The Blogroll

One issue with switching from “gaming headsets” to proper headphones is the lack of a convenient microphone attachment. The AntLion ModMic now makes life for proper headphone users easier for a mere $32.95 USD or $39.95 USD if you live outside the US. With a strong magnetic clasp that latches on to any headphones of your choosing, the ModMic gives you decent quality voice communications without the fuss or intrusion of a clip-on or desktop microphone.

The microphone is an omnidirectional capsule condenser. Although it isn’t near the price, the microphone’s signature is similar to dynamic broadcast headsets like the Shure SM10 or Shure 512. It has a 3.5mm TRS jack that does require a small charge, so it won’t work with a standard external interface, but should be just fine on any internal onboard or internal soundcard input jacks. The microphone has an extremely long 3.5 meter cable, which is very (1.7mm) thin, though it might be convenient, it makes the product seem fragile. The cable’s length can also be a tad annoying to have hanging around but the product does come with one velcro tie to help combat this, although it would have been nice if it came with two or more. The boom itself is around 5 inches and is extremely versatile due to it’s bendable yet rigid framework. The NeoClasp™ as they call it has a 3M adhesive base so it can be securely fastened onto any surface. The microphone clamps onto the clasp securely and can be flipped up when not in use. The microphone when on the headset does stick out about 1.5cm from the headphones themselves, which can be a tad unsightly. Whilst on the clasp though, it acts just like a typical headset microphone and is a total blessing since you won’t have to put up with annoying clip-ons or desktop microphones that get in the way.

Let’s get onto the testing phase, shall we? Here we see the ModMic’s performance over 1 second of recording nothing except the ambient noise in my room (computer fans, etc.). That totally flat line? That’s a good thing.

This test is basically what you’re seeing in the picture above:

Background Noise Test

This is next one is just a normal speaking test. You can tell the mic has a sort of airy sound to it, similar to dynamic broadcast headsets as stated before:

Normal Speaking Test

This is a test of the microphone whilst I type on my mechanical keyboard (with MX Blue Switches). This shows the fairly decent voice isolation properties the ModMic has, which is good for those with loud computers or keyboards and what have you.

Noisy Keyboard Test

Finally this is a test just like the last, except it’s music that’s being played at decent volume through open-back Sennheiser 558′s.

Music Playback Test

So as you can see the microphone has all the qualities any normal gamer would want. It has decent quality, good voice isolation, and it isn’t plagued with awful noise and interference alot of headset microphones have.

The ModMic attached to Sennheiser 558's.

Overall, the ModMic is a very clever product for people who have proper headphones, but want the benefits of a headset. At a small price, the ModMic offers you decent voice isolation properties, good voice quality for VOIP programs like Teamspeak or Skype, and the convenience of a headset with extremely simple installation.

Computer keyboards were meant to be mechanical. At some point though in the computer’s (seemingly short) history, we forgot about the standard of quality with which we held our peripherals to. Thankfully though, there is still that niche for quality, that small pocket of hardcore typists, gamers, and keyboard enthusiasts. Those that still seek the standard, and with those comes that small demand. So today, we bring you a product by a company that is still willing to fulfill that small demand in a fairly large market. WASD Keyboards is a mechanical keyboard company based in Malpitas, California. Founded from a community of keyboard enthusiasts, they look to provide customers with a mechanical keyboard truly customized for each person’s needs. They also provide custom keycap-only sets, customized individual keys, “barebones” boards, and accessories such as keycap pullers, O-Rings, and their wrist rest.

The WASD V1 is a full sized mechanical switch keyboard that comes in a variety of Cherry MX switch colors, including Blue, Brown, Black, or Red. I ordered a board with Blue switches, but currently on the WASD website they only offer Black and Red switches. If you’d like to learn the differences between all these switches there are various sources online such as Geekhack. I ordered a full custom keyboard via their keyboard creation section and chose everything myself. The colors of the keycaps, ISO or ANSI, the printing method, the switches, the fonts, and the sizes. Unfortunately they only offer a black case with blue LED’s and they also only offer ABS plastic keycaps for now, which you can learn more about here. WASD does plan to offer PBT keycaps in the future, tenkeyless boards, and a white casing.

