Custom Black PS5 goes on sale this week - Beware the peril

There's a customized all-black PlayStation 5 out there, and it's going to be released to the public. This PlayStation 5 is said to work and act like a normal PlayStation 5, but it has a custom black exterior with design flourishes that make it honor the PlayStation 2. This "Retro Inspired PlayStation 5 Console" might be headed for trouble... or it might be headed for your living room later this year.

We've seen this sort of external customization before. Third-party companies get ahold of a new smartphone, tablet, or in this case, gaming console, and they strip it. Once the machine is down to its bare bones, they re-fit it with new external elements, leaving what's inside to act the same as it ever did. Ideally, the device is then a rather desirable work of art – or an extravagant iteration of what's available to the little people. However you see it!

Most of the time when we've reported on this sort of a device, it's from a company like Caviar, and it costs thousands of dollars because it's covered in gold plating and diamond chips. The device we're looking at today is the "Retro Inspired PlayStation 5 Console" and it's not made by Caviar. This device was made by SUP3R5, with the same crew that delivered the original concept.

If you take a peek back at the first coverage we've got of this console, it still seemed like a fever dream. Back in those heady days of December 23, 2020, it seems like a lifetime ago. Now, the dream is a reality – so to speak.

The situation as suggested by the sup3r5 website is that you'll be able to purchase the Retro Inspired PlayStation 5 Console for approximately $649 USD when it's released in Spring of the year 2021.

It's important to note, here, that the sale of this console in its unauthorized special edition iteration is not covered under any sort of warranty. The same goes for the DualSense controller. So you're taking a gamble, no matter how much you trust the creator of the custom hardware.

According to Tom's Guide, the console will be released "this week". They'll be shipped in the Spring, and SUP3R5 has approximately 304 consoles available for sale.

UPDATE: Legal action on the part of Sony put a relatively quick end to this project. Heading to the original website will show either a 404 or a "website expired" notification.