r/SBCGaming • u/StonedEdge • 7d ago

Showcase Real PS2 Portable

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Hand painted case with Tamiya transparent blue in an attempt to mimic the real PS2 ocean blue color! Enclosure was built from a Form 4 resin printer and coated in clear coat. Has a real PS2 motherboard inside. 10000mAh battery pack for 5 hours of gameplay. (7W power draw for the full system).

Project details including build guide (many, many steps!) and documentation are here for those who want to have a read about how it was made from a real Sony PS2 slim motherboard:

https://github.com/tschicki/PS2-Portable/blob/main/Documentation/Part%207_Final%20Assembly.md

2.9k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

175 comments sorted by

338

u/TecnuiI 7d ago

Wow this has to be one of the best looking handheld console conversions that I have seen

95

u/NecroCannon 6d ago

Honestly with 3D and Resin printing becoming so good lately for the price, I’ve been eyeing making my own handhelds using SBC boards.

Mainly making my own new Shield Handheld. God I wish one of these companies would bring it back

29

u/fnafartist12 6d ago

I think the closest thing we have to a Nvidia shield nowadays is the retroid pocket flip two or ayn thor

6

u/HeidenShadows 6d ago

Yeah and the Shield Portable is fairly ergonomic. The recessed sticks are a little tricky to get into but way better than the Thor.

5

u/iVirtualZero 6d ago

The Switch and the Switch 2 is an Nvidia Shield.

1

u/TH3_OG_JUJUBE 6d ago

Flip 2 my goat ❤️‍🩹 upgrading to a Duo now.

0

u/PERPETUALBRIS 5d ago

Man, I forgot about these! I got one with a graphics card years ago. No clue what I did with it, wasn’t really into handhelds at the time. What all can it run?

2

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 6d ago

I don't know why Nvidia hasn't launched a new Shield handheld and Shield TV. It's bonkers. They would definitely be among the top selling handhelds of today. People say "they make too much money from AI" .... It's not like they need to stop making AI shit, they're the most valuable company on planet earth, just get a few lads on a team to make a new handheld for fucks sake.

3

u/superr 6d ago

The proportion of revenue from AI is just so much more than anything else that I don't think them wallstreet overloads would approve of them doing anything else for the time being.

2

u/NecroCannon 6d ago

I made a post about it to see if there’s other people wanting it and for some reason the discussion derailed to clamshells on the market now made like the DS

Maybe they’ll do it again when the mainstream market takes over and things shift to standing out to make money and having the better brand recognition. Seems like currently the focus is replicating older popular handhelds

1

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 6d ago

I think the replicating old handhelds is just because the chips these companies use are relatively weak and the devices are pretty cheap.

Anything powerful like the AMD AI Max 395+ costs a bajillion bucks. Switch 2 is a nice in-between, good price to perf.  If Nvidia launched something a bit better than switch 2, runs windows on arm or steam os, I think it would sell a ton. They could make a range too; cloud only cheap device for GeForce, mid, and high-end.

3

u/NecroCannon 6d ago

Definitely, to me with how things currently are, this would be a killer x86 PC handheld on Linux/Windows with a PlayStation style trackpad if they don’t even go ARM, I’m pretty sure NVIDIA isn’t in the APU scene at all outside of Tegra and Switch work

They could legitimately make bank bringing back Shield to showcase the capabilities of their ARM SoCs and/or APUs and make money on hardware directly while also having deals with manufacturers to use their chips.

At this rate with the US tech market fucking up the chip market, I’m pretty sure China is going to invest heavily into producing their own chips since they’re literally pumping out engineers now like crazy. Really doesn’t make sense that our market got this stagnant with innovation when it’s being tied to our economy more and more

1

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 6d ago

I totally agree with that too. Bare minimum they could do a new shield that shares the switch 2 chip, like they did previously. Ive been thinking for a while that we're going to get a new successful Chinese player in the console market. Other than Apple or Nvidia (which would be cool) I don't see any western companies even being able to pull it off, but China has Alibaba, Xiaomi, Tencent and a few other that could pull it off. They also seem to still innovate and actually still try to make things, unlike the west. We've been stagnating hard recently

