It looks like Sony might finally be catching up to third-party and Etsy PS5 faceplate artists.
First reported by OPAttack earlier this month, the company seemingly secured a patent titled ‘Cover for Electronic Device’ with diagrams that, shock horror, look exactly like the faceplates of a PS5. In line with their release of two new Dualsense controllers, which are red and black respectively, it only makes sense that Sony has actively decided to create faceplates to match. I guess it’s better than releasing entirely separate coloured consoles to match the controllers, which would’ve been unlikely anyway considering their struggle to even have their base console readily available to buy.
The PS5, which came out last year, has two removable white faceplates on each side, as shown in Sony’s teardown video posted last year. With the release of this video and the removal of these faceplates, fans made the assumption that PlayStation would shortly release official faceplates to make your PS5 really pop. However, this didn’t happen straight away, so third party brands like DBrand took matters into their own hands, which led to Sony gracing them with a cease and desist letter.
Could this possibly be a move to squash the market in preparation for their own accessory release? Perhaps. What would the official PS5 faceplates even look like? Let’s look to the New Nintendo 3DS.
The Nintendo Faceplates
The New Nintendo 3DS was released on November 21, 2014 (happy anniversary!), with official Nintendo faceplates being made available over time following its release. The faceplates were a mixture of cutesy bright designs and themed designs based on Nintendo IPs like Mario and Animal Crossing. Considering the popularity of DBrand’s plain black design and the red and black Dualsense controllers, it would make sense for Sony to release generic block colour designs. Also taking into consideration the planned releases of console exclusives such as God of War: Ragnarok, Horizon: Forbidden West and Spider-Man 2, they’ve got a fair few options when it comes to faceplate designs based on their IPs.
Nintendo also collaborated with Japanese pop star and designer Kyary Pamyu Pamyu on faceplates designed by the icon herself. This collaboration was well received, and the faceplates themselves were pretty hard to come by during the NN3DS’s run, which would make collaboration with well-known designers an interesting possibility for Sony. I remember when these faceplates were announced and I was desperate to get my hands on the eyeball design, which I never ended up getting sadly.
The variety of the faceplates and the ability for players to make their consoles unique was an incredibly popular concept – something that can be seen with the PS5, considering the efforts made by third parties to create and sell their own faceplates and skins for the consoles. The NN3DS faceplates were also reasonably affordable, which is one of the downsides of the third-party options for PS5. Considering the hefty price of the console itself, it would be nice to not have to pay a fortune to customise it.
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