Alienware Blurs the Line Between Console and PC

[Treblaine]

I think this niche doesn't exist for a reason.

PC is either portable laptop, or spacious enough that you can easily get to components to upgrade/repair parts.

People who are taking to the approach to gaming where it should just "plug it in and bloody work as however you deem fit" will always lose out to Xbox or Playstation. And the PC trying to compete for slots in the HDTV I think it a bad room. That is spatial competition where it is not strong.

The PC is strong at the table with a computer monitor. Millions of people will flock to their desks to play games as with World of Warcraft, Minecraft and Steam.

You sound like you don't want it to exist. What's so wrong about kickin back on your couch for some Minecraft? NO! You must be at your DESK. I'm just saying, be open, ya know? Don't be so defensive about what PC gaming should be. And not even gaming. Eg. Watch Youtube videos on your HDTV with your friends. Skype with your family. Switch inputs and look up gaming tips. Maybe you throw a blu-ray player in it. Plus we don't know what Windows 8 is going to do exactly, but it looks like a lot of home entertainment things. Oh, another one: really loud music on your 5.1 surround. Just because its from Alienware doesn't mean its strictly for gaming. Maybe I'd like to do some 3D animation on my couch, not at my desk. Feel a bit more relaxed.

Well, It's not so much that I'm not a fan of PCs in HDTVS i'm not a fan of almost ANY games console in a HDTV!

As far as I am concerned, the only value use of a huge screen is for groups of people as it's easier to get more people round a largr screen while retaining a good screen angle and apparent size (complicated geometry).

So big HDTVs are social gadgets, they are a waste if it's one person playing it as so few games today (and virtually none on PC) have split-screen or same-screen multiplayer. If it's just one person watching a screen it doesn't matter if they are 3-foot from a 24-inch screen or 9 foot from a 72 inch screen, it will fill the same field of their vision and they will be able to resolve the same detail just as well. It's a waste having such large HDTVs. It's like building a 100foot wide HDTV on the opposite side of the Grand Canyon.

Ok I gotcha/agree. No sense in watching 480p Youtube videos on a 60" LED. I have a small room, thats why when I was buying a new TV a few years ago, I axed the whole TV idea and just bought a really nice 21" LCD monitor. I got HDMI running between it, my 360, my surround sound, and my laptop (just switch input). Having something like this would be a nice edition to my tech eco system without taking up anymore limited space.

Have you tried the VGA output on 360? Call be crazy but I prefer it, mainly because it avoids a lot of HDCP induced bugs but because I can use it on a monitor that is plugged into a dedicated PC DVI output. Not many consoles have VGA output and it was a major selling point of the xbox 360 to me, it let me have HD output way before I could afford any kind of HDTV.

 

[RUINER ACTUAL]

I think this niche doesn't exist for a reason.

PC is either portable laptop, or spacious enough that you can easily get to components to upgrade/repair parts.

People who are taking to the approach to gaming where it should just "plug it in and bloody work as however you deem fit" will always lose out to Xbox or Playstation. And the PC trying to compete for slots in the HDTV I think it a bad room. That is spatial competition where it is not strong.

The PC is strong at the table with a computer monitor. Millions of people will flock to their desks to play games as with World of Warcraft, Minecraft and Steam.

You sound like you don't want it to exist. What's so wrong about kickin back on your couch for some Minecraft? NO! You must be at your DESK. I'm just saying, be open, ya know? Don't be so defensive about what PC gaming should be. And not even gaming. Eg. Watch Youtube videos on your HDTV with your friends. Skype with your family. Switch inputs and look up gaming tips. Maybe you throw a blu-ray player in it. Plus we don't know what Windows 8 is going to do exactly, but it looks like a lot of home entertainment things. Oh, another one: really loud music on your 5.1 surround. Just because its from Alienware doesn't mean its strictly for gaming. Maybe I'd like to do some 3D animation on my couch, not at my desk. Feel a bit more relaxed.

Well, It's not so much that I'm not a fan of PCs in HDTVS i'm not a fan of almost ANY games console in a HDTV!

As far as I am concerned, the only value use of a huge screen is for groups of people as it's easier to get more people round a largr screen while retaining a good screen angle and apparent size (complicated geometry).

So big HDTVs are social gadgets, they are a waste if it's one person playing it as so few games today (and virtually none on PC) have split-screen or same-screen multiplayer. If it's just one person watching a screen it doesn't matter if they are 3-foot from a 24-inch screen or 9 foot from a 72 inch screen, it will fill the same field of their vision and they will be able to resolve the same detail just as well. It's a waste having such large HDTVs. It's like building a 100foot wide HDTV on the opposite side of the Grand Canyon.

Ok I gotcha/agree. No sense in watching 480p Youtube videos on a 60" LED. I have a small room, thats why when I was buying a new TV a few years ago, I axed the whole TV idea and just bought a really nice 21" LCD monitor. I got HDMI running between it, my 360, my surround sound, and my laptop (just switch input). Having something like this would be a nice edition to my tech eco system without taking up anymore limited space.

Have you tried the VGA output on 360? Call be crazy but I prefer it, mainly because it avoids a lot of HDCP induced bugs but because I can use it on a monitor that is plugged into a dedicated PC DVI output. Not many consoles have VGA output and it was a major selling point of the xbox 360 to me, it let me have HD output way before I could afford any kind of HDTV.

No, never had a reason. My surround sound depends on the HDMI, and I don't even remember how I have it rigged up.

 

[Innegativeion]

People who are taking to the approach to gaming where it should just "plug it in and bloody work as however you deem fit" will always lose out to Xbox or Playstation. And the PC trying to compete for slots in the HDTV I think it a bad room. That is spatial competition where it is not strong.

This trend is not going to last for long. Computing power is becoming more and more compact.

Within the decade I predict every electronic devise we own will be able to access every rectangle-shaped piece of glass in our house seamlessly, or at least nearly. That concept is already starting to gain momentum, in fact.

Its just the logical extreme of browsers on phones and game consoles, or console controllers plugged into PCs, or PCs plugged into TV screens.

 

[Treblaine]

People who are taking to the approach to gaming where it should just "plug it in and bloody work as however you deem fit" will always lose out to Xbox or Playstation. And the PC trying to compete for slots in the HDTV I think it a bad room. That is spatial competition where it is not strong.

This trend is not going to last for long. Computing power is becoming more and more compact.

Within the decade I predict every electronic devise we own will be able to access every rectangle-shaped piece of glass in our house seamlessly, or at least nearly. That concept is already starting to gain momentum, in fact.

Its just the logical extreme of browsers on phones and game consoles, or console controllers plugged into PCs, or PCs plugged into TV screens.

Compactness ain't the issue. It's a matter of ergonomics of interface.

PC distinguishes itself from console with more choice but greater complexity in use, chocie in rendering settings, hardware and mods.

With console games ALL you have to do to get a game "running" is match the console name to the name at the top of the box. I.e. don't try to play PS3 games in an Xbox 360. But the system requirements for PC requires a depth of knowledge and then you have to know the appropriate settings if your system isn't good enough to max out.

PC is - inherently - not a plug and play experience, and the existence of browsers and console controllers won't change that.

PC gaming is fiddling with settings and hardware configuration, not web browsing or gamepads or mouse+KB. Mouse+KB on console doesn't make it a PC and Gamepad on PC doesn't make it a console.

PC won't be console till you have a "Set" hardware standard and games released for it have fixed rending settings.