We’re residing within the golden age of retro console modding. When you’ve got an previous Recreation Boy Advance mendacity round, it is attainable to provide it a brand new lease on life with aftermarket elements like an IPS show and USB-C charging. However as superb as these mods are, most nonetheless require an unique GBA motherboard with a working processor and RAM. That is what makes the PlayStation Hybrid from YouTuber Secret Hobbyist so cool. Over the previous couple of months, they have been working to design, prototype and construct the final word PlayStation PCB, one that comes with one of the best elements of various mannequin revisions whereas including a few trendy conveniences.
The particular motherboards Secret Hobbyist’s PCB pulls elements from are the PM-41 v2 and the PU18, with the previous being a PSOne board whereas the latter was sourced from a “phat” mannequin. The choice to include elements from totally different PlayStation variants makes lots of sense if you recognize one thing concerning the historical past of the console. Between the discharge of the PlayStation in 1994 and the smaller PSOne in 2000, Sony made a number of revisions to the unique design to handle {hardware} points and eke out price financial savings.
One element that you could find on older fashions, however not the PSOne, is an Asahi Kasei-made digital-to-analog audio converter (DAC). Through the years, this DAC has gained one thing of a cult following amongst audiophiles, with a few of the earliest fashions just like the SCPH-1000 and SCPH-3000 being notably wanted as CD gamers as a result of additionally they got here with RCA outputs, a characteristic Sony later reduce from subsequent revisions. As for the PU18, it has an element that makes it suitable with the X Station, a CD alternative that permits a modded PlayStation to learn video games from a microSD card.
From the PSOne, Secret Hobbyist sourced the console’s GPU and CPU, that are extra energy environment friendly than those discovered on its older siblings. Lastly, they included an FPGA chip from a Hispeedido mod equipment to make their hybrid PlayStation able to outputting video over HDMI.
The ultimate result’s a customized PCB that’s even smaller than the PSOne’s PM-41 v2, attracts lower than two watts of energy and works with trendy shows. That energy draw means the Hybrid PlayStation may very well be engineered to be a handheld. Secret Hobbyist nonetheless has but to design an enclosure for his or her new Frankenstein console, however judging from the feedback on their video, persons are excited to see the ultimate end result. Within the meantime, remember to watch the total video to be taught extra concerning the venture and see some unbelievable soldering work.
