Las Vegas: Computer peripherals maker, Razer unveiled two of its latest products - Hydra and Switchblade - at the Consumer Electronics Show 2011 that just concluded here. Razer joins the motion controller league with Hydra that will be for the PC, while Switchblade is still a concept of handheld gaming device.
Competing with other motion controllers in market like the Kinect or PlayStation Move, Hydra's controls works in a different way. Comprising of two handheld controls, it is connected via wire to a small electromagnetic field generator that should be placed near the monitor. With the user's motion of sticks, the magnetic field is disrupted thereby creating the movement in the game.
The games compatible with Hydra are Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. Portal 2, to be released later in the year, was being displayed at the Show and had several Hydra-only levels. Other gaming titles compatible with the Hydra are yet not announced. Hydra is expected to sell for less than $100.
Although still in the conceptual stage, the Switchblade is handheld gaming device with Intel's Atom processor to power it. At a size of 172mm x 115mm x 25 mm, it comes with a keypad where the keys are touch sensitive and display images rather than letters or numbers.
The Switchblade also comes with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity and features headphone, mic ports, USB 3.0 and a mini HDMI. Since the device is still a concept, its price and availabilty were not reported. In fact, Razer made it known that 'Switchblade' is just a temporary name for the device and there are still a lot of things to be answered on it.
