Month-long modding project lets him go back to the 32-bit past on the go.


When the PlayStation Classic went on sale last month to celebrate the original Sony System’s 24th birthday, Japanese Twitter user @NIWAchannel grabbed one right away. But more so than being excited to play the bundled collection of classic 32-bit games, @NIWAchannel couldn’t wait to tear the mini retro system apart.

Just two days after he’d purchased his PlayStation Classic, the pieces were laid out on his table, and a plan was laid out in his head. Because for @NIWAchannel, a PlayStation Classic wasn’t enough. He wanted a PlayStation Classic Portable.

In a way, it’s really not such a greedy ambition, since the PlayStation Classic itself is as compact as many portable gaming systems. @NIWAchannel would still need to figure out a way to turn the processor into a complete game machine, and the first order of business was sorting out how to add controls.

@NIWAchannel’s solution was to slice open an original PlayStation controller, wire its internals into the PlayStation Classic’s innards, and attach the left and right halves of the controller to the sides of the mini system.

Of course, being able to control a game isn’t much good if you can’t see it, so the next task was to add a screen. For that purpose, @NIWAchannel opened a rectangular hole in the top of his rapidly evolving PlayStation Classic, one big enough to fit a 3.5-inch LCD display.

Now all the system needed to be truly portable was a power source, so @NIWAchannel plugged it into a 4,000-mAh battery, and his PlayStation Classic Portable was operational.

▼ A Resident Evil test run

But @NIWAchannel wasn’t quite done tinkering. For starters, he wanted the screen to be flush and the battery internal. Also, with the screen occupying what would ordinarily be the “top” of the console, his modded system no longer had the original PlayStation’s iconic circular clamshell ridge, so he removed the required pieces from a full-scale PS1 and added them to the back of his self-made portable.

Other improvements include stereo speakers, a volume control knob, a headphone jack, and a micro USB charging connector.

With only an hour every day after work to spare for the project, @NIWAchannel said it was slow going, but on January 1, he sent out the triumphant announcement that his PlayStation Classic Portable was complete!

▼ Some portable Mr. Driller action, in which we can also see that the start and select buttons are positioned just to the right of the screen.

https://twitter.com/NIWAchannel/status/1080661063241068545

Of course, with Japan’s strict ways of dealing with modded console resellers, @NIWAchannel’s PlayStation Classic Portable is strictly a personal project, and not for sale. Still, it’s an awesome example that a portable PlayStation Classic can be done, and a great project idea for any other techno-savvy DIY fans.

Source: Twitter/@NIWAchannel via Hachima Kiko

Follow Casey on Twitter, where he still thinks the PlayStation Classic should have included Valkyrie Profile as part of its software lineup.