CES 2010: Hercules/Thrustmaster
posted:
1/8/2010 9:22:00 AM
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CES 2010
The folks at Guillemot, the parent of both the Hercules and Thrustmaster lines, seem to have a good grasp on what accessories gamers are looking for. This year, most of their new products focused on the Wii, but they also had a full complement of products on display for DSi, PC and PS3.
The first thing that caught my eye when I hit their booth was a skateboard/snowboard looking product sitting on top of the Wii Balance board. The T-Freestyle NW has the look and feel of a skateboard, but securely fits on top of the Wii Fit board and allows you to get the true feel when using snowboard or skateboard games. I hopped on it and did some snowboarding and had no problems maintaining my balance or controlling it. What I liked was that my toes and heels were near the edges (unlike when they are smack dab in the middle of the Wii Fit board) and I was better able to control my movements dour to my foot placement. Better yet, the Freestyle will be priced at $29.99 when it hits retail and is made of maple, just like real boards.
The other new Wii products that were introduced include the T-Charge Stand Contactless + NW, which is an induction charger and stand that supports two remotes. It comes with two batteries that can hold up to 30 hours of charge, works with Wii motion plus and utilizes the Wii USB port for power. The Sports Pak + NW is also new, and will support Wii Motion Plus and uses a universal grip that works with four different tips. These are a sword, ping-pong racket, tennis racquet (similar to the Tennis Pro Duo) and a golf-club extension. This will retail for $24.99. The last was the Elite Fitness Pack + NW, which is a 9-piece pack that has many things that are needed for advanced exercise using the Wii Balance board. Included are a carry bag, exercise mat, two wrist/ankle weights, a riser for the balance board, pedometer, armband holder, leg strap and a lanyard. This will retail for $49.99 when it becomes available.
Under the Hercules brand, a small Netbook titled eCafe was displayed. The book uses a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, has a 250 GB drive, 6-cell battery, Windows 7 and utilizes WiFi connectivity. There are also three USB ports, 1 Meg of memory (upgradeable to 4 Meg), software bundle (including Open Office.org) and has a 10.1” screen. I used it to check some weather and flight conditions and it worked like a charm. It is currently available on Amazon for a cost of $349.
The first thing that caught my eye when I hit their booth was a skateboard/snowboard looking product sitting on top of the Wii Balance board. The T-Freestyle NW has the look and feel of a skateboard, but securely fits on top of the Wii Fit board and allows you to get the true feel when using snowboard or skateboard games. I hopped on it and did some snowboarding and had no problems maintaining my balance or controlling it. What I liked was that my toes and heels were near the edges (unlike when they are smack dab in the middle of the Wii Fit board) and I was better able to control my movements dour to my foot placement. Better yet, the Freestyle will be priced at $29.99 when it hits retail and is made of maple, just like real boards.
The other new Wii products that were introduced include the T-Charge Stand Contactless + NW, which is an induction charger and stand that supports two remotes. It comes with two batteries that can hold up to 30 hours of charge, works with Wii motion plus and utilizes the Wii USB port for power. The Sports Pak + NW is also new, and will support Wii Motion Plus and uses a universal grip that works with four different tips. These are a sword, ping-pong racket, tennis racquet (similar to the Tennis Pro Duo) and a golf-club extension. This will retail for $24.99. The last was the Elite Fitness Pack + NW, which is a 9-piece pack that has many things that are needed for advanced exercise using the Wii Balance board. Included are a carry bag, exercise mat, two wrist/ankle weights, a riser for the balance board, pedometer, armband holder, leg strap and a lanyard. This will retail for $49.99 when it becomes available.
Under the Hercules brand, a small Netbook titled eCafe was displayed. The book uses a 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor, has a 250 GB drive, 6-cell battery, Windows 7 and utilizes WiFi connectivity. There are also three USB ports, 1 Meg of memory (upgradeable to 4 Meg), software bundle (including Open Office.org) and has a 10.1” screen. I used it to check some weather and flight conditions and it worked like a charm. It is currently available on Amazon for a cost of $349.
