The PS5 has gotten off to a pretty good start in its first year on the market, and the future of the console is about to be even more colorful than it was before. After insistence from fans and rampant lawsuits against companies that beat Sony to the punch, official console covers for the PS5 that come in a wide range of colors have been announced. This reveal coincides with the announcement of new DualSense controllers that will match the console covers, giving PlayStation 5 owners a major boost when customizing their gaming experience.
These official PS5 console covers are a long time coming, and while they'll give the console an unprecedented level of customization compared to previous generations, they could also spell trouble for something else that fans have been requesting. It's no secret that the PS5's design is unorthodox compared to most other game consoles today and in past generations. As such, some gamers have been hoping that there will be a revision to the console's design in the form of a sort of "PS5 Slim" sooner rather than later, but the reveal of these console covers could mean that won't be happening for quite some time.
The Issue With The PS5's Design
When it comes to console designs, the PS5 is certainly one of the most bold that has been seen in some time. The console itself is massive, and the large fins that make the PS5's covers only add to its size. While it's rather novel, it has also proved to be impractical for a number of reasons. Unless gamers have an excess of space in whatever gaming setup they may have, the PS5 can be incredibly difficult to make space for in both the horizontal or vertical orientation. Further, if gamers do opt to place the console on its side, the curvature of the covers can make it unstable, especially when it comes to the PS5 with the disc drive.
While it may seem superficial, there is some purpose to the gargantuan size of the PS5. Many PlayStation fans are already familiar with the PS4's tendency to overheat, and the loud fans that were put in place to mitigate that. In the case of the PS5, Sony had no choice but to take this into consideration with how much more power the console puts out. This resulted in the PS5 getting a massive fan towards the top of the console, as well as a large heatsink that takes up much of the internal space. If Sony could find an alternate way to cool down the console with a slimmer revision, however, it would fulfill the wishes of a lot of gamers that simply don't have the space for the current PS5.
How The PS5 Console Covers Could Hinder A Console Revision
Now that the PS5 is getting official console covers, it seems that Sony is invested in the current design of the console until further notice. With these covers releasing a year after the launch of the PS5, and many of them not releasing until well into next year, Sony doesn't seem to be in much of a rush to provide any kind of hardware revision. If Sony were to release a new version of the PS5 next year, for example, it could be at the expense of the sales that could be made on the covers. With how difficult producing the current PS5 still is, there is likely to be more immediate profit from these covers than a whole new console.
Although this could be discouraging for those that have wanted a console revision from the very beginning, there is some hope in the fact that this generation of gaming is still very new. As Sony gets a hold on production and possibly develops more efficient ways to handle the heat output of the PS5, there could be some kind of console revision in as soon as a couple of years. For the time being, however, the PS5 is still very difficult to grab in stores, so these console covers could be a way to make the effort of buying one a little more worthwhile for those who like to personalize their gaming devices.
