Alienware Could Consider Building a Gaming Tablet

Razer’s Project Fiona might not be the only gaming tablet in the works, since Alienware is also considering branching off in the same direction by delivering a slate designed from the ground up to satisfy gamers.

Alienware is still not convinced about the success of such a tablet, but the idea came up a couple of times during its internal discussions.

“We have discussed it [tablets] a couple of times. There are issues and limitations that make it difficult to see that would appeal to our core audience right now,” said Eoin Leyden, product manager at Alienware, during a meeting with Pocket Lint.

According to Leyden, even though the touch interface used in tablets makes a lot of sense for Web surfing and playing casual games such as Angry Birds, this sort of control mechanism isn’t suited for more advanced games.

"The issue is the input mechanism and how the game uses the mechanisms and turns them into in-game actions."

Alienware’s product manager seems to be certain that these problems can be surpassed, but they require alternative ways to play a game, since Razer's bolt-on controllers don’t seem to be a convincing option according to Leyden.

"At some point in the future tablets could have eye tracking in there, so you could control your character that way."

The good news however is that, from a performance standpoint, tablets are almost capable of delivering a convincing gaming experience thanks to the release of ever more powerful chipsets with better graphics and higher processing power.

"From a performance point of view tablets are on an accelerated curve,” but ”they aren't quite there yet,” said Leyden.

Alienware’s rep hasn’t mentioned when he thinks gaming tablets will become a reality. However, if Razer’s Project Fiona turns out to be a success, we wouldn’t be surprised to see Alienware jump on board with a gaming slate of its own.