Today’s issue of Weekly Famitsu included an interesting interview with Sony Interactive Entertainment Senior Art Director Yujin Morisawa about the design of the PS5.
Incidentally, the article includes Morisawa-san’s original sketch of the PS5’s design, which you can see below.
Morisawa-san mentions that product designers like him work on the design of mass-produced products, so they need to be mindful of costs. While the white panels of the PS5 may look wasteful for anything other than aesthetic purposes, they’re also functionally indispensable. Not only they help support the console’s structure, but being removable, they make the inside easier to clean.
We also hear that the curve of the exterior of the PS5 isn’t just something designed freely, but it’s relevant to the internal airflow to ensure that the exhaust of heat from the console is as efficient as possible.
Interestingly, Morisawa-san shares that the original design of the console was top-secret so he couldn’t show it to the engineers, and he himself had to create the shape without initially consulting the engineers himself. After the design was created and it was finally compared with the engineers’ ideas, they matched perfectly, and that was an emotional moment.
He mentions that he was inspired by the aim for a design that wouldn’t interfere with the goals of the engineers. He also wonders whether this time his own love for games played a role. As a player himself, he wanted the PS5 to be heat efficient and quiet.
Lastly, he explained that he wanted the DualSense’s design to be connected with the PS5, which is why the white areas have small triangle, circle, X, and square symbols printed on them. That also comes from his personal love for Easter Eggs, which are also included in other peripheral. He encourage the fans to find them.
In case you missed it, the PS5’s standard edition will cost $499.99, €499.99, £449.99, or 49,980 yen while the Digital Edition is priced at $399.99, €399.99, £359.99, or 39,980 yen.
The first release date for the PS5 will be tomorrow, Nov. 12 in the United States, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea.
Everyone else will have to wait a little more: the console will launch in Europe and in the rest of the world on Nov. 19.
Incidentally, Sony recently announced that it plans to ship more than 7.6 million units by the end of March 2021, beating the PS4’s debut shipments.
You can also check out the console’s launch trailer, a couple of celebrity videos, an unboxing video, and the “ultimate FAQ” published yesterday, spelling all you need to know.
Published: Nov 11, 2020 01:14 pm