In-Win is well known for their unique design, and has a robust line of towers to choose from. The majority of the line, however, is for ATX and below; until now only two entries, the Maelstrom and the Dragon Rider, were full towers. The company introduced two new cases, one of which is a new E-ATX compatible full tower, the GRone. A quick look at the specifications foreshadows a contender for enthusiast builds, crafted from steel and plenty of room to expand. PC chassis is a flooded market; will the GRone sink?

With a lot of people still waiting for their Google Nexus 4 to come in the demand for cases is only starting to grow. A lot of owners have been limited to TPU cases available on amazon and on Ebay or if they are lucky the LG bumper that is perpetually out of stock on the Google store. We just so happen to have in our hands the newest bumper on the market for the Nexus 4, the Poetic Borderline Bumper. It’s so new that it’s still not listed on their website, but we were able to preorder one about a month ago and it finally came in (sooner than promised to boot).  Today we are going to take a quick look at the case and compare it to the official bumper that we have been using on our Nexus 4.

Innovation is a tough thing in the gaming industry. Not just coming up with something new and exciting that will get fans of all ages to line up to play, but once you have those fans you must innovate to keep them. This is something that the Assassin’s Creed franchise has had great success with. With the original release of Assassin’s Creed, it was something that gamers had never seen before and it was awesome. The gameplay got a bit repetitive and bland at times, but Ubisoft quickly improved on it with the next installment in the series giving gamers more things to do and a more in depth storyline. After that followed multiplayer and countless hours of online fun. I am extremely excited for this review of Assassin’s Creed 3 because it is set around the American Revolution, a time that has not been looked at before in the franchise and an interesting piece of history in my eyes. Sit back and grab your muskets because “The British are coming, the British are coming!”

When it comes to mice designed for MMO use, options have been coming from all of the manufactures recently. One of the first, if not the first to enter the MMO mouse market, would be SteelSeries, with their original WoW mouse. Much like the game it’s based on, the SteelSeries WoW mouse has seen a couple versions, the latest being the new, wireless version. The last time we took a look at the WoW Mouse Legendary Edition we came out happy, I was excited to see what SteelSeries would do for their first wireless mouse. Let’s dive in and see what’s changed and what has stayed the same.

When it comes to interesting or creative designs for PC cases, Silverstone is one of only a few manufactures that come to mind. They are known for making stylish cases but they have also gone off the beaten path with designs like their Raven and Fortress cases where they have designed the motherboards rear I/O panel to vent out of the top of the case for improved airflow. When they introduced their Fortress FT03, they weren't replacing the previous model, instead bringing out a smaller model to sell along with it. It’s been out for some time but when Silverstone asked us what we wanted to take a look at it, it was still at the top of our list. Of course with all of this time waiting, we have high expectations. Let’s find out where it stands.

A little over a year ago at GeforceLAN I got my hands on my first Cooler Master Storm Quickfire Rapid with cherry black key switches and loved it. I later got an official review sample with cherry blue key switches as well as the cherry black version wasn’t available in the US at the time. For the past year we have been using both of these Quickfire Rapids on our test benches because they are amazing keyboards that take up little space. The two issues I had with them was their lack of backlighting and the adjustment time needed to get used to not having a number pad. Cooler Master recently introduced a new keyboard in the Quickfire product line, their Quickfire TK. The TK addresses both of the issues I had with the rapid. Let’s see how this unique design performs.

At our last LAN we gave away a couple Cooler Master Storm Trooper cases and I was extremely impressed with them. Of course right now white is all the rage, so it wasn’t a surprise that Cooler Master introduced a white version as well. This time they called it the Stryker, I’m sure that a white and black Storm branded Trooper made a few lawyers a little uncomfortable, so the name change when going white wasn’t a shock. No matter the name, I was excited to dig in and put the Stryker to the test.

Every time that I think they have done everything to a mouse, someone surprises me with something completely different or off the wall. Last year when we took a tour of Thermaltake’s US offices, they hinted that we would see a new exciting mouse that was a collaboration with BMW DesignworksUSA, much like the Level 10 case. A little over a year later, here I am finally getting a chance to take a look at that mouse, the Thermaltake Level 10 M. Being nothing like other mice that we have taken a look at, I’m not sure what to expect from the Level 10 M or its Avago ADNS-9800 sensor.

With the release of Batman: Arkham Asylum in late 2009, gamers finally had a super hero game that they could be excited about. The game was very well received and one of the most talked about titles of the year. When a sequel was announced for a 2011 release I, among hordes of others, were amped for another chance to play the man behind the mask. Get ready, put on your capes, and join me as I clean up the streets of Arkham City.

At this point, nearly every manufacture makes and sells a mechanical keyboard in some shape or form. Everyone has done something different trying to stand out in what is now a very packed market. On facebook recently I came across a new company offering up something completely new to me, full custom mechanical keyboards. This isn’t just your choice of what switch you would like to go with, you can mix and match switch types as well as LED backlighting. We put together a keyboard unique to us and then put it to the test.

