Nate Ralph

The Mad Catz Major League Gaming Pro Circuit controller has arrived, and it is good. However, its premium construction and tweakability come at a steep cost that only hardcore gamers (or generous gift-givers) can stomach. That's why we ran it by the four top gamers in the PCWorld office to see whether the quality is worth the cost.

When it comes to console gamepads, you used to be able to count on the original manufacturer's controllers to be the gold standard for quality and feel, and the third-party peripheral makers were relegated to throwing in mostly-useless features onto sub-par pads and hoping they could undercut Nintendo or Sony's gamepads by a few bucks. The MLG Pro Circuit controller ($100) changes the game; you could opt for a standard wired Xbox 360 controller for $30 ($35 for wireless), or spend over three times that for the MLG Pro Circuit controller.

Razer bills the Tiamat 7.1 as the first "true" 7.1 gaming headset. Ten individual drivers are arrayed about the ear cups, mimicking a traditional surround sound speaker set up in a confined space. But headsets are tricky: everyone has a distinct perception of audio fidelity, and the divide between bad audio and audio overkill is going to vary by user. So I'll be objective: the Razer Tiamat 7.1 is absolutely worth the $179 price tag -- if you own a 5.1 or 7.1 surround-sound capable sound card.

The audio component works as advertised: the sound is crisp, and in the right games the sense of immersion and space is simply awesome. But if you've used surround sound headsets before, you're likely familiar with that feeling. And this is where the tricky subjectivity of it all comes in -- sound cards deliver arguably improved audio fidelity and quality, but software-driven, wireless headsets that simply emulate that surround sound effect sound great too.

I try to steer clear of hyperbole. The fanciest gaming rigs are still mere machines, and I know enough about the underlying hardware to avoid being blown away by bars on a chart or tubes in a chassis.

But, wow. It's so blue (sorry, "Fusion Blue")! And that $300 paint job is just the tip of the iceberg. What the Shift Super Stock lacks in humility or frugality ($7967, as configured) it amply recoups in performance, versatility, and style.

Excess: It's the defining characteristic of the PCs that sit atop our performance desktop chart, vying for supremacy by cramming bleeding-edge components into massive hulls.

Primordial Computers' Medusa ticks all of the requisite boxes: big case, lofty moniker, a dizzying array of tubes, and a monstrous price tag ($6495). But PCs are more than just the sum of their parts--does the Medusa earn a spot amongst PCWorld's Top Performance desktops? In a word, yes.

Not all printer ink is created equal. Some of it lasts a long time, some of it goes quickly. Prices vary wildly. Who's ripping you off on ink, and who's providing a better value? Where does quality fit into the picture? Printing expert Melissa Riofrio lets us know who's giving you the best deals on printer ink.

Did you hear the Nokia Lumia 900 is about to hit the market? Reviews are mixed - almost everyone, including our own Ginny Mies - has a lot of nice things to say about the phone, especially given its highly affordable price. Everyone also has a handful of gripes that really sour the experience.

Traditional tower desktops have had a good run. All-in-one PCs--expensive upstarts just two or three years ago--have all but usurped the throne.

Towers will always have a special place in our hearts, as well as under the desks of enthusiasts and professionals who need more power and versatility. But for many PC users today, all-in-ones just make more sense. They take up a fraction of the space of a traditional PC, without sacrificing much in the way of performance. And that performance has improved while prices have dropped, so you don’t have to compromise. Most important, all-in-ones are paving the way for touchscreen adoption outside of tablets and smartphones. Touch and gestures are baked into the very core of Microsoft’s Windows 8, and all-in-ones will be ahead of the curve.

We love the new iPad, and we think it's the best tablet you can buy...even if it is sort of expensive. But that doesn't mean we haven't uncovered a few issues. Melissa drops by to tell us about a strange color-changing problem with photos synced through iTunes, and some problems with how slowly the battery charges. Also, it gets kind of hot.

Mark Sullivan stops by to tell us about what the cool kids are calling "South By". Whatever that is.

Windows 8‘s Metro interface may be controversial, but it looks like few PC users will complain about the new operating system’s performance. The PCWorld Labs put the Consumer Preview of Windows 8 through a battery of tests and found it generally faster--sometimes a lot faster--than Windows 7.

Our test system running Windows 8 Consumer Preview started up faster, ran through our WorldBench 7 benchmark faster, and showed superior performance when browsing the Web, compared with the same system running Windows 7. In only one major test, our office productivity measure, did Windows 8 lag behind Windows 7 performance.

PCWorld Editors Alex Wawro, Nate Ralph and Jason Cross (who sounds like he's trapped in a well) join Game On contributing writer David Daw to talk about what the popularity (and profit margin) of free-to-play games like Team Fortress 2, Tiny Tower and Realm Of The Mad God means for the future of the game industry. What makes a free-to-play game fun to play, and when is it worth paying for? Tune in to find out, and stick around 'till the end to hear our recommendations on some great free games for tablets, smartphones and PC that you might want to check out.

You could also check out the Free Friday feature on our Game On blog, but then you'd miss out on fantastic free-to-play games like Hero Academy and League of Legends. Choose wisely!

So, this is happening -- Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. Details are scant, owing largely to the Baldur’s Gate website being hammered by ravenous fans.

I hate being stuck. It’s why I generally avoid platform puzzlers; for the first dozen or so levels I feel like some kind of savant, gliding past button- and hazard-oriented quandaries with ease. And then I hit the wall. Level 25 of Offspring Fling was that wall.