Interview with Claudina Lopez, Alienware Marketing Manager, on AlienFX

A brief interview with Claudina Lopez of Alienware at the Alienware Arena at PAX East Friday morning.

Friday morning at PAX East started out with a visit to the Alienware Arena.  The area looked, almost, like an MMA cage fighting arena.  The area featured Alienware products as well as various games, including Dungeon Seige III, Guild Wars 2, League of Legends and Need for Speed2.

I got to sit down with Claudina Lopez, marketing manager, who works with game publisher relationships.  She has been with Alienware for 8 years and answered a few questions regarding the Alienware SDK equipment they were showing at PAX East.  She was accompanied by John Blain from Dell.

While we talked I got to see games in action with AlienFX running, including League of Legends and Dungeon Siege, as well as play Guild Wars 2 for a little bit while I was at the arena.  However, I knew nothing about AlienFX and she was willing to talk to me about it.

Kayhynn:  Tell me a bit about what you guys are showing here with all the various games.

Claudina:  All the different games at these events is to show their content as much as possible.  So with games like  Dungeon Seiege II, Guild Wars II, Dark Spore, etc. we are showing content that hasn't been released to the public yet.  Most of these have closed beta programs right now, but not many have access to it.  We want to bring the latest unreleased content to the community so they can try it out and see what gameplay they like.

We have different genres.  We have shooters, MMOs, you can find RPGs.  Anytime of game you like depending on your game style and game tastes.

We're also showing some games that have certain technology implemented .  So some of these games, such as Need for Speed 2 and Dungeon Seige III,  have AlienFX enabled.  So with certain instances in the game, the colors of our lighting zones change.  Our keyboards light up, the mouses light up.  For instance, in Dungeon Seige III, when you are at full health, the backlight of the keyboard or mouse is green, but as you loose health, it turns yellow and when you hit red...well basically you've died.

So we're working closely with developers to implement these AlieneEffects SDK in the games so their customers can experience a different gaming experience, a more imersive experience.

Kayhynn: Are you expanding to other games such as World of Warcraft or other MMOs and such?

Claudina: So we pitch to everyone.  Right now, we've seen a lot of attraction from developers who are a bit more independent, such as League of Legends with Riot Games.  They did the implementation with AlienFX SDK.

We have pitched to larger developers, we are just waiting to hear back from them to see if this is something they can implement in their games.

Kayhynn:  How long has AlienFX SDK been in development?

Claudina: So we have had the AlienFX SDK for three years now.  But actively, last year, we started putting it out more and more.  Last year, we saw 12 titles launch with AlienFX SDK enabled.

Kayhynn:  How much does a typical keyboard, mouse or laptop run with AlienFX installed?

Claudina: A typical keyboard  or mouse with AlienFX SDK enabled sells for $100 each.  Laptops start at $799.  We have every single product line supports AlienFX, it just depends on your needs and budget.

Kayhynn:  What made you go with the back-lighting of the keyboards and mouse in connection to life bars?

Claudina: We wanted to bring different experiences for the Alienware Customer. If a gamer was in a dark room, they should still be able to play.  So we illuminated certain areas.  For example, in our desktop chassis design, when you pull off the panel, to find your USB ports, you have a light in there too – an LED light that makes it easy for you to find your ports and keys as well. So that was the thought behind it and since we had that implemented, we asked, why not use this technology to make for a more immersive gaming environment?  Which is exactly what we did.

Kayhynn:  Anything new that you can talk about?

Claudina: Not really, no.  We can't talk about any of that.

Kayhynn:  Can't blame me for trying right?  What games, of the ones showing here on the event floor, is your favorite?

Claudina: My favorite has to be...um...that puts me in a bind right?   I'm more of a shooter girl, we'll leave it at that.

I would like to thank John and Claudina for sitting down and showing me their new equipment as well as the games being demoed at their arena at PAX East.