This time final yr, Alienware and mother or father firm Dell debuted an idea known as Nyx, which served as a large gaming server in your residence, letting you play PC video games on nearly any display screen. This yr, at CES 2023, Alienware is pushing the imaginative and prescient additional with a brand new wi-fi controller that the corporate says will make PC video games way more accessible out of your sofa.
It is a notable change. Final yr, Alienware confirmed off Nyx with a controller constructed off of its Idea UFO handheld, which we have not seen since 2020. This yr, the controller is new and jam-packed filled with tech to make it customizable.
The entrance seems to be like a mashup of the Steam Controller and the PlayStation 5’s DualSense. The thumbsticks are on the underside, in traditional PlayStation place, whereas a touchpad is the place a standard directional pad could be situated. There are normal A,B, X and Y buttons, in addition to left and proper bumpers and triggers. An Alienware head brand within the middle is a fingerprint reader.
In concept, you may use the controller to log in to particular video games or solely load your library, not a member of the family or roommate’s. The again of the controller has two “shift” buttons, which may very well be used to remap all the buttons on the entrance, offering tons of potential inputs. (I’d be curious to see if Alienware is contemplating a model with a number of again paddles, like a number of “Professional” controllers on the market.)
Sadly, whereas elements of the demo have been down throughout our time with the controller, we nonetheless bought to attempt a few of its different extra fascinating options. For instance, there are some superior haptics, which jogged my memory of the Nintendo Change Pleasure-Cons and PS5 DualSense, in addition to adaptive triggers, like on the PS5 controller.
However there are extra methods, just like the “self-adjusting variable resistance thumb sticks,” which you’ll be able to tighten utilizing an inner motor. The controller additionally has a pair of scroll wheels on the underside, which could assist navigate via lengthy menus. And all of those options might probably work with Nyx’s skill to split-screen purposes.
And naturally, there is a ton of RGB, together with a lightweight on the underside, in addition to behind the buttons and Alienware brand. Hopefully you possibly can flip that off to protect battery life. The entire thing fees over USB Kind-C.
I discovered the ergonomics, particularly some flat edges alongside the underside, to be a bit a bit odd to carry, although some colleagues discovered it extra comfy than I did. I additionally discovered the bumpers to be a bit sticky. That will all be irrelevant, as Alienware factors out in a weblog submit, “this can be a idea, not a product.” It is unclear if this controller — or your complete Nyx server idea, will ever come to gentle.
Alienware’s mother or father firm, Dell, can be introducing new concepts for utilizing Nyx within the workplace, together with the opportunity of purposes being shared on desktop PCs with 3D cameras, whiteboards and VR headsets, although that demo was down throughout our tour of the corporate’s press house.
As with Dell’s Idea Luna, a repairable laptop computer that may be recycled or repaired by robots, which additionally confirmed twice, Alienware appears to be taking its time with Nyx. We’ll see in the long term if it ever turns into one thing you possibly can have in your house.