make your game room a vip room, with custom-painted pcs, a giant-screen plasma tv, an xbox 360, and the world's first lan scoreboard. there's nothing worse than watching someone else play a video game. it's not like watching professional sports, where the players clearly outclass your pedestrian skills. they make it look easy. but let's face it: you could never jump that high or run that far. but behind a controller? you're michael jordan mixed with tom brady, and you know precisely how to execute the moves that other guy can barely attempt. its just "a-b-a-b-a-b," for crying out loud. and so you sit and stew, biding your time, waiting to grab the controls and rack up a serious body count. in the ultimate game room, that was just one of the problems we tried to solve. our cardinal rule: "no one shall be without games." if you can't get onto the unreal server, saddle up one of the gaming chairs, set your sights on the 42-inch plasma, and play the xbox 360 while you wait your turn.
you may ask, "if i'm busy shattering every current tony hawk record, enjoying the full-bodied cacophony of a gaming chair with built-in subwoofers, how will i know when it's my turn?" that's the other problem we solved. if pro-sports stadiums can have gigantic scoreboards, why not game rooms? now they do, with pc magazine's killer lan scoreboard. it takes advantage of the game server's unused graphics power to display current game data. with two dual-head video cards and four screens, we can display four different stats (one per screen): the players, the map, the frag leader, and basic server info. just like at wrigley or fenway, one glance and you'll know what's happening in the current round of unreal tournament—or many other popular lan games, with a little tweaking. the best part: you can actually make a lan scoreboard yourself. we'll show you how. a. philips 42pf9630a 42-inch hdthe better to frag you with, my dear. a high-def 16:9 display, ambient lighting via philips's cool ambilight technology, and a cablecard slot seem so integral, you almost won't miss your 2.5 grand.
b. dell xps 600 extreme gaming pc - read full reviewthe dual nvidia geforce 7800 gtx cards easily ran our scoreboard. and with a 24-inch lcd widescreen, 1gb of ram, a 660gb raid array, and a 3.6-ghz extreme edition cpu, you know it's a gaming power-house. c. microsoft xbox 360 - read full reviewwhat makes the 360 a tough act to follow? try wireless controllers, hdtv support, and blazing graphics. spring for the more expensive version for hd, ethernet, and a 20gb drive. d. logitech z5500 digital 5.1 speakers - read full reviewwith ridiculous bass and a mind-boggling array of features (like the beautiful wired controller and a wireless remote), these premium media speakers will easily handle outputs from your console, pc, or any other media device. mids and highs tend to get overpowered by the subwoofer, but for gaming and movies, the z5500 is right on. e. logitech g15 keyboard, g7 mousethe g15 has 18 programmable macro keys (perfect for fpss and mmogs), glowing blue backlights, and a programmable lcd screen.
the g7 is wireless, uses a laser, has hot-swappable batteries, and introduces adjustable resolution. f. nvidia geforce 7800 gtx video card - read product bulletinthese top-of-the-line cards have dual dvi-out ports, and they boast the fastest speeds and the best anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering. using sli, you can bridge the two and power one monitor, though we ran all four scoreboard lcds instead and skipped the sli ability. they sure don't come cheap. g. pyramat pm220 sound rocker connect your tv's audio-out port to the pyramat sound rocker for 80 watts of bum-rumbling power. a subwoofer in the seat and two speakers atop the backrest let you feel every halo 2 gun battle or tony hawk wipeout without standing up. we'll show you how to build a lan scoreboard!—continue reading... I am a big fan of Top Gear (UK primarily) sometimes US. I've watched nearly all episodes and I have always been fascinated by their car chairs, sofas, and engine block coffee table. I had told myself a while ago, if I ever get the opportunity to, I will definitely try to make my own.
