11 Of The Most Bizarre PlayStation Gadgets Ever Made – BGR

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Sony’s dominance in the gaming industry has been a joy for gamers who love the company’s focus on mature, story-driven experiences that push the boundaries of graphics to new heights. Their latest console is packed with so many features that there are several cool things you likely never knew your PlayStation 5 could do.

To think that the PlayStation would have never existed had Nintendo and Sega not rejected Sony’s attempts to partner up with them! This led to a domino effect that forced the Japanese company’s hand as they entered the console market on their own. The impact they’ve had on the gaming industry ever since is undeniable, with their impressive hardware lineup defining multiple console generations. The PlayStation 2 is still the highest-selling console to date, with 160 million shipped units, and it seems that the Nintendo Switch won’t be able to surpass Sony’s record despite being oh-so-tantalizingly close.

While Sony has been accused of playing it a bit too safe at times, this hasn’t stopped them and others from developing some truly bizarre PlayStation gadgets. Some of these products were arguably meant to be eccentric collectables from the get-go, while others tried to do something unique but didn’t gain much traction. Either way, these odd PlayStation peripherals will be interesting for video gaming aficionados who have a soft spot for Sony and their illustrious history in the gaming industry.

The PlayStation 1 was Sony at their most experimental. It’s an attitude that extended to third-party developers as well, who wanted to create unique gadgets for this console that would make a lasting impression. Such is the case with the UltraRacer PS1 Controller, a device made by InterAct that resembles an R.C. car remote. As its name and design would lead you to believe, this controller was made to add an immersive edge to racing games. The wheel at the center of the controller can be rotated to simulate the movement of an analog stick, with the L1, R1, L2, and R2 buttons placed at the center.

Right under it are very tiny directional buttons if you need to navigate menus. However, what’ll really catch your eye is that this controller lacks regular face buttons. Instead, they’re replaced with the A, B, L, and I/II buttons. The latter two are pressure-sensitive and let you enjoy the feel of putting just the right amount of pressure on the accelerator or brake button to decide their power. Under these is the Start button, and a special inclusion called the Set button, which lets you remap controls on this device to suit your needs for every game. 

Despite being slightly awkward to handle at times, the UltraRacer PS1 Controller is surprisingly competent and gives you a reason to revisit classic titles like V-Rally and Crash Team Racing. However, it’s not compatible with heavy hitters like Gran Turismo 2 and the Driver games, which is odd, as racing games are supposed to be this controller’s selling point.

The PSone is one of Sony’s best console redesigns, serving as a breath of fresh air for people who were tired of the original PlayStation’s look. This cute, slim variant looked amazing, and it helped that Sony supported it with a peripheral that would quickly become one of the coolest PlayStation gadgets of all time. 

The Sony PSone LCD Screen is a separate unit that plugs into your PSone and turns it into a standalone display-enabled console. This was perfect if your TV wasn’t working or you just wanted to play this console in your bed without having to go to the living room all the time. The 5-inch screen had a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) display, along with physical buttons to adjust the brightness and volume. A lightweight design helps it slot onto the PSone with ease and look like a natural extension of the console instead of a bulky one.

An argument can be made that the smaller screen size meant that PS1 games looked better on this peripheral. Blurred textures and blocky visuals were less noticeable on the smaller-resolution screens. On top of all these features, the LCD screen also had a headphone jack if you wanted to enjoy better audio quality. It’s a shame that more people don’t talk about this unique device, which is easily one of Sony’s more creative peripherals, and let PS1 owners enjoy a whole new way to play their games.

Ever wanted to turn your PlayStation 2 into a home computer that runs Linux? The official Linux Kit was such a unique prospect that even people who do not care about running Linux found it intriguing to see their PS2 transform into something they couldn’t have imagined in their wildest dreams. 

That being said, getting the Linux kit was a costly affair, although the kit did come with several accessories. For $299, you could get your hands on a keyboard, a mouse, a PC card network adaptor, a 40GB IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) hard drive, a special VGA (Video Graphics Array), and the discs required to install and run Linux on your PS2.

As much of a novelty as it may be to run Linux on a PlayStation console, one really has to ask — just who was this software kit for? There are more convenient ways to run Linux, and turning a PS2 into a desktop computer seems like way more trouble than it’s worth. Still, as bizarre as the notion may be, it’s not hard to imagine that some programmers will love the idea of converting the highest-selling console of all time into a Linux computer. If you can get your hands on this kit in 2026, it gives you another excuse not to throw out your old PlayStation 2.

