Nyko has announced a new Zoom peripheral for the Kinect designed to allow gamers in small spaces to play their motion capture games.

The Zoom’s specially designed optical lenses fit over the Kinect sensor, clipping into place with no wires and nothing to plug in.

“The Zoom opens up a whole new world of Kinect play to those who previously lacked the space required to fully enjoy it,” Nyko said in a statement. “The Zoom reduces the play range required to enjoy Kinect software by up to 40 percent, allowing you to play closer to your TV. Zoom’s wide angle lens also enables two people to play in an area normally only suitable for a single player, making it ideal for those in smaller apartments or dorm rooms.”

The product will retail for $29.99. Check out the Nyko Zoom here.

LOS ANGELES — Nyko was the only peripheral maker at E3 last year, but they were one of like a dozen this year.

Still, they had babes, and they had gear. Here’s what Nyko brought to the expo this year:

DSi Zoom Case

The Zoom Case provides protection to your DSi and includes an detachable camera lens with 8x optical zoom. We’re not sure how useful the external lens is or how practical it is, but there you have it.

Nyko Wand

The Nyko Wand is a Wiimote clone that works as advertised, mimicking the original remote’s actions like a perfect generic ibuprofen tablet. It also includes vibration and on-board speaker functionality.

The main differences come in the buttons, where the A, 1 and 2 buttons are enlarged for retro gaming, and the B/trigger button has a rubber grip. The Wand also comes with a padded silicone sleeve. Nyko’s Trans-Port technology also lets you map buttons to different places, which is perfect for the…

Perfect Shot

The Perfect Shot is already one of the best gun accessories for the Wii, but what really makes this gun shine is that you can combine it with the Nyko Wand and its Trans-Port technology. Now, you can make sure the right buttons are being used for firing and reloading, etc.

Type Pad Pro for Wii

The Type Pad Pro us as ugly as it gets, but it provides a full QWERTY keyboard that docks with your remote or the new Nyko Wand. The buttons feel like an old telephone, but are big enough to let you quickly run through it, chatting away. It’s just really big.

It also uses Nyko Trans-Port button mapping to map the A and B buttons to the keyboard. The Type Pad has a 25-foot range and requires no additional batteries.

Monday we reported that Guitar Hero guitars worked in Rock Band 2 and that the Nyko FrontMan Guitar now needed to be set to “Guitar Hero” mode in order to work in Rock Band 2 — and indeed it does not work at all in “Rock Band” mode set on the guitar’s receiver.s

We brought this to the attention of Nyko, and upon further investigation, they found that a recent PS3 firmware update is causing the FrontMan input mechanism to change. When playing Rock Band II on the PS3 with firmware version 2.52, setting the FrontMan dongle to “Rock Band” causes the guitar to not work with the game. Versions prior to this firmware work just fine, as does Rock Band I.

Full statement from Nyko:

It has come to our attention that a recent firmware update for the PlayStation3, version 2.52, has caused some changes to the input mechanism of the Nyko Technologies FrontMan guitar.

Nyko Technologies is committed to improving the gaming experience with the best quality peripherals available on the market, combined with unique value-add features that cannot be found on any other product at the time of launch. We regret that the latest firmware may cause some trouble to Rock Band II players using the FrontMan, but we fully acknowledge this issue and provide the simple afore-mentioned solution. We will continue to do our best in providing gamers with accessories that they can enjoy with the best games, and our customer support team is prepared to provide assistance to ensure a great experience with our products.

I’ll tell you what’s up: the Guitar Hero guitars work with Rock Band 2 on PlayStation 3.

This was a big conundrum last year when we realized Activision and Harmonix weren’t going to play nice and let us use their guitars on the competing games.

We’re looking into what happened, but for sure we know that the Guitar Hero III guitar works in Rock Band 2 on PlayStation 3.

GameSpot has a good, slightly dated chart for other games.

We do not know if the Rock Band 2 special edition guitar works on Gutar Hero III or World Tour yet.

