Well, well, well, I guess now we know what that event on September 7th is for. Following yesterday’s news story we take a closer look at the PS4 Slim:
Originally spotted on the online UK auction website Gumtree, the PS4 Slim, as it has being dubbed by the media has been reported on across the world.
The ad was initially picked up on Twitter with images of the console later being posted to NeoGAF. The ad has since been removed from the auction site. When asked for comment regarding the removal of the ad Gumtree responded citing that the ad was in breach of their Terms of Use.
The British seller claimed to be selling a genuine, previously unannounced Sony console refresh and listed the PS4 Slim on Gumtree for only £300. Sony, however, have yet to comment on the legitimacy of the product pictured in the ad.
That in mind, an unboxing video posted to Youtube was quickly removed, as were many other videos and their mirrors posted by news outlets. Some of which stated advice from their legal teams as the reason for the video’s removal. Which leads many to believe that there may be an ounce of truth in the photos and footage of the device.
Initially, when first posted the ad featured photos of an unopened box but the ever resourceful internet soldiered on to find out more.
And surprisingly enough, the seller delivered.
Still not convinced of the reality of the seller’s photos, Eurogamer and the Youtube channel ZRZ, in the pursuit of the truth contacted the seller and met up to take a closer look.
Being the diligent journalist I am, I’ve hunted down and seen all the footage there is to see of the supposed PS4 Slim and honestly, for me, the jury is still out.
While many of the photos and footage present what looks like a genuine console refresh, down to the little details; the rubberised TRIANGLE, CIRCLE, X, and SQUARE feet underneath. It is also shown in one of the videos to feature a hole on one side. A feature that ZRZ suggests could be used as an anchor point for a stand.
The images of the box also just aren’t quite high-res enough to read all the information on the back where you’d normally find the “important stuff”. The videos also seem to deliberately skip over the parts that would seal the deal for me: Specifically a look at the manual and the warranty. In fact, one of the pieces of paper pulled out of the box clearly shows the regular old PS4 on it.
Both Eurogamer and ZRZ’s videos show this PS4 Slim booting up to a user select screen but that’s it. Neither video goes any further into the menus and there’s absolutely no footage of a game running on the console, which is something that I would have thought as an obvious must-show.
But on the other hand, the overall design of the slimmed refresh looks similar in style to previous Playstation revisions and the refreshed controller looks legit.
This possible hardware revision does away with the strip light to show the console is on and instead features only one light at the on/off switch that glows blue when turned on. It has also swapped out the touch sensitive buttons in favour of mechanical ones, hopefully putting an end to players accidentally ejecting disks.
The controller shown features a slim light strip at the top of the touchpad; finally allowing players to actually see which colour they are as well as featuring a slightly different finish on the area around the D-pad and buttons. This time opting for a matte finish in place of the glossy finish of its predecessor. The buttons themselves and the thumbsticks shown in the video also seem to be noticeably greyer in colour than the current DualShock controller.
Maybe it’s my jaded scepticism or maybe it’s just the prevalence of 3D printers and Raspberry Pi-like mini computers. But it’s not an outlandish thought to imagine that the box masquerading as the PS4 Slim could have a small computer with a Bluetooth receiver for the controller input and some weights inside to give it some heft.
After all, it’s not been that long since we were all duped by a very convincing Nintendo NX controller. But hey, that’s just me.
Sony is still due to hold it’s event on the 7th of September where they are due to unveil the Playstation Neo, perhaps we’ll know more about the PS4 Slim by then too.
Let us know what you think in the comments section down below, is this really the Playstation 4 slimmed down or is this a big old phoney?
Edit: So it would appear that my old man cynicism has gotten the best of me. Reports online and floating about on Twitter are reporting that wholesalers received the PS4 Slim without any restrictions on the sale of the console and proceeded to do what they normally do: sell them.
@edeng1968 Basically, some wholesalers got them, with no restrictions on sale, so they started selling them immediately. Wouldn’t you? 🙂
— Jackie Townes (@OccultTech) August 25, 2016
The PS4 Slim has also popped up in multiple CEX used hardware and software retail stores across the UK.
Images via: @edeng1968
