If you're anything like team TechRadar then the first week back at work from Christmas break is always the hardest part of the year. You're about half a stone heavier from all the delicious food you've gorged yourself on and still a little too attached to your onesie to feel comfortable wearing normal clothes.
On top of it all though, it's CES week and for (some of) us that means flying out to Las Vegas for a week of tech show madness. It's sort of like a second Christmas – there's food, drink and presents in the form of exciting product launches, just with a lot more work and a lot less sleep.
So what did we find out about at CES 2015?
PC gamers who like to travel should be excited about Origin PC's EON15-X and EON17-X, which use desktop specs in a laptop frame. We also got hands on with the MSI GS30 Shadow, which isn't just a gaming laptop, it can also be configured as an ultrabook making it two devices for the price of one (plus some extra assembly time).
Most of the gaming news coming out of CES was, however, all about the PS4. Nyko announced a databank that will give you the opportunity to use a 3.5-inch hard drive instead of the smaller 2.5-inch model that the PS4 traditionally uses. Yes it might look a bit silly on top of your PlayStation, but you won't be worrying about that when you have ALL THE STORAGE SPACE.
Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk made an appearance at Sony's conference to confirm that there will be a new Tony Hawk game released on PS4 in 2015. If you haven't nearly passed out from excitement at the thought of that TechRadar's Hugh Langley probably has some harsh words for you. If you did get that excited but you own an Xbox One, PC or Wii U then don't fret; this probably won't be exclusive.
Probably...
Sony also confirmed PlayStation Vue will launch in North America in Q1 this year. I'm not likely to give up my Netflix subscription for this but it could give regular TV subscription services some extra competition. And I think everyone will agree with me when I say if Sony can get HBO to agree to show Game of Thrones via PS Vue then the world will be a better place. Also did I mention the new Tony Hawk game will be out in 2015?
Meanwhile, away from the bright lights and bad food of Vegas, Nintendo has been busy releasing a limited number of new 3DS handhelds to European gamers. Available only to those lucky few who got an invite these special edition white 3DSes came with an exclusive ambassador cover plate, Smash Bros cover plates, a charging cradle and a 4GB microSDHC card. Or so I'm told. I wouldn't know, as Nintendo didn't deem me loyal enough to warrant an invite. It's fine. I'm not upset. You know why? Tony Hawk 2015.
OK even with Tony Hawk coming out this year I'm a little upset.
Nintendo also announced that it has licensed a Mario-themed version of Puzzle & Dragons for the 3DS. The non-Mario version is free to play and chock full of in app purchases, and whether those will stay remains to be seen. The game is currently only set for release in Japan but may come to other markets. As if Nintendo wasn't already doing a good job of making us feel left out. Next we'll be hearing that it's put a stop to this brilliant Super Mario 64 remake and then well… I won't be angry, I'll just be disappointed.
Ending this week's gaming news is a brief glimpse of what could have been. Concept art from the canned Bioshock film was released by designer Kasra Farahani, much to the delight and utter sadness of Bioshock fans everywhere. This dark and sinister vision of Rapture was perfect, and we can only be left longing for the alternate universe where this movie is still in production.
But on the bright side there's a new Tony Hawk game this year.
Oh and PSN went down again but that isn't a surprise for anyone.
