Astro Professional Gaming Headsets & Bags

Another epic San Diego Comic-Con has passed only to once again rock the geeky cores of superfans everywhere. You got your usual fare of epic parties, awesome cosplay, kick-ass merch and insane lines for panels. And of course video games.

The thing is that every year, it doesn’t get old because there’s always something new. New shows and movies are coming out, some comic book series is nailing it or you have an insatiable need to buy the latest Tokidoki bag.

So being that this is my third Comic-Con, I’d like to consider myself somewhat of a veteran. Many trials and experiences have taught me how to navigate the 120K people crashing San Diego’s Convention Center. First, I go say hi to all my favorite web-comics. This includes the royal company of Penny Arcade, usually Questionable Content and Cyanide and Happiness. The best thing about the Cyanide and Happiness guys is that they can do live sketches for a price and if you give them a few keywords, they’ll totally make you the coolest comic in under a minute right in front of you. Wanna see what they made with the two subjects of “Call of Duty” and “Valentine’s Day”? (Hint, that whole last sentence was a link.)

Then I go off to see if I have anything cool to buy. Usually I find a t-shirt or two, some cool posters or some plushie/toy thing to add to my little collection on my desk. It’s cool. Don’t judge me.

After all that is done, then I can go check out all the rad games like Mass Effect 3, Starhawk, Rayman Origins and more. One that immediately caught my eye was Rayman Origins with it’s got co-op and stunning good looks. I’m SO getting that. Then you have an obvious favorite of mine, Mass Effect 3. It’s got a kick-ass universe that can actually challenge some of the best science fiction available. And you get sweet guns to mess aliens up with. I’m not going to go into too much detail, I’ll leave that to the pros. I just know I’ll probably pour another 100+ hours into the game.

Call me cheesy but when I overheard someone call Comic-Con the spring break for geeks, I couldn’t disagree more. If you like all things cool, check it out one year. Totally worth it.

And while you’re at it, check out pics from Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3 of San Diego Comic-Con on our Facebook!

- ASTRO stanimal

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Another E3 has come and gone, and the ASTRO staff team was out in force for this one. We had a foot crew of ten people helping to support the 600 headsets that we had on the show floor being used by some of the biggest and hottest companies in the gaming industry. Not that we’re bragging or anything, but we had the opportunity to work with some of our favorite partners like: Sony, Ubisoft, Capcom, THQ, Square Enix, Sega, Perfect World, Telltale Games, Deep Silver, Activision, EA, and Konami to help them bring their games and products to the next level by allowing event attendees to get an amazing audio experience by using the A30 and A40 Audio Systems in their booths.

Fortunately out foot crew also had an opportunity to explore the show floor for a bit and get some demos of many of the new upcoming titles. There’s so much to see and do at E3 that it’s nearly impossible to check it all out, but we tried. After exploring the show floor for three days, we thought that we would share the top three anticipated titles from a few of our staff members who were able to get some quality demos in. Here’s what we loved:

Randall “Warblade” Wong: Forum Moderator

Battlefield 3- This game looks and plays great, and I haven’t touched PC gaming in years, but I’m dead set on getting a new PC just to play this game!
Batman: Arkham City – A neat sequel to the last game, bringing Batman out on the streets of Gotham. They made Catwoman as a new playable character, which should make for plenty of new moves and different ways to play.
Fruit Ninja Kinect – While the game has been out on iOS for over a year, this is the first release for a major console. It uses Microsoft’s motion sensor Kinect where “You are the Controller” and your arms are the blades. Two player mode is hilariously fun, I only wish they took photos or videos of the action.

Stan “Stanimal” Press: Community Marketing Manager

Battlefield 3 – Looks beyond amazing, sounds phenomenal, exactly what the FPS scene needs right now. Something to set a new standard for shooters and that’ll BF3.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet – Low-key indie XBLA game that will definitely win some awards for its fresh take on an arcade game with its original gameplay and gorgeous design. Keep an eye out for this one this summer.
Mass Effect 3 – The best combination of sci-fi, role playing and 3rd-person action. Rarely does such a backstory to a game’s story actually rival the likes of Star Wars and other top sci-fi franchises.

