Nyko Message Board

#android Last week I reported on Power A's MOGA portable gaming system for Android devices, a system that allows developers to quickly integrate game pad support into their Android titles. Nyko's PlayPad line of tablet controllers might not be quite as elegant, but they make up for that lack of style by being compatible with just about every Android game in existence. More »

#hardware While other hardware manufacturers focus on releasing high-quality arcade fight sticks that follow the same basic formula, Nyko allows players to change everything with the Free Fighter, a $179.999 programmable fighting game controller with a singular look and a unique modular design. More »

#nintendo Nintendo's official 3DS Circle Pad Pro extension is, well, it's not very pretty. It's also getting hard to find. Thank the maker for Nyko, then, who have not only produced the world's first third-party alternative, but have come up with something that looks much nicer than Nintendo's offering. More »

#yogabbagabba As a father of a pair of twin boys addicted to musical television shows, I'm not sure the prospect of a Nintendo DS / iPhone dock alarm clock containing 30 songs from the hit children's show Yo Gabba Gabba is a blessing or a curse. More »

Nyko's new game pads aim get your thumbs off the screen and back on some sticks.

#psvita Available now at GameStop locations across the U.S. Nyko's Speaker Stand for the PS Vita adds a little more oomph to the Sony portable's sound, and transforms it into a handy mobile Skype solution. More »

A portion of a GI interview with Nyko's founder and CEO, Herschel Naghi...

Q: Making unlicensed accessories has led at times to disputes with console manufacturers. What are the pros and cons of licensing versus not licensing, and why have you chosen to avoid licensing?

Herschel Naghi: The pros to licensing include the ability to say your product is officially licensed, put a stamp or seal of approval on the box, and ideally receive support and cooperation during development, marketing and distribution from the first-party licensor. Frankly, the only con is the cost. It can be very expensive to obtain a first-party license, and in some cases the costs outweigh the benefits.

In general Nyko has always been open to producing products licensed by console manufacturers, and in some cases such as our licensed Memory Card for PlayStation 2 we have maintained successful licensing arrangements. In an ideal world all of our products would carry the first-party license, but in reality there can be exorbitant commitments that would impinge on the viability of our business. When need be, we will create hardware without the blessing of the license. In most cases our unlicensed approach is more successful for us and allows us to provide a superior product to the consumer at a lower cost than would have been possible with the license. Plus, we can get them on store shelves sooner.

Most first parties see Nyko as a threat to their business; after all, we fix flaws in designs that represent a great deal of labor and testing. As a result, first parties can be reluctant to license Nyko. But despite these setbacks, we have continued to work hard and include new and advanced features such as our Transport Technology in the Wand. We have made a very successful business by capitalizing on opportunities that first parties have neglected. At its core, our goal is to solve problems no matter the cause so that players have the best possible gaming experience.

#psvita Nyko never met a console or portable it couldn't make a ton of additional crap for, and the upcoming PlayStation Vita is no different. At CES 2012 in Las Vegas the peripheral maker debuts its launch lineup of Vita accessories. More »

#review Because of the USB port on the PS3 controller, I always considered the DualShock charging stations I saw at Best Buy to be like bottled water. Why pay for something that's already provided for free, right? Just plug the damn thing in when it runs low on juice. More »

The Nyko Zoom is a lens attachment for the Xbox 360 Kinect that simply, snugly connects over the front of the device. The $30 peripheral, which is available now, makes it so that players can stand about 40 percent closer to the Kinect. In other words, it allowed those with cramped, furnished living spaces, like most of the Joystiq team, to get their Kinect on.
If you don't need the Zoom for space-saving purposes, don't bother getting it. It won't help if you've already got ample area. It basically works by squishing and widening the playing field so, where a single-player game used to work optimally at about seven feet (nine feet for two players), it now functions well at four feet (six feet for two players). The playing field now ends at around eight feet with the Zoom, instead of ten feet without.

Games we tested (Dance Central, Your Shape and Kinect Adventures) worked as intended with the lens on. An awkward side-effect of the lens is that it does create what appears like dead space around the perimeter of your feedback screen (viewable on the dashboard and in some games), but if your body moves into those spaces it will still be recognized. The Zoom also creates slight distortions in the player's silhouette; again, the system still recognizes bodies and creates the correct vector skeleton of the player, it's more an issue of just noticing that it "doesn't look right," instead of it actually affecting games.

