Sony reveals the PlayStation 5 — and it’s gorgeous

Sony at last revealed what the PlayStation 5 looks like in its reveal livestream. Not only are we getting a beautiful white console that looks very different from its PlayStation 4 predecessor, but we’re getting two versions of it as well.

…and here it is. Thanks for watching! #PS5 pic.twitter.com/pOzHc31X3G

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) June 11, 2020

While it was assumed Sony would finally show its hand during the stream, there was always the ever-present possibility that it would continue to be cagey about it — after all, it’s spent the last several months keeping the drip-feed of news as languid as possible. Indeed, Sony spent most of the stream sneaking bizarre animated footage of the PlayStation icons in between the game reveals. I think the plan was to get us to despair of ever seeing the console, and it sure worked in my case. Eventually — finally — it got to the point at the very end of the show.

The PlayStation 5 is a sleek, white beauty that complements the DualSense controller very well. It looks like it’d go very well with the PlayStation VR headset. It was presented vertically, and the design makes it difficult to tell whether or not it could be laid horizontally. Comparisons to the Xbox Series X’s black refrigerator shape spring immediately to mind. Compared with the bog-standard black-box design of both PS4 and XB1, these two consoles look remarkably different. I saw some comparing the PS5 to a router and… yeah, okay, I see the resemblance. But I kinda dig the Streamline Moderne combination of curves and sharp angles. Heck, at least it’s something to talk about.

Not only are we getting the typical, disc-based console, but we’re also getting a PlayStation 5 Digital Edition — essentially the disc-less little brother we all surmised the Series X was going to have (see: Anaconda and Lockhart). With the exception of the disc drive, the two consoles appear to be identical. Sony also showed off some first-party accessories like a media remote, headphones, and a camera — the latter of which makes me wonder if they’re going to make a push for more VR visibility closer to the console’s release.

Now of course the big item was missing from the reveal: namely, the price. It seems Sony doesn’t want to be the first to blink in its game of chicken with Microsoft — which is frustrating but kind of expected at this point. But if it’s not going to reveal the price now, I’m not sure when it’s going to.