Followers of major electronic and gaming events take heed: the activities for the upcoming 2008 International CES (Consumer Electronics Show) are finally announced, and there's a lot of stuff in store for gadget aficionados and gamers alike.

The 2008 International CES will put the latest gaming technology in the spotlight, with major gaming exhibitors such as Commodore Gaming, Entropia Universe, Red Lion Interactive, Shuttle Computers and War Machine as participants.

The gaming-related CES events are as follows: CES Game Power Conference Partner Program; Sandbox Summit, where people can experience the latest gaming gear, toys, and products; CES Mobile Entertainment Partner Program, where breakthroughs in mobile gaming and technology are featured.

For general electronics consumers there's the Home and Lifestyle Entertainment Knowledge Track, where visitors are given a peek of whats to come in the future of gaming as well as the possibilities of 3D home theater.

Finally, close followers of the current format wars should be interested in the Blu-ray Disc TechZone and the HD DVD TechZone, where the features of each of the leading high definition formats are tackled.

The 2008 International CES will be held in Las Vegas on January 7-10. Bill Gates will deliver the opening keynote address for the event on January 6.

 

Commodore Gaming has just announced today that their line of Commodore Gaming branded rigs for budget and extreme gaming enthusiasts has finally arrived in Europe. They also announced that they are setting up a new retail presence in the UK, France, and PC-gaming-haven Germany.

By July 1, all gamers in the three countries will get the luxury of having to "see, touch, and feel" the multi-thousand performance rigs firsthand. And if the PCs are enough to taunt you to actually dig for your moolah, Commodore Gaming has also offered to sweeten the scenario by tossing in a voucher for plastering sweet C-kin designs for your own system.

And that's not to say that your own PC won't be skinned. In fact, it will come with its own design, but Commodore Gaming will also give you the option to upgrade to the newest of more than 100 C-kins that are to roll out.

Introduced back in CeBIT 2007, the Commodore Gaming PCs are performance Banzai Runners sporting crafted designs with a hand-finished feel. CEO Bala Keilman of Commodore Gaming, concluded the official announcement stating:  

Commodore is back with a worldwide roll-out strategy and commitment to make PC gaming as popular and accessible as console gaming. By working closely with our retailers and partners, gamers will now be able to get up close and personal with the machines to feel the quality and finish first hand. Not only do they look and feel incredible but the specifications throughout the range are of the highest level possible to guarantee performance which should more than satisfy everyone from casual through to professional gamers.

  

Commodore has been quiet for some time now, but they're back with four different models from an entry level gaming PC to an extreme specification model. To be shown at the CeBit 2007 by Commodore Gaming, these rigs can be customized to match personal taste: Commodore is offering specially selected art including street art, photography, PC game artwork (such as that of GRAW 2) and many other licensed images.

The units are called Cg (entry level), Cgs, Cgx, Cxx (extreme level), and each will be running Microsoft Windows Vista, a 64-bit operating system, which includes the new gaming interface: DirectX 10. Two multicoloured LED lights inside the fans can be independently controlled to change or enhance the mood with an ambient glow. For cooling the rig, a new Ice Cube cooling system is present, reducing the core temperature by up to seven degrees.

For peripherals, Commodore is offering a plethora of options from respected gaming brands including Raptor keyboards and Logitech speaker systems. In addition to this, all Commodore Gaming PCs come with a full two year service and parts warranty.

To give you an idea of how the extreme rig will be configured, here are the specs:

Processor: IntelR CoreT2 Extreme quad-core processor QX6700, 2.66 8M Cache
Motherboard: ASUSR P5N32-E nForce 680i SLI
Hard drive / Storage: 2x 150Gb 10000 Rpm Sata Raid 0; 1x 500Gb 7200 Rpm Sata
Memory: 4 Gb Corsair Dominator twin2x2048-8500C5D, 1066MHz
I/O.: 7in1 cardreader; (Front) USBx2 Firewire x 1 HeadPhone x 1 MicroPhone x 1
Optical: Philips DVDRW
Power Supply: 1000W ICE Cube PSU
Audio:CreativeR SoundBlaster X-Fi
Graphics: 2x nVidia 8800 GTX 768MB
OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate

Commodore Gaming will be at CeBIT- Hall 21, Stand D08, if you wish to get a view of these awesome rigs.

For more pictures of the rigs, check the full article.