The keyboard came with a USB to PS/2 adapter, a wired keycap puller, and some spare bubbled keys. First impressions of the keyboard was that it felt strong. Although the keyboard doesn’t feel as rugged as a SteelSeries 7G, it felt stronger than a Das, and about the same as a Filco.  The keyboard does not come with a detachable cable which we think is a downside, nor does it have any other goodies such as USB ports, audio jacks, or media keys. It’s rather no frills, much like the Majestouch. Although the simplicity is to be appreciated, there are options we do hope WASD consider in the future. Moving past what-could-have-beens, the keyboard looks solid. Some do not like the rounded front, but I for one do like it. The wrist rest that was ordered along with it fits perfectly and works just fine, the only issue is that it’s made of ABS plastic too, so after awhile it will start shining where your wrists… rest.

The keyboard feels rather nice whilst typing, the keycap heights are just right, except for the bottom row which happens to be just a tad lower than what most are use to. There is less of a “ping” when you bottom out a WASD in comparison to a Filco which is great because when I’m typing in silence, the pings from a Majestouch can get quite bothersome. The keyboard uses Costar stabilizers which I (along with many other keyboard enthusiasts) personally prefer over Cherry as well, so that’s another assurance of quality. One thing I don’t like is the uneven sounding spacebar, where the right side of the spacebar is noticeably louder than the left, but that’s really just nitpicking. Another little niggle I have with the spacebar is that you can visibly see the stabilizer when looking at it, so that silver metal bar underneath can be quite unsightly. The keyboard when plugged into PS/2 does have NKRO, which means you can slam on every button at once and your PC will register the key presses, unlike on many membrane keyboards where the most you’ll usually ever get is 8 keys at once.

Overall, the WASD V1 is an awesome keyboard. You’ll have a blast designing it and and even better time typing on something YOU created. The only major problems right now are the ABS casing and ABS keycaps, because the shine does tend to get a bit annoying after some time, albeit they are break resistant. The WASD is a great purchase if you want to add a little personal touch to your desk. It may not be the best product though for someone who is about to dive into the world of mechanical keyboards though, for it can be rather pricey in comparison to some well known starter keyboards. When compared to the Filco Majestouch 2 though, which seems to be regarded as it’s #1 competitor, with the Filco you get a non-frills keyboard with no true customization options and a higher price tag. The WASD allows for full customization, a decent wristrest that snaps right onto the keyboard, and amazing customer service. So if I had to pick, I’d definitely go WASD. It’s a cool company with a great service that we can only hope expands to more options in the future. A definite recommended buy from us at Gamesabout!

What is Dota?

Dota 2, a stand-alone sequel to the Warcraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, is a new action strategy game that’s currently in closed beta and being developed by the team at Valve.  It’s set for release some time later in the year, and it will be delivered via Steam for Windows and OSX.

General Premise

The game is focused on 5v5 team based combat, where each player controls one of the five heroes on each team. Besides a few minor differences, playing for the Dire team on the fiery and decaying half of the map, or playing for the Radiant team on the lush forest part of the map, does not give any significant advantages. Each team has three lanes of attack with three towers on each lane that will deal damage to all opposition in range, and creep waves (waves of little minions who fight for your side) that if left without player intervention, will stalemate in the middle of the map.  Inbetween these lanes of attack, are jungles where neutral creeps of varying difficulty spawn and can be killed to get extra gold and experience. On the Dire’s side of the river (the dividing line of the map) there is a place called the Roshan Pit, where an extremely strong neutral creep can be killed, thus giving a large bonus to the team who kills it, and dropping a make or break item that grants one instant respawn to the carrier upon death. To win the game, a team must push far enough into the enemy base and destroy the Ancient Fortress. Although it doesn’t sound too complicated on paper, the vast combinations of abilities, heroes, and items can make for extremely different strengths and weaknesses in teams, giving Dota 2 a massive learning cliff that can seem extremely intimidating for newer players.

Whats new?

Well aside from the obvious aesthetic differences and previous engine limitations that have been lifted due to Source Engine optimization, nothing significant has differed from the original mod in terms of gameplay. Some spells have been improved due to the Source Engine accommodating for it, and there have been slight tweaks to certain abilities and heroes, which are too high in number to go in depth about for this article. Not to mention some quality of life changes that made the game less complicated for every player, such as auto-bottling of runes and the implementation of a universal shop in your base.