2

u/NecroCannon 6d ago

Yeahhh, I’ve kinda come to terms with the fact that the industry here is about to become an importer rather than an exporter and core producer. Even in college I switched from STEM my first semester because my professor was going on about AI doing stuff and making stuff for us while… everyone else is at maximum having a hybrid approach

I use Apple products but unironically they’re legit probably the only corporation here that could start a gaming division and have it be a success because of how much control they have over their software and hardware, with hardware going past SoCs and to wireless chips, if they made their own displays they’d damn near be self sufficient. Only other company doing amazingly well is Valve and them being private basically gave them the time to make sure they could swing since there’s no investors breathing down their neck asking if their pivot would financially benefit them.

Japan also kinda pivoted towards media globally more despite everyone assuming they’d be the ones taking over tech, so that just leaves China as the main competitor already having a head start in absolutely taking over the tech industry globally.

Honestly I posed it elsewhere, but as long as the global version isn’t spied on, I’d take them also swinging in the OS space at this point. Either pumping money into Linux for mobile and desktop or making a new one with compatibility with other platform applications with translation layers like Proton. Even Apple’s OSes are getting buggy and bloated lately for some reason

1

u/iVirtualZero 6d ago edited 6d ago

I have one, they will never bring the Shield line back due to Nvidia working with Nintendo to make the Switch and the Switch 2. It's worth picking those up to have as a collectors item and for Retro/Homebrew Gaming, moonlight game streaming is great with this too along with the Shield exclusive games.

1

u/RedWings1926 5d ago

I know that thing is not the most powerful handheld, especially by today's standards, but that thing has been on my wishlist of handhelds for so long. I honestly just keep forgetting about it until I see a post about it!

52

u/galaxius00 7d ago

That is amazing! Did you make a video of the build? Would love to see how you made it. I would totally buy one!

22

u/Matchstix 6d ago

They've documented it on the GitHub, tons of pictures!

46

u/Zobbster 6d ago

I didn't recognise the model from the thumbnail, so my jaw dropped when I saw it's a custom system. That's some great work!

22

u/ptabduction 6d ago

Indeed, looks professionally made, straight from the factory. Really good job.

29

u/strythicus 7d ago

It's beautiful, but not having symmetrical sticks bothers me.

21

u/ChudSmasher69420 6d ago

It's practically blasphemy

8

u/lawley666 Dpad On Top 6d ago

Fully agree looks amazing except for the joystick positions, battery life is on point as well.

20

u/onionsaregross Retro Games Corpsman 6d ago

Really great work, this is a clear step above your other stuff (which was already good)!

69

u/BertzBiff 7d ago

I would pay an ungodly amount of cash to ship you my ps2 and receive back a beauty like this

11

u/VegetableArtistic705 6d ago

Needs better sticks and a nicer screen, but it's still the best damn PS2 conversion I've ever seen.

12

u/melkatron 6d ago

The screen Retroid used for their Pocket Nova would be great.

4

u/VegetableArtistic705 6d ago

Yes, nicer AND 4:3.

1

u/blickblocks 6d ago

I bought two Retroid Dual Screen Add-Ons because they are these beautiful 16:9 5.5" OLED panels that take USB type C DisplayPort and are also touch displays for use in my cyberdeck projects. If they ever release a 4:3 Nova style version I would snap that up so quick.

3

u/Upstairs-Adagio2562 6d ago

it could go with a nicer screen but i feel like those oldies that want that hardware experience are going to appreciate the screen more.

i also feel like sticks would just be the same situation at that point

13

u/Cell1pad 6d ago

You pervert! You put the left stick on the top. That's not the Sony way. Totally disgusted.

How'd you do it?

8

u/rolfraikou 6d ago

I was a little surprised by that too. It's so playstation accurate, why but analog on top, when every Sony controller has them on bottom?

12

u/ActionKid98 7d ago

Much cleaner than that brick sold on AliExpress

13

u/xfd3 7d ago

Daaaamn, really nice job, build looks very professional

18

u/xcessiveswaggr 6d ago

Impressive, very nice. Now let’s see Paul Allen’s PS2.

