Playstation 5's Aesthetic

Maybe it’s just me, but I actually like the whole aesthetic of the Playstation 5.

The Hardware

That starts with the design of the console itself. I’ve had to think a lot about why exactly I like it - especially considering that most people seem to find it ugly - and I think I have an answer.

More than any other console manufacturer, Sony popularized the idea that gaming hardware should look like, well, a Sony-made electronic device; a little bit cool and classy, but mainly understated and utilitarian.

This stood in sharp contrast to the way most consoles were designed, where they tried really hard to look futuristic, yet still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were still ultimately toys.

And, well, I liked that they looked a bit like toys, at least back at the time. At the risk of sounding silly, I thought that something that encourages play should look a little … you know … playful.

On the flip side, it took me a long time to get used to the Playstation aesthetic. It felt so cold and unfeeling. Even the name “Playstation” felt alien in how upfront and literal it is.

It took a while, but eventually I did get used to this aesthetic, and even started to like it. I remember the night I unhooked my Xbox 360 and PS3 (and maybe my Wii - I forget) to replace them with a single Xbox One in my entertainment center. I went from having an eclectic mix of devices of different shapes, sizes, and colors (including different colored lights), to a single VCR-like box with a single white light, sitting on a shelf above my cable box. It became an indispensable, yet invisible part of the living room, and I appreciated that.

But that didn’t last long. Eventually I became bored with the whole “VCR” aesthetic. I was bored with my Black Wii U. I was bored with my black Switch (plus or minus some colorful controllers). And while I never owned a Playstation 4, I never did like the look of it (it always reminded me of a tilted PS2). I was once again ready for a device that had some personality to it. Enter the PS5.

To my eye, the Playstation 5 finally manages to do what the old school consoles couldn’t - it looks cool and futuristic without looking like a toy. It’s fun and playful but not quite embarrassing. And that, I think, is why I like it so much.

(though if I had one complaint about it, it’d be that it’s still a little too large. It doesn’t hurt the aesthetics that much, but I worry that it may make it difficult to fit into certain cabinets)

And it doesn’t just stop with the console itself. Consider the Dualsense controller.

At first I didn’t like it, as it reminded me a bit of the prototype “Boomerang” PS3 controller. But over time time I warmed up to it.

Playstation controllers have always been practical and useable, but I’ve never liked the way they look:

The Dualshock is basically two cylinders connected by a bridge. And yeah, it works just fine, but it also feels like a sterile piece of equipment. Kind of like this:

Or this:

And after three generations using that same basic shape, I guess someone at Sony finally agreed with me. The Dualshock 4 was the first time they made any sort of noticeable change to the form factor:

Granted, some of these changes were in the name of adding new features, like that giant touch pad and the glowy light. But you can also tell that they’re trying to get away from the old “cylindrical” look by making the controller look more like it’s made out of one contiguous piece. But you can still see some circular shapes, and by cramming in that touchpad, the Dualshock 4 looks so much like a handlebar. It’s probably comfortable (I’ve only ever used one once or twice in my life), and it’s certainly feature rich, but it’s ugly as sin.

The Dualsense takes those exact same features and buttons and puts them into a package that is both comfortable and pleasing to the eye. The glowy lights are more subtle, the touchpad is more naturally integrated, and it uses those gorgeous transparent buttons that they used to use on the PSP and Vita.

I also like the use of multiple colors, as well as the curved shape. The curves make it look sleek and cool, while the black sections preserve a bit of that classic, utilitarian style (while also breaking up the monotony of the white).

One more thought before we move on - the overall aesthetic of the hardware reminds me an awful lot of the Portal Gun:

(I think that’s a good thing by the way)

The Software

In terms of functionality, I’m not going to say that the PS5’s operating system is good. I honestly can’t say one way or another, as I don’t really use most of its features. I pretty much load games from the “Recently Played” list, and sometimes go to play Blu Rays. That’s it.

But I will say this: the software goes out of its way to sound (and sometimes look) futuristic. The ambient music and echoey sound effects feel like they’re straight out of science fiction. Granted, they’re a bit heavy handed at times - some of the sounds could stand to be a bit quieter - but I get what they’re going for.

I also find it curious that if you look closely, you can see remnants of the PS3-era Cross Media Bar. The settings menu certainly looks like it’s straight out of the XMB, but there’s also a curious sine-wave curve that appears in the background at startup. I’m one of those folks who thinks the XMB is a UI so good as to be timeless, so seeing its ghost floating through the PS5 UI is nice.

And then there’s the fact that they made the experience feel so personal. From the startup screen that says “Welcome back to Playstation”:

To the fact that at shutdown it says “Putting YOUR PS5 to Sleep”:

Sony has gone out of their way to make their current console feel like more than just an appliance. For better or worse, they want you to feel a sense of ownership and investment into not only their hardware, but their overall ecosystem. It’s a far cry from the way they used to handle things, but I’d say it’s having an effect on me. In the past, being a Playstation user felt like a begrudging necessity at worst, and mildly pleasant at best. This is the first time that it’s felt genuinely enjoyable - dareisay exciting. I don’t think it’s coincidence that that feeling comes from their first piece of gaming hardware that really leaps in a new direction.

It’s a good thing.