We’re proud to have Razer as the first sponsor of the New York Videogame Critics Circle Awards. (The 2nd Annual Awards Ceremony takes place tomorrow at NYU-Poly in Brooklyn, and there are still a few free ticket left.) Razer saw the benefit of working with us on an Awards event where game companies and fans from around the world will converge to fete the best videogames of 2012. And I’m thrilled they did.
Last year, I enjoyed the process of reviewing the Razer Blade 2 and a plethora of games on this gaming laptop, everything from Diablo III to The Walking Dead. I generally quite liked the feel and design of Blade 2. In fact, it was one of the few pieces of technology received last year for review that I didn’t want to return – because playing on it was such an easy, painless experience. Of course, all good things come to an end, and the Blade is now back at its home in California.
I thought it would be useful to those who are perhaps looking for new technology to replace their old machines to look at what some of our members have written about the latest Blade.
Scott Stein at CNET gave it three and a half stars, which is ‘very good’ by the company’s high standards. Yet he thought the laptop was “very expensive.”
Ben Gilbert at Engadget thought that the 6.6. pound laptop game computer “ is just as sleek as its first try, and even more powerful.” But he, too, thought it was “too expensive.”
Both Scott and Ben, each fine writers, made salient points. But I liken the purchase of an elite gaming laptop for a true game aficionado to the purchase of high-end speakers for an ardent audiophile. It may be difficult to save up for the lauded prize. Yet if you’re serious and practical, you’ll find a way to cut corners in your weekly budget so you can game with the best of them.
Razer’s tag line is “By Gamers. For Gamers.” To me, what that means isn’t that the company rests on its laurels. It means it continues to create, refine and innovate. (If you don’t do that when it comes to technology, you simply won’t survive.)
Soon, we’ll get time with Razer’s new gaming tablet, The Edge, which has a unique yet somehow familiar look. It sports console-like controllers attached to the left and right of the tablet itself. Below you’ll find an interview by our pal Adam Sessler regarding The Edge. Razer’s running a contest in which they’re giving away the “first table designed for PC gamers.” You may win. You may not. But give it a try. As they say, you have to be in it to win it.
–Harold Goldberg, Founder and Editor-in-Chief