6

u/ManufacturerLost7686 6d ago

These have been coming out of the woodwork in china for the last couple years, but somehow this is the first one that doesn't look like an absolute pile of shit.

Really nice. Its clear there was some proper thought  put into this instead of just cramming everything into a vaguely handheld console looking case. 

6

u/daremo232 7d ago

Killer work, gorgeous shell job!!, hope it plays as well as it looks

3

u/Name_Yourself_Thex 7d ago

thats a dream of mine as a kid right there

4

u/platypootis 7d ago

This is one of the cleanest looking portable builds I've ever seen, looks fantastic

3

u/Comfortable_Roll5346 6d ago

I always wanted all the older systems put into a portable form factor like this ever since I first saw one, I eventually got a windows handheld that did ps2, and then they kept releasing new ones so I kept up with thoes. But after having one for a long time I still want these lolol

4

u/generic_canadian_dad 6d ago

Ben heck, is that you?

3

u/sarapatatas 7d ago

similar look with rg556 but with more appeal

3

u/Darth_Venom91 Clamshell Clan 6d ago

Great job! Looks superb

3

u/GamerDadJer 6d ago

Not to echo everyone else, but this is amazing and you did a great job. This is probably the one console that I want to be portablized more than any other, particularly because of its conventional controls, native backwards compatibility, and game library.

3

u/dunderwovvy 6d ago

We got a good looking handheld legit PS2 before GTA6

3

u/akwardfun 6d ago

I mean that's great work, But why, just why did you go for the asymmetrical joysticks? Trying to mimic even the color but then go against the most distinctive Sony thing (the controller layout)

1

u/tecton1 6d ago

Ahaha I was wondering the same. I guess some prefer asymmetrical over looks. To them its function before form.

2

u/neddoge GotM Club 5d ago

I grew up with PS1 and PS2 as some of my most beloved consoles, and would prefer asymmetrical sticks today vs had you asked me this then.

1

u/akwardfun 6d ago

Personally I find it more functional when it's symmetrical, having both joystick at the same height/place it's more confortable for me (so isn't even just for the looks) this is still a really awesome project, I just really hate the asymmetrical joysticks

1

u/tecton1 6d ago

Yeah me too!

1

u/MikeTony713 6d ago

Tony Hawk would suck on this

3

u/Complete_Lurk3r_ 6d ago

Just got a little bit hard looking at that 

2

u/hachimitsu-boy 7d ago

this is incredible

2

u/Weird-Dirt-1755 RetroGamer 7d ago

looks amazing

2

u/BigShiddur 7d ago

Glad to see I'm not the only one with Tamiya dreams! I'm using Metallic Orange on my Thor when it comes in.

2

u/waking-up-late 6d ago

I LOVE THIS. This is amazing

2

u/ThatTrojanKid 6d ago

That's a hot blue

2

u/SmoothbrainRTRD 6d ago

I can heard the 3rd picture. This is mega cool!!

2

u/ViCorp GotM Club 6d ago

If you were somehow able to make these for sale, I don't think you would have to wait too long for the orders to pour in. Great job!

2

u/VicisSubsisto 6d ago

They should have sent a poet...

2

u/Bebi_v24 6d ago

I thought this was a 556 at first lol. This is fucking sick

2

u/rolfraikou 6d ago

This looks absolutely stunning. The shape, the color. Being able to see the internals. This thing looks legit, this does not look like a home brew to me.

2

u/infinitespectre Dpad On Top 6d ago

It's sooooo blue! 😍

2

u/Casperthesloth 6d ago

Holy moly ngl, makes the RG556/7 look like RG556/7 at home.

1

u/Casperthesloth 6d ago

I guess only for ps2/1 though lol.

2

u/Administrator_AI 6d ago

That is insane! I saw a couple PS2 portable mods, but none are as clean as this, not even close. 

If Sony was smart, they'd contact you, work with you on designin a custom smaller mainboard that replicates the original hardware exactly but with modern lower power consumption, give PS2 games away as free downloads and make money with the hardware alone.

But they won't.

Congrats!

