Today in dumb things I have opinions about:

Look, I don't want to tell industrial designers how to industrial design, but ugh...

Above: ugh...

I've done my part, if you're still
reading this, that's on you.

Ok, maybe I do want to tell industrial designers how to industrial design. What you're looking at there is a leaked image of a supposed PlayStation 5 slim console which--huh? Yeah, I'm going to opine about the aesthetics of a video game console redesign that may or may not be real, so if that's as tedious to you as it's sounding to me now that I type it out loud, you can bail. I won't mind. In fact, I won't even know. I can't see you. Are you still with me? Yeah, I can't hear you either, but let's say you are.

I can practically hear the particle board
straining under the immense weight.

Like I was saying, a twitter user (in other, similarly strong opinions, I'm still not calling it X) posted some video and pictures of what they claim is the shell of a new, slimmer version of the PlayStation 5 to be called, creatively, the PS5 Slim. And that's super, the original PS5 is unbelievably big and heavy and has almost certainly bowed many an Ikea flat pack TV stand shelf. But from the shots, it still maintains the general design which was, I'm sure you'll recall, compared to a gigantic late 2000's router. 

I mean, look at this tower of nonsense.

Obviously a game console's external appearance isn't necessarily important. It is, as with people, what's on the inside that counts. But unlike people, a video game console has no feelings to injure, so I think we can all agree that the PS5 ranks among the ugliest designs ever. Like, ever. Some would point to the PlayStation 3's resemblance to a George Foreman Grill as the worst design, others might point to the Atari Jaguar with a CD drive and its similarity to a toilet as the worst. Still others call out the US Super Nintendo as an eyesore, but they would be objectively wrong, and heartless. 

Above: butt.

It takes a special kind of person to have strong opinions about what a game console looks like, but I suspect that you too might be such a person, and as such will agree with me that the PS5 is an offense to the eye. Or, in the common parlance, butt. So why then this redesign would carry on the weird, wavy, flared aesthetic that made the original such an object of derision is beyond knowing. Assuming, that is, that this is real. I have some doubts. Lots of people do.

People doing dumb things to get
attention? On the internet? Impossible!

Well, ok, one doubt. While I do believe that PlayStation would double down on its weird and terrible design, the source of the alleged leak is, according to press-start.com, an Australian independent Playstation software developer who was given the empty shell from a "factory source." And it just seems a little suspect that someone who hopes to develop software for Sony would publicize something like this and risk the tech company's ire. It does seem more likely to me that this is just some rando that wants re-tweets or r-ex's or whatever.