Chris “Cha” Chang: Graphic Designer

Battlefield 3 – I’m ready for a new FPS, and this game is beautiful. Hands down my favorite.
Dead Island – In wait of a RPG zombie game, I’m looking forward to this one.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Finally, could this be the MMORPG I have been waiting for? One to commit myself to and I believe will fill that void.

Gernard Feril: Gaming Category/Product Manager

PS Vita – OK, I know, this is cheating, it’s not really a title, but the fact that I spend more time away from my home town and on planes, I’m super excited to have a device with that much power that can travel around with me.
Ninja Gaiden 3 – This one just brings me back to my childhood…I was amazed at how fast and fluid the game play was, and I’ll admit, I’ve always wanted to be a ninja…
Battlefield 3 – I was only mildly excited for this title when I first heard about it coming, as FPS’s aren’t my top game of choice, but after seeing the demo, I was converted…it was AMAZING…

Walter “Xariun” Duccini: Event Manager

Battlefield 3 – I mean, seriously, what’s not to love here?
Dead Island – I really enjoyed the realistic sense of ammo conservation and weapon diminishment that happened. I’m also a sucker for the zombie apocalypse.
Prototype 2 – Honestly, I didn’t get a chance to sneak into the media room and see it, but I played the crap out of the first one, loving every minute of it. Pair that with the idea that the main character is now the bad guy that you are hunting after building him all the way up, is just awesome to me.

The one thing that is for sure is that Battlefield 3 will definitely be sneaking its way into the work day at ASTRO Gaming!

Be sure to check out ASTRO Gaming on Facebook for more pictures from the show!

-ASTRO Xarion

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Year after year, it seems that the Columbus event on the MLG Pro Circuit is always about setting records across the board. Maybe it’s because Columbus and it’s centralized location is easy to get to for many of the circuit regulars. Maybe it’s because the date for the event is perfectly timed right as summer break begins for many. Maybe it’s because of the irresistible draw of all those haunters in the expo hall next door who put on an amazing show with all of the Halloween costumes and props. Maybe it’s because everyone is trying to fight for a little respect as the result of their teams not placing quite where they wanted on the season opener. For whatever the reason, this event continued the record breaking streak in 2011, shattering everything from attendance and stream views to sales records.

For my third year attending the Columbus stop on the MLG Pro Circuit, I knew what to expect going in. I knew it was going to be jam-packed with people, lots of long days, things running a bit behind, and everyone out to have a ton of fun in and out of the venue. I tried to relay this expectation to the rest of the Astro Team for this event, many of which, have never attended an MLG event before. But even I was caught a little off guard at how quickly the lines stacked up as the event filled to the brim in what appeared to be the biggest floor space the MLG circuit had planned for to date. There were literally people everywhere, and in an instant the venue was bursting with passion, energy, and anticipation for the matches to begin. As the live stream pushed out content, an unprecedented number of viewers tuned in to watch the action from their computers all over the world. The live stream throughout the weekend boasted 22.5 million streams. Pair that with the 16 thousand fans checking things out, and the Columbus event this year blew out all of the old attendance records out of the water.

With the new pool play, there are consistently upsets, and the winning match can end up being almost anyone these days. We watched a lot of hard fought battles throughout the weekend, and saw the fallout when each team won or lost and secured their placement for the event.

Congrats, as always, go out to the winners of the event:

Halo Reach: Instinct
CoD Black Ops: Optic Gaming
Starcraft II: SlayerSMMA

We would simply like to say thank you to all of you out there who make the effort and put the passion behind these events by supporting the league, the sponsors, and the top pro teams. Without all of you, none of us would be where we are.

See you all in Anaheim!

- ASTRO Xarion

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Every year, the world’s eyes turn to E3 to see all the raddest gaming news and announcements. Now as you can imagine, there’s going to be a ton of games shown off. Stuff that you know about, stuff that you don’t know about but want to know about, etc. That kind of stuff.

The fact is that when all those fancy PR people need to demo their games, gaming audio is critical to the experience. How better to provide that experience than ASTRO Gaming’s A30 and A40 Audio Systems?

That’s why you’ll be able to demo our gear on the best upcoming games in the following booths:

- Sony
- Ubisoft
- THQ
- EA
- Capcom
- Perfect World
- Activision
- Sega
- Deep Silver
- Square Enix
- Telltale Games
- Konami

The world’s top publishers and developers know what the deal is. If you want the best audio for your gaming, you go with ASTRO. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter for E3 updates as we go.

