Acer Unveils Absurd, Insane, Predator Thronos Gaming Chair

Acer’s Predator family has a reputation for somewhat insane products — the company has debuted $9000 laptops and and other similar high-end fare for years — but the company’s new Predator Thronos takes some kind of cake. The Thronos is a 495-lb metal-and-steel contraption, with space for three 27-inch panels to be mounted around you, an integrated space for a Predator gaming PC.

Other features include space for your keyboard and mouse, a reclining seat, vibration support, and a control pad mounted on the arm to allow you to control your angle of tilt for the chair, footrest, and monitor arm. Also, the entire thing lights up.

I’ve always had a theoretical love-hate relationship with devices like this. It’s a theoretical relationship because it occupies much the same space in my brain as the crush I had on Jadzia Dax when I was 14, and there’s an approximately equal chance that Terry Ferrell or the Acer Thronos will occupy my living room at any point in the near future. On the one hand, it’s a 495-lb, hyper-illuminated chair that vibrates. It’s not, I think we can assume, exactly small, and the price tag is likely to bankrupt a small nation. As far as practicality is concerned, it’s a non-starter, especially given the reality of a small living room and an elderly dog with a tendency to trip over anything that isn’t directly in front of his muzzle. (Seriously, we’ve had to rework the downstairs to remove most obstacles. Dog Alzheimers (known as Canine Cognitive Dysfunction) isn’t much fun.

On the other hand? It’s a 495-lb hyper-illuminated vibrating battle station. And I’m already wondering if those three 27-inch monitor mounts can plausibly be swapped for something else — like maybe a 34-inch ultra-wide Predator display (I’d personally take a 21:9 monitor without a bezel over a trio of 16:9 screens with bezels in between each one). These kind of customizable game stations have always looked far more comfortable for long play sessions — or, for that matter, regular work.

There’s no word on practical points like price tag or overall compatibility. The Verge refers to the device as having an integrated space for a Predator PC, but Engadget shows the hardware sitting on the floor. Exactly what that space is and what kind of hardware it can accomodate is an open question. Given the price points the Predator family tends to hit, we wouldn’t expect this chassis to be particularly affordable.

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