They’ve turned the PS1 into a great portable console, perfect for the nostalgic.

PS1 It’s a relic of the video game industry, but it’s still something to talk about. In the last hours, modder YveltalGriffin made headlines by introducing DIY portable console made based on the original PlayStation hardware. A dream device for fans and nostalgists.

The creator of the PS1-based portable console spoke in detail about the development process via the forum BitBuilt. Its main characteristics and problems to be solved are also indicated. While it’s still far from perfect, it’s further proof that ingenuity has no limits.

YveltalGriffin emphasized that this device was created using original PS1 hardware. This information is important because it made him cut the PlayStation motherboard in half, fold it and knit it from scratch entirely by hand. So he made the platelets small enough to fit into a 3D-printed housing.

If I decided to create a console using an emulator, I could certainly run it using a Raspberry Pi or other similar mini-PC. But, of course, the project would be much less glamorous.

Meanwhile, for the governing bodies modder leaned towards adapt DualShock controller, but without analog sticks. The front of the PS1 handheld features the control pad and triangle, square, circle and X buttons, while the top edge houses L1, L2, R1 and R2. Although that’s not all, because it also includes vibration motors.

This makes the PS1 an impressive portable console. Maud

Photo by YveltalGriffin, via BitBuilt.

Portable PS1, created by YveltalGriffin, has a case 181 x 91.5 x 30.25 millimeters. For power, it was equipped with two batteries with a total capacity of 3500 mAh. This allows gaming sessions to last up to two hours and a half operating time when fully charged, explained modder. The screen is 5-inch, with a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels.

While cutting the motherboard in half to fold it and rewire it was by far the biggest challenge in this project, not being able to turn on the floppy drive was not a minor problem either. Playing games on this device, officially named PS Hanami, is finally possible via xStationan optical drive emulator that can read PS1 disk images loaded onto an SD card.

In the following video you can see the portable PS1 in action. Final Fantasy VII:

As for the problems that have yet to be solved, the creator of this peculiar console explained that since it does not have a heatsink, It heats up quite quickly while gaming. Additionally, it has no volume up or down controls, and there’s little to no power management. The latter means that the screen turns off suddenly when the batteries are low.

YveltalGriffin has published a very extensive and detailed roadmap for the process of creating PS Hanami based on the PS1. It’s clear that This is not a job for everyonebut it’s shocking how ingenuity and ingenuity can give new life to a classic in video game history like the original PlayStation.