Not too long ago, I spoke about how awesome it would be to see an Xbox-branded gamer tabletthat featured all the power of Windows 8 and pushed Xbox-Live integration, alongside high-profile gaming capabilities.
I made it clear that while I would absolutely love to see such a device, I wouldn’t expect to see it anytime soon, if at all.
Still, this doesn’t mean that somebody else can’t give us the next best thing. Razer’s latest device, nicknamed “Project Fiona”, was unveiled at CES as a 10.1-inch multitouch device with built in gaming controls.
While a few “Android” gaming tablets already exist, Fiona is a Windows slate that has Win8 in mind. Additionally this tablet is powered by an Intel Core i7 Ivy Bridge, which gives it the power to run all the latest and greatest PC games without any real hitch.
The Prototype was built specifically with mobile PC gamers in mind and will feature a hybrid user interface (a hub activated via upcoming Windows 8 app), designed to help gamers immediately jump into local multiplayer matches, and more.
As far as “local multiplayer” is concerned, it brings to mind the concept of big lan parties. I am just big enough of a geek that as a teen, back in the late 90s, I was subject to more than one of these kind of parties.
Back then, most gamers have PC rigs (more and more are moving to super-powered laptops), and so you would go to a party location (such as a rented out building, etc) and bring your monitor (often not a skinny LCD either), tower, keyboard, and mouse. In some situations, the monitor/keyboard/mouse would already be included and all you’d have to bring is your tower.
Either way, lan parties aren’t as big as they were in decades past. If this mobile tablet could really pull off high-end PC games without any major hitch, it could finally revitalize the concept of LAN gaming in a big way.
Of course many of the LAN party types are ‘do-it-yourself’ folks that wouldn’t want a pre-built tablet, so maybe not.
Either way, the idea of playing upcoming games like Diablo 3 on the go through the use of a convenient gaming tablet sounds rather appealing.
The downside, is with these nub controllers integrated, and presumably not removable, it might make for a clumsy tablet experience outside of gaming.
Still, if it has the power of Windows, Windows/Xbox Live, and other high-end capabilites, it is the closest gamers will get to an Xbox tablet for now.
When it comes to battery life, RAM, and other major specs, we actually know very little. All we know is that the system will arrive in Q3 or Q4 (after Win8 launches) with a price target under $1000.
For those who aren’t into gaming, this tablet really has nothing to offer. Still, gamers could certainly find this one worthwhile. If it runs an i7 and is under $1000 (even if only marginally), it will be hard to beat in the performance to price side, as well.
What do you think of the new tablet? For gamers out there, does this sound interesting or would you rather keep to your traditional gaming PC or laptop? Share your thoughts below.
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