News::Razer gaming keyboard aims to be the best of both worlds

Gaming keyboards tend to be an either/or proposition. Either you get the fast action and feedback of mechanical switches, or you 'settle' for the relative comfort of membrane rubber domes. Razer doesn't think you should have to choose. It's introducing the Ornata, a keyboard series whose "Mecha-Membrane" hybrid promises both the soft feel of a membrane with the "crisp, tactile" input of mechanical switches. It's too soon to say how well it works in practice (you'd likely want to spend days with an Ornata to know it inside-out), but it's also rare to see keyboard makers experimenting this way -- it might be worth a look if you're uncomfortable with pure mechanical keys.

Source: Razer (1), (2)

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News::Acer's 21-inch 'laptop' gives ridiculous a new name

Acer's made gaming laptops before, but none of them are quite like this. The behemoth you see here is the Predator 21X, which is the most redonkulous notebook I've seen in my life. The term desktop replacement is quite literal here, as it has a massive 21-inch curved display. Indeed, it's apparently the world's first laptop to have such a distinction. And if that isn't ridiculous enough, it actually has two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 graphics cards with SLI under the hood. Two.

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News::Telltale's second 'Batman' episode arrives September 20th

Telltale took its sweet time readying the first episode of its Batman adventure game series, but you won't have to wait too long to see what happens next. The studio has announced that the second episode, Children of Arkham, arrives on September 20th on Windows (through Steam), PS4 and Xbox One. Mum's the word on what happens in the next episode (some PAX West guests will already know by the time you read this), but it's reasonable to presume that it'll continue to balance Bruce Wayne's attempt to balance his normal life with his vigilante side.

Source: Telltale Games

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News::Ben Heck's Xbox One S teardown

There are few things Ben Heck loves more than tearing down the newest gaming consoles. Watch how he unboxes the Xbox One S and takes apart each component, including the controller. As Ben does his thing, we see how Microsoft kept costs down by making alterations to both the chassis and printed circuit boards. Ben also compares the XBox One S side by side with the original XBox One and discovers that a connector is missing. Which one could it be? The power supply is another major change with Xbox One S; in the early days it was basically a huge brick. Ben also highlights the changes in the CPU/GPU heatsink and the limitations of hacking the HDMI ports on the board. Do you think there's something else we can do with it? Let us know over on the element14 Community, where you can also learn about upcoming episodes.

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News::Razer and Maingear partner on an all-out gaming PC

Maingear isn't playing favorites when it comes to partners for over-the-top gaming rigs. The PC builder is teaming up with Razer for the R1 Razer Edition, a tower PC that's as much about showing off as boosting your frame rates. Razer, as you might have noticed, handles the design -- it's monolithic, flashy and loaded with green lighting, including for the optional liquid cooling system. Even the wiring is kept super-tidy to both improve airflow and impress your friends.

Source: Maingear, BusinessWire

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