Another E3 has come and gone, and the ASTRO staff team was out in force for this one. We had a foot crew of ten people helping to support the 600 headsets that we had on the show floor being used by some of the biggest and hottest companies in the gaming industry. Not that we’re bragging or anything, but we had the opportunity to work with some of our favorite partners like: Sony, Ubisoft, Capcom, THQ, Square Enix, Sega, Perfect World, Telltale Games, Deep Silver, Activision, EA, and Konami to help them bring their games and products to the next level by allowing event attendees to get an amazing audio experience by using the A30 and A40 Audio Systems in their booths.

Fortunately out foot crew also had an opportunity to explore the show floor for a bit and get some demos of many of the new upcoming titles. There’s so much to see and do at E3 that it’s nearly impossible to check it all out, but we tried. After exploring the show floor for three days, we thought that we would share the top three anticipated titles from a few of our staff members who were able to get some quality demos in. Here’s what we loved:

Randall “Warblade” Wong: Forum Moderator

Battlefield 3- This game looks and plays great, and I haven’t touched PC gaming in years, but I’m dead set on getting a new PC just to play this game!
Batman: Arkham City – A neat sequel to the last game, bringing Batman out on the streets of Gotham. They made Catwoman as a new playable character, which should make for plenty of new moves and different ways to play.
Fruit Ninja Kinect – While the game has been out on iOS for over a year, this is the first release for a major console. It uses Microsoft’s motion sensor Kinect where “You are the Controller” and your arms are the blades. Two player mode is hilariously fun, I only wish they took photos or videos of the action.

Stan “Stanimal” Press: Community Marketing Manager

Battlefield 3 – Looks beyond amazing, sounds phenomenal, exactly what the FPS scene needs right now. Something to set a new standard for shooters and that’ll BF3.
Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet – Low-key indie XBLA game that will definitely win some awards for its fresh take on an arcade game with its original gameplay and gorgeous design. Keep an eye out for this one this summer.
Mass Effect 3 – The best combination of sci-fi, role playing and 3rd-person action. Rarely does such a backstory to a game’s story actually rival the likes of Star Wars and other top sci-fi franchises.

Chris “Cha” Chang: Graphic Designer

Battlefield 3 – I’m ready for a new FPS, and this game is beautiful. Hands down my favorite.
Dead Island – In wait of a RPG zombie game, I’m looking forward to this one.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Finally, could this be the MMORPG I have been waiting for? One to commit myself to and I believe will fill that void.

Gernard Feril: Gaming Category/Product Manager

PS Vita – OK, I know, this is cheating, it’s not really a title, but the fact that I spend more time away from my home town and on planes, I’m super excited to have a device with that much power that can travel around with me.
Ninja Gaiden 3 – This one just brings me back to my childhood…I was amazed at how fast and fluid the game play was, and I’ll admit, I’ve always wanted to be a ninja…
Battlefield 3 – I was only mildly excited for this title when I first heard about it coming, as FPS’s aren’t my top game of choice, but after seeing the demo, I was converted…it was AMAZING…

Walter “Xariun” Duccini: Event Manager

Battlefield 3 – I mean, seriously, what’s not to love here?
Dead Island – I really enjoyed the realistic sense of ammo conservation and weapon diminishment that happened. I’m also a sucker for the zombie apocalypse.
Prototype 2 – Honestly, I didn’t get a chance to sneak into the media room and see it, but I played the crap out of the first one, loving every minute of it. Pair that with the idea that the main character is now the bad guy that you are hunting after building him all the way up, is just awesome to me.

The one thing that is for sure is that Battlefield 3 will definitely be sneaking its way into the work day at ASTRO Gaming!

Be sure to check out ASTRO Gaming on Facebook for more pictures from the show!

-ASTRO Xarion

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Year after year, it seems that the Columbus event on the MLG Pro Circuit is always about setting records across the board. Maybe it’s because Columbus and it’s centralized location is easy to get to for many of the circuit regulars. Maybe it’s because the date for the event is perfectly timed right as summer break begins for many. Maybe it’s because of the irresistible draw of all those haunters in the expo hall next door who put on an amazing show with all of the Halloween costumes and props. Maybe it’s because everyone is trying to fight for a little respect as the result of their teams not placing quite where they wanted on the season opener. For whatever the reason, this event continued the record breaking streak in 2011, shattering everything from attendance and stream views to sales records.

