CES 2023 – A controller dedicated to Alienware’s Concept Nyx cloud-gaming system

Cloud-gaming is still having a little trouble establishing itself, as evidenced by the announcement of the shutdown of Stadia by Google, which is due to take effect on January 18. However, some market players still believe in this technology, but in a slightly different guise. This is the case of Alienware, the department gaming the Dell juggernaut, which presented its Concept Nyx at CES 2022; as with Stadia or Shadow, the idea is to be able to launch your game remotely, on any screen in the house, without necessarily having a console or PC connected directly to it. But, unlike these two examples, the server is not remote and is therefore in the household; thus we speak of local cloud-gaming. In order to simplify the experience as much as possible, the manufacturer has just unveiled a wifi-connected controller (to be able to be used at a great distance from the Concept Nyx server) and entirely dedicated to this service at CES 2023.

Of course, at the moment this is mainly a concept, and it is likely that the design and features of the finished product will differ somewhat from what was shown at the show. Fairly classic, it houses, in addition to many colored LEDs and other RGB frills worthy of the most gamers PCs, two analog sticks and what Dell calls an Omnipad where you usually find a direction cross. The role of this Omnipad is not yet very clear. Is it precisely a direction cross? A tactile surface? Both of them ? New information should leak out very quickly, which we will be sure to share. On top of the controller, the four traditional buttons that fall under the right thumb are part of it. Four other keys, no doubt related to menu navigation and other functions (including microphone mute), are provided.

The Concept Nyx controller (whose official name is not yet known) also accommodates four triggers, including an adaptive pair, the one below of course, as is already the case on the PlayStation DualSense pads. Another similarity (apart from a USB-C socket for recharging according to the visuals), Dell promises haptic functions to immerse the users a little more. gamers in the game, by simulating the resistance of a brake pedal or the tension of a bowstring. To further extend the possibilities, a pair of paddles finds its place under the controller. Original feature of the Concept Nyx controller, it has two scroll wheels, placed vertically on the edge of the pad, in front of the analog sticks, which should facilitate the change of weapon or the zoom of a sniper rifle, for example . Finally, note that the alien head on the pad, Alienware’s emblem, is in fact a fingerprint sensor: a real plus to avoid having to enter identifiers all the time.

We don’t know much more about the Concept Nyx controller, and in particular about its compatibility. Can we use it on PC? On Mac? On an Xbox or a PlayStation? Other unknowns of size, its price as well as its date of marketing.