The Playstation 5 console has a certain design aesthetic to it. One that doesn’t really match the rest of my interior design motif. Now, a dwarven kingdom-themed PS5? That will fit right into my rumpus room! Customized by Martina of YouTube channel Nerdforge, this PS5 console features a miniature diorama of a dwarven kingdom/forge, complete with lava and light effects. My own PS5 has never looked so lackluster.
If you look closely, you can see the Sony logo and lips of the PS5 at the top, with the lava flow passing between them. It’s a thing of beauty, isn’t it? Martina says she had to experiment with making silicone molds for the lava flow, then making a resin cast of it, but she’s pleased with the result. Probably because it looks so good.
Will I be trying something similar? Of course not, I recognize the limit of my own capabilities, and they’re certainly far from being able to produce something of this caliber or anywhere close. No, the closest I’m going to come to customizing my PS5 is scratching the 5 into a 6, then trying to sell it on eBay for a million dollars.
There were days when Sony dominated the scene with the PSP and PS Vita, be it gaming or multimedia entertainment. Fast forward to the current time, and only a few good options are left on the market, noticeable ones being, the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.
While Sony has said it’s going to refrain from going down the same road, handheld gaming is here to stay. Even though gaming phones have taken a big chunk of the share when it comes to casual or beginner e-sports fun, handheld consoles have a lot of room to reclaim lost glory.
Designer: Devin Sidell
This handheld gadget is yet another concept that gives eager gamers another reason to long for a Sony handheld after a lull of so many years. Devin calls it the PlayStation 5 handheld gaming console, and for obvious reasons. The PS5 resemblance shouts out loud in the design resemblance, and the color theme. While the designer supplies no information about the function of the PS 5 handheld console, it leaves me doing all the imagination. This one is a bit different than the PlayStation handheld I came across earlier, still, both of these concepts will have their likers on each side of the camp.
The button configuration is a stark mirror image of the original PSP (or for that matter all the Sony gaming controllers all these years) which speaks a lot about the handheld’s substance. The ergonomic silhouette of the Sony handheld is a worthy addition since gamers go for extended sessions no matter what they are using to go bonkers playing their favorite title. The placement of the D-Pad, analog sticks and buttons look optimum, but I would have wished for a slightly bigger size for them all.
PlayStation 5 handheld docks into a cool charging station between breaks, and in this tethered position the whole unit looks like an extension of the PS5 gaming console. Just imagine owning both these consoles for a connected gaming experience, whether you’re home, or on the subway for your daily grind!
Not everyone seems to like the PlayStation 5 design. It’s either too alien-looking, or too large for people (even though it’s the most popular gaming console in the world)… so engineer and YouTuber DIY Perks decided to scale it down. The PS5 Slim is one of his many strange DIY creations, but probably his most ambitious one yet. He pulls apart the console, strips it of its parts, and repurposes the deconstructed PS5 to make it about as thick as a DVD case. The end result measures less than 2 centimeters, making it the slimmest console ever made. Yes, it’s even slimmer than the Nintendo Switch, which measures over an inch, if you include the height of the analog joysticks.
The process isn’t as simple as you’d think. In fact, it isn’t simple at all, and Matt Perks (yes, Perks is actually his surname!) even recommends you don’t try this one at home. In the process of making this build, he even irreparably damaged one PS5 unit and had to ditch it for another console that was given to him by D-Brand. The entire process involved carving out a new thermal solution for the PS5 by creating a special water-cooled chamber for it, separating the power management system, and ditching the fan and heat sink on the original. A lot of cutting, gluing, welding, soldering, machining, and polishing later, Perks unveiled the new PS5 Slim. It’s MUCH thinner than the original (although its power brick is SIZEABLE), and here’s the best part – It’s more efficient than the original too, reading drastically lower temperatures on the components! This is a one-off build and you’ll probably never get your hands on it, although if anyone from Sony’s watching, here’s a marketing pitch for you – MAKE THE PS5 SLIMMER!