I was at the junkyard a couple months ago and I came across a bright yellow 1974 Datsun 240z car. I'm also a big fan of Nissan and most Z cars. Naturally I wanted to rescue those seats and convert them into office chairs. The first picture is just the transformation, the before and after. * .!Step 1: Design and Parts NeededShow All Items Looking at several examples in the internet, some are very fancy and expensive but most look too cheesy and unprofessional. I wanted mine to be in decent price range but also look very professional. I was not sure how well it would turn out since I have never done something like this before. Nevertheless, I continued on. Below are the parts I used. Old Seats (Junkyard -40 bux for both) Foam (John Hancock Fabrics) (30 bux) Synthetic Leather Seat Covers (Took a big chunk but the quality was excellent) ($100 for each cover) Lots and lots of Spray Adhesive (Loctite & 3M) (~10 bux) Silicone Caulking (Idea didn't work) (10 bux)
Spray Paint, Rust Remover, Associated Hardware (~20 bux)« PreviousNext »View All Steps DownloadLooking to pick up a new, affordable headset for yourself or an avid gamer you know this Christmas? Well, once again, Turtle Beach has the answer for you with the Ear Force PX24. Device/Accessory: Turtle Beach Ear Force PX24 Price: Amazon £65.99, Turtle Beach £69.99 (Review headset provided by Turtle Beach) Getting straight to business, I should start by mentioning the Ear Force PX24 headset is compatible with the PS4, Xbox One, PC and mobile devices. That itself is a massive plus point given that most headsets are one platform or the other, especially when it comes to the current crop of consoles. At its price point, you’ll be hard pressed to find another quality headset that does the same. The main reason behind this is the universal 3.5mm jack connection. You simply connect it to the headset jack of your chosen device and you’re good to go… Yes, there’s a slight niggle.
You see, connecting the 3.5mm jack to your PC, mobile device or PS4 (via the controller) is no problem, but a slight issue if you’ve got an old Xbox One pad. Having purchased my console on launch day, the pad doesn’t have a connection that supports the PX24. The newer Xbox One pads do, thanks to having a 3.5mm jack at the bottom. I borrowed a friend’s spare pad to test out the headset, but I doubt everyone will be able to do the same. In that case you have two options, buy a new Xbox One pad or shell out £29.99 for the Ear Force Headset Audio Controller. Given that the pad is around £10 more, I know which option I’d recommend! That slight niggle aside, connecting the Ear Force PX24 to your chosen system/device is very simple. To get the best out of the headset, you’ll want to use the SuperAmp that comes with the package. It is the main selling point after all! Plug the headset into the SuperAmp and then that into the system/device of your choice. You’ll have to tweak a few very minor bits via the PS4 and Xbox One settings to get things going on the consoles, but there’s a handy quick start guide in the box to assist you with that.
As I said, it’s very simple. I didn’t have any issues, so (trust me) you won’t either. You can skip using the SuperAmp too, and you’ll get decent audio, but (as I said) you’ll be missing the point of what makes the Ear Force PX24 special. Once you’re all set up, if you’re a bit of an audiophile, you can customise the experience to your liking. The SuperAmp gives you control over six key options, four of which are volume, virtual surround sound level, mic monitoring levels and bass boost. Yes, that’s right, for a very affordable price you get virtual surround sound, mic monitoring (make sure you’re not shouting) and bass boost adjustment. You simply adjust these options by the scroll wheel on the side, stopping when you hear the beep for minimum or maximum. You also have option to mute your mic, but it’s the final option that is the best. I’m talking about the Superhuman Hearing button that enhances the audio, allowing you to hear footsteps, chatter and other sounds you wouldn’t normally.
The standard output without this option enabled is good, but this just makes it that bit better. If you play online multiplayer games like Call of Duty or Halo a lot, the Superhuman Hearing is a Godsend. The virtual surround sound mixed with this, well, it’s quite simply audio heaven! I tried out quite a few games with the Ear Force PX24, including Call of Duty: Black Ops III, Halo 5, Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4. It goes without saying, but every game sounded better with the headset. Not all of them benefitted from the Superhuman Hearing, mainly Rise of the Tomb Raider, but that could be down to personal preference. I preferred to hear slightly less given the nature of the game, if that makes sense! On the other hand, playing Star Wars Battlefront with the Superhuman Hearing was just spectacular. This might sound cliché, but it was like I was there in the Star Wars universe. Either way, you can tweak all the options with Superhuman Hearing on too, so you can get the audio exactly how you like before you start playing.
It’s worth mentioning the SuperAmp does need to be charged, so if you want the best out of the Ear Force PX24 don’t forget to do that. There’s a charging cable included in the box, with a full charge getting you 30 hours of audio goodness from the SuperAmp. Outside of the gaming stuff, I tried the Ear Force PX24 with my PC and Android phone, with both tests yielding similarly impressive results. Testing it with the latter actually surprised me, working really well with the Skype app. The person I called could hear me really well and vice versa – couldn’t ask for more really. I also tested a few blu-ray movies (via both consoles), and was left impressed. Some tweaking of the options was required to get the audio nicely balanced (I’m picky), but once I did that I thoroughly enjoyed being immersed in the worlds of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and The Dark Knight. Oh and I should mention the headset itself is very comfortable. I had one Fallout 4 session that lasted 5 hours and never did it feel annoying or uncomfortable.