World of Warcraft players are an obsessive bunch. I’ve never attempted to play MMORPGs precisely because of what I’ve been hearing about WOW obsessives who take the game so seriously to the detriment of their social and family lives.

Well, blame Dell for fueling the WOW bloodlust of its nine million players by announcing the release of laptop systems that are specifically geared towards World of Warcraft fans.

This genius in merchandising comes in the form of Dell’s very cool XPS M1730 chassis that has a very formidable spec sheet:

* Intel Core 2 Extreme X7900 CPU at 2.8GHz
* 2GB dual channel DDR-667 memory
* 2 x 200GB hard drives, set up as a 400GB RAID 0 array
* 2 x Nvidia 8700M GT GPUs in SLI configuration (each with 512MB of video memory)
* AGEIA PhysX 100M physics processor
* Integrated HD audio with Creative Labs Audigy software stack
* Intel 802.11 a/g/n wireless networking plus integrated gigabit Ethernet for wired connections
* Windows Vista Ultimate Edition preinstalled

But what makes this a truly WOW product is not the specs but the sundry items that Dell has put into the system. First, it will come in customized World of Warcraft box. You can then customize the laptop based on your WOW preference — the Alliance or the Horde. The laptops will ship with customized wallpapers, too. But the merchandising does not end there. the box will also come with the following:

* World of Warcraft & Burning Crusade, in retail boxes
* Strategy guides
* A “making of WoW” DVD
* Fantasy novels set in the World of Warcraft universe
* WoW soundtrack

And not only that you get to receive a beta key card with five keys that can be used for upcoming betas of WOW. Now that is one impressive package. Now, if only I have $4,499 to spare.

I love playing games using a gaming laptop. A laptop frees you and allows you to move anywhere in your house (or ANYWHERE, for that matter) to play your favorite games. Heck, I’ve even tried playing games while in the toilet! A gaming laptop transforms your whole house into an instant gaming room. Of course, if you are the type who loves playing games online then a gaming laptop will not be enough. You will also need a reliable WiFi and WLAN connection, one that has practically no lag and stable connections. These requirements have resulted in the development of a family of products called gaming routers that are optimized for the demanding conditions that gamers need.

D-Link recently released a new gaming router that offers a number of really cool features. The D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router can operate at the draft 802.11n standard (which makes it somewhat futureproof) and also possesses GameFuel technology as well as a nifty little OLED screen.

The new router boasts of having a quality-of-service technology. This means that the router will automatically give priority to gaming related traffic. It is also optimized for the gaming requirements not only for PC games but also for the Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles. The OLED screen is quite useful because it gives users a quick view of network statistics, the devices that are connected to the router as well as other important information.

The  D-Link Xtreme N Gaming Router (model number DGL-4500) will sell for a $239.99.

MSI Computers is one of the most popular IDMs in Taiwan. In  fact, it is so success that the company even decided to expand by entering the market for branded computers itself. MSI, as a brand, has become quite popular and has also built a reputation for quality products at very competitive prices.

A few days ago, MSI announced the arrival of the GX600 gaming notebook.  This new gizmo offers a very unique feature, the ability to overclock by just a touch. The 6.16 pound notebook will come in two “flavors”. One of them will have a cool flame graphic design while the other will have a more “traditional” look.

The one touch overclocking actually serves like the old “turbo button” of computers years and years ago.  A simple press of the button and the speed of the CPU improves by as much as 20 per cent. Cool isn’t it? Actually this feature can also be done through a mere software tweak but a hardware button makes it look very cool.

Say what you will about Sony and the Playstation 3 — high prices, delays in top tier titles, the snafu with the rumble feature — at least the company releases products that have a measure of quality that assures customers. Look at the rushed release of Microsoft’s Xbox 360 and the immediate complaints about its powercords, overheating issues and the dreaded ring of death. Playstation 3 may have been left at the gate but from the initial reviews of the unit, it was relatively quiet (compared to the 360’s industrial level drone) and overheating issues were very few, if at all apparent.

Microsoft seems to have built a reputation for always coming out with rushed products. You just need to look at all of their software, which are technically working betas than final releases, the aforementioned Xbox 360, and now Halo 3. I have yet to hear about glitches on the software itself but, predictably, complaints are being posted on the internet about the game case scratching disks.  I’m not wholely blaming Microsoft for this fiasco because they surely have contracted a third party to manufacture the cases but shouldn’t these things also be tested? In fairness to Microsoft, they have acted quickly about this complaint, not like their very slow acknowledgement of the ring of death issue.

I know I’m going to get a lot of hate mail from Xbox fanboys for this one…

One of the biggest aces up the sleeve of Sony in terms of the current console wars is the release of their much touted 3D Home online service for the Playstation 3. This new feature will allow players to create their very own characters and content. Anticipation for Home has been high especially since it was reported that it is going to be launched this fall.

But, predictably, Sony announced at the Tokyo Game Show 2007 that it is delaying the release of Home until next year. The company, through Sony Computer Entertainment  (SCE) Chief Executive Kazuo Hirai, said the reason for the delay was to further improve the service’s product quality. Hirai said that since the service will have to offer a number of different functionalities in many regions in the world and they want to launch it at a level where they can meet the high expectations of people.

Another disappointment was the failure of Sony to give price cuts for the PS3. The biggest gripe about the console is its high price and consumers were hoping that a price drop would be inevitable. Instead, Hirai said that they will be strengthening their title lineup to attract more customers.

As an eventual PS3 buyer, I am hoping that Sony will be able to get its act together soon in order to really attract customers. I hope I won’t get disappointed.