This PlayStation 5 has these super sweet smoke-black translucent plates housing the novel and innovative hardware inside, and the internet is loving how retro the console looks.
When the design of the PlayStation 5 was revealed, my reaction was a little mix of "are you joking," "what on Earth is that," and "ok?!" No matter which way you cut it, the console is a giant chunk of plastic, metal and circuitry, destined to take centre stage in your office or living room. The Internet gave the design an extremely rapid ribbing, comparing it to the Pokémon Shellder, the Eye of Sauron, Seto Kaiba's coat, and people pretended they'd gotten the PS5 early by sandwiching their internet routers between two pieces of paper. Hours and hours and hours must have been spent on getting the look just right, and it was shredded to ribbons within minutes. Even the DualSense's features like haptic feedback and adaptive triggers didn't save it from mockery. Well, I suppose that's the internet for you.
Every PlayStation 5 comes with Astro's Playroom pre-installed on the console. It's effectively a tech showcase of what's possible with the new hardware, but gosh darn it, if it isn't adorable. Check out a compilation of the Easter eggs in the game below.
However, in the teardown video released by Sony, some clever clogs put the pieces together that these tall plates could be easily snapped off and replaced with their own custom ones for some personality. While PlayStation's vice-president of UX design Matt MacLaurin hinted that we'll see "even more beautiful (and hopefully radical) special editions" of the console, fans have been hard at work on their own projects. Reddit user SadBoy2016 shared photos of their smoke black plates on their PlayStation 5 and the response to the unique approach to customisation has been mega.
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"Nice! Now you can tell when to take it apart to clean it!" joked SlappytheBanana69. "This looks pretty dope, like a combination of modern and mid-90s retro. Congrats," added The_Broomflinger. SadBoy2016 showed what the console looks like while in use and the glow of the lights either side of the tower shine through the translucent plastic for a seriously dramatic effect.
To be honest, I wasn't feeling the design to start with, but it's certainly a blast from the past from when hardware used to have shells that would let you look at the wizardry within. And, given that Sony has spent so much money on the tech that elevates PlayStation into a new era, why wouldn't you want it on show? If you've been converted, the plates are purchasable here for the disc edition and here for the digital edition.
Featured Image Credit: Sadboy2016 via RedditTopics: PlayStation 5, News, PlayStation