But one interesting twist, the Nyko FrontMan guitar that we love so much does still work with all games. However, it does not work in Rock Band 2 on “Rock Band Mode.” There is a switch on the Frontman’s receiver that selects between “Guitar Hero” and “Rock Band” modes — and that switch has to be on “Guitar Hero” in order to play Rock Band 2.

Nyko’s Media Hub+ adds three additional USB ports and a media card reader slot that supports SD cards and Memory Sticks to the PlayStation 3. Basically this item speaks for itself.

There are two questions you may ask yourself. First, does the product and all of its ports work? The answer is yes. Second, do you actually need this?

If you are a 20 GB or 40 GB PS3 owner, your console doesn’t have a media card reader or the additional USB ports that the 60GB and 80GB models have. At first this does not seem too important, but with the increasing trend of devices wanting to connect to your console through USB, this becomes a problem fairly quickly. This beautiful little Media Hub+ comes to the rescue with style!

The Media Hub+ is designed to go in first USB port of your console, snapping in easily. It is black and shaped so it fits flush with your PS3 in vertical or horizontal position. This is a nice design choice unlike any other media hub you may purchase, which would give your console odd looking extremities.

Nyko also did their homework, because the package comes with a small adapter that fits snug within the Media Hub+ to ensure it fits with all the different models of PS3s available to date.

Most importantly, the Media Hub+ is powered by the console so you do not have to look for an empty power socket just to make it work.

It does exactly what it is meant to do at and extremely reasonable price, $19.99.

What many present and future PS3 owners do not realize is how much use those USB ports on their console are going to get. The two USB ports on just the 40GB model are just not enough. The PlayStation Eye and charging one controller will fill up those two ports alone. Then there is the PSP connectivity taking a port. Not including if you wanted to add a full keyboard or mouse to make surfing the web and chatting easier. Let’s also not forget games like Rock Band that have multiple connecting instruments. And if you are trying to use a flash memory stick, it is a constant hassle to repeatedly unplug all the other devices just to have an open port to plug in your USB stick.

Sony has constantly mentioned its 10-year life cycle plan for the PS3. Who knows what other devices Sony will unveil that will connect to the PlayStation 3?

On the negative side, it is only possible to connect one Media Hub+ to your console. It is impossible to connect two on a 20 GB or 40 GB, and if you tried using two on the 60 GB or 80 GB model you would be covering over other USB ports rendering them useless in your attempts to get more. So do not get greedy and buy two.

Being the owner of a 40 GB model, my final verdict was that additional USB ports and a media card reader for $19.99 was a good deal. I make this a necessity to own even if you already have model with more USB ports. It never hurts to have more ports.

These two products are essentially the same, even though they don’t look it and the PlayStation 3 version uses the original internal battery, and 360 version uses a Nyko replacement battery. They’re both meant to give you an externalized recharge of your controllers.

I currently have Nyko’s Wii Charge Station, and the PS3 and 360 charge stations all sitting next to each other on a shelf.

The 360 and PS3 controllers can each be charged using USB, or with the 360 by removing the battery and sticking it in a separate charge station. The Nyko charge stations are nice because you can basically just store your controllers on them when they aren’t being used.

This is a good place to use Lithium Ion batteries. Even if there’s still some juice left, you can recharge them on the fly, as opposed to older technologies that do better if you let them completely die before charging them.‚  This makes the life of the battery less important since you will have it charging when your not playing, and as long as you don’t do a marathon gaming session the battery will never run out on you.

The problem that Nyko had to deal with when designing the Charge base was figuring out how to charge conveniently the PS3 and the 360 controllers, which weren’t designed with a simple plug in interface. With the 360 they just were able to add their own batteries with convenient contacts for charging, much like the Wii base.

The PS3 since it has a non-removable battery required them to be more creative. They came up with an interesting solution of placing an adapter on the USB port of the PS3, but this method adds a small part to their product that can be easily lost.

