An enthusiast modder took it upon themselves to further shrink the PCB of the Sony PlayStation One (PS One) and still function. To be absolutely clear, we are talking about the smallest iteration of the original console, which released all the way back in 2000, taking out its circuit board, and making it even smaller.
Console hacker Thedrew had started his project last year with the goal of condensing all the circuitry on the board of the PS One, into a quarter of its size. Essentially called the “PS Pocket”, Thedrew’s efforts was a custom PS One motherboard that is actually less than a quarter of the size console’s board, and as an extra added bonus, his creation coincided with the 31st anniversary of the console’s release.
Thedrew basically did his victory lap by posting a short clip on his YouTube channel, titled “World’s First Working Custom PS1 Motherboard”. Towards the end of his video. He also makes it clear that his shrunk PS One PCB is still just a working prototype, but at least it’s a step in the right direction. Well, for them.
The Shrinking Trend
As it is the trend with Sony and its console department, the PlayStation console, in its seven-year life cycle, underwent some subtle redesigns over the years, with PS One being the final form of the console before the PlayStation 2 came into the picture, and that too underwent a size reduction over the years.
And that trend has continued with every iteration of the PS console. Even the current PS5 Slim recently underwent an upgrade with a bigger and more improved heatsink.
(Source: Secret Hobbyist via YouTube, Tom’s Hardware, Bitbuilt)
