Manufacturer : Pyramat Performance Gaming

Supplier : Stomp Entertainment

RRP : $239.00

You’ve got your nice new Xbox 360, kick arse sound system, nice big widescreen LCD or Plasma television and you're all set to game but there’s one thing missing, somewhere comfortable to put your backside. One of the big attractions to console gaming for me has been being able to kick back on the couch with a Wi-Fi controller and relax, it sure beats being hunched over a P.C desk in an office chair for hours on end.

Recently I entered the HD Widescreen era with a nice big 81cm LCD but as it was too large for my lounge room TV stand I reluctantly had to put it in my office. No more kicking back on the couch, no more feet up on the coffee table and my gaming time has been spent lately with my rear end parked once again in an office chair. There’s one thing that all gamers want, somewhere comfortable to put their backsides and if you’re not a fan of the old fashioned bean bag, then Stomp Australia may have one solution for gamers in the Pyramat S2000 Video Game Rocker.

With its distinctive look you’ll definitely attract some stares if you’re keen enough to lug it around to Lan events and if you do just be prepared because while not overly heavy, it weighs in at close to 20kg but folds up to make it a bit easier to take with you.

The weight is no doubt due to the high quality of the frame, subwoofer and speakers that make this unit a very high quality piece of gear. That’s right, it’s not just a seat, somewhere comy for your backside, but also a sound system as it contains a 5.5” subwoofer right behind your back and a couple of 8w speakers up top. I’ve never really experienced surround sound gaming so to be honest, the first time I fired this up was a bit of a shock. To be so immersed into the sound of a game was something new and a bit strange but happily, quickly adjusted to. For anyone that plays in surround sound all the time, it’s hard for me to make a comparison between the Sound Rocker and Dolby 5.1 but the speakers right behind your ears really draw you into games much more than I thought they would.

Setup is pretty straight forward, all you need is a power socket to fire the rocker up and then just connect up the red and white audio cables to the audio output from the Xbox 360. There’s also a couple of female to female adapters included which made things a bit easier because for a few minutes I was looking at two male connectors wondering how I was going to join it all up. Once everything is connected, that’s it.. turn it on and you’re ready to game! There’s two RCA inputs so you can have your Xbox and mp3 player connected at the same time and just select between them with the switch located on the right hand side.

The seat itself is very comfortable and made out a material that feels uncannily like those mouse pads with the gel wrist pad thing on them. Whats even better you ran rock on it like some hill billy on his porch playing the banjo, surely that, combined with gaming is every gamers dream? After some very lengthy sessions the rocker never became uncomfortable and the only issue which may affect taller gamers is getting up off it as you’re basically sitting at floor level which means to get up, you have to stand up. Lucky I’m a short arse so it didn’t really bother me.

The first game I fired up was Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and the difference in the audio compared to my standard TV speakers was phenomenal. Every single shot would boom out from behind my head and every explosion would kick me in the back thanks to the subwoofer doing its thing (remember it’s located directly behind your back). To be honest, at first, the sound was a bit of overkill but a quick adjustment of the volume and bass level got things down to a more respectable, and comfortable (for my spine at least) level. Don’t concern yourself with possible internal organ damage, just enjoy the bass!

Next up was Project Gotham Racing 3 and again, the difference in the audio was amazing. The subtle differences between each of the car engine sounds were immediately noticeable and much cleaner than through my standard TV speakers, even more so than my Logitech PC speakers that I’ve had plugged into my 360 as well. Tearing around the streets of PGR3 with this level of sound behind me really gave the game new life.

I was very sceptical when I was unpacking this thing, my wife was giving me one of those “what the hell is that thing” looks while the kids were both “oh man, that’s awesome” and the next 4 hours were spent trying to pry them off it so I could check it out for myself. Even Live Arcade titles such as Cloning Clyde sounded heaps better and a real positive aspect was that I didn’t have to physically have the volume up as loud as I used to because I was sitting closer to the speakers.