When I first received a box of Gioteck gaming peripherals and accessories from their local supplier, I groaned. I thought I’d face the uphill battle – again – of convincing tight-fisted gamers to part with their money for high-end, high-priced gaming gear. The top quality packaging, you see, made it all look ludicrously expensive – and only the most enthusiastic gamers are willing to drop top dollar on quality. My fears turned to surprise when I took a look at their pricing.
The swank, sleek boxes – stuffed with premium quality peripherals – were significantly cheaper than I was expecting – warranting a closer look at the wares contained within. Here, I’ll start off with something basic; the Gioteck Online Essentials Pack for the PS3. The name’s actually a bit of a misnomer because only one item included in the pack is actually essential for online play; the Bluetooth headset.
Included in the online essentials pack is Gioteck’s EX-01 Bluteooth headset – a no frills headset that’ll enable you, the PlayStation gamer, to be called all manner of racial and homophobic slurs in your online games. It requires pairing with your PS3, by holding down the power button until the light on the thing goes in to a disco frenzy. Once paired, in-game voice chatter gets funnelled in to your ear. Included is a USB charge cable, and gives you a few hours of use off of a 30 minute charge. It’s worth noting that it doesn’t actually go inside your ear -it sits outside, making it pretty comfortable for extended play sessions. Also of note is the fact that it comes with interchangeable ear hooks, so you can choose which side of your face you’d like it to sit. Audio – both input and output – is suitably crisp and clear.
Joining the headset in the pack is a long, High-speed HDMI cable. there’s not much that can be said about HDMI cables – no matter how much anybody wants to waffle on about 24K gold plated contacts, shielding or how this particular HDMI cable will give you a clearer picture it’s all just bunk. As it’s a digital signal, if your TV gets the data, then it gets the data. It is made to HDMI 1.4 spec though – so those of you with 3DTV’s should have no problems. It’s also a ribbon cable – like those you’d see on SATA hard drives, so it’s easy to hide out of view for those who despise messy set ups.
Rounding out the pack is something I’d consider essential for everybody who owns a PS3; the snap on triggers. clipping on to your existing Dualshock’s L2 and R2 triggers, these add a bit of necessary grip to the slippery things. They’re nicer than the Pelican ones I already own as well, with little rubber insets in the middle to give them even more traction.
If you don’t already own all of these essentials then you could do far, far worse than this bundle from Gioteck. It’s got an RRP of R299, but a bit of searching and you’ll find it for much cheaper.
Last Updated: June 20, 2012
