It’s not that new. Lots have said how it looks like a router, or any other random piece of tech. There’s really not even a single concept or detail or part that is fresh.
It’s not own able. The design language (or lack thereof) isn’t anything “Sony PS”. It’s generic and could be a random first year student project for any kind of device. The Xbox may be echoing the Rams/Sapper aesthetic but at least it’s pretty identifiable as an Xbox. It’s a box.
It’s not very functional. The drive looks like an afterthought. The horizontal placement and stand looks awkward. The vertical orientation is really big and a dust magnet.
It’s not good design for context. Designers love to think their thing will be a coveted piece of art in a minimal designed house on a marble pedestal, but reality is it will be on top of some Ikea cabinet under a TV with a mess of wires and other stuff. This doesn’t work. It’s too tall for most bookshelves or to fit under a TV. It stands out like a sore thumb, the lights will be annoying and the significant other will probably not be into ruining the living room with this out on display.
If gaming is supposed to be about the experience, I don’t see this adding to or transporting you into the game reality, when it’s so boring. There’s so much opportunity for a console as it could literally be any shape and placed anywhere (if no drive). If this was a 6 foot tall tower like a B&O speaker there would be something to talk about. Or a wall mounted futuristic flat panel. Or a Start Trek type LCARS display with touch interface. Or a glowing magic orb. Or…
To me, it looks like this design was overridden by marketing and focus groups and is pretty forgettable. You could put any logo on it and it could be anything.
Richard, I definitely agree that it could be better, they could have pushed it further into art piece territory like a Brancusi.
I don’t think I could put any logo on it. Thinking of other things that would be sharing the same real estate, xBox, Sonos, Samsung, Apple TV, Nintendo… I’m not sure any of those brands could go on this? it certainly is visually differentiated from all of those objects. There are other objects in the home that kind of look like this such as upright fans though, I get that point.
Brancusi sculpture would be awesome. Again, probably wouldn’t fit the average household, but at least would be a unique statement. Even a monolithic tall skinny black cylinder or triangle would be kinda neat and futuristic and I could see as a Playstation and tie into the brand language. Like an extruded “O” or triangle from the button symbol.
No, I agree I don’t think any of those logos go on it, but only because they have a strong design language of their own brand. I was thinking you could put a Haier, Linksys, Logitech, Motorola, Google, Asus, Western Digital, Acer, Dell, etc. tech logo on it, or even something from the kitchen like a Fridgidaire logo on it…
There’s just nothing unique here or on brand. As mentioned previously I’m not a gamer, but I’m speaking from a design and brand strategy POV.
I like that Xbox. I can’t think of another console or product that really looks like that. Looks technical, looks futuristic. Looks like something that would be IN a game. They didn’t forget the disc drive in the design until marketing asked for it.
It’s a BOX - works with the brand.
Looks like some interesting materiality on it too.
I’m not a fan. It seems rather crude and doesn’t have any connection to the controller outside of the CMF.
Why the sunken top? Why is the vent pattern circular when the body has a square section? I would have squared up the disc drive opening and integrated it with a square logo, done chamfered square vents so the only round thing was the logo.
To me this thing is completely anonymous. Put any logo on it. Could be Sonos, could be Vizio, could be IBM/Lenovo. Just another modernist blank object that could be anything. It doesn’t convey anything and the detailing seems pretty default.
That is just my take on it of course… strategy wise I think they are spot on with it… though why not go all the way to a box? Cube? … but I feel like the execution falls flat. If you are going to go Richard Sapper, don’t stop 80% of the way there!
For sure the XBOX isn’t perfect. But helluva lot closer that the PS. The modern/simplicity direction is used by others, but at least it has a direction, which is more than the PS.
The sunken top bugs me too. I’m wondering if maybe it’s so you don’t put stuff on top of the venting. Circular holes don’t bother me much. Goes with the logo and less industrial/default.
The controller looks like has some faceting on the D pad and at least the primitive shapes of the circles goes with the box shape. They are both extreme in the direction to me which is what makes the commonality. Box is fully square and blunt. Controller is fully soft and surfaced. They work by not complimenting not matching.
There’s room to improve though, no doubt. I think a console design project would be really fun. So much potential and form can be so far removed from the function.
R
In general I think it looks cool, and it goes with the controllers. Its not another (boring) Xbox-box with vent patterns, and doesn’t try to admit that it won’t fit in with the rest of the junk in living rooms. The Xbox slate box looks like it has some nice minerally texture on it. Too bad (again) it lives in a dark room where nobody can appreciate it. It looks like a serious game device, one for game enthusiasts, and not a unifying device that just because you can download Disney+ onto, has to look like a black rectangle.
I remember when the Nissan GT-R came out, the Car Styling issue for that car’s development quoted the design chief saying something like “we didn’t take inspiration from nature or aerodynamics or typical car things, we looked at Japanese things like Gundam and Voltron and katana” and I can see a similar sentiment at work here. In some future state, consoles won’t exist, network connectivity will be the console box, but Xbox hardware has seemingly already conceded that future. This is some Japanese prototype architectural robot. That said, I would have done it differently.
It’s neat seeing how unified the language is with all of the accessories. With so many companies out there doing design piecemeal, it’s nice to see someone invest in developing a unified vision.
It’s grown on me too. It takes me back to my teenage years reading Ghost in the Shell and Akira. It feels like what I thought 2020 might look like.
Just to highlight this part of your comment and after thinking about it for a few days…I wonder if Sony are trying to tap into the PC gamer market that often have elaborate setups, funky coloured lights etc?
Pulling up this selection of images from a “gaming PC setup” search, besides from it not being a box, I wouldn’t say that the design would look too out of place here:
I was going to blast the haters, but then I found more photos and now I’m not so sure either. Like with a lot of design, I think I need hands-on to be sure of how I feel.
You know another weird thing…I had a photo of the PS5 and Tesla 3 open at the same time. Very similar feel to me, which I didn’t expect.
Gotta love facebook, wouldn’t expect anything less in a comment section like that.
Remembering Sony PS design language through PS2-4 though, it seems like they switch between the curve shapes and the block shapes almost every time they release a new variant. PS2 (Block) PS3 (Curves) PS4 (Block) PS5 (Curves) … I would wager PS6 will be block monolithic in 5 years time. If you recolored it all black, it would most likely blend in with the family quite a bit better. Here is my 30 second attempt.
I am not a fan of the design and if I were to buy one of the 2, the xbox would for sure win.
Also, I wouldn’t get hung up on the vertical orientation of the device as it can also lay flat, which also helps to justify the reason of having a separate stand as it allows for the 2 options.
This is the biggest area of improvement for Sony. Most PS products have had the look of each one being assigned to different design teams from different generations and then just slapping on the same color at the end. The PS console/controller mismatch has been particularly egregious over the years. This family of forms is a huge indication of a much more unified strategy.
I’m always for companies taking big swings, but that doesn’t mean I’ll always like the result. In the end the PS5 isn’t a form and color language I love, but it isn’t so outrageous that I wouldn’t consider buying it (like the monstrosity that was the leaked PS5 dev-kit box was.) I’m also not the target consumer who is totally fine with the over-the-top look of the Alienwares and Razers of the world.
The XBox Series X in and of itself fits more with my personal aesthetic, but it’s no great achievement in monolithic minimalism. Come to think of it, I kinda just want to buy a PS5 and shove the guts into a trashcan Mac Pro. That’s my jam.
