1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,470
- Today, I'll be telling you a story. The story of the mouse versus the mountain,

2
00:00:03,470 --> 00:00:07,730
the clod versus the God, David versus Goliath,

3
00:00:07,730 --> 00:00:13,180
except in my version of the story, David is kind of an annoying little (beep),

4
00:00:13,180 --> 00:00:16,540
and we're not sure if we should be rooting for him.

5
00:00:16,540 --> 00:00:20,030
That's right. (gentle upbeat music) This video is sponsored by dbrand,

6
00:00:20,030 --> 00:00:24,670
but because dbrand doesn't pay enough to review our sponsored videos before we post them,

7
00:00:24,670 --> 00:00:27,770
I'll be saying whatever the hell I want about the saga

8
00:00:27,770 --> 00:00:31,680
that took place that led up to the release of these.

9
00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:36,380
They're Darkplates 2.0 PlayStation 5 console covers.

10
00:00:36,380 --> 00:00:40,560
So, strap in or strap on, whatever it is you're into,

11
00:00:40,560 --> 00:00:45,710
and listen to my tale. It all began on a cold and polite day in Canada,

12
00:00:45,710 --> 00:00:49,090
when a mild and well-mannered company called dbrand,

13
00:00:49,090 --> 00:00:52,380
best known for making expensive stickers,

14
00:00:52,380 --> 00:00:57,860
released their Darkplates. A black colored version of Sony's original white plates

15
00:00:57,860 --> 00:01:04,090
for the PlayStation 5. There were a couple of differences. One being that they were black, hence the name Darkplates,

16
00:01:04,090 --> 00:01:10,420
and the other being that instead of having Sony's little X, O, triangle, square texture

17
00:01:10,420 --> 00:01:14,650
on the inside, they had a more dbrand one with little robots

18
00:01:14,650 --> 00:01:19,330
and nuclear symbols and I don't know, corrosive symbols,

19
00:01:19,330 --> 00:01:23,440
skull and crossbones, that sort of thing. I can never remember how to take these, okay.

20
00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:26,930
(plastic rattles) Then what happened next was something of a shocker

21
00:01:26,930 --> 00:01:30,990
for anyone who's never heard of Sony before, and has no familiarity

22
00:01:30,990 --> 00:01:34,680
with how they treat perceived infringements upon their intellectual property.

23
00:01:34,680 --> 00:01:37,840
Sony issued a cease and desist to dbrand,

24
00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:43,130
citing patents pending, which we found out later included a design patent

25
00:01:43,130 --> 00:01:46,320
for the unique shape of the PlayStation 5 console,

26
00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:50,970
and since this video is sponsored by dbrand, I'm not going to editorialize on the shape

27
00:01:50,970 --> 00:01:55,720
of the PlayStation 5 console other than to say that before dbrand sent me my bag of money

28
00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,940
to make this video, I had said that-- Also I think they were going

29
00:01:59,940 --> 00:02:03,650
for like Alienware futuristic curve,

30
00:02:03,650 --> 00:02:06,700
but it actually just ends up kind of looking warped.

31
00:02:06,700 --> 00:02:10,760
It just looks kind of defective to me. There are a number of reasons that Sony might've engaged

32
00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,390
in this type of lawyering. Dbrand's best guess is that they were trying

33
00:02:14,390 --> 00:02:18,440
to maintain a monopoly on different colored side plates,

34
00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,750
whether they come from Sony of themselves in the form of a new colorway of the console

35
00:02:22,750 --> 00:02:27,790
or whether they come from-- (static crackling) We interrupt this program to bring you breaking news.

36
00:02:27,790 --> 00:02:32,310
Sony just announced a couple of days ago, they're,

37
00:02:32,310 --> 00:02:37,700
oh, I was about to call them Darkplates. (laughs) (man laughing) Sorry, their replacement plates for the side

38
00:02:37,700 --> 00:02:42,170
of the PlayStation 5 they're available, and what do they call them? Like galaxy of colors or something like that?

39
00:02:42,170 --> 00:02:46,040
So, back to the video.

