Razer, a company best known for their PC components, seems to be setting their sights on living rooms around the world The company has announced a number of new products at CES this year, most of them aiming to bring PC gaming out of the home office.
The first of the products is Razer Forge TV. As a direct competitor to Steam In-Home Streaming, the Forge TV will allow users to stream games from their gaming rig to their TV, provided the user has Razer's free streaming software. They are promising very low latency for the stream, but without proper testing, one can only guess what that actually means. The unit is an Android console as well, so it will be able to download and play Android games. It's equipped with quad-core Krait 450 CPU, and Adreno 420 GPU, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, so it's no weakling. Pictures indicate that it has an HDMI out, Ethernet port, and USB. Hopefully, that means that a wired Xbox 360 controller will work. They also showed a keyboard and mouse that is set up for couch use. Named "The Turret", this will be compatible with the Forge TV, for those games that just aren't meant to be played with a gamepad. When you're finished playing, the keyboard and mouse folds for easy charging and storage.
How about some prices? Kotaku is reporting that the Forge TV without controller will retail for $99.99. Add the Razer Gamepad (named The Serval) and the price jumps to $149.99. The Serval costs $79.99 on it's own, and The Turret will sell for $129.99.
You can check out more specs on these products at Kotaku.
One last product mentioned is Open-Source Virtual Reality, or OSVR for short.
The first of the products is Razer Forge TV. As a direct competitor to Steam In-Home Streaming, the Forge TV will allow users to stream games from their gaming rig to their TV, provided the user has Razer's free streaming software. They are promising very low latency for the stream, but without proper testing, one can only guess what that actually means. The unit is an Android console as well, so it will be able to download and play Android games. It's equipped with quad-core Krait 450 CPU, and Adreno 420 GPU, 2 GB RAM and 16 GB storage, so it's no weakling. Pictures indicate that it has an HDMI out, Ethernet port, and USB. Hopefully, that means that a wired Xbox 360 controller will work. They also showed a keyboard and mouse that is set up for couch use. Named "The Turret", this will be compatible with the Forge TV, for those games that just aren't meant to be played with a gamepad. When you're finished playing, the keyboard and mouse folds for easy charging and storage.
How about some prices? Kotaku is reporting that the Forge TV without controller will retail for $99.99. Add the Razer Gamepad (named The Serval) and the price jumps to $149.99. The Serval costs $79.99 on it's own, and The Turret will sell for $129.99.
You can check out more specs on these products at Kotaku.
One last product mentioned is Open-Source Virtual Reality, or OSVR for short.
This $200 developer kit looks a little familiar doesn't it? Kotaku states, "it's designed to complement the Rift developer kit as part of a new open-source initiative. Open Source Virtual Reality, or OSVR for short, is a Razer-led initiative to help jumpstart the slow-moving VR ecosystem."
The full article on the OSVR can be read here.
Razer looks to have their hands full for 2015. The Forge TV looks intriguing, but the added cost of the peripherals is causing me to be hesitant. Razer has never been known to be really affordable. Let's hope the price tag is worth it.
The full article on the OSVR can be read here.
Razer looks to have their hands full for 2015. The Forge TV looks intriguing, but the added cost of the peripherals is causing me to be hesitant. Razer has never been known to be really affordable. Let's hope the price tag is worth it.