One of the latest introductions to the Genius Traveler series is the Traveler 9010LS Wireless Laser Mouse. The 9010LS is a small, mobile sized, mouse that is that is ready to travel with you and your notebook.

The mouse is features a lightweight design, a visually aesthetic grip, adjustable DPI, a powerful 'Darkeye' laser for operation on glass, cloth, or other surfaces. This is one of my first interactions with Genius brand products, so I am interested to see how this product will perform. Let's go ahead and take a look at the Traveler 9010LS.

When it comes to storage, there is no question that cloud storage is growing in importance every year. For some this is all that you might need, but if you are like me, you need a lot more than what is available on the cloud. When combined with laptops and multi computer households, adding more storage to just your PC isn’t always the best option. This is where Network Attached Storage comes in: you can have almost endless amounts of storage available in your home. Companies like Thecus have built on that with a collection of features like built in antivirus, Bit-Torrent support, and multimedia support. We are going to take a look at Thecus’s N5550, a 5-bay NAS with USB 3.0.

We just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving. This year the secret that us gamers have is that with Dreamhack Winter starting, there will be more than enough E-Sports for everyone to enjoy throughout the day. For those of you who aren't interested in watching football this is a great alternative. Have a great holiday for those of you who are in the states, we will be back up and running tomorrow morning with a fresh review of the Thecus N5550 before we duck out early for a Black Friday LAN with the VW Turks. 

To say it’s been a while since we have taken a look at a Mushkin SSD would be an understatement. The last time we took a look at one of their SSD’s it was a SATA 2 drive. Things have moved on to bigger, cheaper, and faster things. Mushkin recently introduced their 7mm version of the Chronos Deluxe, a SATA 3 based SSD with advertised transfer speeds of up to 560MB/sec read and IOPS of 90,000. With numbers like that, I had to get my hands on it to see how it performed. How will it compare to all of the other drives with similar advertised performance numbers? Will this be your next SSD?

Call of Duty is one of the best selling franchises of all time. You can say what you will about it, but the sales numbers speak for themselves. With storylines that manage to keep you entertained and feel like a part of the action, and multiplayer that gives constant rewards and never seems to end, there is always something to do in a Call of Duty title. With the yearly installments however, the franchise has come under more scrutiny for not having enough innovation or added content year to year. It is time to take a look at Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to see if it can still wow us and live up to the standards that gamers have come accustomed to over the years.

It’s that time of year again, the latest Call of Duty offering was just released and I (and most of the LanOC staff) has been gaming it up. Knowing that we were planning on playing, when SteelSeries introduced their Black Ops 2 peripherals, I quickly hit them up to get a set to use while we played Black Ops 2 at launch. Our coverage on the game itself should be up next week after a weekend packed full of gaming, but for now you can see what SteelSeries has to offer while you wait.

When 2 Dawn Games contacted us about doing a review on their first title, Ravaged, I was both excited and nervous.  Excited because I really enjoy indie games and playing stuff developed by small game companies. Indie companies are not restrained by being too large. They are able to listen to their fan base and give players what they want (to an extent) and it often leads to some really cool and enjoyable features in game. I was also nervous however because Ravaged because my experience with class based shooters has been very polarized, they are ether amazing or a total flop. Let’s hope that being an Indy game will help Ravaged be one of the great games. With that being said, I head into the post-apocalyptic storm ravaged world that is Ravaged.

One of the best parts about CES is that we get the chance to catch up with companies like Cooler Master and take a peek at what they are toying around with behind the scenes. This year they had an interesting case that at the time they called a LAN case. This struck a tone for me because of a fundamental issue I had with the case being for LAN use, its size, and I let them know it. Over 10 months later the HAF XB is sitting here in the office, with an improved design and a more appropriate focus. The HAF XB is considered a case / test bench. Those of you who like to tweak and play with your builds may have just perked up. The HAF XB is a completely new form factor for Cooler Master; considering their past win’s this should be interesting. Maybe even game changing?

Today we are taking a look at one of In Win's more recent offerings, the Mana 136. Not too long ago we had the opportunity to check out their Dragon Rider full tower case and came away pretty impressed. This time around the case is white. We have seen white being used from just about every manufacture, Is it a passing fad or is it hear to stay. Since most manufactures now offer at least one case in white, it is safe to say the demand must be sufficient. On the other hand, that means it is hard to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Today we are going to take a look at the Mana 136 White and see if In Win has produced a product to capture the attention of today's consumer. 

When Noctua comes to mind, I think of  a company truly dedicated to innovative cooling solutions.When the opportunity came to review there Noctua NH-L12 my curiosity was peaked to say the least.  The NH-L12 is a low profile CPU cooler with a L-shaped heatsink to maximise its cooling capability.The NH-L12 comes with two premium fans, a 120mm and a 92mm. It can be setup in either dual or single fan configurations to fit your specific needs. At the coolers lowest setting it's a mere 66mm high. This is ideal for small form factor cases and HTPCs. The Noctua NH-L12 has some impressive features, but will that be enough to blow away the competition?