Patron Art Enthusiast August 2020 (Patreon)

We're creeping up on Fall, and the launch of some next-gen consoles (if they ever actually go up for preorder...), which means its time to start laying some ground work for a new generation of the Console War. And you get to be the very first to see those soldier designs take shape.

Now that we've finally gotten a good look at both the Series X and the PS5, I could sit down and start brainstorming what the next gen soldiers would look like, and I'll admit... it was a challenge.

On the one side, the Series X is literally as plain as can be. It's a box. The controller is similarly plain. And while I'm fine with that for an actual console that sits under my TV, there wasn't a lot to work with as far as translating design language into a living soldier.

Firmly on the other side of the spectrum, the PS5 almost had TOO MUCH to work with, and not a lot of it good... The odd curves, split design, narrow build barely make an attractive console, much less a humanoid being.

On top of all of that, the next gen Console War represents an opportunity to tackle some of my core issues with the designs of the previous generation, mostly on individuality and facial expressiveness. It's a chance to sit down and make sure that not only do the two sides look distinct, but also that I've left myself some wiggle room to make individual soldiers look distinct.

Larger eyes give more options for expressing emotions, while a more familiar humanoid shape to the head and feature placement allows for easier addition of things like helmets, glasses and facial hair to differentiate squad members if need be.

For the Series X, I leaned into the simplicity of the console, and the box turned at an angle like we see in the promos gives us the shape for the head. From there the simplicity of the console's design is reflected in an overall straightforward uniform of solid colors. As plain as the controller is, there wasn't much to utilize from its design without getting super literal in the analogs and buttons.

Using the "console as a head" theme, I had to take more artistic liberties with the PS5, keeping the overall design but altering the shape into something more visually pleasing. I continued down the body by incorporating the DualSense's design language (the only element of the PS5's design that I love) into the collar/shoulder area. The PS5 soldier's uniform is a little more sci-fi than the Series X, reflecting that console's edgier and more unique look than its counterpart.

These are my first passes at these soldiers, and I may tweak and iterate on the designs leading into the fall when I work on the actual end of the current console war, and its bleeding into the next generation.