This rebuild has to be one of Matt’s most impressive ones so far, because it wasn’t as simple as rearranging components. Matt literally had to redesign the entire console’s architecture from scratch. The result is beyond impressive, as you see both consoles side by side (below).
The PS5 Slim, as Matt calls it, clocks in at under 2 centimeters, or about 3/4th of an inch. It uses copper not just for its interiors but also the outside, resulting in better thermals while maintaining that low thickness – something that wouldn’t be possible with plastic.
The project started with ripping a PlayStation 5 apart to take out its motherboard (below).
The motherboard, with its power management and heat sinks clocked in at just under 6 centimeters, which just wouldn’t do for what Matt was trying to achieve. He stripped away everything except the motherboard, which he then proceeded to construct his version around.
To make his build slim meant revisiting how the PS5 cooled. Water cooling seemed like the most efficient alternative, and it started with creating a special copper brick that would pull heat away from the SoC.
Above, Matt shows off his water-cooling chamber, which will be attached to the motherboard. The hollow channels will help direct water to all the right places, allowing it to keep the PS5 Slim cool.
Managing the water and the power unfortunately meant the PS5 Slim would need a massive brick at the other end. Luckily this could be hidden away near the power source, so the overall PS5 still retained its incredibly slim avatar.
The result even saw a performance boost, singe the PS5 Slim registered much lower temperatures while operating under the same conditions. An estimated reduction in 20°C meant the PS5 Slim could push peak performance without the dangers of overheating!
An absolute paradise for Twitch-streamers looking to engage with their audience while playing PS5 titles.
A keyboard on the PS5 makes quite a lot of sense once you think of how much username/email/password typing you have to do when you’re actually not gaming. You could be buying a game, logging into an account, chatting, commenting, or even performing in-game tasks like inputting a player name. Designed to save you the trouble of manually inputting each character with a joystick, this slick keyboard plugs right into your PS5 controller, giving you a full QWERTY layout and a bunch of other useful features that will absolutely upgrade your gameplay.
What really sets this keyboard apart is the fact that it was designed to perfectly complement your PS5 DualSense controller’s design. Made to plug in perfectly like a jigsaw puzzle piece, the wireless keyboard fits snugly in the negative space of your controller, between the palm-rests. In doing so, it gives you a full keyboard right under your thumbs, letting you type as you would on a phone… or more accurately, on a BlackBerry.
The wireless keyboard fits into the DualSense controller by plugging into its lower 3.5mm jack. The keyboard comes with a pretty nifty built-in speaker that feeds off this 3.5mm connection… although if you’ve got a pair of headphones, there’s a jack too, letting you connect your headphones to the PS5 controller via the keyboard. Heck, there’s even a built-in microphone on this thing, allowing you to voice-chat while gaming.
The keyboard itself connects to your PS5 via Bluetooth, giving you a relatively lag-free input that’s absolutely faster than using a joystick to manually select each key on a virtual keyboard. Sadly though, it only works for typing text, and the PS5 doesn’t let you map different controls onto the keys – wouldn’t that be absolutely game-changing, though??
The wireless keyboard attachment comes with its own built-in 500mAh battery and an LED indicator that lets you know your battery level. A USB-C port on the base lets you juice up the keyboard whenever you’re running low on power – although considering most gameplays, chances are you won’t be exclusively using the keyboard all along, and therefore won’t rapidly drain the battery.
Although a relatively lesser-known accessory, the wireless keyboard proves to be an incredibly handy addon when it comes to doing things like logging into your account, searching the online store, and making purchases… and that’s ONLY one aspect of the gaming experience. Having a keyboard just underneath your thumbs can be quite the game-changer for people who do a lot of chatting while gaming. Sure, there isn’t emoji support on this keyboard just yet, but hey… let’s be grateful for what we have, right??
Gaming should be for everyone, and a modder is making sure that the PS5 is exactly that, whether you have two hands or one.