For my third year attending the Columbus stop on the MLG Pro Circuit, I knew what to expect going in. I knew it was going to be jam-packed with people, lots of long days, things running a bit behind, and everyone out to have a ton of fun in and out of the venue. I tried to relay this expectation to the rest of the Astro Team for this event, many of which, have never attended an MLG event before. But even I was caught a little off guard at how quickly the lines stacked up as the event filled to the brim in what appeared to be the biggest floor space the MLG circuit had planned for to date. There were literally people everywhere, and in an instant the venue was bursting with passion, energy, and anticipation for the matches to begin. As the live stream pushed out content, an unprecedented number of viewers tuned in to watch the action from their computers all over the world. The live stream throughout the weekend boasted 22.5 million streams. Pair that with the 16 thousand fans checking things out, and the Columbus event this year blew out all of the old attendance records out of the water.

With the new pool play, there are consistently upsets, and the winning match can end up being almost anyone these days. We watched a lot of hard fought battles throughout the weekend, and saw the fallout when each team won or lost and secured their placement for the event.

Congrats, as always, go out to the winners of the event:

Halo Reach: Instinct
CoD Black Ops: Optic Gaming
Starcraft II: SlayerSMMA

We would simply like to say thank you to all of you out there who make the effort and put the passion behind these events by supporting the league, the sponsors, and the top pro teams. Without all of you, none of us would be where we are.

See you all in Anaheim!

- ASTRO Xarion

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Every year, the world’s eyes turn to E3 to see all the raddest gaming news and announcements. Now as you can imagine, there’s going to be a ton of games shown off. Stuff that you know about, stuff that you don’t know about but want to know about, etc. That kind of stuff.

The fact is that when all those fancy PR people need to demo their games, gaming audio is critical to the experience. How better to provide that experience than ASTRO Gaming’s A30 and A40 Audio Systems?

That’s why you’ll be able to demo our gear on the best upcoming games in the following booths:

- Sony
- Ubisoft
- THQ
- EA
- Capcom
- Perfect World
- Activision
- Sega
- Deep Silver
- Square Enix
- Telltale Games
- Konami

The world’s top publishers and developers know what the deal is. If you want the best audio for your gaming, you go with ASTRO. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter for E3 updates as we go.

- ASTRO stanimal

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Yes, ASTRO Gaming is joining the Skullcandy experience and headlining as their premium brand of video game equipment. Skullcandy recognizes the strong influence of video gaming in their youth-driven, high-energy world and sees the ASTRO brand as a core part of their growing family. Fueled by Skullcandy’s scale and global reach, ASTRO is about to receive a turbo boost – enabling it to continue providing the high-end gear to professional and elite gamers worldwide.

We know you have questions and we’ll have all the answers soon. What’s important for you to know is that this is an opportunity for us to keep improving the video gaming experience on all levels.  We’ll still be the ASTRO you know and love, just harder, better, faster, stronger…

Stay tuned for more details.

- ASTRO stanimal

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Hey all you ASTRO constituents!

If you have a keen eye, you may have noticed we’ve updated our website! It’s nothing too crazy, just a more efficient system, a cleaner way to browse products and a streamlined checkout process.

If you spot anything out of the ordinary or something isn’t working right, please let us know ASAP! We can be reached via the following outlets:

• Facebook – http://facebook.com/astrogaming
• Twitter – http://twitter.com/astrogaming
• Forums – http://forums.astrogaming.com
• Email – socialmedia@astrogaming.com

Thanks a ton!

Cheers,

- ASTRO stanimal

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No more teasing, no more “stay tuned”. We’re just going to tell you that ASTRO Gaming’s hottest A40 BXR colors are back – primed and ready to deliver all the soundwhoring and immersive 7.1 Dolby Surround Sound you can ask for.

Before you even ask, the answer is yes. These BXR Editions are the 2011 Edition A40s. You get that sweet new ultra-flexible mic that blocks out more background noise and bass-thumping earpads for a deeper richer sound.

Shipping immediately from our warehouses (US now, UK coming next week), check out the following:

- A40 BXR Wireless System
- A40 BXR Audio System
- A40 BXR Headset

Cheers,

- ASTRO stanimal

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It’s hard to believe that the 2011 season for Major League Gaming is already underway. It seems like only yesterday that we were watching the final matches of Halo 3, World of Warcraft, Super Street Fighter, Call of Duty, and Tekken at the finals last November. With the pages closed on the first event of the season, let’s take a moment to highlight some of the big changes that have happened between seasons, share some opinions of the first event, and glimpse at some of the exciting things to look forward to for the remainder of 2011.

As many of you know, in previous years at the live tournaments, there was one main stage area with limited stadium style bleacher seating that hosted the hottest matches and focused primarily on the Halo franchise, MLG’s cornerstone game that they focused their effort on for years. There was a smaller sub stage that typically hosted the next biggest game’s premier matches, this secondary stage had hosted Gears of War, Call of Duty, and Tekken primarily in the past few years. Then there was an alternate arena that had been used for the World of Warcraft PvP tournament, and was clearly shifting to Starcraft II as the crowds that were watching these matches kept growing after SCII was introduced to the circuit. Sundance DiGiovanni, MLG’s CEO, has been talking about equal exposure for the games that they were looking to focus on for 2011(Halo Reach, CoD Black Ops, and Starcraft II). This goal was expressed multiple times and through multiple channels towards the end of the 2010 season, and leading up to the season opener in Dallas. In preparation for this new season, the MLG team made some significant changes in the layout for their live events this year. What we saw when we walked in hit that target right on the mark.

