As you can see in the above image, the new 1 TB Call of Duty: Black Ops III PlayStation 4 is super hideous. It's one of the ugliest in a long line of ugly themed PS4s, because for some reason nobody can take the relatively attractive console and make it look cool with a skin.
I mean, even the Star Wars: Battlefront themed PS4 is super ugly---just look at it!
Talk about a missed opportunity. This could have been a tasteful Storm Trooper unit, white with black stripes and a logo. Understated and cool. So far the only two custom PS4 bundles have been the Destiny: Taken King bundle here:
And the retro 20th Anniversary Ps4 here:
The rest of the custom PS4 bundles, from Batman Arkham Knight to Bloodborne have been really humdrum at best. It's puzzling.
On the other hand, Sony's done a great job coming up with cool PS4 gamepads. I really like the Black Ops III gamepad that comes with that eyesore of a console:
Even the Star Wars: Battelfront gamepad is pretty sweet:
And all these new gold, silver and clear gamepads are pretty cool too, as is the 20th Anniversary gamepad.
So what gives? Why is it so hard to come up with an attractive console design, but apparently so simple to make the PS4 gamepad look cool in a variety of ways?
I think it's because designers are taking the easy way out. They see the top of the PS4 as a blank slate. "Let's just draw Darth Vader on here and call it a day!" they think to themselves. "Look, if we chop this up in to three parts we can have the Roman numeral III just so!"
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But this ignores the fact that for many gamers, the PS4 lays flat with the top often likely obscured by shelving. The top of the unit isn't the most likely area to be seen (thank goodness in the aforementioned cases!) It's the front panel that matters the most, which is why the white Taken King console and the grey 20th Anniversary PS4 will look more striking.
Meanwhile, the gamepad doesn't have room for gross and gaudy designs. It's just a matter of combining different colors for the buttons and thumbsticks and body. That's a lot easier.
Hopefully this trend doesn't last long, though. Good custom bundles are fun, even if you never buy one yourself. It's a shame so few have made it to this generations best-selling system.
