More On: CES 2013

Thrustmaster makes some really, really solid stuff and Dan and I stopped by their booth in the Central Hall to take a look at what they had for the show. 

 

First up were some brand new Xbox 360 controllers. The GPX LightBack is a high performance Xbox 360 controller with vibration technology licensed from Immersion Corporation. Immersion’s been around for a long time and they make solid force feedback technology. The motors on the gamepad felt strong, but not overpowering. As with all third party controllers, it’s not wireless. 
 

 

On top are two rows of LEDs, one for each trigger. They display how much you press down on the trigger so if you want a visual cue as to how far you are depressing them, the LightBack gives you that. You can turn the LEDs off if you wish. 

 

Thrustmaster has gone and made the two analog sticks more accurate and provide double the rate of information back to the Xbox 360. The example given out was say you had a box on the screen. With a traditional Xbox 360 controller, if you place your palm on the sticks and rotate, it would go to each for corners of the box. With the LightBack, rotating the sticks would generate a complete circle rather than just hitting the corners. That means more precise movements for games like shooters and racers.

 

The GPX LightBack also comes branded in a Ferrari Edition as well with a nice red and white paint scheme.

 

Pricing was not announced, but Thrustmaster says it will be comparable to the 360 controller. 

 

The other new item being showcased at their booth was the Y-250C headset. Featuring 50mm drivers, the Y-250C produces some pretty great sound and it’s backed by the expertise Hercules provided with all their years of audio experience . 
 

 

They have a generous amount of padding for comfortability so you should be able to wear these for long gaming sessions.

 

A long adjustable mic is included for voice communications. Should you want that out of the way, just go ahead and detach it from the left earcup. 

 

The line from the headset runs into a control unit that can adjust various audio functions. Here you can turn on or off your mic should you want to mute yourself. Volume and mic gain controls are also present in the control unit.

 

The Y-250C is compatible with smartphones as well, even for calling. 

 

With great stereo sound, the Y-250C sounds like a nice little headset from Thrustmaster all at an affordable price of around $90.