Words Worth Knowing: Alienware
Words Worth Knowing was a vertical I wrote weekly explaining key pieces of gaming jargon to parents, guardians and teachers, as part of the larger overall GameHub outreach effort. The column ran for nearly two years and resulted in around 60 WWK articles. GameHubHQ.com closed in late 2017. This piece originally appeared on April 18, 2016.
What It Is: Alienware = A brand of high-end gaming computers.
What It Means: Owned by Intel, Alienware manufacture high-performance laptop and desktop computers for PC gaming.
Why You Care: When I was showing at Norwich Gaming Festival at the beginning of the month, there were a notable number of kids and teenagers taking a very keen interest in my laptop, much to the bafflement of their parents and guardians. The Alienware badge is very recognisable to people who are interested in that kind of thing, but without that knowledge, it just looks like a laptop - though admittedly quite a big one with far more LED lights than are strictly speaking necessary. Although I did feel a bit sorry for the young man who declared "now, this is a real gamer's computer" and then looked slightly crestfallen when he saw me sauntering over to claim it! Alienware is of course just one brand among many, but as I got so many questions about the PC whilst I was on the road with it, I thought it would make a good brief topic for a Monday night Words Worth Knowing.
