CES 2012 - Jan 9th Gaming News

Last year was a pretty good year for gamers. We got a look at the Razer Switchblade Prototype, Vizio announced its 3D 21:9 Cinemawide HDTVs, AMD launched the APU with the well received HP dm1z, and there were more new panels and notebooks than you could shake a stick at. Two years ago at CES 2010, Dell launched their first 27" panel - the U2711.

Since then the Switchblade has morphed into the Razer Blade (and the same technology showed up in their SW:TOR keyboard), the Vizio Cinemawide missed its anticipated fall 2011 launch, APUs continue to turn up everwhere, and HP has released its own 27" - the ZR2740w (it's actually an LED backed IPS monitor, and undercuts Dell's price by almost $300).

So, what will CES 2012 bring gamers? I'm hoping for an 27" LED IPS panel from Dell to heat up the price wars at the top end, and I really want the 21:9 Cinemawide to launch. It would also be nice to see some of the magic from the Razer products filter down into more affordable gear. And, there's always more panels than you can shake a stick at. So, here I'm collecting the announcements that I think will appear to the folks here at the WSGF.

Jan 9th

Microsoft - Kinect dated for Feb 1st, with pre-orders open now. $249 price tag...

Panasonic - Panasonic shows info on a 4k display panel. Of note, is that the panel appears to be about a 17" panel, which would have applications in PCs (rather than HDTVs). Good thing, since games would be able to take advantage of the technology at day one, rather than upscaled Blu-Ray.

ROCCAT - European peripheral maker ROCCAT enters the US market

Sony + AT&T - PS Vita coming to AT&T in February.

LG - Unveiled a 55" OLED "ultradefinition" TV.

BenQ - 1080p 3D projector shipping in Q1 for $4k.

LG - New 23" and 27" 3D IPS display panels.

Victorinox - 1TB Swiss Army thumb drive/knife.

Vizio - Vizio enters the PC market with all-in-one and notebook units. Of note is a "clean" Win7 image optimized by Microsoft and free of "bloatware".

LG - 3DTVs with 1mm bezel. 3D technology lets two players see separate screens on the same panel, for games that support the feature (a la the Sony Playstation 3D display).