Favourite Tech of 2013

There has been quite a lot of interesting technology this year, from the basic consumer stuff all the way up to the enthusiast techy gadgets. Here are just a few of my favourite, and this includes stuff I want, stuff I've tried, and stuff that just seems cool to me. Just because I don't own it doesn't mean I have no idea if I like it or not. Keep that in mind.

1. The R7 and R9 graphics cards
Who didn't see this one coming from me? AMD told everyone back in September about their new line, and started some major trash talk toward their competitor Nvidia. Well, their talk wasn't to be cast aside, as not only did they prove that the R9 290/x was a Titan killer, but also made people consider price to performance with their more budget conscious items. My favourite cards in general? The R7 260X and the R9 280X. Both are the best of their categories in my opinion, since they don't give diminishing returns on your investment.

2. The Nvidia 780Ti
This one came from left field in my opinion. A lot of people thought Nvidia was going to announce a completely new line of GPUs like AMD did, but they just announced the 780Ti; a true Titan and 290X killer. This became the new king to beat, especially for gaming and especially since it doesn't cost $999.99 to buy.

3. SteamOS
Valve has stopped working on games I think. But seriously, the idea that a game maker for years would put their hat in the ring in console, hardware, and software in one go is crazy. SteamOS has been on everyone's watch list, and the first version of it is intriguing. I think people will really start utilizing it when it becomes more user-friendly, and allows dual booting.

4. Leap Motion
Leap Motion is like Oculus Rift for your hands. It allows the user to interact with things on their computers just by waving their hands and using motions. You can even play Half Life with it. That alone had me going gaga. I look forward to seeing more from it.

5. Oculus Rift
Despite being invented in 2012, Oculus Rift really didn't gain prominence until 2013. With massive Kickstarter backing and great demos, the developer kit was a huge success, and is even available to buy right now. There are a lot of games that use it, too, which is crazy since the average consumer can't even get it. But again, I hope this does well, because it is the next step for gaming in my opinion.

6. Next Gen Consoles Xbox One and PS4
Despite being a PC gamer at heart, I still enjoy the consoles. From my experiences with both of them, they definitely are fun to play, but the limited launch lineup on both had me wishing I could play the exclusives on my PC. But, 2014 will have a crap load of games, and the next gen consoles means a harder push for computers as well... hopefully.


So, there we have it. My favourite gizmos and tech of 2013. The list will definitely be bigger in 2014, and the fact that some of the most interesting tech comes out in 3 weeks is enough to get me giddy. AMD APUs, by the way.

Happy gaming.