For upcoming video game streamers, competing with seasoned players is an uphill battle. In order to separate from other beginners, the biggest advantage is high-quality video and audio. In order to nurture budding streamers, Razer revealed two new additions to its Razer Broadcaster product line. With the Kiyo webcam and the Seiren X microphone, gamers can create a professional-level stream.
When it comes to watching streams, people like to see the player’s reactions. To show every detail, the Kiyo desktop camera features an adjustable ring light. Without additional accessories, streamers get high image quality with improved lighting. Lighting changes in any environment due to weather and time change. Kiyo’s 12 levels of brightness help maintain the ideal look no matter the conditions.
As many gamers would agree, video framerate is important. At 720p, the Kiyo webcam outputs at 60 frames per second and users can increase the resolution up to 1080p at the cost of lowering the framerate to 30 fps. Additionally, fast and accurate autofocus will make sure that streamers stand out from their backgrounds. Out of the box, the Razer Kiyo comes compatible with popular streaming software including Open Broadcaster Software and XSplit.
Great visuals mean nothing when the audio sounds like mud. The Seiren X mic is a professional-grade USB condenser microphone with a built-in shock mount. This protects the stream from picking up accidental knocks and bumps when things get exciting. It also uses a super cardioid pickup pattern to record sound at a tighter and more precise angle. This reduces background noise like noisy pets or the television downstairs.
To ensure ease of use while maintaining important features, Razer used input from both professional and grassroots video game streamers around the world.
“Streaming has become an integral part of the gaming community,” Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said in a statement. “We took a hard look at what streamers really needed, and engineered products to support those specific use cases. The result are products that produce professional-quality streams while remaining accessible to beginner users.”
Both the Razer Kiro webcam and the Razer Seiren X are available through Razer’s website for $100 each.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.