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Posted: Aug 26 2011 11:17 am

http://www.pcgamingisnotdead.com/

This site, owned by Razer (Maker of the world's best gaming mice, IMHO) appeared earlier this week. It has a countdown that ends about 9AM PST today. What could it be? A new mouse/keyboard? Or something bigger?

I'm guessing it's the launch of the "Switchblade" which was a portable prototype they showed off in January of this year with no release date given. It is a handheld gaming device that has the functionality of a full Windows computer. It features a multitouch LCD screen and an adaptive keyboard that changes keys depending on the game you play.

We shall see...

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

I was waiting to see what they would announce.

It is... pretty.

Quality specs.

But how much does it cost?

Posted: Aug 26 2011 02:19 pm

Yeah it seems really cool, but that thing isn't going to be cheap if I have to guess. If it comes in under $1800 I'm going to be really surprised. I've never used a Razer product myself, but heard good things. I'd actually buy one of their mice if I wasn't so impressed with my G5 that I'll be replacing it with the G700 instead.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 02:34 pm

Well shit. I'll be in the market for a new laptop once I have a job and decent savings, and this could be just the ticket. I like that it has all the horsepower, without the bulk of my current laptop (which is something retarded like 7lbs)

Keeping an eye on this for sure.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

If Razer is serious about cornering the market they will sell this thing CHEAP.

The technology is expensive, but they need to get the unit down bellow $1500 to compete against Apple.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 02:55 pm

And.......... Nope.

This is going to be another overpriced Falcon NW, Voodoo, DigitalStorm, Alienware laptop.

Current MSRP: $2800!

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I promise it won't go for less than 2500 or 3000.

*EDIT - Wow I was close.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

The ironic thing is, that a culture of gaming that requires expensive rigs to be current (yes, you can build one for cheap, but most people don't have the know-how) is what was killing PC gaming for the longest time. If anything will bring back the glory of PC gaming, it's the indie scene or an affordable rig that can play up-to-date games at good settings.

Joined: May 22 2008 Location: Goshen, VA Posts: 6544

I think that has a lot to do with it, Greg. I grew up a PC gamer, but was quickly turned off of it by adulthood. A regular person goes and buys a computer that just came out a week ago and wants to play a game that came out 3 months ago. "Oh this computer still isn't fast enough? I have to buy this card to put in it or upgrade this to make it play this game that's months older than my rig already? No thanks."

It will always have it's niche, but I'm tired of scrawny pale nerds with their arms folded talking down to me "Oh, this cards too old, this isn't updated, you'll have to download this, why didn't you do this? You're gonna need to upgrade your rig, you should probably let me handle it, etc, etc." And the end result is spending a buttload on graphics and top end performance that will need to be upgraded again in a year or less. Regular people don't want to do that anymore.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

No matter how cool it is, technology that is overpriced will not change the landscape of its industry.

In a down economy, the average PC gamer may be willing to spend more money on a peripheral when given the choice of $30 vs $80, however they aren't going to drop an extra $1000 - $1500 on a laptop just because it glows green and has a iphone for a trackpad.

This has been my largest complaint with the PC industry as a whole for several years. People don't believe that a computer needs to cost $2000+ to be good any longer and manufacturers in the gaming segment just don't get it.

A premium product sold at a high price in a recession by a company that has no track record in the market is going to lure fanboy types and rich kids, however no one else is going to buy this thing.

Stated perfectly on Reddit:
The monster cables of laptops

Joined: Feb 16 2010 Location: Texas Posts: 329

Just gimme the keyboard.

Joined: Apr 09 2008 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 3112

Right, GP. I honestly think the first company to make gaming PC's for non-hardcore gamers will rule the market. No glowing, no fugly-ass cases, and not always using the most expensive hardware where you can are easy sacrifices if that means you can charge $600-$1000 for a PC/laptop that lets someone play recent games at mid-high to high settings.

Not to leave out things like company support, hardware, and software problems. Graphics card companies can't put out decent drivers for their own products. PC gaming requires no rigorous play-testing (it's really done on the honor system, as console gaming usually has Sony/MS/Ninty having some kind of quality assurance), resulting in a lot of buggy-from-release games that need to be patched, assuming of course you can get the patch without platforms like Steam stalling the developers (a console problem as well, to be fair). This is all assuming you didn't pick up the 64-bit version of Windows and the game actually works right when the planets are aligned.

