I met with Nyko at E3 to see what they had lined up for this year. Kinect and 3DS are hot gaming products, so it makes sense that Nyko had accessories lined up for both of them.
The Zoom attachment for Kinect is simple, but it’s a great idea. This is a clip-on lens (no power required) for the Kinect sensor that saves those that have smaller living rooms and apartments from the long minimum required operating distance of the device. By simply snapping it on over the Kinect’s lenses the required operating distance is chopped by up to 40 percent.
I had a chance to take a Zoom-equipped Kinect for a spin and found that there’s no performance hit at all. Microsoft’s silly Kinect Adventures played fine, with no issues to speak of.
Expect to see the Kinect Zoom in stores at the end of summer for about $29.99.
The 3DS battery isn’t great. Fully charged, it gives just a few hours of playtime, and on stand-by you’ll die out in about a day with wireless on. Nyko has a few new products to help 3DS owners out. I saw the 3DS Power Grip, Shock n Rock and Game Boost during my E3 meeting with Nyko. All of these products are coming to retailers this summer.
The Power Grip is a device that snaps on the bottom of the 3DS to provide three times the battery life as well as some handy grips. It doesn’t add much weight and looks nice.
The Shock n Rock is a monster that totally encases the 3DS. It adds increased battery, powered speakers with surround sound and rumble. A little flip-up plug plugs right into the 3DS headphone port to take over the audio.
Nyko’s Game Boost is more my speed. It’s really small and simply clips onto one side of the back of the 3DS, making contact with the system’s charge points. It only adds 1-2 hours of battery life, but it’s nice and small, and will fit in any bag as a little back-up.
