Ageia PhysX

Ageia is showing off their PhysX card in action at their booth. You can play games like Warmonger and Unreal Tournament III there. The first is a soon to be released multiplayer game based on the same engine as Unreal Tournament III. Both games make use of physics, but Warmonger has been designed for the PhysX card completely. You will see a lot of very cool effects in the game thanks to the card. The best news about Warmonger is the fact that it will be a free download. Look for it our download section when it becomes available.


Ageia is also hard at work, trying to get OEMs and system integrators to include the PhysX card in their systems. They are already working with Dell, Acer and Medion, which include the card in some of their systems. The most interesting aspect is the notebook variant, which will be offered by Dell in their newest, soon to be released XPS gaming notebooks. The overall specs of the mobile gaming rig are currently a closely guarded secret, but we were allowed to snap a picture of the card itself.

HAPTX

HAPTX is most likely not a company you have heard of. We just stumbled upon their booth as there are two notebooks on which you can try out an interactive demo in combination with their input device. It is meant to replace the mouse in games and adds a real weight feeling to the gaming experience. This means, if you were to open an old wooden drawer, you can feel how it does not open smoothly. It works well and you also notice if you walk against a heavy barrel and feel the weight of something you have picked up in the virtual world. The device is currently not being sold internationally, but the manufacturer is looking to expand. If you are able to get one, the price tag should be somewhere around 180€s.

Razer

Razer has two new items in store. The first is their new mouse called Lachesis. It manages up to 4000 DPI in hardware, so you will not see any interpolation to reach this amount. The mouse incorporates two sensors and calculates the movement and speed using the doppler effect, which is a different approach as most other mice today. Razer has designed the mouse to store a number of profiles within the device itself, so you can take it anywhere with your settings without the need of the software. Another interesting aspect is the multiple, real time DPI change, which you may set at any point between 125 DPI and 4000 DPI.


The second item is something we covered in depth at CeBIT 2007. Razer's Mako is a 2.1, THX certified speaker system. The unit we had the pleasure of seeing at CeBIT was still a preproduction model, while this one is now the final product. Razer aims to release the part just before the holiday season. The sound was quite impressive, as was the case already with the preproduction model.