YouTuber custom builds fully functional crab-shaped PS One with movable arms for controller

YouTuber custom builds fully functional crab-shaped PS One with movable arms for controllerWe live in the world surrounded by games, memes, and mods. When all three combine, the result is mindboggling. Case in point, the Playstacean –...

Mar 26, 2025 - 22:33

We live in the world surrounded by games, memes, and mods. When all three combine, the result is mindboggling. Case in point, the Playstacean – a carabified version of the good old PlayStation 1. Yes, it’s exactly as it reads and looks; a PS One in the shape of a crab. Sony may have pulled the plugs on the game console almost two decades back, but that hasn’t stopped a YouTuber from creating a crab-like PS One (a model released after the first boxy PlayStation), based on the memes by video game concept artist Anh Dong.

YouTube content creator GingerOfOz has modified the PS One into a crab-shaped functional game console complete with movable arms. As it appears, this DIY console is modified to resemble Dang’s illustrations titled Playstacean, which really impressed GingerOfOz when he first saw it. It was at the top of his mind to build the artwork into a functional game player, and the vision turned into reality when he was able to get a used PS One from eBay.

Designer: GingerOfOz

After receiving the old PS One, he got down to carcinize it. He traded the basic gray body for a vibrant orange color and gave the console the crab looks with movable limbs and a heart to nestle the disc drive. He has modified it to exactly match the style and shape of Dang’s Playstacean, and has named the creation the same as well.

The custom-built device required some tinkering and refitting, which started with the motherboard that was trimmed to fit the new crab body. The boxy upper half of the modified console has a crab-like face with eye sockets and antennae, while the lower half incorporates ports, and mounts for the motherboard and disc drive. Since the shape of the PS One is pretty distinct from what GingerOfOz wanted in his console, he has positioned the controller and memory card ports at an angle.

The entire console shell was first designed in CAD and then 3D printed in parts, which include the four parts of each movable limb of the craby PS One. The pincers of the crab-shaped console are meant to function as the controller. But like the innards were not very easy to make, solder and wire, getting the consoles to handle two controllers in a single slot wasn’t child’s play either. By thoughtfully using a multiplexer, which toggles multiple data lines to be toggled with a switch. With switcher soldered to the mainboard, he was able to slit them up and use as a single controller place in two arms of the crab.

This functional crab-shaped PS One console comprises 56 3D printed parts, an original motherboard, and wiring in seven different colors. And features a customized circuit board with a mode switch that activates the controller. Gizmodo asked GingerOfOz, if he was willing to share the CAD files to let others 3D print their own Playstacean; he confirmed that he is unwilling “to share anything currently.”

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