The culture will need to be a lot less impenetrable as well. Everyone's had this experience:

I used to try to post in tech help on Something Awful back in the day, and felt drowned out by every egomaniac nerd raging goon who chased people away from the He-Man Woman Haters Club that was PC gaming at the time. I see guys like GP doing their part, posting helpful information for people, but there's still a lot of crappy people out there who make it more difficult for someone who wants enjoy PC gaming, but has hit some hurdles along the way.

Joined: Dec 06 2007 Location: Connecticut Posts: 11244

MellowMeek wrote:

Just gimme the keyboard.

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus/
http://www.thinkgeek.com/interests/sysadmin/9836/

Posted: Aug 26 2011 04:33 pm

Why not go for a full LCARS like keyboard?

http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-tactus/

If the Optimus is still $1,600, I don't even want to know what this will be priced at!

Posted: Aug 26 2011 04:44 pm

I've always had an interest in PC gaming, but I don't have the technological know-how to build a gaming PC, nor do I want to spend a lot of money on it.

I'm also not wholly convinced that PC gaming is "better" than console gaming, in spite of what the PC-nazis claim. It may be better for certain types of games, but I think most of the time it's just different. Not better.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 04:47 pm

That keyboard better give oral at that price.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 05:20 pm

I agree that overpriced crap isn't helping the PC gaming scene. If this really will be 2800 bucks they just priced that thing well out of the average gamer's price range by well over a grand and a half easy. I can build a damn near top of the line desktop for $1200 bucks right now and sure it won't have some fancy touchpad but I guarantee it will still run the newest games for several years after this Razer thing stops being able to. Still $1200 is really kind of pricey in this economy, though the prices really have come down since I built the one I have now.

People just can't afford that when for, what 400 bucks?, you can go grab a PS3 and play damn near all the same games at a third of the price. You only miss out on some exclusives which are becoming fewer and farther between these days, in fact you are seeing more console exclusives than PC ones because the sales just aren't worth the cost of a port.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 05:43 pm

Yes, and no. While there has been a decline in PC Exclusive blockbuster titles, and most "once upon a time, PC exclusive" series have transitioned over to consoles, there has been a surge of independent game makers picking up the ball and filling the gaps.

I also agree that to an extent, a console can play most games a PC can, but they both have their stronger and weaker areas. Consoles are better for sports games, platformers, JRPGs, and such. PC are better for Simulations, RTS, MMOs, and traditional RPG games. They can both do FPS, adventure games, arcade titles, and such equally.

I have always been and always will be a PC gamer first, but I will always have a console as well. I play the vast majority on my games on my PC. But, I keep my 360 for games like Forza, Fable, the WWE titles, fighting games, and multiplayer games when company comes over.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 05:47 pm

Ice2SeeYou wrote:

I've always had an interest in PC gaming, but I don't have the technological know-how to build a gaming PC, nor do I want to spend a lot of money on it.

same here.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 06:13 pm

Yeah, I am done with PC gaming. 100% done. The last PC game I bought was Diablo 2. The last PC games I played were Half Life 1, Team Fortress Classic 1, Thief 1-3, and MDK2. I had too many experiences where a game came out that my PC either couldn't run or would run sub-optimally. So I just said fuck it, I'll play console games. I know my console can run the game, and for the most part, the controls are better. The exception would be FPS and RTS games. FPS controls are tighter on a PC, and RTS pretty much doesn't work on anything besides PC. Well... I guess the DS could pull off RTS fairly decently.

But everything else is more fun on a console. Racing games, platformers, fighting games, pretty much anything that isn't FPS or RTS plays better with a game controller than a mouse or keyboard. "But you can use a 360 controller on a PC!" Yes, you can. You know what else I can use a 360 controller with? A FUCKING XBOX. And I can play it on a bigger screen. "But you can hook your computer up to your TV!" Yes, you can. But who the fuck actually does that? No one, except the absolute dregs of gamer society, the unwashed basement-dwelling techie nerd losers.

