It’s a big yin.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
It’s hard to overestimate just how big the PS5 is.
Sure, you can do the measurements, you can look at the comparison shots, but once this thing is in your house you’ll see: The PS5 is just ridiculously huge. It’s so big that, when I first unboxed the console in my house I was compelled to take multiple photos of the console just… standing next to things.
It turns out that, in the beginning, the console was set to be even bigger.
In a fascinating interview with the Washington Post Yujin Morisawa, the Senior Art Director behind the design of the PS5, revealed that in his first sketches, he intended the PS5 to be even bigger.
“When I started drawing, it was much larger even though I didn’t know what engineering was going to do,” said Morisawa. “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.”
The theme Morisawa had in mind when designing the console was “five dimensions” he revealed, which goes some ways to explaining the sci-fi look of the PS5.
Now, Morisawa believes, the console is the “perfect size”.
“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.”
You can read our full review of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X here.