Company Updates

Ich Bin Ein Gamer! Dell & Alienware Back in Germany for Gamescom

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With some of the most beautiful architecture in Europe – as well as some of the best beer – there’s always a good reason to visit Germany. One of those reasons is the annual convention Gamescom, a gamer’s paradise with close to 900 exhibitors and more than 345,000 attendees anxiously awaiting the latest PC gaming hardware, software and other innovations.

People walking past a sign for gamescom 2016
Photo: Koelnmesse / Impressionen von der gamescom 2016

This year we are showcasing our full gaming lineup including Alienware and Dell Inspiron Gaming PCs as well as new products like the Alienware mice, keyboards and monitors for the first time in Europe and introducing some exciting new products, partnerships and innovations.

So what’s new? Well, starting today, gamers worldwide can now order the new Alienware Area 51 with Intel’s Core X-Series with multi-core processors for megatasking like streaming and gaming at the same time. We are also partnering with Microsoft as the PC Gaming hardware partner on their new game Forza Motorsport 7 and continuing our partnership with Tobii to enhance the way fans watch and experience their favorite esports tournaments online.

You can check out all of these exciting new PC gaming innovations in our stand B011 in hall 6 as well as live gameplay, virtual reality demos and other gaming competitions.

The exclusive Tobii eye-tracking demonstration, uniting industry innovators, Alienware and Tobii, will show off Player Gaze Trace that provides an additional layer of visual feedback, giving players and viewers new ways to interact with their games. This is the same eye-tracking technology that enables people with physical disabilities to live more independently and is now transforming our work in esports.

On the topic of eye-tracking, we encourage everyone to tune in to the ELEAGUE CS:GO Premier 2017 to see esports production reach new heights with new eye-tracking technology prepared for tournament integration by Tobii, Alienware and ELEAGUE. Kicking off with a preview show on September 1 on YouTube, Twitch and TBS, and with live matches beginning September 8, the eye-tracking technology will offer casters and viewers, for the first time, the ability to visualize the gaze of key pros during match highlights and analysis. We believe this technology will bring an exciting new layer of insight to the competition and ultimately, enhance the viewing experience for the fans.

In our booth we will also have esports teams, Team Dignitas and Team Liquid meeting fans, live from 5-7 p.m. on August 23. You can also participate in our fastest lap-time competition (did I mention there will be great prizes?) in a sneak peek of Forza Motorsport 7, Microsoft’s AAA racing game which launches October 3 with Dell as their PC Gaming hardware partner to promote Forza Motorsport 7 on all industry leading Alienware and Inspiron Gaming systems.

Along with other competitions and demos (Fortnite Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, etc.) there will be livestream activations hosted by Kunga, one of Germany’s top YouTube stars, and daily shows with our own in-house celebrity gamers on Alienware.TV.

illustration of cars on a race track from Forza Motorsport 7 game

If you’re lucky enough to attend the conference, here is a look at the products you’ll get to check out at our booth:

Area-51 with Intel’s Core X-series Processors or the new AMD Ryzen Threadripper Edition

Do you live stream? If so these are the units for you! These rigs are for diehard gaming enthusiasts, mega-tasking game streamers and content creators that demand the absolute best performance. Today we are officially launching the new Alienware Area-51 with Intel® Core™ X-series processors, which are geared to deliver the best experiences for serious gamers, streamers, developers and programmers alike including 4K and VR. All processors are fully unlocked for performance tuning, with up to 10 cores & 20 threads. Alienware’s tool-free, dual-graphics desktop features whisper-quiet operation so you can game all night long without waking up the entire house. Available now: $1699/€1999.

We also have the Area-51: Threadripper Edition, which we are the only OEM to offer, featuring Alienware’s first 16-core processor desktop and supports up to 1125W dedicated to graphics to design and conquer the competition.  More highlights of this system were shared here last month. Available now: $2999/€2 769.

Alienware Peripherals (monitor, mice and keyboards)

For more than 20 years, we’ve been dedicated to listening to our community and as our fans have asked, we have delivered branded monitors and peripherals to offer a complete PC gaming hardware experience and we are showing them for the first time in Germany this week. The Alienware 25” gaming monitor, with either NVIDIA G-SYNC (AW2518H) or AMD FreeSync,(AW2518HF), offers premium Alienware design with fast refresh rates and signature AlienFX™ lighting for greater game immersion. Available now: $499-699/€418-608.

