Today heralded an awakening for me. For too long we have ignored it and pretended everything was okay so as not to cause a panic in the streets. There is only so much control that we as gamers can be afforded of our passion but we want to believe that it will always be around, that we will die first. It took a spunky little company to stand out in the busy city streets and proclaim at the top of their lungs, "Hey! PC gaming is dead! Don't worry though! We got this!"
For too long now we have been stuck behind our desks, stuck behind our keyboards. I might not have felt it but deep inside it was if my soul was trapped in a box, trapped in a corner. While I love to go outside and socialise with the rest of society my main passion in life is video gaming, to marry the two worlds together seemed like such an impossible task it never even occurred to me! Thankfully the brilliant Razer have come along and made the impossible possible.
The
Razer Blade has the functionality of a laptop with the bestiality of an ultra-gaming PC. It is, truly, the best of both worlds. It is sleek, it is muscular, it is gaming redefined. Now gamers have a choice, one choice. $2800 may seem like a lot of money but... but.... ahhhhhh. Hmm.
Kotaku uphold their sterling reputation as journalists.
But Razer's got a big scrap ahead of them. The Blade doesn't go up against other gaming PCsit's going toe to toe with the world's best hardware manufacturer. They're going to fight Apple.
Problem number one: They aren't fighting Apple. They run on a different OS. Apple aren't generally chosen for gaming as most new release games cannot run on Apple. If Apple PC suddenly had 30% of the video gaming sales then yes, they would be in competition.
PCs aren't going to die, but they are fast on their way to a niche industry. And it's not smartphones and iPads that are killing themit's the lack of systemic innovation in the PC hardware space itself. And really, if you want to get right down to it, there's just Intel. They're the only company with the capital, resources, and engineering prowess to move forward in the industry.
Which they are. With integrated graphics. To take the gpu out of the equation for developers to have to work towards stability.
You can't put a Ford engine in a Toyota. (Well, not easily.) Why should you be able to put an AMD video card in an Intel computer? Choice, you say. Fine. But if my choice is holding back the potential of my hardware, I'd rather take the losing companies out behind the barn and shoot them.
Not a bad concept (aside from the fact that you can swap motors in cars fairly easily similar to computers) but competition is what generates progress. There is the worry of the manufacturers having agreements on progression but by and large the industry has come a long way, just look at a different game from each year since 1980 and see how far we have come.
Also the reason why games are being held back is consoles, not choice in the PC market. A developer cannot put out a breathtaking game on PC and have the console version look like shit. Not to mention the fact that most publishers see the real money being on consoles because of the closed platform that makes monetization streams much, MUCH easier than the already established open market on PC's that won't accept paying less for more in the future.
It's time to buck and realize that the Apple model of hardware isn't just one way to do itit's the way hardware has to go to move forward. There will still be competition, but the competition is between platforms, not within the platforms itself.
Standardisation of parts and having a stock standard item to buy rather than tailor that item to your needs. Historically that means less value, more profit for the manufacturer. Apple aren't known for pricing their goods low or taking a hit on a margin. They continue to make massive profits because they have hit onto a market stream that no-one else was exploiting. If anything you could compare what Apple are doing to the console market, albeit with only one massive player where they don't need to incur the competitive costs (like Sony taking a hit on the PS3 compared to Nintendo printing money with the DS/Wii).
You cannot recreate that success by just looking at what they are doing and try to do it in another market. That is insane. That is how global companies go bankrupt. Laptops have come down in price because the market wills it, the market wants value. Apple shows it is worth the extra cost to the consumer.
The Razerblade does what? An impressive touchpad that may or may not be used by games in the future? Not to mention it actually removes value as it creates an issue with using a mouse along with the trackpad where you have to take your hand OFF the mouse. How often in an RPG or RTS (which the trackpad seems best for) would you take your hand off the mouse? Even worse for a MMO, even Razer have a MMO mouse that has a dozen odd buttons on it for hotkeys.
Don't get me wrong, I like the idea and loved the VMU with my Dreamcast and the Wii U tablet controller will be great. The difference is that those items were standard across the platform. This trackpad is creating extra work for developers who may not jump on board until sales hit a mark. We saw with the PS3 that several companies made light attempts on the platform until it was in enough loungerooms to make it worth their while. The same will happen here unless Razer pay a nice little sum of money everytime they want the extra functionality.
It's really not compromised at allit's purpose built. It's built for gaming. That's wonderful.
It is compromised because you are paying 3 times the price for half the computer. Dual core processor? GT555M? No SSD? 2.5 hours of heavy gaming battery life?!? Oh no, it is okay. You get a custom touchpad!
If Razer's support for the Blade is as good as it should be, they should be able to operate a platform that has the It Just Works nature that Apple's Macs tend to have.
No different to me not changing my hardware in my PC. Graphic drivers are actually much better now than they have been in years (at least on the NVIDIA side).
The death of PC hardware might be the rebirth of PC gaming. Don't get me wrongPC gaming is doing alright. I'm not a doomsayer. But I'm tired of the enthusiast market holding back the innovation in the space. It's just like what happened to cars over the last 15 years. They became more difficult to work for the shade tree mechanic, sure, but they also became faster, more fuel efficient, and cheaper.
I want that for PC gaming. And if they play their cards right, Razer might actually be the company to do it. I'm just as shocked as you are.
What?
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