Gadgetory

(upbeat electronic music) - Today we're gonna take a look at a bunch of awesome products that you, at least normally, can't get in the US and we're gonna start with the Razor Raiju Ultimate. Now Razor has made a whole bunch of different, awesome, cool gaming products, but sadly, their Raiju line of PS4 controllers is not one of the ones they've made available to their US customers. Now, I was a big fan of the original Raiju that was released earlier in the PS4's life cycle, but it was still a little rough around the edges. There were a couple aspects of it I didn't really care for, like the stick-heads and it was missing a couple features that I would really like to have in a pro-controller and the Ultimate basically addressed all of those problems. So as far as the features go, it's a lot of stuff that's getting pretty common in a lot of pro-controllers. You've got mappable buttons that you can adjust using an app your phone, you can switch between a dedicated wired, or Bluetooth connection, you've got adjustable trigger stops, and you can swap the stick-heads if you wanna get a longer stick design for more precise control. And, of course, it would not be a Razor product if you didn't have Razor Chroma, RGB lights all around the touch-pad that you can fully customize. (electronic music) Now, all that stuff is cool, but what honestly really sets this controller apart for me is the build quality, the whole package, the heft of the controller, the texture and shape of the grip, which is really comfortable, how smoothly the sticks glide, and one of the more unique features of the Raiju line of controllers, mechano-tactile buttons which give a really satisfying snap and allow for really rapid pressing. Now it's worth noting that this controller does have a slightly more affordable younger brother, the Raiju Tournament, which is stripped down of some of the fancier functions, like the RGB lighting, but one of the things that's really interesting about that option, is they actually swap the d-pad and stick, so it's an Xbox 1 layout rather than a PS4, which some people prefer. Now this is certainly not a cheap controller, and because you have to import it, you're probably gonna be paying even more than it's valued at, but honestly it is well worth the price, and is currently my go-to PS4 controller. (upbeat dance music) Next we're gonna go from talking about a pro-controller for PlayStation to a cheap alternative controller for Nintendo. Now there's a lot of awesome third party brands out here, making controllers for the Switch, like PowerA, PDP, Hori, even 8Bitdo, but there's even more options if you look at what other countries have to offer. Like this Cyber Switch controller from Japan. And by the way, I wanna not just how simple this controller is, it actually kind of appeals to me because so many controllers out here are focused on very heavily branded designs, like oh, here's a Zelda one, here's a Mario one! This one comes in blue, red or black. That's it. Now this is the cheaper, wired option grab. If you spend a little more money you can get a wireless version as well, and that one is still cheaper that getting a Switch pro-controller, which isn't that hard to do. Ah feature wise, it is skimmed down a little bit. Is has all the buttons you need to play games and it does have motion controls, which is a nice touch, however, sadly, it does not have rumble. Now as far as how it actually handles as a controller, it's fine. It definitely feels like it's price point. The strongest part is probably the sticks. They feel pretty good. The front facing buttons and d-pad are okay, they get the job done, but I've definitely used better. It's nothing to write home about. The two parts that are the weakest are the grip and the shoulders. The grip just has this very hard line right here, which I don't really like the way that feels on my palm. The grip itself on the back is okay. The problem with the triggers is that they're that kind that have that little bit extra tension of the back end, which almost feels like you're not really fully pulling it which is not good. Ah I would not recommend using this for anything that relies heavily on the triggers, like a shooter, but for everything else, it's pretty ignorable. Now because this a third party controller, it does have some additional functions. It's got Turbo Mode, pretty common on a lot of third party things. The most compelling option on this controller though is that it actually has four different re-mappable buttons. To this day, as far as all the different Switch branded controllers I've tried, usually only have two buttons, if any at all, so having four gives that little bit of extra versatility that's really nice to have. (slow electronic music) When it comes to PS4 controllers there aren't a lot of officially licensed options out there. One of the few that you can get in the US is the Hori Mini Gamepad. Which is a wired controller that is fine, it gets the job done, but there's still a couple of parts if it that just aren't quite as strong, but in Japan, there's a wireless version that improves on a lot of aspects of it. It's just overall a much much better controller. Including the fact that it is, of course, well wireless. Plus, it isn't that much more expensive than the wired version, while still being a lot cheaper than buying a brand new DualShock 4. On top of all that, I really like the translucent red color it comes in instead of that very boring blue that the wired one has. Now at first glance you might be wondering what's actually different about this controller versus the wired one? Well it's a lot of small subtle things, but they all add together to being a big improvement. First of, all the Option buttons have been moved to the top middle now, instead of being some at the bottom, which was a little more uncomfortable to reach and the touch button right here, actually also acts like a light bar on a DualShock 4, so it matches colors based on certain this happening in game which I always think is a nice little touch, even if it does drain the battery a little bit. The back part, also now has a different texturing on where your fingers rest, giving it just a little more grip and by far, the biggest, and best change, is the stick design. The wired one has this very hard plastic with these dots on it that just isn't comfortable at all to use. Whereas this one is using a design that is basically the same thing as the DualShock 4, which is softer and just way way better. (upbeat dance music) A really easy way to personalize your Switch is with a carrying case, and no doubt there are a lot of different options to choose from in the US, but if you start looking at stuff that's exclusive to different countries, there are so many more to choose from. For instance, from Japan we got this Mario slip case that, it's not gonna carry everything for your Switch, but it will for the Switch by itself and keep it nice and safe, and there a whole bunch of different designs to choose from. Like Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Kirby, even Splatoon, and if you need a way to carrying around your games, look at this! I have never seen a Disney themed carrying case in the US. So if you're a Disney fan, grab one of these! (electronic drums) Now what is probably the most interesting item on this list is the Taiko Drum for Nintendo Switch. This is designed for a specific game, Taiko no Tatsujin, which was made available in the US digitally, but the controller wasn't brought here at all. In Europe, you can get it in a bundle with the game and the drum. In Japan you can buy them separately, or in a bundle, but in the US, it's just the game. Which is really a shame, because you can play it with just Joy-Cons, waving them around, it works, but it's just not the nearly as fun as actually picking it up (bang) and hitting it, 'cause it is a drum. And that's actually the really interesting thing too, is that even when using this controller, you need to hit it hard to actually register in the game, which gets you all the more into the action, and on that note, word of warning, you might see things like this pop up in the US for sale, they're not the official ones. They're ones that are basically knock offs that are made to be cheaper for people that wanna get it, but be careful with those, because realize, this is an accessory where the entire point is to keep hitting it (bang) as hard as you can, and so if it's not made very well, it's not gonna last very long as you just keep hitting it over and over again, so if this is something you're interested in playing, do yourself a favor, buy the real thing. (bang)