Razer proposes PC upgrade subscription service for Project Christine

"Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars in a single shot, there could be a standard subscription fee and you could have always, at any point of time, the best possible PC."

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"Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars in a single shot, there could be a standard subscription fee and you could have always, at any point of time, the best possible PC," Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan hypothesized at CES, while speaking about Project Christine. Due to the simplicity of replacing parts in the company's modular PC prototype, it would be entirely possible for the company to regularly ship top-of-the-line components to subscribers.

Speaking to Gamespot, Tan explained that the subscription would require subscribers to send back old components to Razer once they received their new gear. And because the components would be standardized, there would be no worry about compatibility issues either, making it a potentially lucrative business for Razer to explore.

Of course, Project Christine is simply a prototype for now, and may not even become a real product. However, depending on how a subscription is priced, this might be an attractive model for hardcore PC gamers to consider.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    January 9, 2014 4:30 PM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Razer proposes PC upgrade subscription service for Project Christine.

    "Instead of having to pay thousands of dollars in a single shot, there could be a standard subscription fee and you could have always, at any point of time, the best possible PC."

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      January 9, 2014 4:34 PM

      Bets on annual cost?

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      January 9, 2014 5:03 PM

      I love the idea of a plug and play PC so I can stop cutting my hands and worrying about messing up a circuit board, but subscription based? No thanks.

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        January 9, 2014 5:31 PM

        How to stop cutting your hands: Buy decent cases.

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        January 10, 2014 7:02 AM

        I do so much hardware repair and have only once seen someone short a board by touching it. Hold by the edges and it is a lot harder to mess something up than you think.

        the only time I wear an ESB is when I'm working in something that costs a lot of money or is irreplaceable.

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      January 9, 2014 5:30 PM

      I can't imagine the market for this is very large. It only takes an evening of research to figure out which parts are compatible. Then another evening to assemble.

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      January 9, 2014 5:31 PM

      [deleted]

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      January 9, 2014 5:34 PM

      Nope.avi Cool idea on the hardware but nope. I like building (and owning) my own machines. You know this is going to be an elaborate lease and will cost some people 5 grand over 4-5 years.

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      January 9, 2014 6:03 PM

      I love the look of that case but this is a terrible idea for consumers. You would basically be giving Razer an interest free loan for a year until they send you new parts. If you don't want to drop $1000+ at one time, set up a savings account that automatically withdraws $x per month until you saved up enough. I just don't see the advantage.

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      January 9, 2014 6:08 PM

      I like it. Fail or succeed, at least they're thinking out side the box.

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      January 9, 2014 10:20 PM

      Like buying shit with a credit card?

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      January 10, 2014 1:04 AM

      Is it me or does it not look very stable, imagine your cat jumping on the top shelve and the whole thing coming down like a house of cards.

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      January 10, 2014 6:26 AM

      SOOOO freakin excited for this thing. Finally a machine with a liquid cooling system AND the thermal take case. The modular design is just icing. They should make a compact version for less ambitious gamers and ship this thing as soon as the economy picks up.

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      January 10, 2014 12:05 PM

      I'm not as cynical as everyone else on this thing. $45/mo would be a sweet spot, I'd buy.

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