What were the highlights from the Performance Designed Products booth at E3 this year?
At the Electronics and Entertainment Expo this year, I was able to stop by the Performance Designed Products or PDP booth to see what they were showing off at the show this year. PDP has brought some of the better accessories to the table for the consumer and this year was no different. The semi big news this year was that they had acquired the licensing rights for Pokémon so in the future there should be Pokémon themed Nintendo Switch docks that light up in time for the Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee releases later this year.
Another idea is that there could be Pokémon Pixel Pals as PDP has brought some neat accessories like Pixel Pals to the masses. During E3 this year, PDP was showing off 8 brand new Pixel Pals and Helmetless Mega Man was one of them. Mega Man has had his helmet off in games before and now you’ll be able to add this Mega Man to your collection too!
There were also more Nickelodeon themed Pixel Pals shown off during the show and the Nick brand is a growing brand with the likes of Ninja Turtles and Ren and Stimpy already Pixel Pals. You can add Spongebob to the mix now and who wouldn’t want the sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea lighting up your desk? PDP and Nintendo seem to go hand and hand lately and with the news of a brand new Super Smash Brothers game, PDP will be bringing out new Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers based on some of the Nintendo characters, like Mario and Luigi for example. You should expect to see more controllers and controller snap covers for Switch controllers, as we get closer to the Smash Brothers launch later this year!
PDP is also trying to bring the light gun gaming genre back to the players and from what was shown off during E3, they’re off to a good start. The mechanism to do it looks pretty simple as the gun looks like it has light balls on the front similar to a PlayStation Move controller and a receiver/camera that receives the sensor from the controller. Other than Nintendo and the failed PlayStation Move light-gun games (few and far between) this is an untapped area ripe for potential. From what I saw and played, the controller and receiver feel good in your hands and actually receive the sensor from the gun pretty well. It will be interesting to see what direction PDP takes this light gun technology and just what type of games they will make with it.
One more new item was shown off and that was a type of universal remote control. PDP has dabbled in this sort of thing in the past but this one sounds special, one that can control everything as well as not needing to be programmed. A remote that doesn’t need to be programmed is a great idea since everyone has all kinds of electronic devices but the issue is programming the “universal remote” to work all the electronics. I can’t wait to see this remote in action as well as everything else that was shown off at the PDP booth this year!