Razer Revs into CES Waving a Radical PC Gaming Tablet Design
Razer Revs into CES Waving a Radical PC Gaming Tablet Design
Posted 01/10/2012 at 1:40pm
| by Paul Lilly
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Tablet PCs have flirted with mobile gaming, and there are some fun titles out there that are playable on higher end Android and iPad devices. But it's not a true gaming platform, at least not yet. Give Razer a chance to shake things up. The gaming peripheral maker is throwing its hat into the tablet ring with its "Project Fiona PC Gaming Tablet" (from here on out it's just "Fiona"), a concept slate designed to play today's most popular PC games with a funky (Razer says "intuitive") control setup.
You won't find a Tegra chip inside or any other ARM-based variant, and it's not rocking an Atom processor. Nope, the Fiona brings a fully fledged Core i7 processor to the tablet party, giving it more in common with a PC than a tablet, Razer says. It also makes it easy for game developers to write apps for the device, considering x86 has been around since the Tyrannosaurus Rex roamed the Earth.
Fiona features a dual-game controller design with ultra precise accelerometers and a highly sensitive multi-touch screen, according to Razer. It looks funktastic, yet oddly promising (see photo gallery below).
"While multi-touch screens have become the de facto user interface for tablets, they are not the right interface for serious PC gaming," said Min-Liang Tan, CEO, Razer. "The user interface we have designed for Project Fiona allows all existing PC games to be played right out of the box and also provides game developers new opportunities as they develop next-gen games on a highly-intuitive platform. Both developers and gamers are going to love the new user interface that combines the best of a gamepad, multi-touch screen and accelerometers for an all-new gaming experience on-the-go."
Force feedback is also part of the package. All this fun will come at a cost -- somewhere in the neighborhood of $1,000 (less, not more, Razer says). Razer expects to ship Fiona in the fourth quarter of this year.
Image Credit: Razer
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kbmtech
January 12, 2012 at 3:38am
At that price it begins to compete with the ultraboks, which offer more functionality. While the controls are cool for a portable gaming console, they are an abomination in the tablet world, which are more suited for the working professional. Offer it at a price more in line with the portable gaming consoles from Sony and Nintendo and there is a market phenomenon in the making.
The Corrupted One
January 10, 2012 at 6:28pm
I forgot about Firefall.
Should try.
Looks pretty cool,
But the question is, can it run Crysis? :d
The Corrupted One
January 10, 2012 at 9:56pm
I dunno, If it is APU based, you could fit a good size battery in there and get 3 hours of power.
Anyways, more of the point is that it's actually mobile, unlike your 50 pound Alienware,
EDIT: Checked website, runs on an i7, probably a Sandy Bridge with intergrated GFX. Source Games it is.
blip2004
January 10, 2012 at 3:51pm
As soon as the name Fiona was mentioned all I could hear in my head was Scott from Eurotrip yelling "FIOOONNAAAA!!!" after she dumps him.
But other than that I have the same issues I have with most new mobile devices. which are
-no keyboard. and does it have mouse support (I hate fingerprints when trying to game)
-Will it run windows? or does it use a linux variant?
-price. mobile should be cheap and replacable.
-market penetration. Really who is going to buy this and why should anyone make programs or games for this machine?
-competition. They are up against Apple, android, nintendo, and playstation. Unless they can make this very attractive not many will want it.
The Corrupted One
January 10, 2012 at 9:47pm
Who will make games for it?
It will be able to run anything that runs on a PC with controller support(that has low enough system requirements) the picture shown is from Firefall, a rather interesting MMO FPS/third person game, in beta ON PC right now.
Methinks it would run Source games rather nicely.
dethdeks
January 10, 2012 at 3:42pm
is it me or does it sorta resemble the controller used to control the robots in real steel?
rawrnomnom
January 10, 2012 at 2:40pm
Hmm.... Razer... You have my wallet's attention... I just hope that this comes out a bit better than the extremely overpriced notebook you put out. Although an i7 does peak my attention...
cboy6060
January 10, 2012 at 2:14pm
does any one else think that these side controllers look a lot like ps move sub controllers?
Deblackmon3
January 10, 2012 at 2:09pm
Ehh.... if the controls are removable, and if the frame around the screen thinner, then I MIGHT bite. It has to be pretty damn good to cost almost twice the price of an iPad, though.
patcor1662
January 10, 2012 at 3:43pm
The side controllers do not appear to be removable, at least from the pictures provided. From a structural standpoint, if they are removable, I am hoping that the entire controller/force feedback system is a subframe/layer that can be disengaged from the main tablet.
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