Sony is apparently working on a handheld device that will play PS5 games natively. This is a different handheld from the PlayStation Portal released earlier this year, which lets you stream games from a PS5 you’ve already paid for.
The device is still in early stages of development, which means that for all we know, it could get scrapped entirely. It’s hard to say at this stage. What we do know is that it’s intended to be a direct competitor to handheld PCs like the Steam Deck, and to some extent, consoles like the Nintendo Switch. Xbox is also working on a handheld console, which is likely why Sony is now trying to push into the same niche. It’s unclear if Xbox’s version will run games natively or through streaming though.
Related
20 Years After Its Release, I’m Contemplating Buying Another Nintendo DS
I sold my original Nintendo DS, but 20 years on I’m contemplating buying another.
PlayStation Exclusives Aren’t A Big Enough Pull
I really can’t imagine how either the Xbox or PlayStation handhelds are going to take off when there’s already so much viable competition. The Nintendo Switch 2, which presumably will have beefier hardware and, like its predecessor, gives you access to a wealth of Nintendo games unavailable on any other platform, will be out by the time we see either of these new competitors hit the market.
And there are already several handheld PCs on the market too, including the Steam Deck, that you can stream Game Pass games to. I love my Steam Deck – it can play pretty much anything I could possibly want to play. Steam’s library is multitudes bigger and arguably better than PlayStation. If Xbox is really committed to bringing its exclusives to PC, I’ll be able to play pretty much anything on my Steam Deck, sans PlayStation exclusives. If I can’t play it on my Steam Deck, it’s probably best played on console or PC anyway.
Xbox at least has Game Pass to back up a bid at entering the handheld market – its library of games is far more diverse and interesting than PlayStation’s and is likely to draw in people who want to play less graphically-intensive games like indies on a smaller screen.
It’ll Be Too Big, And Too Expensive
So what exactly is this PlayStation handheld for? Is it a PlayStation exclusive machine? That doesn’t seem like a huge pull. The typical PS5 exclusive pushes the hardware to its limits graphically, so why would I want to play that on a handheld with a smaller screen and less processing power? It will be doomed to repeat the same mistakes the PSP and Vita, whose exclusives were few and far between while rarely being a reason to buy an entire system. I don’t think Sony or Microsoft have the headroom to seriously support a handheld like this. We might even have a new generation of consoles by that time, which will, as usual, strive for more powerful hardware and better performance.
And if, by some miracle, the specs of the handheld are comparable to the mainline consoles, it’s going to be inordinately expensive and probably massive. My Steam Deck OLED already pushes the limits of portability – if I want to take it out, I have to swap my usual sling bag out for a tote. I don’t want to have to spend a ton of money on a chunky handheld to play worse-looking versions of games I already have a machine for.
So who is the PlayStation handheld really for? Right now, it seems like nobody.
Related
Cyberpunk 2077 Would Have Been Perfect For A PS5 Pro Update
CD Projekt Red has confirmed it has no plans for Sony’s new console.