Gaming

This year's QuakeCon is being hosted at the beautiful Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas. It was originally supposed to be at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas, but was bumped for another convention at the last minute. Though the change caused a bit of confusion for those planning to attend, id Software stepped up to the plate to get the convention rolling, and there have been surprisingly few problems.

The BYOC (bring your own computer) waiting area was probably the most notable hiccup. Folks who were on the waiting list lined up with their systems for admission around 8-10am, and didn’t get processed until after midnight. Those in line found creative ways to amuse themselves. Some played board games, read books, caught up on their beauty sleep, or just hung out and made new friends. Others turned their energy towards stranger pursuits:

What do you do with a 9-foot tower of Bawls cans?

The Alienware booth is perfectly situated across from the main stage and is absolutely stacked with computer horsepower. I was able to play a demo of the upcoming Wolfenstein game on an M17x, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Besides the game demos, folks can play in competitions in the booth for prizes, and contests being emceed by professional gaming celebrity Adande “sWooZie” Thorne. A little bird told me they’ll even be giving away some Alienware hardware. If you’re at the convention, be sure to swing by today and check it out!

Yesterday afternoon id Software held their annual press conference with keynote given by John Carmack. At the conference they unveiled the newest trailer for their upcoming magnum opus: Rage. If the game even comes close to living up to what I saw in the trailer, it will undoubtedly be a large landmark on the gaming landscape. When will it be ready? “When it’s ready” is the answer, as always, but with the recent merger of id and Bethesda, Carmack promised that their production cycle would take advantage of their newfound resources. Hopefully this will give us the game sooner rather than later, but not in 2009.

The BYOC is packed with some of the craziest case mods I’ve ever seen. I’ll go through and take some photos today to post, so stay tuned for that, as well as some pictures from the tournament area and Alienware booth.

Gamers are visual and hands on. We do the research and we know what we want, but nothing beats seeing what we want first hand. Sure, you can buy anything online, even a car, and ninety-nine percent of the time it will arrive perfectly to your door. However, who wouldn't want the chance to get behind the wheel and take her for a spin.

Having worked at Alienware for several years many people have asked for a chance to try out Alienware's monster rigs in person and now you can. All you fans of Alienware or as I call you, abductees, in New York and New Jersey will soon have a chance to not only try out Alienware's high performance systems, but surround yourself in the Alienware Experience as well.

Alienware begins its worldwide invasion at Micro Center in Paterson, New Jersey on Saturday, July 25^th at 11:30 a.m. Now this isn't some small table sitting in the corner. Known in the industry as a store within a store, the Alienware Experience will be a place where you can see our premiere systems, from the Area-51 X58 desktop to the All Powerful M17x in action.

Don't expect some dime store ribbon cutting ceremony. Alienware and Micro Center do it right. Kicking off with a LAN event at Noon eastern, brought to you by the Alienware Arena, gamers from all around will have a chance to test their skills against each other in Quake 4. If you really think you have game then you can go up against the PMS clan.

I personally met a few members of this red hot team at Blizzcon last year and let me tell you they are more than just a pretty face, they kicked serious butt. If Player versus Player isn't your thing don't sweat it, you will still have a great time test driving the latest games available on Alienware systems like Bionic Commando, Sims 3 and Ghostbusters.

A party without prizes is like a LAN without caffeine. The first 500 guests to arrive will receive exclusive Alienware t-shirts, draw string bags and 2GB USB thumb drives. Those who decide to prove their gaming prowess at the LAN event will also have the chance to win additional prizes such as PC games, speakers, keyboards, mice and headphones until 6 p.m. EDT. 

The bottom line is this is a great chance to see the best in computer gaming systems and while you're there show off your skills and maybe win some stuff. Here is the hook up, head over to the Micro Center store at 263 McLean Blvd, Paterson, N.J. on Saturday the 25^th. Maybe I will see you there if I can score some air fare.

There's something about red. It's a color that brings out the power and excitement in many products. Did you know some insurance companies use to charge you more if your car was red? Their reason? It brings out the fire in us, giving us a charge to get the heart racing. In gaming, red equals dead, be it in World of Warcraft, player versus player or the laser sight from an MP5 in Call of Duty 4.

Is it any surprise that Alienware, the company that brought you the All Powerful M17x is releasing a Nebula Red - Special Edition - Anodized Aluminum version of their fire hot system? We already know about the speed and power this dream rig has and now with additional color options gamers will have yet another change to stun their friends and opponent alike, online and off. 

I have to say the new color looks sweet and this is coming from a guy who loves the color black. Take a look at this set on the Dell Flickr page to see what I am talking about. I think Rob Enderle over at Digital Trends said it best, "If there was ever a laptop that puts lust in the hearts of both engineers and gamers, the M17x is it."

A mere $99 extra dollars will allow you to upgrade and be the first on your block to have this special edition. Join us and learn more about the M17x and our multitude of configuration and customization options at www.alienware.com.