My main disappointment with the Charge Base, specifically with the PS3 version, was that it’s not compatible with Nyko’s owns Zero controller. If it was a different company’s part then I wouldn’t be
surprised, but I would have expected Nyko to make sure it works with their own controller, which they were heavily encouraging people to buy when it hit the market as the first rumble controller for the PS3. Unfortunately though the adapters don’t fit on the Zero, so it must still be charged by plugging the controller into a USB port.

Overall, if you use official controllers for your game systems either Nyko Charge Base is a great accessory, especially the PS3 one since the PS3 turns off its USB ports when it’s off, (the time when I
would expect most people to charge their controllers.)

My only real big complaint was that it doesn’t support their own controller.

LOS ANGELES — NYKO was the best peripherals company at E3.

So what if they were the only one there? They rocked. And they had booth babes. In fact, photo credit for the pictures in this story goes directly to a red-wigged girl with piercing eyes.

But enough about my frustrations, back to games.

NYKO has several handy products available that they were demoing at the Media and Business Summit, including a guitar that works with both Guitar Hero and Rock Band in PlayStation 3.

So pay attention to the wireless Frontman. It also makes the transition from Guitar Hero to Rock Band much easier. The Frontman feels natural, responds smoothly, and looks great. It loved it, and I’m buying one. As you can see, I also look great playing it.

Another product you’ll probably buy if you have a PlayStation 3, the NYKO Media Hub+ is a combination USB hub/media card reader. It fits flush against the PS3 and will allow you to plug all your instruments into smaller PlayStation 3′s without as many USB ports.

NYKO also has cooling products available for PlayStation 3 and Wii that turn on when the system gets hot and turn off when the system cools down — they even stay on right after you shutdown the system to make sure everything cools off properly.

As NYKO publicist Quinn Wageman explains, “if you’re watching a DVD, you’re not going to need the fans, but if you’re playing a graphics-intense game, you will.”

Disclaimer: NYKO was the company that invited Blast to E3 this year. Blast appreciates and enjoys its long-standing professional friendship with NYKO, but reminds readers that it has no effect on our reviews or editorial policies. Every media outlet at E3 this year was invited by another company. Except maybe IGN.

Nyko beat Sony to the punch in the US with a Wireless Sixaxis controller that also supports rumble.

The controller has metal on the top and plastic for the rest of the body. The Metal is touted as a way to keep your hands less sweaty, and cooler. The bad thing about the metal is when you first pick up the
controller, it feels cold. The metal is fine once you’ve had it in your hand for a while.

The battery life on the Nyko is great. The Controller comes with a USB cable for charging and a 2xAA battery holder in case you forget to charge the controller. Remember, the PS3 can’t charge the zero when the it’s turned off.

One serious issue with the Zero is that it uses a USB adapter to communicate with the PS3. It is wireless, but it still requires a dongle. The dongle — like most wireless devices — needs to be synced with the controller. Unlike the Sony wireless controllers the controller sync information can not be stored on the PS3 itself. This means that sometimes, when it loses connection, you have to walk over to the PS3 and press the sync button on the dongle. Most of the time though, it only takes a press on center button of the controller to reconnect them. The USB dongle also means that the Zero is unable to turn the PS3 on, since there is no power to the USB ports when the PS3 is turned off.

The controller is heavier than the Sony SixAxis, or the Dual Shock PS2 controller. Though the weight isn’t uncomfortably heavy. The added weight it expected, as the Zero has metal as part of the body, a battery, and motors for rumble.

The vibration works just as you would expect. Many games, even older ones, come with support for rumble already. It’s like a new dimension on your old games. The Zero doesn’t shake as much as the Dual Shock
did, but that is likely to conserve the battery life of the controller.

The controller uses a color-coded number to identify itself and back-lit bottons. Those would be helpful for somepeople if they actually look at the buttons. I think we’re past that at this stage of our gaming development.

The best thing about the SixAxis controll in the Zero is that there really isn’t much to say about it. It simply just works. It feels and reacts just as the original PS3 controller. Despite the need for a dongle, it works great. If you need an extra controller or want to do some vibrating, give the Zero a try.

4 out of 5 stars