The news of a new Onimusha game has elated fans who hated the long, unfair hiatus this series went on. The last mainline entry was two decades ago, when Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams released in 2006. Long-time fans have fond memories of the series that shares its DNA with Resident Evil. However, unlike Capcom’s survival-horror zombie franchise, Onimusha was set in feudal Japan and had a greater focus on action-packed hack-and-slash combat. In its heyday, the series was so popular that Capcom decided to pull out all the stops for Onimusha 3: Demon Siege, releasing a controller alongside it that is easily one of the most bizarre PlayStation peripherals of all time.

The Soul Controller is meant to be a collector’s item, sporting a unique look that makes it such a tantalizing prospect for gaming enthusiasts. It’s 38 inches long and even comes with a ceremonial stand to turn it into an aesthetic living room prop. Capcom stated that the Soul Controller uses motion capture technology to let players attack enemies in Onimusha 3 by swinging the sword around, adding a unique layer of immersion to the game. 

Of course, the controller also had awkwardly placed face buttons and two analog sticks to work with other PS2 games. It has an effective range of five meters and needs three AA batteries to work, but keep in mind that they deplete pretty quickly in just five hours.

The Vita’s failure was catastrophic, even though you can still use an old PlayStation Vita in clever ways. However, it didn’t mean that Sony fans didn’t care about portable gaming at all. The fault was more on the company’s end for failing to support the console with first-party titles, with the console eventually becoming a JRPG hub in the latter stages of its lifespan. So, when the news surrounding Sony’s Project Q kicked it into high gear, most people were disappointed that Sony’s portable console offerings wouldn’t be making a comeback anytime soon. 

What we got instead was a bizarre peripheral for the PS5 that used Remote Play technology to let you play games from the console on a portable device. This made the PlayStation Portal one of the most disappointing Sony handhelds, especially given how Remote Play is plagued with input lag on even the fastest Wi-Fi networks.

Basically, playing any real-time action game on the PlayStation Portal was a recipe for disaster. Turn-based games or titles that didn’t require swift, precise inputs were still playable enough, but that didn’t make the PlayStation Portal any less weird. It didn’t help that the Portal needed your PS5 to be active to play games, and it wasn’t until the addition of Cloud Streaming in November of last year that this requirement could be circumvented. Unless the PlayStation Portal is a precursor to a proper Sony handheld, we fail to see the appeal of such a situational device, especially one that costs $199. Of course, this device had some positives. The 8-inch 1080p touchscreen looks great, a battery life that can last for up to eight hours is another positive, and the nominal weight of 1.17 pounds makes this lightweight device easy to carry.

With the Wii becoming one of the most successful consoles of all time, Sony and Microsoft decided to hop on the motion-gaming train in the seventh console generation. This led to the PlayStation Move being hotly marketed for the PS3, and it didn’t take long for third-party peripherals to add a touch of weirdness to these motion controls. The Ultimate Boxing Gloves from CTA Digital are a great example of this, made specifically to coincide with the release of The Fight: Lights Out. Given the middling critical reception of this title, it’s clear that CTA Digital jumped the gun with an accessory that turned out to be pretty useless, all things considered.

For what it’s worth, the elastic material and velcro straps struck a good middle ground between comfort and safety, ensuring that a forceful punch wouldn’t send the PlayStation Move smashing into your TV at record speed. Perhaps this could be used with other boxing-related games that use the Move, but there’s no denying that the Ultimate Boxing Gloves are too situational and become a pretty useless accessory once you’re done playing the one game that it supports properly.

The original PlayStation was host to its fair share of odd third-party controllers that you may not even know of. One such product is the Reality Quest Glove, which aims to let you control games using a single hand. The peripheral had some unique ideas – moving your wrist in a particular direction facilitated character movement. The face buttons, along with L1 and R1, are present on the Glove’s “fingers”. Meanwhile, L2 and R2 — along with duplicate L1 and R1 buttons — were placed on the thumb pad. Along with this, a special Reality Quest button lets you invert controls and adjust the peripheral’s sensitivity.

