Sony's new console will usher in not just a new generation but a change of brand image for PlayStation, says PS4's head designer Tetsu Sumii.

PS4 ditches the curvaceous lines of the PS3 for a more straight-edge look with sharp edges - somewhat like the PS2.

Nintendo, with its latest console Wii U, chose to stick closely to the design and branding style of its previous machine, in an effort to maximise the Wii U's appeal to the enormous Wii user base. But Sony aims to take the opposite approach.

Sumii, who serves as the chief designer of Sony's UX Platform Design Group and lead the design of PS4, thinks the "PlayStation brand image needs to be changed" to mark the start of the next gen.

"When we started the product design for PS4, we didn't start by thinking about what the shape would be. It was more about how we were going to create a new brand identity through the product," he told the PS Blog.

"I just wanted to make a simple object for the living room. Sometimes products are a little too exaggerated. It should be simple. That's my thinking.

"I think the PlayStation brand image needs to be changed a little bit, as it's a new console, and we have to show what we're pointing towards for the future. So I thought it should be one of the most smart, cool, and intelligent products from Sony. Not just from Sony Computer Entertainment, but the company as a whole.

Sony has confirmed a PS4 launch date of November 15 in US and November 29 in Europe and Latin America.

Posted: Oct 10, 2013 7:12 pm
Related Forum: PlayStation Forum

Source: http://www.computerandvideogames.com/433377/ps4-sets-out-to-change-playstation-brand-image-says-designer/