Tritton Kunai Wii U & 3DS Headset Review

Today I'll be taking a look at the Tritton Kunai Wii U Gaming Headset, or first and hopefully not last peripheral review for Nintendo's shiny new games console. It's been a long while since we saw some new hardware in the gaming market and its a perfect time to bring out a new range of gaming peripherals, something that MadCatz and Tritton are taking a lead with as they extend their successful Xbox and Playstation products over to the new system. This headset isn't new to eTeknix though, it was only a short while ago that I got to review this headset for the PlayStation 3 and Vita. While I expect performance to be at least similar to that edition, there are of course minor differences at play here. The Wii U will have its own sound processing capabilities, as too will its games, the connections are different also. While this may not sound like much that would make a difference, it doesn't take much to make or break quality audio performance. Tritton have a rock solid name for them selves within the gaming community at the moment, they've worked hard to earn it too. Not only do they have one of the more robust product ranges for gaming peripherals, but they also work closely with many gaming events and pro gaming teams, applying what they learn from these groups to their products. So lets take a closer look at the Kunai (again) and see just how well it handles Nintendo's latest console. The packaging on the Kunai is typical fair from Tritton and features the same high quality packaging I've seen across the rest of their range. Bright colours, good quality images and a bold design really make this one stand out. Along the side of the box we have a clear panel that gives a side view of the headset, not unlike the image on the front of the box although it is always nice to see the actual product, especially if your picking this up in a retail outlet. Open the box and you will find a detachable microphone, fold out setup guide and of course the headset its self. So lets get the headset out of the box and take a closer look. Out of the box I find that the headset is finished in a brilliant high gloss white with black features, which keeps nicely with the style of the Wii U console. The headset is hardwired from the left ear cup and features an inline remote control. It's a fairly simple control but has the two important features you will need, volume and microphone mute. The remote feels well built too and keeps in line with the high build quality of the rest of the set. The microphone comes with a nice twist-lock fitting, high flexible arm for finding that perfect position and is given a high quality finish. As you can see here, the microphone snaps into place on the left ear cup, with everything in place there is no doubt that this is one fantastic looking headset. The headband is slide adjustable and features a black strip that adds a little extra flair of style. The only bit off Wii U branding on the actual headsets are the tiny great and blue logos half way up each side of the headband. Each ear cup is covered with a soft leather like material and a cloth backing, which should be perfectly comfortable during long gaming sessions. Now this is the tricky part of the review for me, as I have already tested the Kunai for PlayStation 3 and Vita, I would expect the Kunai Wii U edition to be much the same. Lets have a quick look at what I said about the PlayStation edition of this headset; "Initial impressions were simply stunning with the Kunai, setup was quick and easy and as soon as the first sounds came through the 40mm drivers I knew I was in for a treat. The bass that this headset can produce is simply incredible. Its sound distortion free throughout the full volume range and even when things get a little crazy on battlefield 3 everything remained crystal clear. For a stereo headset you I got great sense of direction across all three games and it just proves that a headset doesn't need to offer virtual surround to give a thrilling gaming experience." After more than a few games on the Wii U I see no reason why this still isn't true, I just found that the general experience was less "intensive", no fault of the headset, but the games I have available are more family orientated and less demanding on the headset than Battlefield 3 and Uncharted. Audio playback is robust though and easily on par with what I saw on the PlayStation, microphone quality is great too and while chat didn't sound as good as it does on the PlayStation I don't think this had anything to do with the headset, more the way the console handles its communications. Testing the headset on the 3DS showed that the Kunai offers a much improved microphone for the handheld as well as great audio playback. Setup was fairly simple but the issue with the Wii U is that not all games support audio in the same way, that is not an issue with the headset though, so I'll keep this information for the Wii U hardware review. The Kunai has performed as well as I expected it would have, as I have spent time with the PlayStation 3 edition of this headset I can say there is very little difference between the sets, not only in terms of style but also in terms of performance. This is of course no bad thing, the Kunia has already been awarded with one of our eTeknix awards the last time we looked at it and I see no reason why it wouldn't do so again today. The Wii U has gotten off to a great start since launch and sure while it doesn't have the user base of Microsoft and Sony's consoles (obviously), it's still set to do pretty well over the next couple of years. So its good to see MadCatz take a step to bringing some high quality peripherals to the system. Sure MadCatz aren't exactly leaping in with their best in class audio gear, with things like the Warhead and 720+ headsets sticking to the PS3 and 360. The Kunai is a great headset though and its one that is easily adapted to life on other consoles, while I'm sure there is more to it that this, it does appear that the only thing to have changed is the in-line remote and the jack plug. The PS3 edition also featured a USB connection that allowed it to be used on PC's, this isn't the case here. It's also a relatively inexpensive headset compared to a lot of the Tritton range, yet compared to the basic offerings that get bundled with a lot of consoles, this is lightyears ahead in terms of quality. So if you've just bought yourself a shiny new Nintendo console, be that the Wii U or the 3DS, the Kunai should be high up your wishlist. Especially if you plan on getting online and playing a few multi-player games such as Call of Duty, the microphone is perfect for chatting with friends. On the other hand the Kunai also make great headphones that are perfect for the Wii U controller, handy if you decide to break away from the big screen for a while, which is why I am awarding the Kunai with our Gamers Choice Award.