This limited edition Death Stranding-inspired tablet is the coolest PC I’ve ever touched

The Asus ROG Flow Z13 was truly a unique beast. It’s a chunky gaming tablet with great integrated AMD Strix Halo graphics. I was really into it when I checked it This time last year. But look at him now, dressed in the styles of Hideo Kojima’s game studio and his longtime collaborator, artist Yoji Shinkawa.

This is it Asus ROG Flow Z13-KJPa collaboration between Asus and Kojima Productions Announced at CES. It’s officially inspired by the Kojima Productions mascot Playingalthough it feels very Stranded deathThis makes sense, since Yuji Shinkawa designed both. Shinkawa is known for designing legendary characters and props with Kojima, dating back to the Metal Gear Solid series, and more recently Stranded death games.

The ROG Flow Z13-KJP is based on the most powerful configuration of the standard Z13 model, with an AMD Ryzen AI Max 395 Plus APU and 128GB of memory. It costs $3,699.99, which is $400 more than the MSRP This model (although the current sale price is $900 more), and will include a Steam code for Death Stranding 2: On the BeachOn PCdelivered via Asus’ Armory Crate app. It’s up for pre-order now, direct from Asus And on retailers like Best buy and B&H Photos. The limited edition is not individually numbered, and Asus has not revealed its production number, but like previous limited editions, it will likely sell out. Accompanied by a matching tablet ROG Delta II-KJP Headphone ($269.99) ROG Keris II Origin-KJP Mouse ($169.99) and ROG Scabbard II XXL-KJP Desk Mat ($69.99). Overall, the limited edition set costs $4,209.96 – and is sold a la carte in the US. May be available as a bundle in some areas. As crazy as this price is, I urge you again: look. in. this. something.

Shinkawa’s influence is evident in the design of the entire collection. The tablet’s “decimal gold” anodized chassis has a smoother, nicer feel than the regular ROG Flow, and there’s a carbon fiber panel on the top left of the tablet’s back, just because. Aside from that, there’s a decorative design that combines gold lines with the negative space of the vent to look like a mountaintop – the type of hostile terrain common in Stranded death. Even the boring power supply is decorated with the Ludens mascot design. Meanwhile, the mouse and headset feature a combination of black and white with gold accents, as well as Kojima Productions iconography such as the company’s Ludens logo illuminated with RGB lighting.

Everything is covered in military jargon, sci-fi and iconography. Some are functional stickers, like the M.2 SSD storage, but most are just for looks and laughs. The phrase “For Ludens Who Dare” is everywhere (a modified version of ROG’s tagline “For Those Who Dare”), as are the phrase “Outdoor Creative Activity Device.” The name comes from the Ludens space suit, “Creative Extravehicular Activity Suit(Ludens is not in any game, but appears as… 1:1 statue in company office And it has Its own line of merchandise.) Another of my many favorites is the phrase “WARNING: ENGINE RPM EXCEED 100 MILLION BLOCKED” in black on the left mouse button, indicating the estimated lifetime of clicks. It’s a fun little touch. Maybe more specifications should be worn proudly as design elements in everyday objects?

Additional touches extend to all of the Z13-KJP’s accessories, such as the enclosed case it comes with, inspired by the much larger Ludens back-mounted version. The tablet even comes with Remove before flightIt’s a keychain in the form of a keychain, but unfortunately there’s no place to attach it to the holster. Each item comes with a set of stickers and a printed thank you note from the Asus ROG and KJP teams. The best part of this thank you card is the back, which shows off some of Shinkawa’s original concept art for the collaboration devices. And I still haven’t played either Stranded death game yet, but I’m long overdue Metal Gear Solid Fan, seeing a glimpse of Yuji Shinkawa’s artwork always sends good chemicals flowing into my brain.

Asus has also gone the extra mile in software. Turn on Z13-KJP and you’ll be greeted by an animation of the Kojima Productions logo with suspenseful sound, reminding you of the studio’s founding and genesis. Original logo trailer. I was no I was expecting to hear a sound like that when I turned on the tablet, so I panicked. Once in Windows, the Armory Crate and MyAsus apps display a view of the KJP tablet in their device settings, and Armory Crate has a matching KJP theme. None of these little touches are necessary, but subtlety is appreciated.

The version of KJP you can purchase will come with a keyboard that uses a new faux leather palm rest and white, black, and gold plastic keycaps with futuristic-looking legends. But Asus also made a small run of keyboards with metal keycaps: 50 for Kojima and his team, and about 30 for Asus employees and for promotional purposes.

Asus sent me both the standard and metal keyboards to try, partly because I’m not very good at them And the keyboard is sick. The metal keycaps feature a similar pattern to the regular plastic set, but with metallic silver keys instead of white keys. There is a subtle sparkle to them, and they catch the light in a unique way. They sound a little nicer, with a slightly deeper sound than the plastic covers. Both the plastic and metal sets look very stylish, so don’t be intimidated that you won’t be able to own the same set as Kojima.

I can’t remember the last time I was so fascinated by computers. There are of course a lot of Wild custom computers there. Annual dream machines that Maximum computer Used to make cant The stuff of legends. Asus has had its fair share of flashy limited editions before, like the last generation ROG Flo Z13 ACRNYM. But it definitely speaks to me – hence my personal motivation to climb the snowy mountain Sam Porter Bridges style. (And nothing broke or broke due to water ingress. Fortunately, this tablet is not fragile.)

The latest incarnation of the ROG Flow Z13 was already a very forward-looking device, with its cutting-edge integrated graphics and versatile form factor, and this KJP release also makes it a thing of sci-fi beauty. It’s very expensive, but the care and attention to it makes it look like a jewel of a modern computer – even a computer from the future.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto/The Verge