Scrabble, Risk and Game of Life are tempting families to new touchscreens
Do games sell hardware? Intel thinks a partnership with Hasbro could be the nudge some fence sitters needed.
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A great video game can sell a console, but can a classic board game sell an All-in-One? Intel is hoping families will be given the nudge they need to buy a new touchscreen system when new versions of Risk, Scrabble and Game of Life hit stores, thanks to a partnership with Hasbro.
Available in the second half of this year, versions of these classic boardgames to suit multitouch and multiuser gameplay will be launched. These are three of the most popular boardgames of all time, with hundreds of millions of copies sold worldwide.
Intel sees such games particularly suited to the lay-flat All-in-One form factor, where users can gather on all sides.
"When you lay it flat, the uniqueness is that multiple people can play games," Lisa Graff, vice president, PC client group and general manager, desktop client platform group, told CNET.
But will such games really convince someone to buy a new style of home PC?
"End user research testing, taking to our own customers, they've asked for more games like that to add to the value proposition," said Graff. "We've tested it in retail. Last holiday season we did some software bundles that had games like this, not as good as this but like this, and those games were really popular as an added reason to buy the device."