Alienware likes to use CES to announce prototypes, just like its massive PC handheld a few years (that ended up honestly being quite similar to the Steam Deck), but this year, the company has announced Project NYX which is a controller that is set to be for PC and Cloud gaming.
What’s interesting about the NYX and I can’t stress enough at the moment that this does appear to be a prototype, is that it pretty much brings across a bunch of great features from all the different controllers that we know and love.
For instance, it has advanced haptics and adaptive triggers just like the DualSense controller does, and also a some kind of touch-based sensor tech like the DualSense’s touchpad. There’s also a finger print sensor which will no doubt be used to getting into Windows and the like.
Similar to the likes of the Steam Controller/Steamdeck, it has scroll wheels on the bottom that will help you navigate menus as well as triggers on the back. It also has “self-adjusting variable resistance thumbsticks” which can be tightened using an internal motor.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be an Alienware product without RGB lighting, so it has lights on the bottom, behind the buttons and also on the product logo, which can hopefully be turned off for battery life purposes.
There’s a lot of cool stuff happening here. I’m not sure how well literally every single control method in one controller would come together, but as mentioned, this is all just showing off the possibilities, and I’m sure that if we did see this release, it would be refined with a few of these getting the chop.
Regardless though with the likes of the DualSense Edge being very expensive, and the Elite controller being a favourite of Xbox gamers, there’s obviously a market for pro controllers.