Gamers are a broad and diverse community, and treating them all as the single customer with a single set of needs isn’t very smart. It’s why ASUS is trying to break the one-size-fits all mould with its ROG Strix edition laptops that it initially showed off earlier this year. The two devices, the Scar and Hero editions, are designed to cater specifically to both FPS and MOBA players, respectively.
The headline tweaks made to the Scar Edition include a better display with a 120Hz refresh rate and 5ms response time. In addition, the keyboard has been intentionally made shallower in order to ensure that keypresses register that little bit faster. After all, you need to be sure you’re not wasting yoctoseconds of time pushing the actual buttons in the midst of a round of Overwatch.
Visually, too, the Scar has been given a gunmetal grey finish that’s intended to remind you of assault rifles and bullets flying through midair. Open the lid and you’ll find the palm rest has been styled with a carbon fiber-esque design, as well as side-firing stereo speakers that will help you pinpoint enemies.
The Hero, meanwhile, is clad in a visual design called “Monster Scale” which is meant to evoke, well, monster-fighting MOBAs. Rather than response time, the display has been tweaked to offer a better sRGB color gamut to ensure you’re only battling enemies in League of Legends. In addition, the company has made the keyboards more resilient, knowing that such games, with repeated, furious button pressing, often ruin keyboards.
Both devices have the usual raft of build-to-order options, which you can pick and choose to your heart’s delight. What’s going to be interesting, however, is to see if gamers take to the technical customizations specific to each genre. After all, having a laptop catered around your needs is great, although it’s not easy to see if these tweaks were actually being asked for in the first place.
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