Unbelievably, the PS5 could have been even bigger than it is
The PlayStation 5 is –I believe – what the kids would call "an absolute chonker," but Sony's machine could have been even larger.
That's according to Sony Interactive Entertainment's senior art director Yujin Morisawa, who told The Washington Post that he opted to go bigger rather than smaller with early designs for the hardware.
This was because he knew that the PS5 would require a sizeable amount of power and therefore keeping the machine cool was a primary focus for the design. Morisawa said that the design had to help air flow and make sure there was room for the heat sink. At the initial design phase, he wasn't sure what the engineering team could do to shrink things down, so he decided to make something larger than something smaller.
"I didn’t know what to expect in the beginning," Morisawa said.
"I knew it was going to be larger because I know how much power there was going to be, so I knew how much air flow you would need and how much space for a heat sink. In the beginning, when I started drawing, it was much larger even though I didn’t know what engineering was going to do. It’s kind of funny that engineering actually told me it’s too big. So, I actually had to shrink it down a little bit from the first drawing.
"We wanted to get it much smaller, so it’s the perfect size right now. If I made it thinner, there would be less air flow to it. It would disturb the player while they are playing. Form-factor wise, I drew a perfect line around it and tried hit the perfect size."
The PlayStation 5 has already drawn some criticism and mockery for its size as the hardware is much bigger than its rivals, the Xbox Series X and Nintendo Switch. Even though it is an absolute unit, previews for the console pointed out that the hardware is very quiet, certainly an indication that Sony has succeeded in keeping its machine cool.
In our review for the PS5, we said that it really felt like a next-generation experience. Across the board, the reception to Sony's new console has been pretty warm.
PlayStation 5 launches on November 12 or 19, depending on where in the world you live. Everything you need to know about Sony's new console is right here.