PS4 official teardown video is reverent, white-gloved

In the manner of an expert art restorer taking a forgotten masterpiece out of its tatty old frame, Sony engineering director Yasuhiro Ootori gently unpacks his company's new PlayStation 4 and slowly, carefully takes it apart.

In the video below, courtesy of Wired, Ootori explains the internal layout of the new console and the design decisions that led to it.

The PS4 has only four screws, he shows us, and an incorporated power supply unit. "It wouldn't be very convenient for customers if there were a separate power supply unit," he says, in what could be interpreted as a massive dig at the Xbox One, whose external power unit is the size of a railway freight car.

There's a Bluetooth antenna for the controller, the DVD and Blu-ray disc drive, a fan, a 500GB hard disk drive (one more screw there) -- all carefully removed and placed to the side as though they're made of centuries-old porcelain.

The bottom shield plate is disposed of and he proudly shows off the custom motherboard, with its 16 sticks of RAM (he's very proud of the RAM) and various processors.

Finally the top shield plate goes, revealing the heat sink and 85mm fan, which he says are customised to the console's needs. "The volume of air and the generated pressure, as well as the direction of airflow, are all part of the exclusive PS4 design," he says.

The PlayStation 4 is released in the UK on 29 November and costs £350, a week later than the £430 Xbox One. In the meantime, here's Luke on Sony's console and its evolution:

What do you make of the video? Let me know what you think in the comments below, or over on our Facebook page.

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Image credit: Wired