The past few months have been very exciting for the Alienware team. Back in April, we officially announced how the company was redefining mobile gaming – again – with the addition of three new all-powerful systems, the M11x, M14x and M18x. You can read Arthur Lewis, VP of Alienware’s original blog post here announcing the products.
We couldn’t stop there… having launched the awesome new line up, we’ve been celebrating with events in the US and Europe. In Los Angeles we attended E3 – the Electronic Entertainment Expo on June 7th-9th, where the Alienware Mobile Tour set up shop in front of the convention centre with throngs of Alienware fans assembled to get their hands on the latest Alienware hardware.
In Europe, we hosted the region’s first ever ‘Alienware Gaming Night,’ an interactive event in London with e-sports gaming legends: Team Dignitas. With the help of an exclusive competition with our friends at Heaven Media, we had members of the European gaming community and Alienware fans had the chance to attend, as well as European gaming journalists and bloggers, giving them the opportunity to be the first to touch, feel and play on the latest systems from Alienware. Below is a collage of some of the Alienware gear, take a look at the Alienware Gaming Night Flickr set if you want to see more from the event.
The night itself consisted of two events, a roundtable dinner focused on “The Future of 3D Gaming” followed by an evening of serious gaming action with Team Dignitas – Europe’s top-ranked e-sports team. The roundtable discussion, lead by Eoin Leyden and Daniel Charbit from our European Alienware group ,was a lively conversation, with mixed opinion on whether 3D would represent the future of gaming. For the majority, including us here at Dell – 3D is a fantastically creative way of moving gaming forward, opening it up to new audiences and adding to the immersive experience of gaming. One of the major reasons for this positive outlook is the increased availability of 3D technology in itself; software developers are working on more 3D game titles for both PCs and consoles and manufacturers are launching a wide range of 3D-enabled devices. Indeed, as more and more players invest in 3D technology, this creates synergy and momentum that could help propel innovation even further.
However, for others, 3D gaming is perceived as a short lived ‘trend’ that won’t necessarily appeal to the masses. These critics believe 3D gaming still has plenty of hurdles to overcome before it breaks out of its niche, with the topmost reason being the high cost of 3D-enabled PCs and TVs for sophisticated gaming capabilities. Skeptics believe that consumers may choose to wait for more affordable versions or for more 3D content to be available for the purchase to be worthwhile.
Regardless of which side of the debate the attendees sat on, everyone agreed that 3D is here and now – and definitely making this generation of gaming all that more exciting.
The evening continued with a knock-out gaming competition with Team Dignitas, in a battle to win the all-powerful Alienware M14x. Check out the photographs from the event here and the video below to see all the action on the night… (Hat tip to Zaccubus of Team Dignitas for his help with the video)
Here’s a video that shows some of the highlights from this year’s Alienware Gaming Night in London
Now over in Sweden, more than 200 players took part in the online qualifiers for our e-sports Alienware Challenge. Four world class StarCraft II players are now ready for the finals taking place at gaming bonanza DreamHack this summer – the world’s largest digital festival and LAN party. Gaming pilgrims to DreamHack can also try the brand new Duke Nukem Forever and BRINK, running on Alienware systems in the exclusive gaming area: Alienware Arena …no serious gamer can afford to miss this adrenalin packed out of this world experience!
We’ve travelled enough, now it’s over to you… with The European Alienware Backpack Challenge.
Outfitted with an Alienware M11x laptop, a video camera, and a set of camping equipment, four lucky participants will blog their way across borders and time zones, completing challenges before going up against each other in a weekly public vote, hosted on the official Alienware Backpacking Challenge website. The winner will walk away with 3,500 Euros and an Alienware M11x laptop, whilst the other contenders will have to make do with an M11x and the experience of their lifetimes.
In its second year, the Alienware Backpacking Challenge will start in London on July 22nd 2011 and will end at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany on August 24th 2011. It will feature an adventure-packed, five-week campaign across Europe where you get to decide where you want to go and what you want to do. Supplied with a limited budget, you will have to complete challenges to gather more resources for your epic trip across Europe. During your travels you will have to blog, vlog, tweet and update your friends and followers via Facebook to gather votes.
Are you a good blogger and up for an adventure? Are you 18 or older, an English-speaking European resident, and want a shot at fame and 3,500 Euros? Are you fully available from July 22nd until August 24th 2011? Then sign up now using the application form and fire it over to apply@alienwarechallenge.com . You have until June 30th 2011 to apply.
Keep Calm and Frag On.