Razer’s Project Christine Targets a Market That Doesn’t Exist.

There are few things I find more enjoyable than putting together a new PC. It starts off with the chase where I determine my budget and then start chasing down the various components that will make up the final system. Then comes the verification where I trawl through dozens upon dozens of reviews to ensure the I’ve selected only the best products for their price bracket. Finally the time comes when I purchase all the components, hopefully from a single vendor with price matching, and then after the components arrive I’ll begin the immensely enjoyable task of assembling my (or someone else’s) new PC. Nothing quite beats the feeling of seeing Windows boot up for the first time on a new bit of hardware you just finished building.

Of course I realise that the vast majority of the world doesn’t enjoy engaging in such activities, especially if all you’re doing with your PC is watching movies or doing the occasional bit of word processing, and this is typically when I’ll send them to any one of a number of PC manufacturers who can give them a solid device with a long warranty. My gamer buddies will typically get me to validate their builds and, if they don’t feel up to the task, get me to build it or simply stick to consoles which provide a pretty good experience for much of their useful life. This is why I think Razer’s Project Christine is trying to target a market that just doesn’t exist as it sits in between already well defined market segments that are both already well serviced.

Project Christine is, as a concept, a pretty interesting idea. All the core components that make up a PC (RAM, storage, graphics card, etc.) have been modularized allowing almost anyone to build up a custom PC of their liking without the requisite PC building experience. The design is somewhat reminiscent of the Thermaltake Level 10 which used the compartmentalization of different parts to improve the cooling as well as to make maintenance easier. Razer’s concept takes this idea to the extreme, effectively commoditizing some of the skills required to build a high end gaming PC whilst still retaining the same issues around configuration, like knowing which components are the best bang for buck at the time.

Razer could potentially head off that second issue by going ahead with their subscription based model for upgraded parts. The idea would be that after you’ve bought whatever model you wanted (this service appears to be targeted to the high end) then you pay a monthly subscription feed to get the latest and greatest parts delivered to you. For the ultimate in hardcore gamers this could be somewhat attractive however it’d likely be an extremely expensive service to opt in to as the latest PC components are rarely among the cheapest or best value. Still if you’ve got a lot of money  and not a whole lot of time then it could be of use to you except the fact that you’ve invested so much in a gaming rig typically means you have enough time to make use of it.

This is where I feel Project Christine falls down as the target market is a demographic of people who are interested in configuring their computer right up to the point of physically building it. Whilst I don’t really have any facts to back up this next assertion it has been my experience that people of this nature are either already well serviced by custom build services (which most PC shops provide) or know someone with the capabilities to do it. Sure the modular nature of the Christine is pretty awesome, and it certainly makes a striking impression, however that also means you need to wait for Razer to Christine-ify parts before they’ll be available to you. You might be able to crack them open and do the upgrade yourself but then you’re really only one step away from doing a full PC build anyway.

With consoles and PCs lasting longer and longer as time goes by concepts like Project Christine seem to be rooted in the past idea that a gaming PC needed constant upgrades to remain viable. That simply hasn’t been the case for the better part of a decade and whilst the next generation of consoles might spur an initial burst in PC upgrades it’s doubtful that the constant upgrade cycle will ever return. Project Christine might find itself with a dedicated niche of users but I really don’t believe it will be large enough to be sustainable, even with the Razer name behind it.