ony and LEGO officially announced a 1,911-piece PlayStation building set arriving on October 4th for £139.99 or $179.99. While it features neat mechanical touches, including two pull-out Easter eggs that reveal miniature Gran Turismo and Ape Escape dioramas, it remains an expensive plastic sculpture meant to gather dust on a shelf.
The Swiss team behind the BrickBoy project, founded by Thomas Bertani, is already developing an aftermarket modification kit called BrickStation. The pitch is straightforward: turn the upcoming plastic replica into a fully functional gaming machine powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W single-board computer.
Custom Engineering Inside an Easter Egg
Instead of asking owners to butcher plastic or void what is essentially a $180 toy, the BrickStation module is engineered to slide cleanly into the compartment originally built for the Ape Escape diorama. The entire board and its supporting electronics will sit inside an ABS injection-moulded base designed to avoid any cutting or glue.
"The components of the BrickStation will be assembled inside of an ABS, mould-injected 'base'; this will contain the Raspberry Pi and all of the electronics, crammed into a build small enough to fit into the exact compartment that the Ape Escape diorama sits."
According to the development team, the package will provide an HDMI connection for modern televisions, wireless gamepad support, and wired controller hookups over USB. Bertani also plans to wire up the set's built-in Power On button so pressing the plastic stud actually boots the console.
What Buyers Should Expect
Unlike crude DIY homebrews, Bertani stated that the BrickStation hardware will pursue full compliance with formal safety regulations and electrical certifications before shipping. The creators plan to fund production via a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign once development wraps up.
Paying $179.99 for a plastic display model is already a collector's indulgence, and tacking on an aftermarket emulation kit pushes the total investment well past $250. You end up with a novelty retro box that demands assembly, extra cash, and patience instead of an off-the-shelf microconsole. If your only goal is replaying original PlayStation classics on your TV, dedicated retro handhelds or cheap mini-PCs do the job for a fraction of the cost, leaving this hybrid strictly for enthusiasts who want bragging rights for a playable brick centerpiece.