Plus, there is a small but vocal pro-PC crowd who are completely fucking annoying. You want to see what I'm talking about, follow this guy Taxonomic on Twitter. Every other day he's ranting about how awesome PC gaming is and shitty console gaming is. And that's typical of that crowd. And I take exception to that. I'm sorry, but you don't start a conversation by telling me everything I like is stupid, because before you've got the next sentence out, I've already walked away. And you keep talking at that point, I will punch you and you will run away crying because you're a loser and losers can't take a punch.

When you enjoy your gaming platform to the exclusion of every other platform, you're an asshole. I enjoy games. I understand that there are great games on every platform, even platforms I'm not interested in, and I can appreciate why other people like them. Well, except iOS, because iOS is shit and the tech blogosphere can't stop sucking its dick.

PC gaming is great for those who have the patience for it, and if graphics and framerate are the single most important factors in your gaming experience, but I am not that type of person.

Another issue is that the best minds aren't in PC gaming anymore. You look at the games people were making on PCs in the 80s and early-to-mid 90s, and there was some brilliant shit. Now? Not so much. Everything is developed for PS3 or XBox and then ported to Steam as an afterthought.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 06:38 pm

Yeah the RTFMSN crowd can be off-putting to say the least.

What about those who hook computers to TV in order to play emulators seated on the living room floor in front of the TV instead of hunched over a computer desk, how so you feel about them? That they should just but the games and consoles and stop emulating? What about unreleased stuff or never imported stuff?

Posted: Aug 26 2011 06:55 pm

man, rough crowd.

RTS can only be played on a PC. and i like me some RTS. and i like Diablo. so, i can only play Diablo III on a PC. and i prefer Steam over the PSN/XBLA. its easier to use & they have great specials all the time.

ultimately, im a a console gamer overall, but im not giving up on PC gaming.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 06:57 pm

I don't see how hooking your computer up to your TV is a bad thing, personally, my monitor has a bit of damage to it and the second I buy a wireless mouse the computer is getting hooked up to my bigger and undamaged TV. I either buy a new monitor or use my perfectly good TV that I rarely use for anything anyway, seems like the better plan. Plus then I don't have to deal with a monitor with a small hole in the screen that leaves a white dot in the games and is rather annoying. I personally do think I enjoy PC gaming more, but consoles have their uses as well. I'd never try to play a racing game on here or a sports game. Now an RPG or an FPS I'll definitely buy it for the PC, especially stuff in the style of the Elder Scrolls because the combination of easier quick slots and mods make it so much more worth the money.

Posted: Aug 26 2011 07:42 pm

Blackout wrote:

Yeah the RTFMSN crowd can be off-putting to say the least.

What about those who hook computers to TV in order to play emulators seated on the living room floor in front of the TV instead of hunched over a computer desk, how so you feel about them? That they should just but the games and consoles and stop emulating? What about unreleased stuff or never imported stuff?

I've seen MAME custom cabinets, which are essentially just a PC in a pretty box, and I'm fine with those. When people build custom consoles like that, that's pretty cool. I wish I had the skill to do that.

Joined: Aug 04 2009 Posts: 2515

username wrote:

so, i can only play Diablo III on a PC.

DIII is coming out for consoles, i'm surprised Mr. Lexia didn't bring it up.

I appreciate both sides of the arguments for consoles and PCs but at the same time there are retarded arguments from both sides as well. Go onto nearly any video game site and you will see something to the akin of:

Console fans:
LOL PCs are so shit, enjoy having to buy new components every year just to play gaems.

PCfans:
LOL enjoy your shit console ports, the games were designed for PC and are just watered down PC games, mouse and keyboard > controller, enjoy your shit graphics, you are too poor to own a PC

They both have their pros and cons like anything.

Though PC gaming isn't dead. I did notice the decline of physical copies of PC games in my local game store though that's because everything is downloaded now.

When people knock PC they forget that it's not just a video game console. Herp a derp PC is so shit... yeah but what are you stating that PC is so shit on right now...? Most likely a PC. If you browse the internet on a console then, i don't even know what to say. The browser on PS3 is absolute shit.