- ASTRO stanimal

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It’s hard to believe that the 2011 season for Major League Gaming is already underway. It seems like only yesterday that we were watching the final matches of Halo 3, World of Warcraft, Super Street Fighter, Call of Duty, and Tekken at the finals last November. With the pages closed on the first event of the season, let’s take a moment to highlight some of the big changes that have happened between seasons, share some opinions of the first event, and glimpse at some of the exciting things to look forward to for the remainder of 2011.

As many of you know, in previous years at the live tournaments, there was one main stage area with limited stadium style bleacher seating that hosted the hottest matches and focused primarily on the Halo franchise, MLG’s cornerstone game that they focused their effort on for years. There was a smaller sub stage that typically hosted the next biggest game’s premier matches, this secondary stage had hosted Gears of War, Call of Duty, and Tekken primarily in the past few years. Then there was an alternate arena that had been used for the World of Warcraft PvP tournament, and was clearly shifting to Starcraft II as the crowds that were watching these matches kept growing after SCII was introduced to the circuit. Sundance DiGiovanni, MLG’s CEO, has been talking about equal exposure for the games that they were looking to focus on for 2011(Halo Reach, CoD Black Ops, and Starcraft II). This goal was expressed multiple times and through multiple channels towards the end of the 2010 season, and leading up to the season opener in Dallas. In preparation for this new season, the MLG team made some significant changes in the layout for their live events this year. What we saw when we walked in hit that target right on the mark.

As you walked into the season opener, you couldn’t help but notice that the event size had grown significantly. MLG added nearly double the gaming stations for bracket play which left a much larger footprint than previous years. There was increased room between rows of stations for spectators to watch the matches, and the stadium style main stage was removed completely. The removal of that main stage left a clear visible view to the now three main stages that were listed side by side from nearly anywhere inside the venue. One thing that we couldn’t find at first glance was the live broadcast area which had previously been poised at the top of the main stage structure that was now completely removed, with much of the tech gear running alongside the single main stage. We found an entirely new, sports center-esque series of broadcast booths and what can only be described as an insane amount of broadcast gear in the back of the production area. Look forward to some high quality production value broadcasts from the events as the year progresses and everyone gets settled into the new layout.

One other major change that was implemented for the first event was the new pool system for team elimination. We heard two very distinct opinions talking to players around the venue and through feedback from our twitter feed. Either the players loved it or they hated it. The biggest reason that we heard from people that loved it was that it gave players outside of the “top” teams a better chance at proving what they’ve got and making it into the later rounds of the tournament. This lead to a crazy amount of upsets of some of the existing top teams, and put a lot more stress on the players to perform at their best each and every game. So if you’re looking to make an appearance at one or more of the events this year and missed the season opener, be warned, you will be put to the test.

Congrats go out to all the winners, especially the guys from Status Quo, who took home their first event win. Ya’ll keep an eye on them as a newly Red Bull sponsored team. They’re likely a force to be reckoned with this season.

We also had the opportunity to see many familiar faces: from players, sponsors, and staff to attendees. We also got to meet some new folks around the venue as well, and look forward to seeing everyone again in Columbus!

Be sure to check out the rest of our event pictures on the Astro Gaming Facebook page.

-X

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One of the things that we here at ASTRO Gaming love to support are quality charity events. Historically, we’ve been involved in gaming-centric charities such as Gamers for Giving and Child’s Play, but over the Super Bowl weekend, we were able to help expand our outreach by supporting the Old Spice SuperCamp II.

SuperCamp is a one-of-a-kind charity event that combines a youth football clinic hosted by Country Superstar Garth Brooks and Pro Football Star for the Dallas Cowboys Jason Witten. The football camp runs alongside a cheerleading camp hosted by Katina Taylor (wife of New York Jets defensive end, Jason Taylor and sister of Texas Tech and Miami Dolphin legend Zach Thomas). Benefits from the event go towards the Jason Witten SCORE Foundation, the Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation and Kids 2 Camp, along with the Jason Taylor Foundation. The event also promotes active, balanced, and healthy lifestyles through the Play 60 Initiative. This is something that we like to support for the gaming lifestyle as well.