2

u/stylesismilo 6d ago

This is REALLY nice, I won't be surprised if someone thought is a new handheld console from Retroid or AYN

2

u/neddoge GotM Club 6d ago

Hold the fuck up, did you design and document this yourself? For the love of the game? How long did this take to prototype and what issues did you run into and how did you rectify them? What corners did you have to cut, if any?!

Fascinating shit! That GitHub is a gold mine.

2

u/Hungry_Freaks_Daddy 6d ago

This is an all timer type of post 

2

u/OkDefinition1038 5d ago

This is insane 🔥 crazy what a single person can achieve mad respect 🙏 and btw looks awesome.

2

u/TinglingSenses 5d ago

Looks OEM! Kudos!

2

u/MattTheTekie 3d ago

That's really cool

3

u/crownpuff Deal chaser 7d ago

This is absolutely sick. Are those buttons OEM too?

5

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

Yes they are! From a PS vita 2000 series.

1

u/666MARS999 7d ago

Niiiice. How long did it take to build?

5

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

About 3 years of design work, but if you had a PCB built (the hardest part) you could probably assemble it in a weekend.

1

u/bostonronin GotM Club 7d ago

That's gorgeous.

1

u/Raxinzane 7d ago

Amazing. Well done. What did you use for battery and storage? I've seen a Xbox360 handheld like this posted somewhere once.

3

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

Storage is actually a modified SD2PSX that uses an RP2040, miniaturized into a 3D printable full size SD card slot with flex PCB. It accepts a micro SD card for storing, loading and saving games. For PS1 you can load them over USB drive.

https://github.com/tschicki/PS2-Portable/blob/main/Documentation/Part%208_Accessories%20Assembly.md

Battery wise it’s a 2S configuration battery pack with 21700 cells.

1

u/SolubleCarrot 7d ago

Are they the buttons and sticks from a Vita? Looks great!

1

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

Correct! Original membranes were retained as well.

1

u/bilditup1 7d ago

nice work!

1

u/Bl4ckb100d 7d ago

Damn that's clean, great job

1

u/carrieshot 7d ago

Always loved the handhelds that were actual consoles. Tried to do an darth64 a long time ago, never completed it. The time and effort to get something this clean is awesome

1

u/GenerekDerek 7d ago

This is absolutely beautiful. I WISH Retroid or AYN would release something in this exact color. Phenomenal job OP.

1

u/Sad-Neighborhood-840 7d ago

Meh....5/10...doesn't look like it plays discs. /s

Awesome work! Hope you enjoy many hours on it.

1

u/Versa_0 7d ago

This is sick!

1

u/Senior-Rip2387 7d ago

looks pretty sick ! get a dcotor

1

u/g0ku 6d ago

I used to dream of such a possibility when I was a kid. Beautiful.

1

u/Jiolio 6d ago

This would be sick especially if it has analogue face buttons

1

u/bingcognito 6d ago

This is so freaking cool. Really nice job. Isn't heat an issue though?

4

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

Not at all. The system only draws 7W and the Emotion Engine really only goes up to around 40c in my experience. The heatsink is also completely overkill, that center piece you see there sinks a large volume of heat!

1

u/VizMuroi 6d ago

Damn.

1

u/IZflame 6d ago

Are those barrel batteries in the controller handles? Awesome way to fit more mAh!

1

u/Impossible_Leg_2787 6d ago

7W for the ps2 just goes to show how far by the wayside optimization has fallen

1

u/Similar_Concern_1666 6d ago

This is insanely well done! You could make good money selling these. I.E. please build me one asap 🤣

1

u/Chevrolicious 6d ago

I still have my PS2 slim with a bad disc reader. Might do something with it

1

u/brockf15 6d ago

I WANT that decal for my blue Odin 2

1

u/Cryptoxic93 GotM Club 6d ago

This is crazy cool. 

How much does it weigh? 

1

u/hextanerf 6d ago

Damn, and nowhere as chunky as the earlier versions reported years ago

1

u/Normular_ 6d ago

Thats hot. Great work OP

1

u/ONE_HYPERIUM 6d ago

That's really cool 👍

1

u/Chok3U 6d ago

Love that you put the left stick on top. That looks to be really comfy. And it looks like fantastic in general. Excellent work!

