There's beauty in excess. PC gamers know this better than most, because when it comes time to build their machines, they pursue excess above all else. After all, the Sisyphean task of future-proofing your gaming PC is characterized by obtaining specs that are excessive for today but just right for the future. That pursuit of extravagance oftentimes spills over into the design of said gaming rigs, as this mechanized PC case amply demonstrates.

Asus has started a new certification scheme for hardware partners that want to carry its Republic of Gamers sticker on their peripherals or accessories. To qualify, the hardware has to match up with the menacing red-and-black ROG color scheme and adhere to a set of minimum quality standards. But more than anything, it seems, the thing must look intense, purposeful, and outlandish. This case is built by In Win, and turns the usual chore of opening and closing it into a beautiful piece of mechanical performance art. Push a button at its base and the metal plates that form the case's sides split apart and open up like the petals of a mech flower. The motherboard tray elevates and then tilts at an angle that makes swapping out components easier. And cooler.

Push another button and the metal flower retracts into its more conventional position and size. It's a sight to behold, and you could even make the argument that the arrays of lasers and LED lights are useful in helping to fully illuminate the case. I mean, we all know it's for the giddy, adolescent fun of watching flashing lights, bubbling water (in the built-in cooling system), and mechanized arms replacing flimsy humans, but there's nothing wrong with that. This world could do with a bit more fun.

Asus says this ROG gaming PC case will be available to buy in the third quarter of this year, which gives the Alienware Area-51 a few more weeks to reign as my favorite outrageous PC design.