Almost everyone enjoys games, even those that don’t formally consider themselves gamers. From kids’ games to cards games to casual games to hardcore console and PC games, these interactive activities have been bringing both joy and escape for centuries. Video games, however, haven’t exactly been accessible to all, even those titles that have specific accessibility features. Console controllers, for example, aren’t exactly designed for less physically able people in mind, but a one 3D printed add-on is aiming to change that without having to change the PlayStation 5 controller at all.
Perhaps with the exception of joysticks that are better for very specific games, almost all game controllers are gamepads were designed for people that have full use of their two hands and ten fingers. And since games are designed around these two-handed control schemes, people with physical handicaps are often left out of these experiences. It’s more problematic in consoles like the Xbox and the PlayStation where alternative input devices are not supported unless made in partnership with large companies.
Fortunately, there is a growing awareness these days on accessibility in gaming, not just for the games themselves but also for controllers. Microsoft launched an Adaptive Controller for the Xbox long ago, but the PlayStation has yet to get something similar from Sony. There are quite a few DIY projects and mods that try to do something similar for Sony’s console, but the best thing about this One-handed DualSense is that you don’t need to modify the controller or buy anything esoteric. All you need is a 3D printer or a way to get the parts 3D printed.
With the adapter, you will be able to play a PS5 game using a regular PS5 controller with just one hand, no special hardware tricks or software features required. It doesn’t even matter if you’re left-handed or right-handed. Thanks to the PS5 DualSense’s symmetrical design, you can just mirror or flip the schematic before printing it, and it will still work. Bonus points, the mod uses PLA and TPU materials which are better for sustainability compared to other substances.
Admittedly, it’s also not the most ergonomic way to play a game with one hand, nor is it the easiest. Controlling the two analog joysticks requires that you play the controller on top of a surface, like a table or even your thigh, and move the controller in the direction you want the joystick to move. There are also extensions to bring the shoulder buttons all to one side, even allowing a gamer to easily press both L2 and R2 buttons with a single finger. The most cumbersome parts are the four U-shaped “linkages” that let you control the opposite face buttons, but thankfully they’re optional and don’t need to always be attached.
The add-on isn’t going to win any prizes when it comes to appearances, but its winning trait is its simplicity. Designer Kuumeri provides the files needed to 3D print the parts on your own or through some 3D printing service, and that’s pretty much all you need. You don’t even have to break open a PS5 DualSense controller to make it work. There are other designs available on The Controller Project’s page, and it’s quite encouraging to see how gamers and designers are becoming more conscious of the accessibility concerns of gaming.
I cannot forget the countless hours of gaming on the PSP when hours seemed to pass like minutes. The mere idea of playing high-end games like Killzone: Liberation or Gran Turismo on a portable handheld console was like a dream come true back then. The PSP-1000 and the last version PSP Street – both got discontinued after the holiday season of 2014. It was the end of a glorious era for Sony who has taken a strong grip on the gaming market with the bigger PlayStation consoles. The PlayStation 5 being the current generation, and one of the most powerful and good-looking in the entire line-up.
When my creative bits are churning up in my head, the odd time or two I wondered about a modern handheld PSP that could level up on the performance being offered by the gaming phones like Asus ROG Phone 5, Red Magic 6S Pro and the just-released IQOO 9 Pro. A dedicated Nintendo Switch-like Sony handheld, which I have so many fond memories of from the yesteryears. Designer Andrea Gallarini and Nicola Pezzotti have just made my wish come true in the form of a 2022 PlayStation Portable that elevates to the new era of portable gaming in style. They’ve preserved the classic features of the popular gadget, and mashed up the sharp lines and shapes to appeal to Generation Z users.
As per the designers, they’ve preserved elegance as the key element without overshadowing the ergonomics, functionality and aesthetics. The gadget gets an ultra-HD OLED screen for immersive visual gameplay elements and the thermal management is taken care of via the front grid ventilation. The overall design bears the PlayStation 5 and Dualsense resemblance in the buttons, directional pad and the right and left sticks. To keep up the overall user experience, there are dual surround sound speakers and volume toggle buttons.