Visuals and Audio

The visuals are stunning, in another show of Valve’s ability to make Source look gorgeous to this day and age. The game is generally cheerier and extremely colourful . The world is semi cartoonish, almost in the style of Team Fortress 2. This does work to its advantage in that even after hours of play your eyes don’t feel the strain of looking at dark forests and decaying earth all day, and although there is obvious opposition to making Dota 2 a “lighter” game to look at, I personally am very welcoming to this nice breath of fresh air for the original mod seemed a bit claustrophobic and overwhelming. Valve has also hired an assortment of well known voice actors to really make the heroes feel alive. There is a magnitude of voice files for each hero which Valve really took the time to get right. The taunt “Drow Ranger… where did you learn to shoot?” for example when you kill the gloomy bow-wielding Ranger while playing her cheery counterpart Windrunner will give you a hearty chuckle in the midst of a tense battle, which in games that can be as serious as Dota can be an extraordinarily nice touch, and remind even the most hardcore of players that ultimately in the end, it is still a game.

Chen in Dota 2 (left) and DotA (right)

The Heroes

The heroes haven’t changed much really. Their abilities are all still the same, with minor tweaks, which as previously stated would be too in depth to cover here. Visually, they’ve all been given major facelifts, with some being more significant than others. Pudge for example, looks like Pudge but in higher quality, whilst Chen went from being an Orc to Human. The animations have also been vastly improved, making the game look and play smoother. There is also the issue of the number of heroes, because at the time of this writing, Dota 2 has just over half the amount of heroes that the original mod has. But, Dota 2 will feature all the heroes by the time of release of course, so no worries there.

Coaching

Valve is also putting time into helping new players of the game get over the initial learning curve, and work their way up from there. There is a catalogue of heroes where a new player can read and study each heroes’ abilities, roles, and if they so choose, their backgrounds. Valve have also implemented DotaTV, which essentially will let players go into Dota 2, and watch some of the highest tier players go head to head live. This will allow new players to learn how to play certain heroes directly from the pros themselves. In DotaTV you can follow wherever the action is, free-roam, or follow a player’s direct perspective to watch their every move. You can also chat with other spectators whilst watching the games too. There is also a feature where all public game lobbies will have their replays saved onto the server, to allow players to rewatch all their games (or all other games for that matter) whenever they choose.  Alongside all of this, Valve is going to implement a coaching feature, much like in Team Fortress 2, where friendly members of the Dota community can choose to be paired up with a new player and personally show him the ropes around the game.

Pubs and Matchmaking

Public games in Dota 2 are put together with a matchmaking system. The system will pick an assortment of players from your region of the world (or whichever other ones you’re willing to be paired with) and of similar skill level and put you on a random team. It will then connect you to a public server, and voila, you’ll have a game. You can join the matchmaking queue by yourself, or with 1 to 4 friends. You also have the option to start a private game, unfortunately as of this time private games cannot save replays. You can however choose to play Captain’s Mode and set all of the games settings such as the chaotic “-wtf” mode, establish proper teams amongst whoever you want to play with you, have 3v3′s, 1v1′s, or fill in empty slots with AI players.

Overall

You know, I’ve played alot of Dota-likes. From the original Dota at that one internet cafe when I was bored whilst visiting SE Asia years ago, to the 2009 closed beta for HoN, all the way to the League of Legends and Rise of Immortals. I’ve been around alright, but nothing has captured my attention like Dota 2. Maybe it’s because whatever Valve touch turns to candy and gold? Not sure. All I can say is my experience with all of those previous games have been awful. I fed, I missed ganks, I sat there for 45 minutes whilst my teammates said harsh things to me in chat, I was kicked out an internet cafe (I didn’t know mid game leaving was frowned upon, OK?!) and nearly stabbed, it was all just miserable (and don’t get me wrong, because I still do these things now). I was ready to stop trying, but then one magical day in December I got my Dota 2 key and it all changed. The community was helpful, it was fun even when losing, it was bar none the best Dota-like I’ve played. I was actually willing to commit myself to it, and I’m glad I did.

I can’t really put into words the ferris wheel of emotions that circle throughout your core being when you’re playing a game like Dota, but let me tell you, it’s pretty damn intense. It’s one of the most thrilling, rewarding, and humbling gaming experiences I’ve had, and I don’t regret a second of it. I’m going to get addicted to Dota for a while, maybe taking a break and playing an FPS now and again, but that’s about it really. This game is terrific, and I’m sincere when I say that, because if you’re reading this right now, and you’re intimidated by the sheer learning curve of it all, don’t be. Just get in there, and learn, and try and try again, because once you start figuring out, it’s one of the best feelings in the world. This game is incredible, and it put on a hell of a first impression, and I’m sure by the time release rolls around, it will only get better.

