Where are the gaming PCs that don't look like alien spaceships?

Dear Mothership,

My fiancé has talked about how she would enjoy getting into PC gaming at some point to go all out with The Sims. I am so excited for her, and when the Steam Machine was announced she agreed it would be a great option that, while likely overpowered for her purposes, would last a long time without looking like an alien, well, mothership.

We are not in a rush to get started since we have other platforms, but with RAMaggedon and the ongoing delays, it has us thinking about other options. A brief search online seems to show endless fields of lit-up rigs for sale; what drives that aesthetic and why is it difficult to find a variety of looks beyond Vegas? (Complementary, tho from a distance.)

Signed,
Please Don’t Abduct Me From California

Thanks for writing in, Please Don't Abduct Me.

Despite that I'm the person who came up with the name "Mothership" (and it's a name I like very much, thank you), I couldn't agree more with you and your fiancé when it comes to this topic. I'm sick of gaming PCs and consoles that look like faux-futuristic spaceships, and more specifically, I'm sick of black, red, and white being the go-to gaming device colors. Why, after so many years of gaming becoming more and more normalized and less niche, does this specific aesthetic persist across almost all gaming devices?

I fear it's related to the same problem as always, which is that video game marketing is still fixated on appealing to teenage boys and young men. And so, our gaming devices look like spaceships and sports cars — you know, the stuff that boys are told they're supposed to like. And like spaceships or sports cars, you're rarely going to see a pastel pink version; it's gonna be black, red, or white. You know, the three acceptable colors that a middle-aged man would choose for his mid-life crisis sports car (or spaceship, if he's a billionaire).

As for the "lit-up rigs" you mention, the lighting in gaming PCs is set up by default to cycle rapidly through colors as a means of showing off this functionality; all of that can actually be changed to be just one color, or turned off entirely. But that's not always clear in advertising, which tends to make these devices look anything but cute. If I had to pick adjectives for devices, I'd go with "intimidating" or even "overstimulating." It's all a big turn-off for me and, I would guess, many prospective female buyers. But that's the point, I guess.

There are some exceptions, as well as some options for disguising an alien spaceship in your otherwise not-so-sci-fi home decor. Let's get into them, shall we?