Slightly Mad Studios has another update for us. The studio wants to break into the console market within the next five years, with specs that will beat out whatever Sony and Microsoft have planned for their next-gen boxes. The first concept design looked too ‘out there' to really pull off, so the design has now been revised to something a bit more sensible.
Over the years, the console market has widdled down to just three big players- Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. We are expecting next-gen consoles from Sony and Microsoft towards the end of 2020, but Slightly Mad Studios wants to compete with these next gen systems with one of its own. Over on Twitter, Ian Bell, Slightly Mad Studios CEO, has been tweeting about the company’s goals for its own console. The first concept design has already been completely revised, turning it from a large M shaped box into something a bit more traditional:
The public have spoken and we've listened. This is the design we're going with. It might be slightly amended over time… Thanks all for your responses which have helped to guide us. pic.twitter.com/3dadUkz4Ue
— Ian Bell SMS Group (@bell_sms) January 11, 2019
The console itself is now a slim box that can be sat vertically or horizontally. It also has a touch screen display on the front that will show notifications or show the title of the game you are currently playing. This is obviously still in the concept phase, so this might not end up making it to the final hardware revision.
There is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Mad Box. We know that the team wants to offer 4K gaming and a free game engine for developers to use. Support for a wide range of peripherals is also planned, in addition to VR support. It is a very ambitious undertaking and it looks like we'll continue to hear little details over the next few years as we get closer to the planned launch date, which currently falls in late 2022-2023.
KitGuru Says: If nothing else, Slightly Mad Studios will be spicing up console news for the next couple of years. The new concept design still looks better than the original but plenty of questions still linger.