playstation fullga This is the code name for a secret Sony project that turns the standard PlayStation DualShock controller into a PS1 emulator, but the product has never been released. Like most companies, Sony has a significant portion of prototypes held back before release. But few people knew that the company once developed a PlayStation controller that could run games on its own.
On July 2, 2026, a lecture by Brian Watson, a game developer with over 40 years of industry experience, was posted on the Retro Collective YouTube channel. Throughout his career, Brian has worked with large gaming companies such as Sony, contributing to projects such as PS2 emulators for PS3 and PS VR, and several games including Sony's iconic MMOFPS. magazine. But one of the most interesting projects he worked on was the PlayStation Pulga, a strange portable emulator.
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The PlayStation Pulga was a controller that came with 10 games pre-installed.
Towards the end of his talk at the Retro Collective museum, Watson pulled out a DualShock controller and said, “It's a PlayStation controller. It's a PlayStation controller with a PS1 in it.” He later revealed that it was called Pulga, a nod to its small size, as the Portuguese word means “flea”. According to Watson, players could connect the PS Pulga directly to their TV and use it as a plug-and-play device that could run up to 10 pre-installed games.
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Watson explained that the controller has 4GB of storage, enough for about 10 classic PlayStation games, and includes a TIMP 3530 chip with an ARM processor running at about 650 MHz. Pulga also runs on a battery that can provide up to 20 hours of gameplay, eliminating the need for direct power. The veteran developer revealed that unfortunately the prototype no longer works as it boots to a debugging screen and no longer has the necessary software to run the emulator.
What makes the unusual handheld even more interesting is that it was intended to be a Brazil exclusive. As Watson explains, Sony was facing import problems at the time, and its PlayStation consoles became a domestic black market gaming product. The idea behind Pulga was to create a portable, easy-to-manufacture version of the console that could be produced locally and circumvent restrictive import regulations. “We were going to manufacture in Brazil because that would allow us to avoid a lot of the Brazilian import regulations, so that’s what happened,” Watson said.
Why PlayStation Pulga wasn't released
Watson said Sony licenses can't get their act together on royalty terms for each game that will be pre-installed on the controller. He also said “[Video game rights owners] He was asking for too much in the way of royalties.” He didn't specify which games were planned, but suggested that the lineup would have included some popular Rockstar games along with a few first-party Sony titles. Nonetheless, Sony ultimately decided to cancel the project because it no longer made sense to launch without pre-installed games.
The subtitles for the Retro Collective video refer to the project as PlayStation PUGA. But Watson can clearly be heard calling it Pulga.
