Community Another Piece of Hardware to make World of Warcraft Addicts Jump
By jalexbrown —
January 28, 2011
Tags:
netbooks
razer
switchblade
world-of-warcraft
As if people playing World of Warcraft didn't already waste a lot of time...now there's a new way!
You know World of Warcraft...the one game that everyone's playing, the one that enabled Blizzard to buy a sixteenth yacht? Did you ever think that the World of Warcraft addicts needed yet another way to spend more time getting their fix? If so, I have some news for you!
Razer, the company that has created a few other World of Warcraft themed PC peripherals (at a ridiculous price point), announced earlier this month that they're prototyping a new gamer-themed netbook called the Switchblade. The Switchblade's specs are unknown, but Razer did show off a dynamic keyboard that is quite interesting; essentially every key is a tiny touch screen, and games will include templates that will give the keys a custom look for different games. If you're playing World of Warcraft, for instance, your keyboard keys will actually show the spell icon to which it's binded. If that's not a cool idea, I don't know what it is - and if it sounds expensive, I'm guessing you're going to be right.
Although the Razer seems the perfect gift idea for any World of Warcraft player, it's not just a World of Warcraft machine; it's a full-fledged gaming laptop in a netbook form factor. Since the specs aren't revealed, we're yet to be able to conclude if the Switchblade will really be able to compete with true gaming laptops such as the Acer Republic of Gamer series (unlikely, but hey, anything's possible).
For more information, check out this video (which includes interviews with a couple people):
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What do you think? If you're a World of Warcraft player, will you be buying this? Have you bought any of Razer's other (overpriced) peripherals? And most importantly, does the Switchblade have the potential to create a whole new segment specifically for gamers within the netbook market?