Not many would remember this, but back in the mid-2000s Acer had a crazy gaming desktop called the Predator. About a decade later, the Predator is back – and instead of just a gaming desktop, Acer’s introducing an entire lineup of high-end gaming products.
Last year’s V15 Nitro Black Edition was surprisingly good from a company that isn’t known for making gaming laptops. So it is perhaps even more surprising that Acer has eventually decided to jump full-on into the high-end gaming industry, and in bombastic, all guns blazing fashion.
That’s because Acer’s Predator gaming series isn’t just about making insane gaming PCs or laptops, it appears Acer is thoroughly serious in eSports as well.
Recently, the company has begun sponsoring major eSports events in Europe, where it holds a strong following among casual gamers; the V Nitro was apparently Germany’s top-selling gaming laptop last year.
At the launch today, Acer is showing that it too is becoming a company that’s passionate about its products. As a company that we’re more familiar for making affordable devices, Acer is looking to rip that reputation to shreds with the Predator series.
For starters, every one of the Predator products shown today will only be available from Q3 this year. Just like every gaming machine, these products are aggressively designed, with huge grilles, red accents and what Acer promises to be the best hardware in the market when these products are released.
What’s just as interesting are in the products themselves. Acer calls it a “complete gaming lineup”, and you really can’t argue with that: there’s a Predator Desktop, 15- and 17-inch Predator Notebooks, a 35-inch Curved 21:9 NVIDIA G-Sync gaming monitor called the Z35, and…the Predator Tablet.
We weren’t allowed to touch any of the devices on display, since they don’t actually work yet. But a quick look at the Predator Notebook does show some interesting things. For instance, the 17-inch version packs a fingerprint sensor as well as six customisable macro buttons. Both these laptops also feature a USB Type-C port, in addition to a host of other connectivity ports.
The Predator Tablet, on the other hand, is a compact Android-based gaming tablet. Four speakers on each corner as well as haptic feedback promise an unrivalled mobile gaming experience.
Each of the products in the Predator series will appear in the second half of the year. The Desktop and Tablet will arrive in Q3, while the Notebook will come in Q4. Acer’s President of Pan Asia Pacific Regional Operations, Oliver Ahrens, has confirmed that the Predator series will be coming to Malaysia, but at an unspecified date.
He also confirmed that the Aspire V and V Nitro line will continue, with refreshed models to come to Malaysia soon. Ahrens believes that the introduction of the Predator series will eventually drive up sales of these more affordable casual gaming devices, as the cutting-edge Predator series will introduce a level of trust in Acer’s other gaming products.
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