The wireless charging pad sandwiches the PSP in profound style and has the obvious PlayStation 5 inspiration that I absolutely vouch for. Since we are talking of a 2022 gadget, online gameplay is given precedence. The PSP concept gets full PlayStation Connect compatibility – opening up a wide library of playable titles that can be enjoyed with other PSP users or even a buddy who’s on the bigger PS5 console and DualSense controller. The option to use the handheld console as a controller while the visuals are outputted to a big TV screen is also possible.
Would I go for a handheld gaming console like this one if it becomes a reality someday – if Sony is already considering one? Of course, with both hands – that combo of black and off-white on the front and rear of the gadget is an invitation enough!
Take the PlayStation 2 Slimline and give it those subtle modifications – the perfect recipe for the upcoming Sony gaming console speculated for the 2026 release, don’t you think?
Right when Sony launched the PlayStation gaming console back in 1994, gaming was set to get a turbo boost into the new era. Ever since all gamers have been bestowed with the evolving graphics and gripping gameplay of winning PlayStation titles like Final Fantasy, Tomb Raider Tekken and Gran Turismo. In the battle that’s been going out between Microsoft and Sony, the PlayStation has evolved to be the more popular of the two. That said, out of all the PlayStation gaming consoles released so far, the PlayStation 2 Slimline still impresses with its sleek form factor, and a design akin to gamers liking.
The gaming console was released way back in mid-2004, and it was ahead of its time in terms of minimal design. No doubt it was one of the most popular consoles vouched for by gamers. The geometric shape, slim aesthetics, high-grade finish, and formal elegance – all culminate to make it a cult favorite. To date, Sony’s popular gaming console gets accolades for a timeless design that has not faded away even after so many years. This prompted product designer Mirko Romanelli to redesign the PS2 Slimline in a more modern interpretation without tinkering with the identity, characteristics and dimensions.
The end result is a console that can be positioned in vertical or horizontal configuration depending on the available space and user preference. The vertical standing position is made sturdier with the detachable support base which is fixed in the lower half of the console. To ensure ample airflow to the high-end machine, Mirko creates ample side and rear openings. The support base is also crafted in a way to ensure enough vertical passage of air.
Perhaps, this is the perfect example for Sony to follow and take a detour from the ultra-futuristic-looking PlayStation 5 console and return back to the roots. In times where minimal designs are preferred over flamboyant designs – the PlayStation 2 redesign could be the catalyst Sony needs to throw Microsoft off balance in the battle of the titans in coming years!
Maybe it’s not quite like the real deal, but this LEGO PlayStation 5 replica definitely gives us the fuzzies! Built to look like a scaled-down version of the PlayStation 5 console and controller, it’s the perfect little toy to have on your tabletop to remind you of your obsession… and if you’ve already got a PS5, it’s a neat little keepsake to place right on top of it!
The LEGO set comes with a standard-edition console (sporting a tiny disc slot too), and a miniature DualSense controller too, all in their color-appropriate avatars. The console even comes with its own stand, which allows you to keep it standing upright, or even on its side, just like the real one from Sony!
The LEGO Sony PlayStation 5 replica is the brain-child of LEGO Master Builder Rolling Bricks, who submitted their project to the LEGO Ideas forum – a crowd-sourced initiative by LEGO to help creators make new designs with LEGO’s vast catalog of bricks. If accepted and appreciated by the LEGO Ideas community, the project gets the green signal from LEGO executives and turns from a fan-made design to a LEGO kit that people can actually buy off shelves and online stores. With 489 votes from the LEGO community, the PS5 replica still requires roughly 9,500 votes to be considered by the LEGO officials, although from the looks of it, it’s pretty easy to build one on your own, with a few simple brick shapes! Check out the video above to see how Rolling Bricks builds their own console and controller from scratch!
