Early this morning a number of images appeared on gaming forum NeoGAF claiming to be a new, slimmer version of the PlayStation 4 carrying the codename Monolith. We’ve included the images here for your scrutiny.
Sony has been slimming down and re-releasing its console during every hardware generation since the original PlayStation. That first PlayStation became the tiny PSOne, the PlayStation 2 got a similar, tiny re-release using the name PlayStation 2 Slim. But with the PS3 we got two slimmed down models in the form of the Slim and then Super Slim. Inevitably this will also be the case for the PS4, but isn’t it a bit early for Sony to be considering a new SKU?
Typically a slim model console takes 3-6 years to appear. We’re only just entering the second year of the original PS4 being on sale, however, the components inside the console are much more common than in previous machines, so it could be optimizations have already been made that bring Sony a significant cost saving they can’t ignore. And that’s what Slim models are all about. Sure, we as consumers may desire a smaller machine, but Sony wants to maximize profit as quickly as possible.
This PS4 Slim design looks much more basic than the current PS4, but it’s also significantly smaller while still able to be used vertically in a stand. The NeoGAF community is calling these images out as fake, but they may just be planning phase documents for the Slim that will arrive, maybe in 2016-17.
What do you think? The general consensus seems to be it’s just too early in the lifecycle to be anything other than a well put together fake.