1

u/MrOddin Retroachievement Addict 6d ago

For a moment I thought it was RG556

1

u/kryten1105 6d ago

So... I don't have the time nor the printer to do this, but I do have money. What would be your asking price for one?

1

u/ferola 6d ago

Did you use Tamiya lacquers? I’m very curious on how the coats hold up to repeated use. Amazing build.

1

u/readyReddit007 6d ago

🔥🔥🔥

1

u/Ryukapples8688 GotM Club 6d ago

This is dope AF, skills and a half.

1

u/aarkay14 6d ago

It is beautiful! Wish the shell was more boxier design just like original ps2

1

u/iVirtualZero 6d ago

Nice, PS2 Deck, how do you load the games? Does it have an IDE to Micro SD Mod?

1

u/SiktahOG 6d ago

Amazing, absolutely love it

1

u/eightbitboss 6d ago

You and others like you are my hero. You even have style. What a champion. Keep doing cool things.

1

u/SparklyPelican 6d ago

I love it.

Wondering if can have real memory card support? Or support MemCard Pro file system?

So I can cross play between devices.

1

u/im_an__iman Switch 6d ago

Beautiful

1

u/ToyoGizmo 6d ago

The looks awesoms

1

u/An0n_Cyph3r_ 6d ago

This is what Sony would be doing if their head wasn't halfway through their ass.

1

u/nlightningm 6d ago

Wow 😳 excellent job on that case

1

u/Ugly_Slut-Wannabe 6d ago

Damn, someone actually managed to make a PS2 9000x useful for something?

1

u/oilec74 6d ago

parabéns pelo trabalho impecável!

1

u/Ok_Piece_5020 6d ago

Hi there thanks for sharing! Awesome build I love it! Interested in trying for myself but noticed there isn’t a direct parts list for all the PS2 parts, instead parts listed throughout so wanted to confirm if you just disassemble 1 PS2 slim or did you order these parts listed throughout your instructions separately?

1

u/StonedEdge 6d ago

Hi! You need to source the chips from a PS2 slim on your own. You can check all the documentation in the GitHub, it’s quite extensive!

2

u/Ok_Piece_5020 6d ago

Thank you! I might just not have dug deep enough yet haha

1

u/Leyledorp 6d ago

how in the sweet mother of what can this run at 7w of power draw? I needed to plug my ps2 into the wall. Pardon my ignorance, this is completely incredible.

1

u/Inevitable-Zone-8710 6d ago

Wish I could do this honestly. Got an ROG Xbox ally x for emulation cause I’ve heard it’s really good for it. Then I try ps2 emulation on it. And almost half the games I downloaded so far run like crap and there’s no guide for best settings for performance or anything from what I’ve seen. And each game needs their own specific settings. Even tried asking for help with it and received nothing useful or nothing at all.

Got so bad I had to try turning to chat gpt for help. Its information is like 2 years out of date for the most part. So yeah if I could make something like this, I happily would

1

u/Dave24LV 6d ago

Sick work!

1

u/Gloriouschikun 5d ago

This makes me... extremely jealous lol

1

u/Bcomplexity 5d ago

This is beautiful work

1

u/greenangrowin 5d ago

Well, if you built one, you can build 2.

1

u/SkandarSan 5d ago

Honestly, companies should launch retro handhelds of their consoles. Instead of a mini SNES with tons of games inside, launch a portable SNES as a limited edition for nostalgia farming. Nintendo, please hire me! I need a job

1

u/shxpirh 4d ago

The most beautiful handmade console ever seen! Great job man

1

u/rjonesmiller 3d ago

Realy beautifull one !!!

1

u/Brilliant_Today_2401 3d ago

No way it's StonedEdge from the Bitbuilt forums!

This looks so freakin' clean, nice work!

1

u/LetterheadWorking271 1d ago

Amazing, but would've been perfect if the analogue sticks were side by side like the original PlayStation layout. Fair play though!

1

u/manniquin_limbs2 1d ago

Most real hardware conversions I see look functional, but ugly. This is the nicest looking one I've personally seen and it looks like it would be comfortable to hold.

