Alienware’s Concept UFO Prototype Is A Gaming PC In Nintendo Switch Form & It Is Out Of This World

Is this the future of gaming?

We’re living in strange times. The landscape of technology is changing and a lot of the gadgets we see now are becoming contraptions that can change into various shapes and forms. That’s the era of personal computing for you. From 2-in-1 laptops that turn into tablets to phones that fold out into tablets, it seems to be the trend that gadgets these days have more than one form factor.

The Nintendo Switch is an example of what a smashing success these gadgets can be. At CES 2020, Dell took the concept of the Switch one step further with its new Alienware Concept UFO Prototype. When you think Alienware, you think of chunky gaming laptops, because that’s what Alienware is famed for, but they’re taking things to the next level with a portable PC that comes in the form of a large 8-inch screen and removable gamepads and have we mentioned that you can also dock it to a TV? Madness.

The 8-inch screen houses the 1200p display, the battery, and all the processing and graphic firepower of a typical computer. Add to that the two controllers, which attach through a magnetic rail system and you have yourself a Nintendo Switch but better. You can even connect both the controllers to form a bigger single controller, similar to the Switch.

The Concept UFO also comes with USB-C ports on the top and bottom, which you can use to either charge the device or connect it to an external monitor. Seeing as the device runs on Windows 10, you should also be able to use these ports to connect a mouse and keyboard and use it as a normal PC.

While the whole thing may weigh just under 1kg, which is more than 3 times what the Switch weighs, the fact that the underlying software is Windows gives it a massive advantage over the Switch. This is because the Concept UFO is essentially a truly portable gaming PC, meaning that it should offer the same library of games that a regular gaming laptop or computer could.

But lets not get ahead of ourselves here. The Concept UFO is still a prototype and Dell were tight lipped on the specs and what kind of hardware it would be packing. Will it be able to run triple A caliber games? Or is it confined to just the titles that demand less processing power? What about its battery life? Will it overheat?

There are obviously a lot of unanswered questions about it at the moment and at this point, that’s fine because the Concept UFO is still a prototype. Heck, Dell might not even turn Concept UFO into an actual product. Regardless, it’s an exciting concept that could hint at what the future of gaming will be.

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