English 361 - Consoles Final

The Visual Rhetoric of...

Video Game Consoles

Images for educational purposes only.

An English 361 Final Project brought to you by Rob Larsen.

Today

Anyone that doesn’t think the physical construction of a console is a big deal to manufactures, developers, and consumers need only look at May 12th, 2005 to find out how much difference it actually makes. This was the day that Microsoft partnered with MTV to watch the new Xbox be unveiled. This entire show on MTV was specifically designed to see what the Xbox 360 looked like. Not a giant demo of the new technology, not a big rant about the new games and producers that would be gracing Microsoft’s new system. Literally an entire start studded event to show the world the final design of the console they would be playing. While it isn’t exactly unusual for new products to go through big hype events like this, it wasn’t exactly commonplace in the console gaming market. This was the type of red carpet that gets rolled out for car shows, and for that matter cars that cost upwards of $50,000, or can save millions of gallons of gas a year. Microsoft however rolled out the red carpet just to introduce the world to “the dawn of a new era in entertainment,” where “millions of game fanatics around the globe came together … for the televised unveiling of the Xbox 360” which was broadcast on MTV.

Xbox 360

Microsoft designed the Xbox 360 with a few things in mind. The first was that they’d scale back a bit on the oversized nature of the first generation Xbox. The new console, much like the PlayStation 2, could be used on its side or laying flat, giving it more versatility in home entertainment units. The first edition of the console also saw many subtle design elements that would make the unit more notable. The sides of the Xbox 360 actually curve slightly inward, giving it a tall (or long on its side) and slim look. The console is still fairly large, as consoles go, but it now felt smaller and its ability to play upright allowed people to keep it in places besides their floor. The disc tray is chrome plated, giving a generally all white platform a nice eye-catching feature when someone looks upon it. The memory card docks were moved from the controller to the console itself, but they are covered by trap door style plastic. The console also includes two front USB ports for controllers, but they find themselves covered and discreet as well. The way the new Xbox power button and jewel lights up as it powers on is all part the art behind developing this new console.

The removable hard drive on the top of the unit is actually sloped towards the back of the console, giving it a look that screams fast. The extra components like the additional USB port for wireless internet, the hardwire Ethernet port and so on are all well hidden around the back of the console. The vents for heat are small holes that blend in almost seamlessly to the rest of the unit. Everything about the console is designed to look sharp, to be recognized, and to say “This is a Microsoft Xbox 360, you would like to purchase one too.”

PlayStation 3

The PlayStation 3, just like the Xbox 360, changed significantly from the unit it replaced. The PlayStation 1 and 2 were both technologically advanced and well designed to have lasting market impact, but they were both rectangular. The PlayStation 3 was unveiled and it shocked many people in the gaming world. It was low, it was cut, rounded off like the wing of a fighter jet. It was also incredibly simple. The console has the PlayStation logo just below the disk tray, which no longer slides out, but inputs like a car’s in dash CD receiver. The side of the console has the name, PlayStation 3 in the same silver text that creates the trim of the unit. For the most part beyond that, it’s just black. The design elements in the unit are highly futuristic, the hardware the backs it is incredible, but Sony stuck with the simple display approach, and for many consumers it worked. Sony has not been able to sell as well this time around however, some blame competition, some blame game availability, and some do in fact blame the fact that the unit looks like “a George Foreman grill.”

Wii

Nintendo returned to mainstream market success with its newest entry to the video game console world, the Wii. The Wii is small, its portable, and its incredibly simple. That’s exactly what Nintendo was going for with this console. The front of the unit itself actually resembles the controller (the WiiMote) while it sits in an entertainment unit. The Wii is very thin, and can (almost) literally bet put anywhere. Aside from a light gray base and text, the only variation is the disk tray, which is a slide model similar to the PS3, has a blue glow when the console is turned on. Even though the Wii is so simple, it still makes a statement with its physical unit. Nintendo was trying to go back to a simpler console. The Wii is fun, light, and even a little playful. It does not make the bold fashion statements that many of the consoles up to this generation had worked so hard to set up. By doing this the Wii has created its own style, almost an anti-style, which makes it just as recognizable to a consumer as any other console.

With the development, the launch party, and the 360, Microsoft ushered in the seventh generation of video game units that consumers can buy in their homes. Sony would soon follow suit with a new unit of its own, the PlayStation 3, and Nintendo would come back as they have time and time again, this time with the Wii. It may be hard to fathom how much a statement the physical makeup of something really, well, makes, but not only did Microsoft spend millions developing the actual structure behind the new Xbox console, they launched a series of faceplates to go along with it. The unit is the chosen one out of over 20 rejected models, and on top of that Microsoft is willing to let you customize the face of your new 360. When they said “the elegant design features a breakthrough wireless controller and an array of Faces, interchangeable faceplates that let gamers personalize their console,” they weren’t kidding, and the only added to the process that had started many, many years ago.

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