If that wasn’t enough, the Reality Quest Glove also had three settings that dictated the directional inputs you used. It allows you to switch between Digital movement, True Analog, and Simulated Analog input. This helped enable compatibility that supported either one or both forms of movement. Now, as interesting as it may seem, there’s no denying that you’ll have to get used to the Reality Quest Glove if you don’t want to struggle while playing basic games. Unless you’re a retro game enthusiast, this may not be worth the effort.

A rail shooter with an emphasis on high-quality synth soundtracks, there’s a reason why Rez is considered by many to be a cult classic. For its time, the visuals were pretty great, and the harmony between the title’s gameplay and its music was amazing. For how impressive the game was, fans were hurt to see its poor sales. 

Thankfully, Rez Infinite helped a new generation of gamers enjoy what made this title so satisfying to play, with VR support and the addition of the sandbox-esque Area X being lauded by many. However, fans who missed out on the original PS2 experience didn’t get to experience an accessory so unintentionally funny that it has become infamous. 

The Trance Vibrator was a special — and very unfortunately named – accessory that came with the Absolute Set special edition, with only 500 units released in Japan. This device aimed to enhance the sensory immersion of the music in Rez by making it vibrate and pulse to the beat of the game’s music. However, people started to jokingly refer to it as a “self-pleasure” device for understandable reasons, making the product’s legacy even more bizarre than it already was.

The PlayStation Portable is one of the most legendary handheld consoles of all time, so much so that it even managed to give stiff competition to Nintendo, a company known for its supreme dominance in the handheld console market. God of War: Chains of Olympus, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, and Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories are just a few of the many iconic games that made a huge splash on this console. 

If you wanted to play games on the go and were deep into the Sony ecosystem, then the PSP was a perfect device. However, Sony wanted to turn this portable device into a jack of all trades, with the Go!Cam being an indication of the same. However, it’s the 1-SEG Digital TV Tuner where Sony truly ventured into the realm of the bizarre.

Once again, this peripheral was released only in Japan, letting users access the airwaves and watch TV on their tiny PSP screen. It weighed a paltry 17 grams and could easily slot into the PSP’s USB slot. Gamers who lacked a proper cable connection could also connect this TV-enabled PSP to an external display and watch TV on a bigger screen. As admirable as the 1-SEG Digital TV Tuner’s utility was, it’s just weird to even try to turn the PSP into a portable TV. Suffice it to say, this technology never saw the light of day in the West and has become a quirky footnote in the PSP’s esteemed history. Still, if you own a PlayStation Portable, there are several other clever things you can accomplish on this old device.

With the runaway success of the Tamagotchi, it seemed that Sony also wanted a slice of the pie. Instead of focusing on a single gameplay loop like this device, the company developed a peripheral for the PS1 that operated like a digital assistant. This led to the birth of the PocketStation, a unique portable device that connected to the PlayStation console’s memory card slot to transfer game data and gain access to minigames in certain titles. The most notable example is Final Fantasy VIII, letting players access a minigame called Chocobo World where they sent Boko the Chocobo into the world to acquire experience and exclusive items that could be transferred over to the main game. 

It also used infrared technology to let players transfer saves between PocketStations, adding a social element to the mix. As novel as this concept was, the PocketStation barely received any support and only shipped 60,000 units. With Japanese demand being tepid at best, the West never even got a chance to see the PocketStation in action. 

Even with its small screen and rudimentary graphics, the gadget could’ve still seen some traction with special physical cartridges to play games. Unfortunately, the dependence on existing PS1 games, coupled with the aforementioned lack of third-party support, ultimately doomed the PocketStation and turned it into a weird chapter in an otherwise stellar run for Sony’s debut console. 

Players who wanted to control the members of the Wu-Tang Clan in a cool fighting game had a great time with Wu-Tang: Shaolin Style. Sure, the game wasn’t a barnburner, but it’s achievement as the first ever four-player co-op PS1 game and the use of the Thrill Kill engine — another legend in and of itself — was enough of a novelty to make Shaolin Style a fun Activision title. The company wanted to do something unique for this game’s special edition, ultimately settling on a W-shaped controller that is about as ridiculous as you’d expect.

This gadget is shaped like the Wu-Tang Clan logo and is easily one of the clunkiest controllers for the PS1, which is saying a lot given the odd controllers we’ve already listed out. Playing any game on this controller will be a chore, which is why this special Wu-Tang Clan controller is better off as a retro showpiece if you manage to get your hands on this product.