Plantronics is launching the RIG Headset + Mixer, what it’s calling the first product in a new line developed specifically with gamers in mind. What sets the headset apart is a mixer that gives users fine control over one of two incoming and outgoing audio channels, for instance one with game audio and another for phone calls or music  To highlight the feature, Plantronics worked with Ayzenberg on an interactive site that demonstrates exactly how gamers can put the feature to practical use.

The RIG site is a nifty interactive product demo, and it manages to get its features across with some dramedy.  It’s about men who game, and the women who love them.  Gamers know all too well that the women in their lives have a knack for calling right when their session is in full swing.  With RIG, all it takes is a mood for multitasking to take that incoming call from your girlfriend or your mother.  Flick a button on the mixer and audio switches from game audio to an incoming call.  In the demo, the first call is your girlfriend and she wants to make dinner plans.  She wants Vegan.  You want BBQ.  She acquiesces because she’s awesome, and this is advertising.  The best part, you never stopped gaming, dodging bullets on your virtual battlefield while dodging bombs like Vegan food off of it.  Then your mother calls to say it’s her birthday this week.  I might have stopped gaming here, but the demo shows with RIG, you don’t have to.

One of the RIG mixer’s best features is that it not only lets users switch between audio sources but actually listen to both and control their volume individually.  This is great for listening to music but not having to sacrifice game audio or in-game chatting with your multiplayer pals. I guess that’s true even if they’re rattling on about their broken love life, like in the demo. If you have to listen to your buddy’s sob story, why not cue in some sweet acoustic guitar to go with it.

The RIG works with just about any device you might want to game, talk or listen to things on — PC, consoles, smartphones and tablets.  It retails for $129, and it should be on shelves at major retailers starting today.

“No other product in the gaming headset marketplace has been developed specifically for gaming while using a tablet or smartphone, and we’re thrilled that gamers around the world can start connecting their game life and real life, starting today,” states Plantronics gaming products director Chuck Frizelle in the RIG’s launch press release.

Look for an upcoming exclusive interview with Frizelle and Dorothy Ferguson, Plantronics director of product marketing, looking at the launch of the RIG and how it represents Plantronics’ renewed focus on gaming products.