As you walked into the season opener, you couldn’t help but notice that the event size had grown significantly. MLG added nearly double the gaming stations for bracket play which left a much larger footprint than previous years. There was increased room between rows of stations for spectators to watch the matches, and the stadium style main stage was removed completely. The removal of that main stage left a clear visible view to the now three main stages that were listed side by side from nearly anywhere inside the venue. One thing that we couldn’t find at first glance was the live broadcast area which had previously been poised at the top of the main stage structure that was now completely removed, with much of the tech gear running alongside the single main stage. We found an entirely new, sports center-esque series of broadcast booths and what can only be described as an insane amount of broadcast gear in the back of the production area. Look forward to some high quality production value broadcasts from the events as the year progresses and everyone gets settled into the new layout.

One other major change that was implemented for the first event was the new pool system for team elimination. We heard two very distinct opinions talking to players around the venue and through feedback from our twitter feed. Either the players loved it or they hated it. The biggest reason that we heard from people that loved it was that it gave players outside of the “top” teams a better chance at proving what they’ve got and making it into the later rounds of the tournament. This lead to a crazy amount of upsets of some of the existing top teams, and put a lot more stress on the players to perform at their best each and every game. So if you’re looking to make an appearance at one or more of the events this year and missed the season opener, be warned, you will be put to the test.

Congrats go out to all the winners, especially the guys from Status Quo, who took home their first event win. Ya’ll keep an eye on them as a newly Red Bull sponsored team. They’re likely a force to be reckoned with this season.

We also had the opportunity to see many familiar faces: from players, sponsors, and staff to attendees. We also got to meet some new folks around the venue as well, and look forward to seeing everyone again in Columbus!

Be sure to check out the rest of our event pictures on the Astro Gaming Facebook page.

-X

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When we were given the opportunity to pair up with the Houston Astros All-Star outfielder and avid gamer Hunter Pence, we knew right away that this was an obvious moment of greatness waiting to happen. After hearing that he was a big Call of Duty fan, we couldn’t think of a better professional CoD gamer than Hastr0 to come out and give him some pro tips on CoD. I mean, Astro Gaming + The Houston Astros + Hastr0… come on now… that’s a gently underhand thrown softball right over the middle of the plate. What we unraveled was a story that wove together professional gaming and sports even more than we imagined.

We initially met the MLG CoD Pro Mike ‘Hastr0’ Rufail a few years ago, but really got a chance to get to know him at the Gamers for Giving charity event in Michigan in May of 2010. That night, we found out that Mike originally grew up in Texas and was a HUGE Houston Astros fan in his youth. When he started to play online and it came time to pick a gamertag, his choice revolved around a sport that he loved, and a team that he had embraced. With that, ‘Hastr0’ was born. Knowing that he was a huge Astros fan, when we learned that Hunter Pence was a Call of Duty player, we knew these two would be a perfect match to share some pro tips about each other’s respective sport. We arranged to fly Hastr0 down for a day to meet Hunter, and went down to capture the shenanigans as they happened.

We picked up Hastr0 from the airport and headed out to meet up with Hunter. We ended up at the Hunter Pence Baseball Academy where Hunter, his brother Howie, and a number of other professional athletes host a variety of baseball academies in hopes of sharing their skills and stories to create other elite athletes in the Houston area. It was here that we first met Hunter and he got to give Hastr0 some batting advice and see what kind of Gamer/Athlete Hastr0 really was. After a few warm up swings on the batting tee , Hastr0 moved on to the pitching machine before stepping in against Howie Pence(who throws some serious major league heat). After Hastr0 got a few big swings in, it was time to head over to Hunter’s house so that he could show us his gaming setup we were about to gear up and have Hastr0 return the pro to pro teaching session.

When we arrived at Hunter’s house, it was clear from his setups that he absolutely loved gaming. He had dual flat screen televisions paired with Xbox 360’s in front of theater style leather recliners. He also had both a high end gaming desktop and laptop on his dining room table which we found out he uses for World of Warcraft PvP. Hunter told us that he gets approached all the time to join pro WoW PvP teams. Each time, chuckling and having to tell them that he’s not sure that it would be a good career move. We got to watch him make quick work of a couple of people, but were eager to see how he held up against and with Hastr0 in CoD.

