I’ve had my PlayStation 5 since launch day back in November, and I’ve decided to keep mine standing upright with my current setup. Both because that’s how it best fits and because the system actually doesn’t follow some more conventional console design philosophies when it comes to its disc drive. I didn’t realize that was going to be a problem until I put my copy of Demon’s Souls in and it was “unreadable,” but that was because I was putting it in upside down, not realizing the system’s disc drive was built and placed differently from most consoles I’d played over the years. Well, it looks like my momentary disorientation with the video game box was well-founded because apparently, someone at Sony has the same problem. Or at least, that’s what it seems like from one of the company’s latest ads.

The short ad features a father telling his son the story of God of War (2018) to help him get to sleep. That was the first red flag that this gamer dad might not have the best judgment. Because that’s an M-rated game, and this kid probably needs a few more years behind him before he’s ready to hear about how Kratos does murder. But after his real-life Boy falls asleep, gamer dad decides he wants to go hang out with his video game Boy, too. So he heads to the living room and plays God of War on his PlayStation 5, which is…upside down. You can see a screenshot of it above, but the upside-down console shows up at about the 25-second mark in the ad below.

https://twitter.com/Sony/status/1413161495807016964

For the commercial’s purposes, it’s unlikely the console is even connected to the television, so no one’s making a real gaming setup here. But it is funny that the PlayStation 5 that’s being advertised here isn’t placed in a way that would be conducive to how it actually works. The disc drive on the PS5 is weird, not necessarily in its placement, but in how it’s oriented to the box itself. For those who don’t have a disc version of the console, the disc drive actually requires you to place discs pointing face up inward into the console, which means the side with the disc drive is on the bottom when the device is placed horizontally. Which doesn’t really look right, so it’s a totally understandable mistake that someone on set would assume the discs wouldn’t be placed at the bottom of an already top-heavy console.

In other news:

Anyway, I hope that gamer dad’s discs are doing alright. Sometimes putting discs in a device that’s not sitting properly can result in disc damage. Not really eager to test that out on my PS5, though. Maybe gamer dad can tell his son a more appropriate story than God of War about how you should place your consoles in the correct position, lest you lose video games in the process.

Don't Worry Sony, I Don't Know How a PS5 is Supposed to Stand Either

The console's disc drive placement is unconventional.

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