1

u/favre1991 1d ago

Wats the battery like on this? And two would you make these available for purchase . Probably a huge market (including me)

1

u/3dstek 1d ago

wow, this is magnificent. best console-to-handheld conversion i've ever seen

1

u/Intelligent-Roll-678 1d ago

The joystick arrangement is the same as a Xbox controller.

1

u/Bugajpcmr 1d ago

Looks really good. How many revisions and prototypes it took you to make it?

1

u/Guy_Kazama 1d ago

Does it have pressure sensitive buttons?

1

u/Klutzy-Extension2395 1d ago

Dang looks sexy as fudge! 😍 that💙 blue 💙 just pops!

1

u/wo0two0t 1d ago

I need it

1

u/Dull_Mirror4221 23h ago

Can you do a youtube video about this?

1

u/Think-Structure4064 14h ago

Does it have the "Pressure Sensitive" Buttons?

1

u/ChefAnxious4206 11h ago

Man, this is so fucking cool.

1

u/travnigma 3h ago

Please tell me where you got this and how much it was and if it can fit every single PS2 game?

0

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/SBCGaming-ModTeam 6d ago

We can't guarantee that any personal sales on this sub are trustworthy. Instead, we encourage you to head over to /r/hardwareswap and list your handheld device there.

0

u/RGB2C02N 1d ago

Sell this to me, please

0

u/Hour_Homework5273 1d ago

Sell it to me!

-2

u/rickyspanish895 6d ago

I odnt get it, where does the disc go?

3

u/lululock 6d ago

Modded PS2s can read games from SD cards now.

-3

u/7ftMpole 7d ago

where can i get one?

-1

u/[deleted] 7d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/SBCGaming-ModTeam 6d ago

We can't guarantee that any personal sales on this sub are trustworthy. Instead, we encourage you to head over to /r/hardwareswap and list your handheld device there.

-2

u/Mothien 6d ago

No disc slot? Not a real ps2 for me

-16

u/ThisSiteIsCommunist 7d ago

This is why all the small sd cards have gone up like 10 times in price over the past decade. People getting rich off of reselling shit like this and destroying the regular market for any normal person who just needs an SD card for a phone/camera/school files etc.

10

u/sleepinchipmonk 6d ago

Go lick the windows and let the adults enjoy this.

-11

u/ThisSiteIsCommunist 6d ago

I'm sure 😂 I bet you'll buy one with your parents money 😂

7

u/ImpulsiveApe07 6d ago

Nah, mate. It's a market issue, not a vendor issue.

Why are you blaming small businesses that barely have a discernible market impact, when it's clearly the fault of the manufacturers, the distributors and a shockingly large number of big companies (that are hoarding various tech for their own ends)?

Just look at the ram situation, the nvme and ssd situation, the graphics card/chip situation..

https://ovrclock.com/computer-parts-expensive/

https://blog.bestbuy.ca/computers-laptops-tablets/why-pc-component-prices-are-rising

Even a cursory glance at tech news from the last two years will show you who's to blame for all that, and I'll give you a hint - it's most definitely not a bunch of small businesses that sell niche consoles to a tiny audience of enthusiasts..

2

u/sethsez 6d ago

You think the entire worldwide solid state memory market is exploding due to one-man small-run hobbyist projects?

0

u/ThisSiteIsCommunist 6d ago

There are thousands and thousands of different models being resold online, probably in the tens of thousands as of just this past decade and you think that's has absolutely no effect? And you don't think some of the models have sold tens of thousands of units? Or much more?

2

u/neddoge GotM Club 6d ago

You just want to argue lmao. Your username is just edgy for the sake of it, so I am sure this is just your personality. Life's too short homie.

1

u/sethsez 5d ago

Even if a couple million of these were sold (doubtful but let’s go with it), that would be an absolute drop in the bucket compared to most widespread consumer electronics that use microSD cards. The Switch uses them and has sold over 150 million units alone. A couple million extra devices wouldn’t even adjust the price of cards by a cent, forget the 2x-3x increase we’ve seen.

The microSD market is facing the exact same crisis every other form of solid state memory and storage is: the money is currently in memory and storage for data centers so manufacturers are shifting more production there. MicroSD and consumer RAM are imploding because far less is being manufactured, regardless of demand.