In many competitive games, I’ve lost because of a single key stroke, and the new highly configured Alienware Advanced Gaming Keyboard and Pro Gaming Keyboard deliver more victories with mechanical switches that deliver precise, responsive and consistent keystrokes. Available now: Advanced $89.99/€99, Pro $119.99/€139.

If you want to get the upper hand in your next FPS or RPG game, Alienware’s new new Advanced Gaming Mouse and highly configurable Elite Gaming Mouse will provide precision and control for those intense battles. You’ll find that they’re ergonomically designed for comfort, featuring AlienFX™ lighting to personalize your experience, and outfitted with nine unique buttons for in-game customization for the Advanced Gaming Mouse and up to 13 programmable buttons for the Elite Gaming Mouse, perfect for MMOs like World of Warcraft. Available now: Advanced $49.99/€52, Elite $89.99/€105.

Make sure to keep abreast of all the news coming out of Gamescom! Sign up and become a member of Alienware Arena. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Alienware and engage in the conversation using #Gamescom2017. You can also join us on Alienware.tv, or sign on and watch our Twitch stream for the latest updates and information.

About the Author: Frank Azor

Frank Azor, an Alienware co-founder, now oversees XPS, Dell’s premium consumer brand and Dell gaming, which includes Alienware and Inspiron Gaming. Celebrating 20 years as the leader in PC gaming systems, Alienware sets the standard for premium gaming PCs and innovation, and Inspiron Gaming provides high performance gaming systems at an affordable cost that give gamers a competitive advantage at every level of play. Under his leadership, Dell’s XPS brand has risen to the top in innovation, design and performance, while becoming the most-award winning product-line in Dell history. Frank joined Alienware as a quality engineer and later held executive roles in sales and marketing before creating the Alienware Product Group organization in 2003-after helping to pioneer the industry’s first high-performance gaming notebook, the Area-51M. Later that year, he was credited with the successful launch of Alienware’s first self-designed desktop case (Predator) which immediately made industry headlines and has defined the look of Alienware’s products ever since. Prior to Dell’s acquisition of Alienware in 2006, Frank held the positions of Senior Vice-President of Product Group and Marketing and Executive Vice-President managing the global executive leadership team and reporting directly to the President and CEO. Shortly after helping lead Alienware’s successful integration into Dell, Frank assumed the role of worldwide general manager for the Alienware business unit. Under Frank’s leadership, Alienware’s brand has become the worldwide leader in its industry and has earned hundreds of awards for its products including multiple best of CES product awards. As of 2017, Frank holds 16 patents granted under his name and has been named a milestone inventor by Dell. In 2014, Frank’s role was expanded to include global responsibility for Dell’s XPS business unit, one of the company’s most innovative and valued brands. Since assuming responsibility for the XPS business unit for Dell, Frank instituted a new product and business strategy that led to the successful introduction of the highly acclaimed XPS 13 notebook which has won more than 300 awards since its introduction at CES 2015 and has been deemed the best notebook on the market from numerous outlets including Forbes, Wall Street Journal and CNET. On top of the product accomplishments, Frank’s leadership has reinstated rapid growth for Dell’s XPS business. In 2017, Frank assumed responsibility for launching and managing Dell’s Inspiron Gaming line of powerful yet budget friendly gaming PCs. Inspiron Gaming systems have quickly become a favorite among players and reviewers desiring top graphics performance under $1000 USD. The systems have received many awards including a Computex d&i Gold winner and several Best Gaming PCs of CES awards. Frank sits on the advisory board for Miami Dade College’s MAGIC program where he has led the creation of a Dell-backed scholarship fund to help both high school and college students learn skills and earn degrees in computer graphics design, animation and game development. Frank has also served as a volunteer judge for the FIRST robotics south Florida regional competition since 2013 (www.usfirst.org) an organization founded by Dean Kamen that has provided students with more than $50 million in college scholarships in 2017 alone. Frank lives in Palmetto Bay, FL USA near Alienware’s headquarters with his wife, their 2 sons and their pet dachshund. Frank is currently playing Overwatch with his oldest son who is also an avid Minecraft player. Frank’s most anticipated games for 2017 exist in Virtual Reality where Frank has been immersed for years – and of course – powered by award-winning VR-ready PCs from Alienware and XPS.