It's the early hours of GDC, Friday morning, and while most conference attendees are staring glassy-eyed into the tops of their Starbucks to-go cups, I'm entirely too keen to be out of bed and trying out the latest from Turtle Beach - the PX5. Of course, they did promise that the second half of the demo could be nap time.
The wireless PX5 uses Bluetooth to pair with up to two devices simultaneously. This means that you can pair with a device like your iPhone while you game and receive calls through your headset without ever leaving your comfiest gaming chair. You also have the ability to mix in your own music from your Bluetooth device with the game music - and it does that lovely fade-in, fade-out. The PX5 deals in Dolby 5.1 and 7.1 virtual surround sound containing a radio for game audio and another for Bluetooth makes the set a wee bit fancy. Fancier yet is the ability to use and create audio presets across the game, chat and microphone.
These myriad customization options are the real hook of the PX5. The Preset Manager Program allows players to use any of the 100 premade presets made by Turtle Beach or customize their own across the game, chat and microphone audio. With the program downloadable for free from Turtle Beach and a website for sharing presets, making these 100 just the tip of the user-created iceberg. That said, the Footsteps preset is likely to charm the pants off Call of Duty players looking for a tactical advantage as they single out the sounds of enemy footsteps rather than gunfire.
What this sort of power means for chat is the ability to filter out the sounds of those players that hop into a game with music blasting or shrieking to their Mom or maybe just the heavy breathers of the world. These noise gates work without the hassle of muting individual players and often before you even hear them. On the mic tweaks tab, the ability to truly alter your voice caught my attention. Granted, this is a bit of a girl thing - it is mighty handy to be able to play as just one of the boys!
Also available (for free) is the Advanced Sound Editor for developers, the idea being that it can enhance their game's audio as they pinpoint audio cues and effects.
Demoing the set with Dead Space the first delight is in the violence of a postmortem stomp on a carcass. Simultaneously vicious *and* squelchy, it was hard to tire of that audio reward. On the ambient front, I appreciated the sound of the faucet running, the crackle of electricity, and the directional sound of a door closing.
Volume controls on each earpiece are positioned at the lower rear where your thumb naturally settles as you reach up. The set feels good, and for my fingers I found all the buttons to be conveniently located, easily identifiable, and easy to use. However, I always feel the need to remind people that I have girl hands, so if you're a giant dude with sausage fingers I cannot speak to ease of use! With the presets you can either cycle through them or cycle to the preferred one for the title you're playing and then hotswap between main and that preset.
Designed for the PS3 the headset works with the 360 . Retailing at $249.95 you can buy it direct from the Turtle Beach website on Monday, March 7 and at major retail outlets shortly afterward. Nobody said audiophilia was cheap - but the reps on hand mentioned that we can expect the tech available in this model to ultimately trickle down through the line.
Sea of Thieves stared off life as an Xbox exclusive, growing over time into a genuine hit with a large, committed community. Now, in an effort to increase its audience still futher, it's become a key part of Microsoft's multi-platform push.
Video games -- particularly AAA video games -- have become too expensive to make. The intel from every fly on the wall in every investor's room is there is an increasing level of caution about spending hundreds of millions just to release a single video game. And you can't blame them. Many AAA game budgets mean that you can print hundreds of millions in revenue, and not even turn a profit. If you are an investor, quite frankly, there are many easier ways to make a buck. AAA games have always been expensive to make though, but when did we go from expensive, to too expensive? A decade ago, AAA games were still expensive to make, but fears of "sustainability" didn't keep every CEO up at night. Consumer expectations and demands no doubt play a role in this, but more and more games are also revealing obvious signs of resource mismanagement, evident by development teams and budgets spiraling out of control with sometimes nothing substantial to show for it.
It’s a question that I’ve pondered myself too. How are these developers spending this much money? Also, like the article stated, I cannot tell where it’s even going. Perfect example was used with Starfield and Spiderman 2.
They claim they have to increase prices due to development costs exploding. Okay? Well, I’m finding myself spending less and less money on games than before due to the quality actually going down. With a few recent exceptions games are getting worse.
I thought these newer consoles and game engines are easier-therefore-cheaper to make games than previous ones. What has happened? Was it over hiring after the pandemic, like other tech companies?
Costs quite a bit to maintain a team of 700+ employees. Which is what it takes to create something with state of the art fidelity and scope. Just imagine how many 3D artists you'd need to create the plethora of 3D objects in a AAA game. There's so much stuff and each asset takes time and effort.
That's atleast one of the things that didn't get easier. Also coding all the systems and creating all the character models with animations and everything. Animations alone is a huge thing because games are expected to be so detailed.
Back in the day a God of War type game was a 12 hour adventure with small levels, now it has to be this 40+ hours of stuff. Obviously it didn't have to be this way of AAA publishers hadn't convinced themselves that it's an arms race. Games probably didn't need to be this bloated and they probably didn't need to be cutting edge in fidelity.
Starfield’s animation and character models look like they are from Oblivion, a game that came out about 20 years ago. I cannot tell the difference between Spider-Man 2 and the first one at first glance. It’s been a joke in some YouTube channels.
Seven hundred people for 1 game? Make 7 games with 100 people instead. I think recent games have proven that it’s okay to have AA games, such as Hell Divers 2.
I guess I’m a bit jaded with the industry and where things are headed. Solutions seem obvious and easy, but maybe they aren’t.
I believe that it is due to this unsustainable rise in production costs that more and more companies are looking to AI tools to help ‘lower’ costs.
ESTNN writes: "The easiest campfire can be found in the middle of the lake close to Restored Reels. Landing in the middle of the island immediately puts you near the campfire, which is surrounded by a tent, a barrel and a single lawn chair."
are there a lot of wires involved? also good to see you doing Tech
Turtle Beach does a great job. I bought their entry level headset (X2?) years ago and it still produces a decent sound. These look solid, if not exspensive. Yowsa. Thanks Cat!
Should I report that this belongs on Tech Spy? LOL!
Looks like a nice set of headphones... And the price seems reasonable for what you get.
Nice review Cat.
One thing that I kinda don't like about the Turtle Beaches (PX21) I have is that they feel soooooo light. I feel like im gonna break them every time I take them of my head. Other than that they are great. Nothing to really complain about except maybe the appearance.
How light is the PX5?
Personally I prefer wired headsets, I had the X41's and they would always drop because of interference with other frequencies.
Ive had the X1's, X31's, X41's and for almost over a year now Ive had Astro A40's.
Once you go to 5.1 surround you cant go back, and Im loving my astros.
Do you get any interference with this headset?