You've got a case being designed for enthusiasts, not the normal consumer, so I'd expect a higher price. I cannot think of too many cases out there that provide as many features in one case as this one does.....all the hidden cable routing, the open heatsink area behind the motherboard, the ability to mount a tripe radiator without any modifications at all (an extremely rare feature....Mountain Mods provides this on some of their cases, too, but again, their cases are north of $150-$200), filtered intake air, etc.
As Redbeard, a Corsair rep, said on another forum in response to the case's high price:
Our first power supplies, the HX520 and HX620, launched 2.5 years ago to compete with the high-end modular products. (remember, 2.5 years ago 600W+ was high-end!) They sold at a premium and reviewed very well - we followed them up with the TX and VX series, which are very good values and still maintain the high build quality of the HX line.
So don't be surprised to see us eventually follow up the high-end products with more price-conscious stuff. I know there aren't many people who pay $200+ for a case, and those who do usually have one or two key features that they pay that money for.
I think we've done very well with our PSU line, especially for only being in the industry for about 30 months or so, and we have products from $50 to $250, 400W to 1000W.
2.5-3 years from now I'd like to show you guys a great lineup of cases that can meet the needs of everyone out there.
But this is the first one, and I'm listening to your feedback. The version in the images is a prototype, not the final version, and the final one will have a lot of changes, some of them based on feedback I gather from forums like this one.
So, while this is a high-end, expensive case, it's not surprising to see that type introduced initially for a company trying to break into a market, esp. one that's particularly saturated already. To be noticed and successful in such a market, one must be noticed and this, while pricey, will get Corsair noticed....again.
And remember, the pics shown are a tooling mockup, not the final product. RedBeard has already stated the case is slated for at least 25 changes already from what's being shown, and possibly will have additional changes made before a final production model is finalized upon.
In all, an excellent first foray into enthusiast case design.