It can be a gratifying experience to craft a custom painted or modded gaming console just as it can be satisfying to add one of these pieces of technological art to your gaming space for some decorative flair. There's been no shortage of gorgeous and intricate custom gaming hardware as new consoles are released and artists and modders refine their craft.
Between its colorful franchises that offer an artistic foundation, and its flat, workable surfaces providing a solid foundation in the literal sense - the PS2 has proven a popular choice for crafters to flex their creative muscle.
With that said, let's head back to the early 2000s as we examine 10 of the coolest and prettiest custom PS2s out there.
10 Royal Blue Resonance
Unlike the games themselves, this blue painted Kingdom Hearts PS2 Slim takes a very minimalistic approach in its design. Yet, given how small the PS2 slim is compared to its bulkier counterpart, the simplicity makes sense.
The clean paint job and the silver emblem and lettering are also effective in conveying a certain elegance that parallels the grandiosity of the series. This would definitely make for a neat collectible and a fine addition to the gaming spaces of both Disney and Square Enix fans alike
9 Bat-Station 2
While modders and painters often opt for a sleek, glossy, and clean look, Haptic Customs proves you can get away with a splotchier, grittier piece of art and make it look just as cool, if not more so, depending on the context.
In the case of the darker-tinged Dark Knight franchise, this design - wrought with black splatter and a realistic metallic base, compliments the subject material. It gives it a worn, detailed look that catches the eye despite its minimal use of imagery, utilizing on the iconic bat symbol as an effective focal point. It also looks really cool to boot!
8 Okami Elegance
This paint job, by F5dMemories, takes advantage of the distinct, artistic sensibilities used in the cult-classic action-adventure game, Okami. They've magnificently captured the spirit of the game's unique aesthetic of Japanese ink wash paintings, despite the lack of detail overall; an impressive feat in its own right.
The silhouetted image of the game's main character, Amaterasu, serves as a cool image with its gold highlights that pop amongst the red painted surface. Like the Kingdom Hearts paint job, this work thrives on its clean appearance highlighted by a single, recognizable emblem which adds the exclamation point.
7 PS2 Rave!
A key attribute that separates the painters from the "modders" is the latter's tendency to tweak the casing of the hardware itself, and even inject elements inside the machine.
In the case of Video Game Boutique's sleek custom PS2, they've installed a number of colored lights, opting for a neon blue and green under the console's buttons and a luminous red elsewhere in the machine.
The console doesn't just look cool however, it's apparently also equipped with more versatile, custom software, making it the ultimate PS2 "dream machine," as one user calls it.
6 Breathing Lightning
A neat looking custom console doesn't always need to represent games from their library in order to look interesting or flashy. Sometimes more vague, epic imagery like these thick veins of lightning bolts can decorate the surface of your console just as effectively.
The hypnotic glow of the blue lights from the bottom of the console compliments the blue and white streaks of lightning extending across the top of this PS2. And those cool blue transparent controllers help complete the entire setup.
5 Lean, Green And Mean
It's no leap at all to call this a true work of art. This painter and modder has gone to great lengths - and many hours of work - to decorate and spruce-up this appealing neon-green PS2. They've even gone so far as to entirely dismantle and reassemble the controller.
The details are handcrafted, as the artist has painted the logo with traditional brushes after airbrushing the splotchy green texture on the console itself. It's not too easy to make the original, boxy PS2 model look sleek or "pop" on a visual level but that's precisely what they've done here.
4 A Bandicoot Tribute
When it comes to unique, attention-grabbing designs, there are few gaming hardware modders or artists quite like Graphic Artist and Painter Vadu Amka.
There's just another level of distinct detail - to the point where his work is almost instantly recognizable, whether it's a rusted steampunk-themed Game Boy or a brick-textured Crash Bandicoot PS2 with a 3D tiki head.
While this image seems to invoke The Legends Of The Hidden Temple even more so than the cartoony platformer, there's no denying the insane level of craftsmanship here. The colorful visuals, chiseled detail, and authentically "worn" appearance result in a neat display item on a gamer's shelf as much as a console.
3 A Doggone Cool Custom
As a tribute to the well-renowned developers for Playstation consoles, Naughty Dog, Extreme Consoles crafted a visually stunning custom PS2 that highlights their history.
Trademark images from a number of Naughty Dog's popular franchises, including the Tikis from Crash Bandicoot, and an epic skull and crossbones emblem from Uncharted decorate the surface of the machine. The clean look of the paw-printed paint job along with the colorful, sharp images of the watermarks make for a visual spectacle fans should appreciate. It's so characteristically "Playstation," and is sure to make a fine addition to the collection of any Sony diehard.
2 A Custom Painted Fantasy
While Vadu Amka excels in the 3D art department with his worn, realistic style - Zoki 64 takes a far different artistic approach but produces a similarly awesome result. His work shine, both in the figurative and literal sense, when it comes to sleek and glossy 2D artwork.
This Final Fantasy X paint job is gorgeous in its colorful imagery and impressive in its amount of detail, to the point where it might just outdo the game's actual box art. The clean, glistening look is true eye candy that looks like it came from Sony or Square Enix themselves.
1 Grand Craft Auto
The painters at limitbreakcustoms.com showcase an impressive palette of similarly stunning works of gaming hardware art. From custom Game Boys to skateboard decks, they've spruced up many seemingly bland objects and transformed them into visual marvels.
Though their finest work has to be this custom PS2, inspired by GTA: Vice City. The texture and color scheme is deliciously sleek, the airbrushing is magnificently done, and the 3D lettering just pops, demanding your attention.