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  • Dell Cancels Some Alienware Shipments to Certain States

    Dell Cancels Some Alienware Shipments to Certain States

    Alienware customers in specific states are in for a disappointment, as Dell is cancelling some shipments.

    First noticed by Marie Oakes, Dell’s website contains a disclaimer regarding shipping to certain states.

    The issue revolves around legislation passed in those states governing computer energy efficiency.

    “This product cannot be shipped to the states of California, Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Vermont or Washington due to power consumption regulations adopted by those states,” the website says. “Any orders placed that are bound for those states will be canceled.”

    Dell has confirmed the issue in a statement sent to the The Register:

    Yes, this was driven by the California Energy Commission (CEC) Tier 2 implementation that defined a mandatory energy efficiency standard for PCs – including desktops, AIOs and mobile gaming systems. This was put into effect on July 1, 2021. Select configurations of the Alienware Aurora R10 and R12 were the only impacted systems across Dell and Alienware.

  • Alienware, Crytek Team Up on Lighting Software

    By and large PC gamers simply want the best hardware they can afford to play the best-looking and best-performing games on any platform. Like with any hobby, though, there are those who take things further and need the aesthetics of their rig to reflect its internal power. For those people there is Alienware, the company that built its name on powerful PC hardware coated with flashy case designs filled with an abundance of neon-colored lights.

    Today Alienware announced that it has teamed up with game developer Crytek to put lighting control software directly into Crytek’s Cryengine game engine.

    For Alienware PC owners this means the software will allow them to control those bright lights on their cases. Lighting themes and “special effects” can be chosen for the different lights on cases, customizing them as one would a Christmas tree.

    For developers using Cryengine this deal has other implications. According to Alienware, the AlienFX software that Crytek is putting into Cryengine will allow developers to control case lighting on Alienware PCs, causing them to change along with gameplay. Some examples might include different colors for different in-game areas, lights that flash along with in-game events, and cut-scenes that have their own lighting themes. Alienware says these effects are enabled through the “FlowGraph” scripting included with Cryengine.

    “One of the greatest things I love about being a gamer are the amazing and exciting experiences you get every time a new, cutting edge title is released,” said Frank Azor, general manager of Alienware. “Working with Crytek allows us to amplify that excitement with truly immersive games that can be played on any platform.”

    In return for this lighting software business, Alienware has given Crytek Alienware hardware with which to demonstrate the new initiative. The PCs include Alienware X51 desktops and Alienware 14 & 17 gaming laptops.

    While it may be dubious that flashy, distracting lights during a gaming session will entice consumers into buying more Alienware PCs, it is worth noting that this deal is one of many that PC manufacturers are making to help make PCs seem more attractive. As the overall PC industry continues to decline, gaming PCs could be one of the niche products that survives the decline unscathed.

    Image via Alienware

  • Alienware Thinks The Surface Won’t Be Much Of A Gaming PC

    There’s still a lot of mystery surrounding Microsoft’s Surface tablet. We know the specs and the general look of the device, but we don’t know the launch date or its true capabilities. The Windows 8 Pro version of the Surface is especially mysterious because it’s a full-fledged Windows laptop, but Microsoft hasn’t shown anything beyond Metro applications for it yet. Can its Intel i5 processor run high-powered applications like gaming? One hardware manufacturer certainly doesn’t think so.

    In an interview with PC Games N, product manager with Alienware, Eddy Goyanes, spoke on the potential of Microsoft’s Surface as a gaming machine. The company is known for making quality gaming PCs so they know how to judge the relative power of a PC. Microsoft’s Surface seems pretty powerful so what does Goyanes think about it?

    He can’t pass judgment just yet as the hardware has not been used to play any games yet, but he says that it’s not going to be able to compete with gaming PCs, especially those from Alienware:

    “It’s a really neat device actually. I think it’s pretty cool. But we’ve yet to see its capabilities in the gaming space, it will be really interesting to see how Microsoft enters that arena, if at all. We’ll be keeping our eye on the pulse of that device. If it does try to get into the gaming space, it’s definitely not going to complete on the level of any of our products. If you look at it from a wattage perspective, it’s not going to be capable of high-performance class gaming.”

    The man makes a valid point. The utter apathy that Microsoft has shown towards gaming in the past makes it seem like they won’t be doing much in the way of pushing it for Surface. Of course, social and mobile gaming has exploded in the past few years so Microsoft is definitely going to want to get in on that. The fear is that Microsoft will only cater to that audience instead of the core gaming audience. Sure, the mobile gaming audience is huge, but they want free games. The core gaming audience is willing to spend $60 per game for the experience.

    We don’t exactly know whether Microsoft will actually cater to the core with the Windows 8 Pro Surface, but they would be wise not to ignore it. I think I speak for many PC gamers when I say what that we want a more portable solution to take games on the go with us. Sure, the Surface wouldn’t replace our desktops or high-powered gaming laptops, but a gaming tablet specifically catered toward core gamers is a new concept that could go a long way.

    I’m sure we’ll find out more as we approach the launch for Surface, but we’ll keep you up to date on all Surface news until then. This is Microsoft’s big break to get into the personal computer hardware business so they need all the help they can get. Gamers usually make up most of the early adopters and power users so catering to them would not be a bad thing at all.