Just last year, digital artist Giuseppe Spinelli collaborated with LetsGoDigital to debut artwork for the limited edition Sony PlayStation 5 Spider-Man Miles Morales console. Initially created as concept artwork to celebrate the launch of the Miles Morales game on the PS5, LetsGoDigital and Spinelli (known by his internet moniker Snoreyn) eventually managed to produce a few limited edition faceplates for sale around Black Friday in 2020.
Almost like clockwork, as the Part One trailer for the upcoming Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse movie dropped on the internet, Spinelli revealed that he had, in fact, secretly been working along with airbrush artist Enrico Bertagnoli (aka Berta) to create a few custom Spider-Man-themed PS5 DualSense controllers too!
The controllers are based off Spinelli’s original design back from October 2020 and feature an all-black matte exterior with metallic red accents on the front, and a gloss/matte black-on-black artwork at the backside. The actual work of physically painting the controllers was carried out by ace Italian airbrush artist Enrico Bertagnoli, featuring details all the way down to spray-painted accents on the action buttons and even the words ‘Be Yourself’ scrawled in graffiti fashion across the touchpad on top.
The end result looks remarkably vivid, mirroring the mysterious black and red beauty of Miles Morales’ spidey suit from the movie. Bertagnoli meticulously spray-painted over the white parts of the controller, covering them in a rich chrome red, before masking out the webbing design and the text + symbols on the touchpad and buttons and giving the entire controller a coat of textured matte black. The result isn’t just visual, it’s tactile too, as your fingers feel the difference between the matte and gloss elements both on the front as well as on the back, which has a large glossy spider symbol.
While the faceplate for the actual PS5 console was made available for sale last year (as a limited edition drop), the controllers aren’t being sold the same way… partially because they’re painted entirely by hand in a ridiculously effort-intensive process. The few units that Bertagnoli and Spinelli created are being preserved as memorabilia, with one of them even being donated to the Bonami Gaming Console Museum in The Netherlands. The controller sits in a bespoke framed casing, housed behind a piece of glass with the creators’ internet monikers, Snoreyn and Berta, mentioned on the front.
That being said, they’re not entirely against the idea of bulk-producing controllers if enough people express interest (there’s even a mockup of the packaging box at the bottom of the article)… although don’t expect this to come cheap, or fast, thanks to a combination of supply chain issues and the fact that each controller is painstakingly painted manually. If you’re interested, however, in getting your hands on a custom PS5 Spider-Man Miles Morales Edition DualSense Controller, just drop in a comment or DM on Berta or Snoreyn’s social handles!
Created by automotive designer Mattia Brunelli as a vanity side-project aimed at exploring automotive styling, the Elitra GTS is a halo-car with no real brand attached to it. Instead, it focuses on inheriting attributes from other racecars of its time with unique styling, a jet fighter-focused aesthetic, plenty of air intakes, and what looks like a holographic dashboard that augments itself over the driver’s windscreen.
Elitra is a two-seater hypercar concept that envelops the driver and fellow passenger inside a jet fighter-style cockpit, with elements of the car’s body “floating” around the fuselage, creating the impression of wings and moving surfaces like flaps and ailerons to reinforce that feeling of a jet slicing through the stratosphere.
The car’s overall design tows the balance between speed and aggression. Trying to not necessarily look edgy and domineering, the Elitra sports surfaces with natural, mildly rounded edges that give the impression of speed while avoiding looking overtly sharp – something that’s often the case with fighter jet-inspired automobiles. Instead, it comes with an aesthetic that, as described by the folks at Automotive Design Planet, “less intimidating but still of great scenic presence”.
The car’s ‘airy’ design sports enough strategically positioned intakes to supply air directly to every technical component. While this was merely a form exploration project for designer Mattia Brunelli, it’s pretty clear that the concept isn’t powered by an electric drivetrain, thanks to the presence of dual tailpipes at the back. You can view more renders of the Elitra GTS on Mattia’s Instagram Page.
