Earlier this week, a website with the url www.pcgamingisnotdead.com was going viral and making its way around the web. The site from Razer, a maker of PC gaming accessories, counted down to today. The grand reveal that took place at PAX Prime? “The World’s First True Gaming Laptop”, alaptop called Blade. That’s right, there is now a laptop called Razer Blade.
Combining portability not usually found in “desktop replacement” laptops and performance not usually found in laptops, the Blade is targetted at the niche market of PC gamers with money that need to game on the go.
The keyboard includes an LCD panel that can be programmed to provide all the keys you need for gaming or quick shortcuts to websites. The laptop is less than an inch thick and less than 7 pounds with a 17″ screen. It features an Intel Core i7 2.8GHz CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M Graphics card with 2GB GDDR5 memory. The system comes with 8GB of DDR3 RAM and touts an HDMI connector, 1 USB 3.0 port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, gigabit ethernet, Bluetooth 3.0, and 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi.
Razer’s Blade is expected to be available in the US during 4th Quarter, 2011. For all the details on this new piece of hardware, visit www.razerzone.com/blade
The press release accompanying the announcement starts off with this bit:
The PC industry today has never looked bleaker. The world’s largest PC-maker Hewlett-Packard just announced their intention to explore the separation of its PC business. With PC manufacturers increasingly abandoning design and technology in lieu of outsourcing and cost-cutting, the PC industry has seen a severe dearth of innovation in recent years. Gaming consoles have also taken advantage of this innovation slump in the PC industry to garner attention from game developers and gamers alike, to the extent that now PC versions of cross-platform games are often sub-par ports of their console counterparts.
Coming from a company that touts “For Gamers. By Gamers” (FUBU FGBG), it doesn’t exactly seem to have its finger on the pulse of the PC gaming industry. Yes, HP announcing that they’re going to spin-off or sell-off their Personal Services Group means something to the technology world as a whole, but it doesn’t mean it’s going away. But more importantly, don’t most serious gamers build their own computers? Everybody I’ve ever talked to that was a serious gamer, custom built a PC desktop to get the biggest bang for their buck.
Secondly, yes, game consoles have found their niche and it works for them. Ports to the PC also suck. However, new release PC games typically cost $10 less, are upgradable, more flexible, and have the interface (keyboard + mouse) that can’t be beat. Random people and companies call the death of PC gaming whenever it benefits them. It just isn’t happening. Basing the marketing for a $2,800 laptop on that angle might not be your best bet.