Every peripheral manufacturer is founded on a different philosophy. Some try to be first to market, others rely on partnerships with big name franchises, while still more aim to support a more casual audience. During our visit with Nyko at this year’s CES, it became clear that they aren’t planning to embrace any of these business models. Instead, they are simply putting out useful peripherals which are comparable to, and in some cases exceed, first party options.
The two most impressive items on display were the company’s Move-housing guns: the Perfect Shot For Move and Perfect Shot For Move. Much like its Wii counterpart, Perfect Shot For Move is a pistol that houses a Move controller in the “barrel” portion. In practice, the peripheral strikes a nice between being light yet still substantial; the Power Shot felt sturdy enough to handle the day-to-day rigors of gaming but didn’t become burdensome after a couple rounds of Sony’s The Shot.
Although the Perfect Shot for Move was impressive, it was not the best item Nyko had on display. That title goes to the Power Shot for Move, a Move housing rifle to match Sony’s own release. Nyko’s option sports an adjustable stock that allows for the rifle to be fitted to the user’s height. Unfortunately, the stock doesn’t sport as much range as the Top Shot Elite and felt a little bit short for my 73 inch frame. Nyko has made up for these shortcomings by including a navigation controller holster which can be twisted. Although it sounds trivial, the ability to turn the Nav controller ever so slightly makes a massive difference in terms of comfort and makes this the best Move rifle we got our hands on at the show. Both of these peripherals will be available in March.
It wasn’t all Move products on display though, as Nyko also sported a pretty sizable set of other products. On the Xbox 360 side there were a couple of redesigned additions for your Xbox 360 collection. The infamous Intercooler has been redesigned and fitted to the new Xbox 360 Slim. The new design seems to solve some of the problems that made the original Intercooler such an issue, but given the original’s history we’re cautious about the Intercooler S when it releases in February.
Also shown off was a remake of the Xbox 360 Charge Base titled Charge Base S. Additionally, it is incredibly low profile even with the full suite of controllers holstered. The new model is black, it will come with 2 NIMH batteries and will feature a USB port for charging other devices along with your controllers. The redesign isn’t enough to replace a set of functioning play n’ charges or an older model charge base, however, if you want to save a little money on juicing up your controllers this is an option to look into come March.
Taken together, it looks like Nyko has some pretty stellar release for early 2011. The return of the intercooler makes us a little bit nervous, but other than that everything they showed off seemed like a solid addition to the line. Keep a particularly keen eye out for the Power Shot For Move when it drops this March.