40
00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:50,970
A licensed partner. In my opinion, it's less about the actual side plates themselves,

41
00:02:50,970 --> 00:02:54,980
since if Sony gave two hoots how the console looked, they probably wouldn't have released them with these on them

42
00:02:54,980 --> 00:02:59,750
in the first place, and it's more about maintaining an iron-fisted grip

43
00:02:59,750 --> 00:03:05,350
on the overall accessory ecosystem, because whether you're Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft,

44
00:03:05,350 --> 00:03:09,550
that whole authorized, or certified program,

45
00:03:09,550 --> 00:03:14,070
is only worth the paper it's printed on, unless you go out and sue the bejesus out

46
00:03:14,070 --> 00:03:17,280
of anyone who doesn't apply for it. So, that's my best guess,

47
00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,600
but whatever the real reason is Sony has effectively won

48
00:03:20,600 --> 00:03:25,340
that stage of the battle. The good news is that the only real argument

49
00:03:25,340 --> 00:03:29,010
that they were able to make against dbrand producing their own plates was

50
00:03:29,010 --> 00:03:33,190
that dbrand's plates infringed upon Sony's unique

51
00:03:33,190 --> 00:03:38,780
and therefore wonderful shape. So, since dbrand, I think saw the writing on the wall

52
00:03:38,780 --> 00:03:45,121
about this at a fairly early stage, they almost immediately were able to counter with this.

53
00:03:45,121 --> 00:03:50,010
(funky upbeat music) Let's take a look at it. This is actually my first in-person look at Darkplates 2.0,

54
00:03:50,940 --> 00:03:56,950
and there are a number of key changes here. One that I actually didn't expect.

55
00:03:56,950 --> 00:04:00,290
Okay. First of all, let's look at the shape compared

56
00:04:00,290 --> 00:04:06,180
to the original plates. So, this appears to be our left side plate?

57
00:04:06,180 --> 00:04:10,180
Ah, yes. Okay, so we've got the disk version of the Darkplates 2.0.

58
00:04:10,180 --> 00:04:13,760
You can see it still has kind of a contour,

59
00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:19,350
but instead of having that popped collar look, it's got like a rounded corner look to it.

60
00:04:19,350 --> 00:04:23,530
One big difference you guys might have noticed is that it now comes with a ventilation hole.

61
00:04:23,530 --> 00:04:26,770
That is a pretty big deal in my opinion.

62
00:04:26,770 --> 00:04:31,700
Dbrand's already talked about this publicly, but GamersNexus did some thermal investigations

63
00:04:31,700 --> 00:04:35,540
on the PlayStation 5, and found that by removing the side panels,

64
00:04:35,540 --> 00:04:39,780
you could see lower internal temperatures by as much as about five degrees.

65
00:04:39,780 --> 00:04:43,760
Now, putting a dust filter on it might affect those results somewhat,

66
00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:49,420
probably to the tune of a couple of degrees. Especially if you, you know, end up with Cheeto dust caked

67
00:04:49,420 --> 00:04:55,523
onto your fan filter, (laughs) which David that's a legitimate gamer concern, okay?

68
00:04:55,523 --> 00:04:58,670
- [David] True. - But in my opinion, having the filter there at all,

69
00:04:58,670 --> 00:05:05,314
is an absolute boon, and I would personally opt for the however slight reduction in performance

70
00:05:05,314 --> 00:05:08,630
for having the filter, because you're gonna get way more

71
00:05:08,630 --> 00:05:13,560
of a difference in performance, if you let this thing just suck in dust forever.

72
00:05:13,560 --> 00:05:18,540
In case you don't want it, the fan filter is 100% removable.

73
00:05:18,540 --> 00:05:22,330
So, you can just opt to have it installed a little something like that.

74
00:05:22,330 --> 00:05:29,527
The thing I didn't know about and didn't expect was that after dbrand mocked Sony for claiming that this arrangement

75
00:05:31,110 --> 00:05:35,050
of symbols was somehow infringing upon Sony's arrangement

76
00:05:35,050 --> 00:05:38,230
of completely different symbols would result

77
00:05:38,230 --> 00:05:42,670
in them actually changing the little imprints on the inside

78
00:05:42,670 --> 00:05:47,450
of the console. So, now instead of having, you know,

79
00:05:47,450 --> 00:05:54,570
these four different symbols kind of arranged in the same kind of general area, it's just zeros and ones

80
00:05:54,570 --> 00:05:58,807
that almost certainly are some kind of manifesto

81
00:05:58,807 --> 00:06:02,430
about what horrible people Sony are. (laughs)

82
00:06:02,430 --> 00:06:06,783
Knowing them, I mean, David, is there any other possibility because?