The SuperCamp team fought through the inclement weather in the Dallas area, that included snow, ice, and freezing cold to make this event a reality. Hundreds of kids were able to participate in the camps getting professional guidance from many of the top coaches in the Dallas area as well as a few of the NCAA and NFL Pro players. Each camper in the football clinic was able to participate in drills at stations designed to push their talents and abilities just like professional players during training camp. Campers in the cheerleading clinic worked on a routine that was displayed for the closing ceremony of the event. Some campers were able to compete in skill events at the end of the camp that gave them the opportunity to win special prizes that included autographed pictures and jerseys from the camp hosts. There were also awards given to those campers that showed the most improvement during the day.

Thanks to all of you who helped us help support this event by purchasing ASTRO Gaming gear. Be sure to check out all of the images from the event in our facebook gallery.

-Walter

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Oh the holidays: shopping, traffic, cold weather, awesome sweaters, and plenty of family time. One thing that is seriously lacking for the holidays is video game tournaments… or is it? If you’re aching to compete, check out some of the events ASTRO is involved in this holiday season.

If you’re in the New York area December 11th and 12th, be sure to check out the WCG Holiday Heroes event at the Samsung Experience in NYC. This event will feature the new Halo Reach Noble Map Pack, with both cash and product prizes provided by ASTRO Gaming and Samsung. Attendees will also get to get some hands time going head to head with the new Tron Evolution game as well. You can find more information about this event through the WCG website here.

If New York is a bit far from home, and you’re based in the upper midwest that same weekend(Dec 11th and 12th), there is a multi game tournament called Focus Fire you won’t want to miss happening in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Attendees will be able to compete in Super Street Fighter IV, Halo Reach, Call of Duty Black Ops, Tekken 6, Madden 2011, and more. This tournament is dishing out cash prizes along with some A40 Audio Systems as well as Scout Backpacks. For registration and more details about the event, be sure to check out the Focus Fire website here.

Now get back to those gingerbread houses!

-X

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The MLG National Championships always promise to be entertaining, and this year was no exception. For the teams and players that were invited to compete in the championships, this isn’t an event to hold back an ounce of passion and effort. One thing is for sure: when the prize pool grows, so does the excitement, action, and the heartbreak. For a glimpse at the event, be sure to check out our video recap of the event through our YouTube channel.

The major difference this year for the MLG Championships was the sheer size of the event. With the introduction of the Doritos combines into the circuit this year, paired with the launch of Halo Reach, a fresh opportunity to become one of the next pro players had the event attendance booming. Much like the DC event a few weeks prior, we had the opportunity to meet a plethora of first timers, some folks we hadn’t seen at events the entire year, and some others that we’ve recently met from other leagues making their play to be one of the next MLG stars. The Championships hosted a number of the usual games: Halo 3, Halo Reach, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tekken 6, StarCraft II, and brought in the Call of Duty: MW2 crew as well. All of the extra players and fans meant an insane amount of spectator cheering and heckling as the tournament progressed. For many of the players, the benefit of the private voice network from the daisy-chained MixAmps at the stations made the difference when it came to team communication.

One group that never ceases to amaze me is the StarCraft II fans. It seems like the more space that they have to watch the games, the larger the audience gets. For the finals, StarCraft II had its own area with the entrance right next to the ASTRO Booth. For a good portion of the event, people were pouring out of the room trying to catch a glimpse of the battles. The crowd would be dead silent for the vast majority of the matches and then erupt with cheering and applause when the games would end. Despite the perceived oddity of the contrast of noise levels, the pure passion you could sense from the players and the fans was nothing less than inspiring. This will be a title that the MLG will likely continue to embrace and help grow. You know, not that the millions of people who played(and continue to play) the original StarCraft didn’t help at all.

For those CoD: MW2 fans, you probably saw some of the commentating from our friends Fwiz and Hastr0. If you didn’t, check out the post-event VoD. These guys have a bromance that breathes entertainment to the folks tuning in. It’s well worth the time listening in.

The finale for Halo 3 brought an extra value of appreciation as we saw one of the long-time fan favorites Tom “T2” Taylor coaching Status Quo for the event. Tom shared his expert abilities as a player with the SQ team to help bring them a second place finish for the finals, helping to break them past the placement barrier they had met all year. Final Boss once again showing that they truly have an appropriate team name, they brought home their third consecutive win. Let the off season and the full transition to Reach begin for the rest of these teams. Get the full list of event winners, keep an eye on the team changes, and watch the drama unfold over the next few months at mlgpro.com.

