Press Paws! With HyperX's Gamer Pet Toys, Your Pooch Can Be an Esports Hound

pcmag.com:

Your dog is your best friend, so why not make them Player Two, too?

HyperX, the gaming-peripheral team at HP, on Tuesday announced a partnership with P.L.A.Y. (Pet Lifestyle and You) to release dog toys inspired by some of its most popular peripherals.

Built from high-quality, sustainable materials, the Alloy Keybark (based on the HyperX Alloy 60% keyboard), the Cloud Arfa Gaming Headset (based on the Cloud Alpha headset), and the PAWdcast Microphone (based on the Quadcast S) let your backseat pup take the game into their own paws.

Why, you might ask, glancing at your living room already strewn with dog toys? As HyperX's marketing director, Stephanie Winkler, put it in a release announcing the new pet toys, "We're all gamers."

But is HyperX right? Can we truly all be gamers? Obviously, it’s hard for us humans to pass judgment on a dog toy, so I thought to tag in an expert—my Pomeranian, Mr. Frankie Pomodoro. The furry two-year-old knows a thing or two about being a dog, and he’s barked at enough TVs, laptops, and video games to be something of a tech expert himself.

Frankie, as you can see, is not a big hound. Going paws-on with the keyboard, headset, and microphone, his diminutive size made it a little difficult for him to play with the gear . The toys seem better-suited for midsize dogs, as a larger dog might just tear them to pieces in a spat of gamer-dog rage. Still, this didn’t deter Frankie from embracing both the PAWdcast Microphone and the Alloy Keybark.

The Keybark kept him entertained, as its super-loud squeaker sent him into a frenzy. But he seemed interested in the microphone the most, though it was the hardest for him to squeak himself.

Frankie wasn’t as much a fan of the Cloud Arfa, and was hesitant to wear