Slightly Mad Studios barely dropped the news that they are working on an independent console to take on the next generation of consoles that the company's CEO, Ian Bell, released the first image renders of the console on Twitter:

Failed to fetch tweet https://twitter.com/bell_sms/status/1081170180582006785​

It seems like Bell could not hold his excitement to share these designs as images of early design builds were initially expected to be released in four to six weeks' time.

The console, called the Mad Box, is projected to ship in around three years and is being boasted as "most powerful console ever built" with 4K and VR support.

What do you think of those early designs? Some more fine-tuning is required or you'd be happy to own a console that looks like that?

UPDATE

After sharing the first render of the Mad Box, Ian Bell took to Twitter again to share some more possible looks of his company's upcoming console. Which one do you prefer?

Failed to fetch tweet https://twitter.com/bell_sms/status/1081774150803349504
Failed to fetch tweet https://twitter.com/bell_sms/status/1082036334015868929
Failed to fetch tweet https://twitter.com/bell_sms/status/1082233744797270016
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SOURCE

 

[pedro702]

Yeah well execpt a very fast PC 2 years from now will cost 1000$+... So I'm sure they will have something similar to current Xone\PS4 a full AMD SOC in a motherboard made with just the needed stuff and the rest cut...

They actually told when they buy a lot of it becomes cheaper... So I'm still thinking it will be a SOC based on Ryzen CPU cores with some kind of next gen AMD GPU inside.

If they are wanting to stay ahead of Next Gen consoles at around the same price I don't expect them to just throw a Intel I9 9900K it and put a RTX2080ti in it 4 sure... Even a ~500$ PC now can't do much in terms of gaming, PS5 and next Xbox will push the boundaries once again for console hardware and the only way to do it is with full custom hardware based on PC hardware with features cut to lower costs.

i predict this thing wont even be released, it will stay on limbo and then cancelled, i mean what is their track record producing hardware? nothing and games? well they released like 5 or 6 racing games and that is all...

 

[weatMod]

WTF is that neon nightmare?
it looks like a cheap PC case you would buy at 5 below

 

[Andalitez]

Homebrew guys /s

 

[guily6669]

i predict this thing wont even be released, it will stay on limbo and then cancelled, i mean what is their track record producing hardware? nothing and games? well they released like 5 or 6 racing games and that is all...

That is a very valid point... I also don't have much faith in them.

On the NFS which was the most known game was under EA so I don't think they won much...

I also don't think they won that much gazillions of $ with Project Cars, when it was announced it got me crazy, but then mehh I just played online for a bit and did time trials all the time as I didn't like the career.

But if the console really comes out the way they are picturing it, it will probably still be a beast, but exclusives..........

 

[pedro702]

That is a very valid point... I also don't have much faith in them.

On the NFS which was the most known game was under EA so I don't think they won much...

I also don't think they won that much gazillions of $ with Project Cars, when it was announced it got me crazy, but then mehh I just played online for a bit and did time trials all the time as I didn't like the career.

But if the console really comes out the way they are picturing it, it will probably still be a beast, but exclusives..........

if you read their interviews they say they aren't making exclusives or paying any studio to make exclusives for them lol, so yeah if they make project cars 4(in 3 years i guess since 3 is next year) they will still release them on ps5 and xbox whatever so yeah the incentive to even get this "console" keeps diminishing.

 

[KingVamp]

See. Look at design 4. Consoles can look different without looking completely mad.

 

[FR0ZN]

Wow these look like pure and unfiltered bullshit.
I thought Alienware devices looked stupid, but these designs top everything.

Where are you going to place this device? In your livingroom?

 

[wormdood]

i dont know why everyone is hating this based on what it wont be (or the specs it wont have) . . . nintendo proved time and time again that amazing hardware is not needed if they can achieve/secure a few good ip's they would be golden . . . also while on the topic of nintendo they may be leaving the console market by the time the next generation comes by ... i can totally see them trusting a tiny no-name software companies underpowered console before even considering releasing a mario and/or a pokemon game on a sony and/or a microsoft console

 

[Bladexdsl]

update: it doesn't matter what they make it look like it's going to be shit regardless

 

[Taleweaver]

I'm not going to lie: that black&white cube-ish design looks kind of cool. And I mean in the sense of cool, not in the sense of "compared to the original design".

Still...despite the looks potentially not sucking, my estimation of this becoming a success diminishes (and I was skeptical earlier). Again: for me as a user, the design is the least important part of a computer or a console. And for the manufacturer, this should properly cater for placement of parts and the airflow-thingy that makes sure the thing doesn't overheat. Just the "oh, sure we can toss around the design as we see fit" message either means that they're not communicating with their manufacturing team or that they haven't even started yet. And both options are bad news...

 

[Deleted member 445482]

False News, this is the actual Mad Box
View attachment 154245

Hide in it like a true madlad.

 

[GamerzHell9137]

1st design? Nah fam
2nd and 3rd? Yes

 

[link64uk]

I do like the look of the 4th design as its a bit more of a conventional shape shall we say.
the weird cowboy hat one is a no go for me like a few people said, where can you put it, certainly not under the T.V on a unit like most people do.

 

[MiiJack]

At this point, they might as well make the design look like the PC you see in Portal.

 

[The Catboy]

Every concept they post brings me less and and less hope

 

[Justinde75]

not going to lie design number 4 is not bad

 

[sarkwalvein]

I still think this is vaporware, but at least the white dented GameCube design looks quite better.

 

[Kioku]

I still think this is vaporware, but at least the white dented GameCube design looks quite better.

Much better. Number 4 (?) looks like a failed router attempt, honestly... Or a "gaming edition" cable box..

 

[Justinde75]

I still think this is vaporware, but at least the white dented GameCube design looks quite better.

I like 4 since that touchpad thingy looks cool. Also the custom stuff sounds good, but yeah smells like vaporware

 

[Foxi4]

Yeah, all the designs look like trash. The cheap DVS player design is the most serviceable, I like the LCD on it, it reminds me of the Scorpio devkit. The cube is a straight rip-off of the HP Omen X and it's a waste of space while the first design is just a PC tower with wings. I hate to bring this up, but I regret calling the Xbox One a VCR back in the day, that design is the most fit for the purpose.