Congrats to all the champions for the event, and we’ll see you in 2011!

-X

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The National Championships for Major League Gaming are quickly approaching and with the onslaught of preparation and mental planning that comes with it. Many of the top competing teams are pouring in hour after of hour of practice and reviewing matches trying to anticipate what their opponents will be doing as they duke it out for the biggest prize pool of the year.

If you’re a MLG Halo 3 follower, you probably already are aware that many of the top teams head over to The LAN Network to engage in their preparation before the tournament. They have live coverage of the event via streaming video as well a fantasy league you can participate in. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to check them out, swing by their site to watch some of the feed. Before Dallas, they are hosting six of the eight teams competing: Believe the Hype(6), Carbon(8), Final Boss(1), Instinct(2), Status Quo(4), and Triggers Down(3). The two teams missing from the LAN are: Dynasty(5) and Warriors(7).

In addition to Halo 3 at the MLG Dallas Finals, you’ll be able to check out Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Tekken 6, StarCraft 2, and Halo Reach. All of these teams will be competing for over $700,000 in prizes. If you can’t make it to the event in person, be sure to check out the stream from home at mlgpro.com.

ASTRO will be there with our full booth experience and have the majority of our products available for purchase. We will also have display units of our newly announced Wireless MixAmp 5.8 and A*STAR IN-Ear Headset. We will likely not have these units available for demonstration purposes for this event, but check in with us at the event to see if we were able to secure a few demonstration units at the last minute.

-X

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Blizzcon has come and gone, and if you weren’t able to attend the event in Anaheim this year, hopefully you were able to check out the live broadcast either streaming or on Direct TV. The new stream that they implemented this year added an amazing experience of the event for those who couldn’t make it to the show in person. Blizzard gave the home enthusiast a way to get the best seat in the house without having to wait in lines, pay for hotels or flights, or sit in an overflow room watching the speakers/panels/tournaments from afar.

This year I wanted to get both experiences. Thankfully, being just an hour flight away from the event, this was totally possible. Friday night I sat at home flipping between the stream channels trying to determine how I would attack the show on Saturday after my early flight down to the event. Using the live stream, I was able to have an up close and personal experience with the panels and what I would consider the best seat in the house for the annual costume contest. The overarching broadcast really brought a new level to the experience without physically being at the show. However, let me jump in and say that there really isn’t a way to compare the two experiences…

Being at this energetic and unique convention really is something that every Blizzard fan should check out at some point. It’s always amazing to me to see folks embrace every level of their excitement for the games that this gaming titan provides. With all of the things erupting right now with their core titles, it’s no wonder this year’s event was electric. Diablo III: need I say more? I did have some time to play around with it, and the 3v3 PvP has a ton of potential, and the game itself is beautiful. It’s similar to the level of the recently released/revamped Starcraft II when compared to the original. It takes a lot of the core concepts of the original game and adds in some fun new dynamics with the fresh polished look and updated graphics/interface experience. Other quality hands on experiences were with the Cataclysm expansion for World of Warcraft which is right around the corner. Many folks who haven’t had an opportunity to play around with the beta yet got to dig into the changes that are happening to the entire face of the in-game world and the new races that will be introduced in a little over a month.

One of the new things I saw at the show that I wanted to share was a little booth by a company called Figure Prints. In a nutshell, they create a 3D custom model of your character. And if you don’t like the look of your current armor, or are still working on a set, you can choose between any of the Dungeon/Raid/PvP sets for your class, as well as a variety of other customization options. The prices are a little steep at first glance, but believe me, after seeing these in person, it’s well worth it if you’re a fan.

While we were there, we did a scavenger hunt type contest through Twitter giving away an A30 headset for the first person to find me after completing a small quest. Our lucky winner was Kenneth M. of Brooklyn, NY. Congrats!

One other thing that you may have enjoyed if you were watching the stream on either night from the comfort of your computer chair, was something familiar on the WoW tournament stage: our A40 Audio System being used as the player audio solution throughout the broadcast. Thanks for the nod Blizzard, we appreciate your quality work too.

-X

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