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Posted February 18, 2014 by Amy in Features
 
 

Hip Shot Dot (Hardware) Review

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Maybe you’re a young teenager, trying to level the playing field with your more experienced counterparts. Maybe you’re a newbie gamer, looking for a little something extra to improve your game. Or maybe you’re just a techie, willing to try any and every new gadget that hits the market (especially if it gives you that promised leg up on the other players). Whatever your motivation, a gamer who wants to up his game on the FPS playing field has a few different options to for that special trick up your sleeve. One of them is the newly released Hip Shot Dot, a USB attachable peripheral that promises to give you an edge up on the competition.

At first glance, the Hip Shot Dot looks incredibly simplistic. A long cord holds a USB attachment at one end, and a thinner cord that attaches to two suction cups at the other end. The upper suction cup contains a tiny red LED light, while the lower is clear so as not to obscure vision (presumably this is also the reasoning behind the thinner cord at this end). The USB attachment is compatible with Xbox, Playstation, and Wii, making it a simple thing to move it from one console to the next (or cart it to a friend’s house). Installing is as simple as plugging it into the USB port on your console (or an alternate power source, if you like), and then attaching the LED suction cup to the crosshairs on your in game weapon. The other suction cup serves to hold everything tightly in place, and it lights up to show you when it is getting power.

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So what’s it do? It’s described as a “USB powered red dot sight attachment for first person shooter games,” and that does a fairly decent job of describing it. Basically, it creates a laser sight for you, allowing you to simply move until an enemy is literally in your sights, and then shoot to kill. Without the need to pull up a sight or scope, it gives you an edge over the competition in terms of both time and accuracy. Given the skill level of many online players, something like this could certainly make things more interesting for players who want to enjoy the game without dying every five seconds (although it definitely makes you think about the fairness issue as well, given that you have equipment that presumably your opponents do not).

There are a few caveats to this, though. First of all – yes, you do have to attach suction cups to your shiny screen, and this may well be a deal killer for the somewhat OCD types who cannot stand a blemish on their tech. For another, as the name implies, this is a hip shot device. It works great for things like hip shots, quick scoping, and even things like throwing knives or grenades – but you’ll still want to use your in game scope for longer shots if you want any sort of accuracy. Other than that, it works as advertised. The LED light is tiny, but it puts off a powerful glow that allows you to shoot quickly and accurately without any time needed to bring up a sight.

In order to get a handle on how it stacks up for gamers of various ages and skill levels, I had several people try out the Hip Shot Dot, and the general consensus was that it did offer an advantage, but not overly so. For one thing, experienced FPS gamers need to change up their habits in order to make it work. When you’re used to pulling up those scopes or sights, your hands do it somewhat naturally – and so it took a little while of playing for them to get used to not doing that. While it doesn’t give you an extreme advantage, it does cut enough off your reaction time to make inexperienced gamers a little more able to compete, and I can think of a lot of scenarios where this would be worthwhile, most notably for casual gamers wanting to participate in a loved one’s favorite game. If can give a parent, partner, or younger sibling a sort of digital handicap, making the game more fun for everyone involved (note: the age of the person playing the FPS is a decision for their parents).

For gamers looking to up their game in their favorite FPS, the Hip Shot Dot follows through on its promise to cut down on reaction time by giving players an accurate shot without having to pull up their in game scope. It attaches easily to your screen for a variety of consoles, and setting it up and moving it a simple project. While it may take some getting used to, it offers a handicap for gamers who need to add just a little more to their game.


Amy

 
U.S. Senior Editor & Deputy EIC, @averyzoe on Twitter, mother of 5, gamer, reader, wife to @macanthony, and all-around bad-ass (no, not really)