Even the most pacifist of pacifists need to let off some steam, and with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you can expect nothing but one of the best stress relieving, action packed, gun toting experiences to date. In this plethora of Geneva Convention violations, you play as an assortment of soldiers from all different types of task forces undergoing operations on all ends of the globe. From New York to Northern India, there’s no shortage of dire situations that require your sweet gun and specialist skills.

The game plays like all those before it, with over-the-top action sequences, nifty mission briefings, and claustrophobic fast-paced combat around each corner. You start off getting caught up with the after-effects of the second game and are presented with the disastrous state of affairs the world has fallen into. After some thought provoking dialogue, and action movie cut scenes, you’re plunged into a decaying New York, which has been invaded by (not surprisingly) the Russians.

Dramatic dialogue and over the top airplane shootouts, me gusta.

Starting out, the game seems like every other Modern Warfare title that has been released so far, but further into the game you’ll realize, that yea, it’s just that. Infinity Ward made seemingly no changes to the way the game plays. A few new guns here, some new models there, and what you’ve got is a rehash of every Modern Warfare yet. The game world still feels like a movie set where you are trapped in a very linear path and there is no way out, and you’re hopelessly stuck to follow whatever your predestined fate has in store for you. Not to mention, at this point in the series a lot of the mid-mission twists just don’t seem to have the same effect on me anymore. “Oh no, what’s that you say? We can’t get extracted because one wave amongst the thousands of endlessly spawning baddies took control of the LZ? Well jeez, I didn’t see that one coming!”
Aside from that, the multiplayer component might as well just be a map pack for Modern Warfare 2, because it’s exactly the same. Surely there is some different perks, guns, and killstreak packages, but besides having not encountered any game ending nuclear missiles, nothing has really differed. Although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, considering that multiplayer Call of Duty is very love/hate recipe, where the love feels so good, and the hate burns actual rage into your very core. When you’re doing great, you’re on top of the world, but when you’ve been using your deathstreak perk for the past five minutes to no avail, you want to smash your head with your keyboard and kick your computer where it hurts. Perhaps it’s this weird combination of such terrific highs and rock bottom lows that makes multiplayer an experience that I keep coming back for.

Now, lest we forget about Special Ops and Survival Mode, which are cooperative missions meant to be enjoyed with your friend. Special Ops made its initial appearance in the previous game, which was a set of cooperative missions set at a faster than usual pace, where you and your partner tried to blaze through and get incredible times so you both could flaunt those glorious bragging rights to no end. They usually held no significance towards the main story, but, they were frustratingly fun and extremely satisfying to finish. Much like how in many games you’ll always strive for that perfect run or extremely high score, and if you mess it up before a certain point you’ll restart in a furious rage because you know you’re better than that, and you won’t stop striving for perfection until you have severe Carpal tunnel or you beat your friend’s near impossible 100,000 points. Survival Mode on the other hand is what it sounds like, endless waves of increasingly difficult enemies, and as the enemies improve, so will your weapons and military goodies. There is nothing really special or entertaining about it, or anything particularly unique, but if you’re into Nazi Zombies, you’ll most probably enjoy this too.

Casually standing around whilst planes crash into Champs-Élysées.

Overall, if you brush aside many of this games imperfections, forget the fact that it may be slightly overhyped, and that it is plagued with the ever increasing “Bro Gamers” population, what you have at its core is a solid first person shooter title. So be sure to play this game with your tongue in cheek, and enjoy it for what it is, a crazy over the top and completely ridiculous adventure of a campaign with epic twists and extreme moments of total badassery that will feed your barbaric side, an addictive multiplayer experience that will have you lusting for the blood of your enemies, and co-op that will test friendships because your partner is slow and can’t aim for the life of him, or you. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 did not leave me wanting more, but I can only see this as a good thing. For you see, I’d rather not have a daily lust for blood, violence, and world landmarks exploding whilst cities filled with innocent civilians get destroyed from chemical warfare.

I came into the game hoping for an experience that would satisfy my crazy, stupid, thrill seeking, barbaric, gun loving side, and that’s just what I got. Which makes me hope that whenever Infinity Ward announce their next title in their Michael Bay-ish style of game developing, that fire will be refueled once more.