If you live in cramped quarters and the Nyko Zoom will let you properly play Kinect (or just avoid moving the furniture around to do so), the attachment is worth the investment.

Update: Although the lens did work for us with the games we tested, we are receiving and reading feedback that is making us uncomfortable about recommending this product. At this time, we will simply say that the Nyko Zoom is available and results vary.

The Nyko Zoom is a lens attachment for the Xbox 360 Kinect that simply, snugly connects over the front of the device. The $30 peripheral, which is available now, makes it so that players can stand about 40 percent closer to the Kinect. In other words, it allowed those with cramped, furnished living spaces, like most of the Joystiq team, to get their Kinect on.
If you don't need the Zoom for space-saving purposes, don't bother getting it. It won't help if you've already got ample area. It basically works by squishing and widening the playing field so, where a single-player game used to work optimally at about seven feet (nine feet for two players), it now functions well at four feet (six feet for two players). The playing field now ends at around eight feet with the Zoom, instead of ten feet without.

Games we tested (Dance Central, Your Shape and Kinect Adventures) worked as intended with the lens on. An awkward side-effect of the lens is that it does create what appears like dead space around the perimeter of your feedback screen (viewable on the dashboard and in some games), but if your body moves into those spaces it will still be recognized. The Zoom also creates slight distortions in the player's silhouette; again, the system still recognizes bodies and creates the correct vector skeleton of the player, it's more an issue of just noticing that it "doesn't look right," instead of it actually affecting games.

If you live in cramped quarters and the Nyko Zoom will let you properly play Kinect (or just avoid moving the furniture around to do so), the attachment is worth the investment.

Look honey, we know you're anxious to start waving your arms around, but your Kinect might need a little more time to get over its fear of intimacy. We know you were hoping the Nyko Zoom, the close-encounters enabling Kinect lens cover, would bridge the gap between you two. We know you've been looking looking forward to that August 13 release date with bated breath, but it looks like you're going to have to wait a little longer.

According to Amazon and Gamestop listings for the product, the peripheral-peripheral's launch has been pushed back until September 13. We've reached out to Nyko for confirmation, but at the moment it looks like your tiny dormroom will remain Kinectimals-free for another month. Your Kinect loves you, it really does, it just needs its space right now, you know?

[Thanks, Sacra!]

Whether it's due to an unspoken social fragility, or simply a disdain for your odorous pit stains, the Kinect simply doesn't want you anywhere near its personal space. Most of you don't mind backing off, but even the most spartan living room might not allow for enough distance between bodies and the motion-sensing eye. (In fact, most spartan living rooms see players plummeting into a paved, cylindrical abyss after they take a step back.)

Enter: Nyko Zoom. Launching on August 23 for $30, Nyko's clip-on lens claims to enable Kinect games within 40% less space, essentially fooling the sensor into thinking you're way over there when you're RIGHT HERE. Joystiq's got quite a few cramped gaming caves between its writers, so we'll be testing the Zoom's big talk as soon as we get our hands on some hardware.

It's weird to think that amongst all the silly Kinect bits and bobs (including those that physically bob), we might finally find some use in the one that turns the camera into Mr. Magoo, cosplaying as Sam Fisher.

#zoomzoomzoomazoom Come August 23 I will no longer need to move my couch in order to get my Just Dance on, thanks to Nyko's Kinect clip-on Zoom device. How much would you pay to cut your Kinect's space requirements by 40 percent? More »

The Intercooler Slim is a cooling device for PlayStation 3.

Nyko has "the last Wii Party Station on Earth" working its booth at E3. Like that band with a few minor hits that you see years later at Six Flags, the party station is a shell of its former glory.

When we first saw the device in 2007, it was gloriously lit in blue, holding sodas and providing chips. Now, after missing its big break, the device is dark, lonely and generally ignored. It's still working, though, holding a couple bottles of water, a few Nyko Wiimotes and two pieces of candy when we saw it. Even the Nyko rep said with some sadness, "It should be glowing and providing us a bounty of chips."

As for what Nyko is actually showing this year, check out the 2011 lineup.

The Media Hub Slim adds USB ports, card readers and an IR receiver to your PlayStation 3!

The Raven is a full-featured wireless controller for PlayStation 3.

The Wand for Wii is a Wiimote alternative from Nyko.

Nyko's Wand+ for Wii incorporates 1:1 motion controls into the controller itself.

Nyko unveils the latest charging stand for Wiimotes!

The Zoom accessory reduces the amount of space needed to use a Kinect.