announced alongside the headset was Horizon Call of the Mountain. Considering how much excitement there is for the impending Horizon Forbidden West, we expect Call of the Mountain to sell a lot of headsets.
Razer Enki Pro HyperSense Gaming Chair
Gaming chairs have come a long way since the old days of parking your ass in whatever office roller chair was nearby. We expect great ergonomics, support and eye-catching design. It’s no exaggeration to say that alongside a quality monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers, a good chair is a basic peripheral.
Although it is still more a concept than a product you can order right now, the Enki Pro HyperSense promises full-body haptic feedback. We already have haptic feedback controllers and headsets, so why not? If nothing else, this chair is an indication of what might be coming down the line from other makers.
Alienware Tri-Mode Gaming Headset
Alienware previewed a lot of products at CES, but the Tri-Mode Headset caught our audio-loving attention. At around $200, the Tri-Mode Headset features a decently beefy 40mm driver, 55 hours of battery life, and Dolby Atmos Virtual Surround Sound. The Tri-Mode name comes from its connectivity options. It connects via Bluetooth, wirelessly through a USB-c dongle, or via a 3.5mm cable. I love the promise of one gaming headset that will connect to all my devices.
New Mobile Processors from AMD and Intel
They won’t make your ass vibrate and you can’t strap them to your head, but processors are the core (pun intended) of the computing experience. This year’s CES featured AMD and Intel going head-to-head with new mobile processor lines. The AMD Ryzen 6000 APU series got a lot of attention, in part due to its RDNA 2 architecture-based iGPU. Essentially, this is a processor that blurs the line between a CPU and a graphics card. It even features hardware raytracing and boasts better game performance than some dedicated graphics cards.
Intel revealed the 12th generation Core H-series processors. The top of the high end is the Core i9 12900 HK. It’s a 14 core beast that, when paired with a high-end graphics card, will bring any game to its knees.
Samsung Odyssey Neo G8 Monitor
As always, CES 2022 was packed with announcements about new television and monitor technology. Smaller than the immense and somewhat impractical 49-inch Neo G9, the G8 is a curved screen, 32 inch monitor. It’s most exciting spec is its 240Hz refresh rate, the first 4K monitor to offer it. It has a 3840×2160 4K resolution with an aggressive 1000R curve. The Quantum Mini LED backlighting promises more contrast and brighter colors than OLED panels as well. Like its big brother G9, the G8 features LED lighting on the back of the monitor that detects and coordinates with the colors onscreen.
Razer Zephyr Pro Mask
Lastly, here’s a product that is at once kind of ridiculous but also supremely cool and practical. It’s a 2022 update to Razer’s Zephyr “smart mask,” and like the earlier version includes dual-fan active filtration system with “N95 equivalent” filters and RGB lighting. The new model includes voice amplification which can be toggled off and on. With cloth masks being ineffective against the omicron variant and actual N95 masks being uncomfortable and often impractical, the Zephyr suddenly seems more attractive. The Pro will sell for $150 but there’s no release date yet. However, there’s a big, big caveat. The Zephyr’s effectiveness as PPE has not been certified by any agency and some folks are objecting to Razer implying that it’s similar to an N95.
Thank you for keeping it locked on COGconnected.
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