CES 2014: The Video Game Technology You Need to Know About

CES 2014 is the year’s initial mega event for tech heads and gamers alike. A cavalcade of amazing inventions and current technological items are on display on the CES 2014 showroom floor. Gamers will also have some exciting news to look forward to, since gaming luminaries such as Valve and Nvidia are in attendance and ready to wow the world with their newly announced tech.

Here’s all the video game related information you need to know about from CES 2014.

SteelSeries Stratus iOS Gaming Controller

SteelSeries made sure to announce their new lien of wireless iOS gaming controllers — the Stratus. The controller will work with several Apple devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touches that run iOS 7 and AppleTV via AirPlay). There are two methods that allow the Stratus to connect to smartphone/tablet devices – physically snapping it to your device or connecting it via Bluetooth. Up to four separate Startus controllers can connect to a single device. The Stratus wireless mobile controller can run for about 10 hours of battery time, while it takes two hours to fully recharge itself.

Oculus Rift – “Crystal Cove”

The 3D, virtual reality gaming headset known as the Oculus Rift appeared at CES 2014. The latest prototype version of the gaming peripheral was showcased as a model that looks to be closest to the retail version that will launch sometime later at an unspecified date. The “Crystal Cove” prototype of the Oculus Rift reportedly comes with two new features – improved positional head tracking for users and low persistence (LCD TO OLED displays and better displayed frames. The image quality of this model is said to be a major improvement over the initial Oculus Rift models that were shown at conventions such as E3 2013. So far, the company behind this device has shipped the first versions of it to interested developers. $75 million have been raised thus far for the continued development and production of the Oculus Rift.

Nvidia 192-Core Tegra K1 for Mobile and PC Gaming

Nvidia debuted its next-generation mobile processor, the Tegra K1. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made a live announcement during Nvidia’s CES 2014 press conference regarding the Tegra K1 — Epic Games (the developers behind games such as Gears of War and Unreal Tournament) will be bringing its next game development engine (the Unreal Engine 4) to the Tegra K1. This mobile computer chip/video game development partnership will surely result in some amazingly realistic graphics for the near future. Tegra K1-enabled products will become available in a quad-core 32-bit system chip that’s based on ARM’s Cortex A15 CPU architecture and a 64-bit dual-core “Super Core CPU.” These mobile computer chip supported products will arrive sometime in the early part of 2014.

“Nvidia GameStream-Ready” Certified PC’s

Nvidia also announced that they have partnered with several tech companies in order to develop and manufacture a line of PC’s and Wi-Fi routers that are optimized for Nvidia’s GameStream technology out of the box. This GameStream technology allows gamers to stream PC games to the Nvidia Shield mobile gaming device. Future purchasers of these GameStream certified devices will have two options to purchase among – customer built PCs or certified routers. The current custom PC builders who have entered into a partnership with Nvidia include CyberPowerPC, Digital Storm, Falcon Northwest, IBuyPower, MainGear and Origin PCV3 Gaming. These companies will develop PCs with that are powered by the GeForce GTX cards, which are also GameStream certified. Wi-Fi Router manufacturers who are on-board with Nvidia include Asus, Buffalo, D-Link and NetGear.

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Brother in Arms 3 Heading to Mobile Devices

Gameloft’s Brothers in Arms 3 is actually moving over onto several mobile devices. The controls have been streamlined for touch screen compatibility through swiping and tapping to move and shoot. Over 100 levels will be available for play on iOS, Android and Windows Phone devices.

Wikipad Gamevice Tablet Controller

The developers of the Android-based Wikipad gaming tablet unveiled their newest gaming tech — the Gamevice portable tablet controller. It is currently being developed to work solely with Android and Windows 8-enabled devices. Wikipad president Fraser Townley announced that future compatibility with other notable operating systems is being worked on in regards to the Gamevice.

Full Body Video Game Technology That Translates Body Motion Into In-Game Action

An unnamed device was shown off on the CES 2014 showroom floor — a full body harness that’s filled with 17 body movement sensors, which translates player movement into in-game interactivity and action. The harness’ 17 sensors are powered by a magnetometer, gyroscope and accelerometer. This system is reported to be retailing for $400 upon release.

Valve Steam Machines

Sony CES 2014 Event/PlayStation Now/Sony Entertainment Network

SHAQ FU 2?

In one of the worst gaming news to come out of CES 2014, Shaquille O’Neal confirmed the production of a sequel to one of the worst video game ever created – Shaq Fu. Check out GamerFitNation’s exlcusive interview with Shaq about this upcoming travesty of a game.

Mad Catz Xbox One Steering Wheel

Mad Catz’s exclsuive Xbox One steering wheel was available for demo play on the CES 2014 showroom floor. Check out IGN’s preview video of this new Force Feedback-powered racing game wheel.

PrioVR Motion Suit

A startup company by the name of YEI Technology began working on a full-body tracking suit that’s compatible with the Oculus Rift – the PrioVR Motion Suit. This latest piece of virtual reality gaming tech was given a Kickstarter; unfortunately, it didn’t reach its overall crowd funding goal. YEI Technology has decided to go ahead and debut the PrioVR suit at CES 2014 and relaunch it on Valentine’s Day this year. Check out the preview vid of the suit above.

AMD’s Discovery Gaming Tablet

AMD has joined the gaming tablet race with its newest “Discovery” hardware. IGN spent some time with this new tablet device in the video above. This tablet is powered by the super powerful Mullins APU.

New Turtle Beach Gaming Headset

Turtle Beach, one of the most well known video game headset companies, announced a large number of partnership deals that will result in a array of upcoming headsets. Turtle Beach headsets will be developed by the PS4, Xbox One and Titanfall. Some of the newest headsets include the Titanfall Ear Force Atlas ($149.95) and the XL1 Xbox 360 Stereo Gaming Headset ($39.95).

Ozobot

The Ozobot is a brand new robotic piece of gaming hardware that can physically maneuver on your tablet of choice and let owners play a multitude of single and multiplayer games. The Ozobot was shown to several onlookers at CES 2014 in a cool demonstration – the Ozobot worked with an app, which displays tracks that the device can track and move on. By drawing different patterns on your tablet, the Ozobot will respond in different ways (speeding or slowing down, for example).A Kickstarter campaign is being prepped for this piece of cute gaming hardware/software. The Ozobot will go for $59.95 upon release.

Madcatz F.R.E.Q. 9 Bluetooth, Noise-Canceling Headset

Famed video game accessory developer Mad Catz showed off their newest invention – the F.R.E.Q. 9 Bluetooth, noise-canceling headset. IGN got some demo time with the headset in the above preview video.

Innex Inc. SuperRetroTrio Console

At last year’s CES, a retro console named the RetroDuo was unveiled. This old-school/new-school console offers modern technology that’s capable of playing NES and SNES games. Innex Inc., the company behind these console, upped the ante at CES 2014 by adding one more playable gaming platform to its machine. Check out the interview above from GamerFitNation for more info on this retro home console.