asus posts

With BlizzCon coming up in less than three weeks (August 21-22 to be exact), the various sponsors of Blizzard's massive fan event are gearing up for their own promotions. Intel is doing what they can with special contests that will be held both before and during BlizzCon. No, Intel isn't offering trips to the event but they are giving folks a chance to win some gaming laptops from Asus if they pick the winners of the three main BlizzCon tournaments (World of Warcraft, StarCraft and WarCraft III) By the way, Blizzard plans to stream the BlizzCon tournaments in both SD and HD for free on the BlizzCon web site.

If you happen to be lucky enough to go to BlizzCon, Intel will also be running contests on the show floor as well including giving away five Intel Core i7 processors each day of the event. You can head over to the Intel blog site for more info.

Electronic Arts is planning to release the PC version of their first person action game Mirror's Edge on Jan. 13 but people who pre-order the game from EA's online store will get some extras in addition to the game itself. Pre-orders will receive a free Mirror's Edge t-shirt and a free download of the upcoming Time Trials map pack for the game (it will be released on Jan. 29 for $10 for everyone else).

Pre-orders will also get an automatic entry in a contest where the winner will receive an ASUS gaming PC notebook with Mirror's Edge custom artwork. If you want to enter the contest without pre-ordering the game you can do so by sending your name and email address to mirrorsedgepcsweepstakes@ea.com.

Gallery: Mirror's Edge

Nintendo's Wii console has been a massive hit and part of the reason is it's wireless motion sensing Wiimote controller. Now PC maker Asus has announced plans to release what they are calling the Eee Stick, their own wireless PC game controller that physically looks an awful lot like the Wiimote.

The controller itself, which will be bundled with certain models of Asus's popular Eee PC and Eee Box products, consists of a navigation stick and a activation stick along with 2.4 Ghz wireless dongle. The press release claims that the Eee Stick will also come bundled with a selection of unnamed games designed specifically for use with the device. There's no word when the controller will be made available or if Asus plans to release the Eee Stick as a separate product at some point.

Aiming for gamers who demand only the best hardware, desktop PC manufacturer ASUS has announced the ASUS ARES CG6155 Desktop PC. The rig's aesthetics are easily noticeable, with its armored design and retractable hood flap reminding us of the Batmobile from Burton's two Batman films. According to ASUS, the ARES CG6155 is designed with both form and function in mind. "ARES not only looks bullet proof; but also incorporates an arsenal of features which make it one of the most stable and secure gaming PC systems ever."

Only case mod geeks believe that form is more important than function. Fear not -- ARES has more than just a pretty (and bendable) face. Quad-core CPUs, 3-way SLI video cards, "extreme factory over-clocking that boosts CPU performance by up to 33%," and other features such as a Blu-Ray drive and DDRIII memory "provides the highest level of excitement to all gamers." Liquid cooling Dual Power which support up to 2KW of power ensure that all that beefy hardware will heat up your game, not your wallet or motherboard.

A specifications overview can be found after the break.

A few months ago, the Dallas based Cyberathlete Professional League announced they were shutting down operations. The pro gaming tournament organization usually held their summer and winter event at Dallas' Hyatt Regency. Well, it looks like PC graphics card and motherboard maker ASUS wants to continue the tradition as they have announced plans to launch the first annual Republic of Gamers Convention (ROGCon), a LAN event at that very same hotel on July 18-20.

The event is aiming to have 700 gamers at their BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) section running 24 hours during the event. Yes, there will be gaming tournaments but ASUS and its co-sponsor Intel are giving out prizes (PC hardware, systems and other items) for the events (they feel cash prizes will bring in the pro gamers; this is supposed to be more informal). Of course, ASUS is also using this event as a marketing tool for their products; in fact they plan to launch a new series of gaming oriented PC laptops at the ROGCon. There are also plans for workshops and other events at this LAN covention including the always entertaining hardware Q&A session hosted by Kyle Bennet, the founder of the HardOCP web site (this used to be a staple of QuakeCon in years past). More info, including a sign-up page to attend, is at ROGCon's official web site.

Asus has announced the new Xonar HDAV1.3, an HDMI 1.3a-compatible sound card. Tech Report writer Geoff Gasior supplied a brief overview of the card, writing that it "supports both PAPS and AACS content protection schemes, allowing it to output uncompressed Blu-ray audio in all its glory."

In addition, the new Xonar also comes equipped with the Splendid HD video processor, which Asus claims "enhances colors and edges for high-definition video, reduces flicker, and even 'recovers clarity' with low-resolution content."

While a sound card with a few video-related functions tossed in is quite intriguing, one can't help but wonder if the Xonar's video operations will interfere with users' video cards. Asus has almost certainly considered such matters, but if PC hardware is anything besides expensive, it is finicky, especially when forced to share with others.