The Original PlayStation Vita Design Was Thinner, Says Designer

But, as with all electronics, the system's final design wasn't its only design.

In an interview with CVG, Takashi Sogabe — head of Sony’s Corporate Design Centre and the man behind the original Walkman — has revealed that the system was much thinner in its original form.

"Speaking not only about the PS Vita, we always have a battle between engineers and designers. The original design of the PS Vita, for example, was very much thinner than the current retail product," he said.

"From a designer's point of view, thinner is better-looking, but the engineers wanted to put all the features in."

Sogabe continued that he would have preferred to have used metal in the PS Vita's construction, as opposed to plastic, and that, from a design perspective, the system's analogue sticks are not optimally placed. (Although they feel great.)

"The main effort for me was to make this product happen. The buttons and analogue sticks were perhaps not in the best position from a design point of view, but we felt they were the best solution from a publisher's point of view,” he explained.

"As a designer, I wanted to use metal rather than plastic, but because there are a lot of antennae in the body, we couldn't use metal.”

PlayStation Vita's out in less than a month (!!!) in North America and Europe.