The PS5 Is A Big Console For A Good Reason

When it was revealed last month, many people were surprised by the striking design of the PS5, which abandons the black box design of recent console generations for bold curves and a striking black-and-white color scheme. While it didn't take long for players to start making memes about the appearance of the console, others have noted its increased size over its predecessors, the PS4 and even the original "fat" PS3. That giant size is, according to one Sony employee, because the console generates an enormous amount of heat. With that much power comes a need to keep the system cool, and a huge case was necessary.

When one commenter asked on LinkedIn why the console is so bulky--as spotted by VG247--PlayStation's vice president of UX design Matt MacLaurin replied: "Thermals. This gen is little supercomputers. While the 7nm process delivers amazing heat performance for the power, the power is very extreme."

However, there might be other reasons for the large size. A leaked patent seems to suggest that Sony is building a cartridge that might work with the PS5. Some observers have speculated that it's an external solid-state drive that will slot into the console for memory management, but there's no official word if that's the case. We still don't know how much the PS5 will cost, or the PS5's full line-up of games, but odds are likely that more details will come out over the coming weeks. Most of its announced first-party games are also not going to be ready for launch. However, it should receive plenty of third-party support out of the gate. This includes sports games like Madden and NBA 2K, and presumably the Call of Duty series. Some of these will be cross-generational releases, and certain publishers are also allowing players to upgrade for free when the newer version becomes available.

The Xbox Series X is also a huge console, but it sports a PC-like form factor that is more familiar to players. The console, like the PS5, can be placed horizontally or vertically. It doesn't look like it will require a stand to do so, however.

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