Hastr0 got to hop in with his team and get a couple of competition matches in to get warmed up and share some insight from his professional level in gaming with Hunter. After a few rounds, they were ready to jump in and get some games going. During those games, Hunter also got to teach Hastr0 about “Schlobstering”. I was sworn to secrecy, but you can ask Hunter via twitter what it means!

Thanks to Hunter, the Houston Astros, Hastr0, Team EnvyUs, and the crew at Tritton(for being cool with us stealing Hastr0 for day). We had a blast pairing up this Athlete/Gamer and Gamer/Athlete. If you want to check out the quick video recap of the day, you can find it on our YouTube channel, or more pictures on our facebook page.

-X

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As the world’s leading premium gaming brand, ASTRO Gaming is always looking for ways to help elite players perform at their best. One thing we’ve found is that conventional materials yield conventional results. Therefore, after years of extensive research, ASTRO Gaming is announcing exclusive limited edition pre-orders for “The Gold Edition”, a line of products that have been created using solid 22K gold.

22K gold delivers the ultimate in ultra-premium gaming performance, helping you outshine the competition literally and figuratively.

The first products in the lineup will be:

* Gold Edition A40 headset – go beyond the ultimate and look like gaming royalty with the greatest gaming headset ever constructed.

* Gold Edition XBox 360 Controller – for incredibly lag-free, 0 MS response time performance and bejeweled for the ultimate in intimidation effects.

* Gold Edition MixAmp 5.8 Rx Wireless Receiver – for uninterruptable military-grade communication solution

* Gold Edition Urban Lanyard – tie it all together with this hip, functional accessory; perfect for the arena or the club

Why Gold?

Gold is the most conductive metal on the planet. We’ve harnessed that conductive power in our Gold Edition A40 headset, complete with gold cables and connectors, assuring the fastest and most accurate audio signal ever delivered in a gaming product. Our modified Gold Edition XBox 360 controller comes complete with diamond-tipped buttons and gold wiring. When you use this controller, it literally feels like it’s reading your mind.

Gold is the most malleable metal on the planet, so over time your Gold Edition A40 headset and XBox 360 controller will get to know you personally, adapting their shape to your personal characteristics.

Gold reflects electromagnetic and infrared radiation, so our Gold Edition 5.8 Rx wireless receiver cannot be subject to any interference whatsoever, including solar flares, rocket launchers and vacuum cleaners.

Gold is easy to care for. Spill your drink on your Gold Edition A40’s? No problem – gold is a noble metal that’s chemically unaffected by air and moisture and most corrosive regents.

Gold is heavy and strong, so if you slam your Gold Edition gear to the ground in exultation or frustration, everyone including your neighbors will take notice. (ASTRO is not responsible for Gold Edition-related acts of unintended violence, injury, property damage, sexual dysfunction, looting, acts of God or Gods resulting in break-up, separation or divorce)

Gold is epic! Don’t you want to game with something that’s thought to have been formed from a supernova nucleosynthesis process? Their explosions scattered metal-containing dusts into the region of space in which they later condensed into our solar system and the Earth. Gold is elemental yo.

Gold is clever. Open yourself up to all kinds of Gold Edition catch-phrases like “you’re golden”, “you’ve got a heart of gold”, “go for the gold”, “thars gold in them there hills”, “good as gold”, “silence is golden”, and many other classics. If you’re lucky, your friends might even start to call you “Golden Boy”, “Golden Girl” or even rave DJ “Goldie” aka Clifford Joseph Price.

Check out the Gold Edition at www.astrogaming.com.

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As the 2011 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit season kicks-off in Dallas this weekend, ASTRO is proud to announce that we’re back for our fourth consecutive season as the Official Headset of the MLG.

One might ask, what’s the big deal? It means that you’ll have the award-winning MixAmp powering all your gaming audio and voice chat at every seat at every event this year. It’s no longer just Halo: Reach that will be rocking our gear, but Call of Duty: Black Ops and Starcraft 2 will also let you plug in your A40 or A30 headset to get Dolby 7.1 audio and hear your teammates perfectly on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC.

It doesn’t end there. It also means that our ASTRO booth and ASTRO girls will be at every MLG stop loaded with our full line of gear ready for purchase. On top of the new A40 2011 Edition Headset and wired MixAmp, we will also have available the crystal-clear wireless MixAmp 5.8, the cross-gaming A30 headset, and even our ultra-portable A*STARs in-ear headset. Don’t forget about the Scout backpack or Mission bag so you can safely travel from stop to stop with all your gear. Did I mention we provide tech support too?

Finally, for existing A40 owners, A40 2011 Upgrade Kits will be available at the ASTRO booth to give your A40 Headset a sweet sounding bass boost and a new mic to help quiet down the crowds.

Be sure to catch the livestream at MLG’s website www.majorleaguegaming.com and follow us on Twitter/Facebook for contests, giveaways, and live updates.

- ASTRO stanimal

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