83
00:06:08,246 --> 00:06:12,207
- [David] No, that's what it is. - That's got to be what it is. Have they talked about that publicly?

84
00:06:12,207 --> 00:06:17,060
- [David] No. - I'm sure it's what it is. You know, the irony is that in order for Sony

85
00:06:17,060 --> 00:06:21,340
to find out what it says, they're going to have to buy Darkplates. (laughs) (man laughing)

86
00:06:21,340 --> 00:06:25,770
Someone's going to have to check your Darkplates, and figure out what the heck this says.

87
00:06:25,770 --> 00:06:31,430
Nothing's cut off at the edges, so it's almost certainly an actual message.

88
00:06:31,430 --> 00:06:32,400
Can you see that?

89
00:06:34,810 --> 00:06:40,040
Overall, really good. (relaxing music) It appears as though they've basically eliminated

90
00:06:40,040 --> 00:06:44,483
any exterior defects. They've got a pretty nice kind of matte finish on it,

91
00:06:46,010 --> 00:06:49,170
and then they've got, you can see, they've got a little bit of rippling here.

92
00:06:49,170 --> 00:06:54,170
So, that might happen when the plastic isn't flowing evenly

93
00:06:54,610 --> 00:06:57,790
into the mold, or it can happen during cooling,

94
00:06:57,790 --> 00:07:02,310
little things like that. But on the outside, absolutely nothing.

95
00:07:02,310 --> 00:07:06,860
Looks really good on this side. So, what else can we say about it?

96
00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:11,700
We can apply dbrand skin. The one that looks like a PS1. I think legally they're not allowed to say

97
00:07:11,700 --> 00:07:15,900
it's the PS1 color, especially now that they're on Sony's radar.

98
00:07:15,900 --> 00:07:19,480
If I were them, I would just avoid any use of anything

99
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:23,710
that Sony could possibly turn around and bother them over.

100
00:07:23,710 --> 00:07:28,900
This is totally not how you're supposed to do it. Dbrand.com/how.

101
00:07:28,900 --> 00:07:30,643
Hey, not bad, okay.

102
00:07:32,460 --> 00:07:35,210
I didn't say perfect. Pretty slick, huh?

103
00:07:36,450 --> 00:07:41,930
And I can say that after you do this, your PlayStation 5 will be objectively cooler.

104
00:07:41,930 --> 00:07:45,752
Get it? - [David] Hey. - Hey, 'cause of the vent holes.

105
00:07:45,752 --> 00:07:49,070
(PlayStation beeps) Which one is the power button, David? Oh, I found it.

106
00:07:49,070 --> 00:07:52,600
Hey, there they are. Check that out.

107
00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,000
As part of the new Darkplates 2.0 design,

108
00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:59,420
you can get these little like light bar filter things.

109
00:07:59,420 --> 00:08:02,990
You can get them in a bunch of different colors. Unfortunately, they're not RGB because that would have

110
00:08:02,990 --> 00:08:09,050
to actually be built into the PlayStation hardware. But they are little diffusers that, oh my God, are they RGB?

111
00:08:09,050 --> 00:08:12,080
What just happened? - [David] No, so you haven't put them on, yet.

112
00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:15,250
That's the PS5 color. - But it's blue?

113
00:08:15,250 --> 00:08:18,940
Well, they don't appear to be in the package they sent, but they're definitely on dbrand's website,

114
00:08:18,940 --> 00:08:22,610
which you can check out at the link down below. Thank you dbrand for sponsoring this video,

115
00:08:22,610 --> 00:08:28,143
and making everyone's PlayStations look better. One set of Darkplates at a time.

116
00:08:28,143 --> 00:08:32,330
That's totally the route that I would go. Although, I don't know that I'd go black Darkplates.

