PlayStation 3. Brand New Hardware Hardcore

For me it sways between:



Wow that's big, and:



Wow that's sexy.

Bottom line: There the flip were the designers of this when the PlayStation 3 was being inked in?:



I'm not saying the PSX is the pinnacle of electronics design.

I am saying that when shown in early 2003, it was.

It also showed Sony's ability to make a massive box of components look more than attractive. Look, it was Teh B16!:



Cutting through any fanboy bullshit:

I think, for my personal taste, the PlayStation 3 is fine. I think it's a missed opportunity. One could argue the PlayStation 3 will be Sony's most important device ever launch, combining a great deal of what it does as a company into one enabling box. This being the case, it should have been the best design ever. Again, the design is not a disaster.

I actually believe (trying very hard not to sound like another apologist for all things PlayStation 3) that it might be somewhat ahead of its time.

None of us are world-leading electronics designers. They might have the design future-proofed for the coming five or six years, at least according to their projected movement of the ergonomic/aesthetic zeitgeist.

Might be Emperor's New Clothes speak, might be bang on the money.

I reckon that had it been a Microsoft product, there would have been a different reaction to it, that's for sure. Or a Nintendo product for that matter.

Nintendo fanboys have the least to say.

The Wii is just catching up with what Sony designers were putting out in 2002. See the above PSX for proof!

I hear you Tiger. I really couldn't care how PS3 looks, its not bad or spectacularly good either, but then neither was the DS design, its about the games in the end.

The Wii design is very PS2 but I think its that way because the GC tech has gone done in size and price overtime, any upgraded bits are then added or something like that. In otherwords think of the Wii design as nintendo's slimline PS2, as in little has changed inside but the cosmetic outside has. Four pad ports are still there on Wii despite this.

The 360 design is a vast improvement over the block that we call Xbox, and I commend MS on listening to feedback on it and changing accordingly. I'm glad I'll be able to put my 360 and Wii next to each other with no space issues.

So whats new about it? Sorry but that title is completly misleading, no matter how many times I read the title and read the article there is nothing about the machine that makes it anything but new...

I second that emotion. "Indisputable(?!?) design classic", my ass.

Pfff - who is it up to to define what looks good and what is bad? One thing I know is, the general public's opinion is predictable and boring.

Anyway, what I like about Nintendo's design is that everything they design looks purposefully-bad, which is a philosophy I like - function is more important, and they make that obvious. It's like why I liked the Gamecube design - so bad that it's good - the same with the original DS.

The PS3 design I never disliked - it did look weird, but you have to imagine it in context. There's no point making it look like anything else that's already been made or it gives the impression of being old technology. The Spiderman font, however, is rubbish. Windings is the way forward, and that is that. If you don't believe me, I can't be bothered to upload a picture - just try it out in Wordpad and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, the original XBox design, I really cannot believe how people can like it, I swear. It's huge, it's dull, generic, looks like a fat blob. Sums up Microsoft well, I suppose - it does what you expect of it. It doesn't look at all stylish or futuristic, or retro, and the only thing the design says about it is that it's big. Seriously, I am curious to see reasons why people like it, simply because I hate it.

My favourite console ever - including design - is the Dreamcast. There is nothing wrong with it, and it is a Sega-Martyr - legendary. No wonder when people saw the PS2 design after that, they thought it was s**t.

yeah, practicality and functionality comes foremost in their designs which i highly approve of, i was just pointing out that nintendo still make nice looking products when they can be arsed and arent total retards living in the past design-wise.

i dont think the gamecube is a massively beautiful console, but i think it looks better than an 80s vcr or lisa rileys lunchbox.

i guess loooooads of people will disagree with me there

but the dslite, there is a truly undeniable sex machine the likes of which have never been held in the hands of men before

The Dreamcast is an even more impressive feat when you consider the Saturn...

There's still something I can't put my finger on that's off about the PS3 design. I can look at my 360 and feel content, as it looks nice. I could do the same with my Dreamcast. I sure as heck couldn't with my PS2 or Xbox.

The original X-Box is hands down the worst design ever. Even the Turbo Duo looked better!
http://www.atari7800.com/turbo/webimages/core_duo_1.png

I thought the PS2 design was awesome. Front loading drives, or slide in drives a la PS3 for that matter, are the most practical design ever. Top loaders like your PS1, Dreamcast, and Saturn were not the best design. Although I thought so at the time. That was before my system collection grew to more than two and my entertainment center grew to more than neat stacking.

I don't see what's so bad about the PS3 besides the lack of font innovation, which is a big mistake. It's sleek and probably just as big as the 360.

As for the Nintendo design bashing, remember Nintendo caters to kids. These system are made for them! Not us. We play them because they have excellent games on them. If it's not kid proof, it's not Nintendo. Which is probably one of the reasons for the attachment to the game carts.

I still think the PS3 looks like a 70s toaster, no matter how much funky red lighting they splash behind it. It just... the gloss, looks like polished metal. And the black trimmings and random pointed edges... it just screams toaster.

I like the xbox cause it was represntative of what you where buying. A large, american muscle car of a game console. Sure you could get a nice looking console that had ok graphics, but the X-BOX with its heavy handed hard hitting type "cool" name and over powered innards made perfect sense in a giant black monolithic box with a huge x carved into it.

It's was an american console that didnt try to be japanese, they where liek we are the biggest baddest mofo's around and peopel need to knwo that just by lookign at it.

It that sense, i feel it succeds wonderfully.
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And thus is why they will never succeed in Japan.

Also the top was curved for no f**king reason. Minus 10,000 american muscle points for not being at least 1% ergonomic. The damn thing is an eyesore. Just because it wanted to be a large pile of noisy s**t in a black and green box and succeeded, doesn't mean people have to like it.

ergonomic? do you even know what the word means? Go ahead and look it up...

Now that you do, then tell me why the word has next to zero relevance when speaking of a console(itself)...by the way, the PS2 was even less ergonomic, yet I understand that sold quite well in Japan...

and oh yeah, PS3, top is even more curved...

Another excellent example of why i get so anoyed arguing with you... i dont recal saying anyone had to like it. Infact i was quite understanding of those who don't.

As for the curved top, I have an entertainment center of sorts and it has shelves... one for each unit! crazy i know. Since i am 26yo i no longer have my consoles stack on shelves made out of cynderblocks and 2x4's so the curved top, while not ideal for some, never bothered me.

Also Roi is right, ergonomic is a poorly chosen word. "Practical" would hae suited your purposes i think. :/
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I wasn't singling anyone out in particular, but the whole thread has been about how ugly game consoles are. Just wanted to burst some people's bubbles who were still clinging to the idea that the X-Box was actually a good design.

Also the PS3 is very much curved, but at least it's sleek and slim so it's a bit pardoned for that one. The X-Box was mammothly large AND had a curved top for no reason. The PS3 at least has good asthetics to back it up.