Could Acer be moving into the games hardware market?

Could Acer be moving into the games hardware market?

Acer is apparently looking to enter the games market. Yeah, we know - it surprised us too and it seems that FutureMark isn't the only PC-centric company looking to get into the games market at the moment.

According to German games website Gamestar though (via Kotaku), Acer is looking not to develop its own computer games, but to develop new games hardware.

The company's senior vice president, James T. Wong, told the site that the the closed, proprietary nature of consoles was the major inspiration for the decision to enter the console market.

Wong then revealed that Acer is planning to develop an open-standard, PC-based "games machine."

There isn't much more to tell at the moment, so file this under unconfirmed for now and feel free to take the news with a healthy pinch of salt - but rest assured that we'll keep you filled in as we find out more.

Until then though, you'll have to discuss it in the forums.
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Quote ssj12 17th March 2008, 12:21
Unless Microsoft or Sony leave the console race next-gen, Acer has zero chance of succeeding with this project.

btw spelling mistake

Acer is looking not to develop it's own computer gamers.
Quote Flibblebot 17th March 2008, 12:22
So they're going for the gaming equivalent of a MCE box? A single-use PC, but aimed towards gaming rather than TV and media?

Don't think it'll work. For a start, I can't see Microsoft being overly happy with whatever they do. If it's going to play PC games, it won't have the "insert disc and play" convenience of a proper console. If it's going to play dedicated Acer-sole games, I think they'd have a very hard time going up against the big three.
Quote Orlix 17th March 2008, 12:26
Would be nice if it were a play all console games console... People would really buy it then :)
Quote DXR_13KE 17th March 2008, 12:42
i will take it with a bag of salt....
Quote Redbeaver 17th March 2008, 12:45
any competition is healthy for the market. may not be for the provider, but no negative impact to user to the least.
Quote TreeDude 17th March 2008, 13:32
This has been tried before. Does Acer really think they can make it work? They make terrible products as it is.
Quote naokaji 17th March 2008, 13:54
Problem number one: Acer's reputation among Gamers.
Problem number two: What will it be? a Pc? (insane amount of competition there) or a console? (then they would need their own games which would take a long time).
Porblem number three: what gamer would buy a Acer product?
Quote 500mph 17th March 2008, 15:46
Well, will it be an upgradeable console, strictly for gaming?
I can see this working for about 2 minutes.
Quote rjkoneill 17th March 2008, 16:09
Wong then revealed that Acer is planning to develop an open-standard, PC-based "games machine."

this is just plain WONG!
Quote Kipman725 17th March 2008, 16:55
Quote:
Wong then revealed that Acer is planning to develop an open-standard, PC-based "games machine."
erm like a pc then?
Quote p3n 17th March 2008, 17:52
What ever happened to that phantom thing
Quote sotu1 17th March 2008, 18:01
can't see this going very far. tbh, the build quality of acer products has never impressed me, and i can't see them being able to pull together a games machine capable of doing the job either.
Quote sotu1 17th March 2008, 18:02
"Problem number three: what gamer would buy a Acer product? "

Bloody good point!
Quote Cupboard 17th March 2008, 18:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by sotu1
can't see this going very far. tbh, the build quality of acer products has never impressed me, and i can't see them being able to pull together a games machine capable of doing the job either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sotu1
"Problem number three: what gamer would buy a Acer product? "

Bloody good point!

It is unusual for me to say this, but I ahve actually been very impressed with my Acer laptop (it is the one in the picture I think). It is 3.5 years old, and can still play CoD4. It has been used heavily, and has lots of scratches and dents, but it still works. I think it must be the only good computer Acer have ever produced but I don't care. It has served me well.

It is nice to see them trying something a bit different here. At least, I hope it will be a bit different
Quote The_Beast 17th March 2008, 18:37
This is going to work as well as the Titanic(after it hit the iceberg)
Quote Edenalig 17th March 2008, 19:05
Ill second the good acer laptops, mine has been going strong for a good 3 years + now without problem. Their CS is a bit dodgey tho :p
Quote Tyinsar 17th March 2008, 19:52
Quote:
Originally Posted by Article
Wong then revealed that Acer is planning to develop an open-standard, PC-based "games machine."
Windows is not specifically mentioned so it could run on Linux variant. That might be interesting.

The problem I see is with the hardware. They have to make it low cost enough at the start but powerful enough to not be quickly outdated - that's a tall order and why consoles typically sell below cost when new. I suspect that won't be so easy to do with an "open-standard, PC-based" machine.
Quote Mentai 17th March 2008, 21:16
If they could get it to sell below cost when new from some kinda of funding from game sales then it would be successful. A lot of people would buy it if it were the best deal for PC gaming on the market. However the chance that existing game developers would want to do such a thing is virtually nil, so I don't see this being successful.
However, wouldn't that be a good idea for the PC Gaming Alliance? I mean there you have members from every aspect of the industry. If they all pulled together and made a standard for PC Gaming sold below cost surely it would benefit them in the long run? It would at least equalize PC with consoles a lot more.
Basically no one company can pull this off, least of all Acer imo.
Quote Flibblebot 17th March 2008, 22:52
I don't think it'll happen.

The only reason Sony and Microsoft were able to enter the market (remember both Sony & MS entered what were, at their respective times, considered mature markets closed to newcomers) is that they were able to rely on their parent companies so soak up the massive losses involved in developing & selling a new console.

Acer doesn't have that luxury.
Quote Bladestorm 18th March 2008, 00:59
Producing a reasonably good value for money PC intended for gaming, with a standard spec and actually selling some, might go down well with game developers, since one of the cited problems with creating games for the PC is lack of a real hardware standard they can develop and tweak for as they can with the consoles.
Quote Burnout21 15th April 2008, 08:47
i happen to like Acer products, yes build quality is a little weak and some plastic parts seem flimsy, however bang for buck as to say there pretty good! i bought a laptop 2 years ago possible 3 years now come to think (aspire 1690) got it with the new Dothan and a ATI X700 64Mb with 512Mb of memory and a 15.4in screen, the specs on paper destroyed more expensive Dells, toshiba's, IBM's and HP's. it was sent in for repair as the screen developed a problem, (strange funny lines) however since then its been a good little work horse and still runs excellent! not to mention i am sat behide one of there top of the range 24in TFT's (DVI, HDMI, etc)

i do like the idea of them doing this, but theres such a hardcore fan base for the xbox, PS3 and wii that acer will no doubt fail badly, can anyone say 'dreamcast..' if i was them strip down a lappy use MXM graphics cards, so its upgradable, team it with a custom stripped down version of vista (DX10), so when a disc is inserted it uses alcohol 120% sort of thing to save the disc to the HDD, and can then be played at any time.

the reason i like the idea, and now actually build my own version of this idea is the fact that like many i imagin we have a main computer which is used for everything, mine is manly work and surfing the net, and gaming is becoming more and more console based again as the invention of such things like xbox live has moved alot of net based multiplayer games from PC to consoles.

i am not saying PC gaming is dead, and it will never die, tbh i perfer to invest my money in a PC that can do everything for donkeys years rather than a small plastic box that plays games, sits under your tv and then for no reason at all dies (red light of death) and becomes out of date 2 years down the line.
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