117
00:08:32,330 --> 00:08:35,948
They've actually got a few different colors. I'd probably go white. - [David] Gray?

118
00:08:35,948 --> 00:08:39,760
- [David] White? - Yeah. - [David] Oh. - Yeah, so it's like a white and gray.

119
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:45,130
Actually, I'd probably just go all gray. Man, it makes this thing so much more of like a blend

120
00:08:45,130 --> 00:08:47,693
in with your home theater looking device, hey?

121
00:08:48,650 --> 00:08:52,420
Like compared to the big ole like. (David laughing)

122
00:08:52,420 --> 00:08:57,604
Oh, and what's nice about the gray too is it'll match the ugly cheap gray metal

123
00:08:57,604 --> 00:09:01,710
(plastic rattles) that Sony put on the inside, and didn't bother to treat with anything.

124
00:09:01,710 --> 00:09:05,220
Yeah, I like it. Oh, I guess I didn't actually show you guys exactly how

125
00:09:05,220 --> 00:09:10,510
to clean the fan filters. (plastic rattling) I did accidentally pop it off, but you just twist it off,

126
00:09:10,510 --> 00:09:14,200
and then you go clean it because you're filthy,

127
00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:17,883
and then you put it back. It's weird.

128
00:09:17,883 --> 00:09:22,720
They've got a mark on here that seems to kind of help you put it in the right spot,

129
00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,875
but I don't see a corresponding mark on the inside

130
00:09:25,875 --> 00:09:30,620
of the Darkplate. The only thing I can tell you is you might want to just put your own little scratch on it so that

131
00:09:30,620 --> 00:09:33,670
it's a little bit easier to line up. 'Cause we try and put it on the wrong thing,

132
00:09:33,670 --> 00:09:37,950
you can see the spacing of the tabs isn't right. So it might just take you a little while to get it

133
00:09:37,950 --> 00:09:41,906
in exactly the right spot. Okay, we got the other colors it turns out.

134
00:09:41,906 --> 00:09:45,550
(box thuds) That's pretty sweet. We still didn't find the light filter things,

135
00:09:45,550 --> 00:09:48,801
but that's okay. That's less of a big deal from my perspective.

136
00:09:48,801 --> 00:09:52,720
I want to put the retro gray on here. - [David] Oh.

137
00:09:52,720 --> 00:09:56,750
- Oh, I'm kind of liking it, David. - [David] Yeah, me too, oh.

138
00:09:56,750 --> 00:10:02,010
- And the best part is, - [David] You're not on right. - you don't get that contrast with the the unfinished metal

139
00:10:02,010 --> 00:10:06,950
on the inside and the color out here because they actually kind of look the same

140
00:10:06,950 --> 00:10:09,967
through the fan filter. That's not bad, is it?

141
00:10:09,967 --> 00:10:13,670
- [David] Yeah, I like that. - [Colton] Dbrand should make skins for the metal inside.

142
00:10:13,670 --> 00:10:18,300
- Man, you could probably get like, they should make skins for the metal inside actually.

143
00:10:18,300 --> 00:10:24,120
Dbrand, (hands clap) hey, let's go. You need white and black skins to match the Darkplates

144
00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:27,153
for the little metal grill thing inside. Come on.

145
00:10:27,153 --> 00:10:30,890
You'll charge 10 bucks for them because you hate your customers so much, and everyone will win.

146
00:10:30,890 --> 00:10:35,610
Oh, it's not bad. In my opinion, if you want the console to be white,

147
00:10:35,610 --> 00:10:39,300
then you can just keep having your console be white,

148
00:10:39,300 --> 00:10:42,460
but the gray ones and the black ones, especially the gray ones.

149
00:10:42,460 --> 00:10:45,668
So, that's it. Thanks dbrand for sponsoring this video.

150
00:10:45,668 --> 00:10:48,760
(beep) you dbrand for sponsoring this video. Thanks, you guys, for watching.

151
00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,087
Subscribe to ShortCircuit. JK, dbrand, love you.

152
00:10:52,970 --> 00:10:58,253
JK, you suck. (laughs) Sorry, just I'm all over the place in this relationship.