10 Amazing Hidden Console Details You Didn't Know
Squint hard enough and you'll go cross-eyed.
Sony's PlayStation 5 is now agonisingly close, so it's only natural that a watery-mouthed gaming public is eager to learn as much as possible about it.
This collective microscope trained onto the new hardware has already revealed one juicy little secret. That texture which adorns the spangly new 'Dualsense' controller? On closer inspection - and with some Rick Deckard-style zoom-and-enhance - reveals that it's actually made up of tiny little PlayStation symbols. It's utterly beautiful, and you just want to rub your face against it (not in a weird way). I suspect it has the same consistency as a car's dashboard.
This isn't the first time Sony have included a tiny, tangible reference to the PlayStation's iconography on one of their consoles. The PS4 Slim's rubber feet were likewise in the shape of triangles, squares, crosses and circles. It was equally adorable, and something you'd never notice unless you accidentally upended it.
That said, the Japanese giants aren't the only company to add such flourishes to their hardware. Going right back to the Atari VCS' wooden panels - whose weight indicated the model - console manufacturers have been leaving all sorts of jazzy hidden features about their hardware. From the useful to the ornamental, these are the snazziest.
10. The Dreamcast's Secret BIOS
The Dreamcast has a fond place in many SEGA fan's heart not just for its preternatural hardware and wonderfully diverse (if somewhat limited) library, but for just how delightfully quirky it was. From its quixotic name and twee controller wire clip, to rocket-powered fans and a visual memory card that was also a Tamagotchi, there was just an ineffable charm to the console that we rarely see these days.
The BIOS was no exception, all bouncy icons and satisfyingly 'gamey' confirmation bleeps, a far cry from the stern and sleek style of today's electronic 'entertainment centres'. It also harboured a little secret, hidden by SEGA right up until the Dreamcast bowed out.
Their Japanese valediction, 2004's Puyo Puyo Fever, contained a little snippet of VMU code which when installed would transform the Dreamcast's usual flat menu at the press of the START button. Taking on a deep blue shade with spiffy reflections, the BIOS could now be twisted and rotated to your heart's content. It served precisely zero function besides as a reminder of SEGA's winsomeness.