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[Fafalada]

I mean, let's be honest, how much stuff would we really miss if nothing from PS5 *ever* gets patched

Well - for better or worse - large swaths of legacy PS4 as well as all the releases since 2020 have a 60fps mode on PS5, and almost none of them do the same on PS4.
It's true that compared to Switch multi-plats that often run sub 30 - that still looks 'better', but it's a definitive downgrade from PS5.
And then we have the reality of the absolutely dire loading times on most PS4 era software, even if you run it all off of an SSD, which I personally value a lot more on a handheld than stationary console.

the best they can do is marketing it as a handheld capable of playing PS1/PS2/PSP and the vast majority of PS4/PS5/PS6 games bar some exceptions.

I am starting to wonder if they are due for branding update tbh. Maybe something like PS, Gen 6. And then Playstation Portable, compatible with Gen 6 and most of your library before it.
j/k - but not entirely.

Also, I don't see Sony positioning it as 'companion' device, it's not a handheld not capable of playing current games released years earlier, and it's not an accessory, either. They're definitely expecting this to eat a good share of the home console's sales.

I'm not saying it's impossible - just that it would be a first if they do this. And historically they've already been very risk averse when it came to cannibalizing their stationary console sales - and company has only gotten more conservative since.
Anyway - it'll really come down to branding I guess.

But I just realized something that makes all this 'selective PS5' compatibility all the more likely. If they port Bloodborne to PS5 - then they can do a whole new round of trolling the gamer population around the globe by releasing this portable that doesn't play Bloodborne PS5 remaster... So really, how could they resist that?

 

[m14]

Will this handheld support the UMD format?

 

[Woopah]

Whatever Sony does with the hardware, they just need to make sure that all the big 3rd party Japanese games, specifically titan-level franchises like Monster Hunter, get ported to this PS Portable console.

That's the real reason for the Vita's death. Lack of Japanese 3rd party dev support, because Sony sat back and let Nintendo pay every dev in Japan to be exclusive to their potable console.

The days of handheld consoles requiring specific libraries are over so I don't think it's a concern. A PS handheld would get 90%+ the same third party games as Switch 2 so it won't be a 3DS/Vita situation on the third party front.

 

[Hugare]

It's not literal PS5 hardware being crammed into a mobile form factor, it's mobile hardware based on PS6's architecture.

Doesnt matter. Battery life will be atrocious and the hardware will cost tons of money.

It would be better to make only PS1-PS4 playable so the hardware could be cheaper and better battery life. Sony would sell a bunch of old games on the PSN and there would be a huge market for it.

I would buy one + PS6

 

[_Ex_]

Is it even technically possible? PS5 hardware on a handheld?

With cloud streaming it is.

 

[Tg89]

I don't see how this works at a consumer pricepoint given where tech is right now.

People laugh at 449 Switch 2, but the reality is that's the cost of something in that power range.

 

[asdasdasdbb]

Will this handheld support the UMD format?

I'd expect it to be Adorably All Digital.

I don't see how this works at a consumer pricepoint given where tech is right now.

Def going to be interesting as to the price. I think it'll be more than Switch 2, which I think is fine.

 

[Tg89]

Def going to be interesting as to the price. I think it'll be more than Switch 2, which I think is fine.

It would be hundreds more than Switch at minimum. Switch is basically getting all the juice it can out of the 449 pricepoint and it's nowhere near the level needed to run these games.

ROG Ally X is 800 MSRP, it would probably be slightly more than that at minimum.

 

[Liopleurodon]

Switch 2 Killer.

 

[Fafalada]

ROG Ally X is 800 MSRP, it would probably be slightly more than that at minimum.

You know - I would have been interested in a premium handheld at XSX launch time frame instead of the Speaker box. Hell I would have paid 800$ for a Surface branded one back then.
Not sure that sounds all that compelling now though - especially with all the PC options out there. Short of bringing in PS3 native back-compat I don't really know what would convince me otherwise either - but hey - maybe PS6 will bring some new paradigm shift instead of another incremental upgrade.

 

[KeplerL2]

It would be hundreds more than Switch at minimum. Switch is basically getting all the juice it can out of the 449 pricepoint and it's nowhere near the level needed to run these games.

ROG Ally X is 800 MSRP, it would probably be slightly more than that at minimum.

ASUS has to sell at a profit since they don't get any money from software, and Nintendo has sold HW at a profit in recent times too.

 

[nial]

Doesnt matter. Battery life will be atrocious and the hardware will cost tons of money.

I don't see it, I think we're kinda ignoring the fact that it's *not* as powerful as PS5, 7 years later.

Well - for better or worse - large swaths of legacy PS4 as well as all the releases since 2020 have a 60fps mode on PS5, and almost none of them do the same on PS4.
It's true that compared to Switch multi-plats that often run sub 30 - that still looks 'better', but it's a definitive downgrade from PS5.
And then we have the reality of the absolutely dire loading times on most PS4 era software, even if you run it all off of an SSD, which I personally value a lot more on a handheld than stationary console.

I think consumers often give a pass to these downgrades if it's for handheld gaming, and remember, this is for a worst case scenario only if PS5 versions never get patched.

 

[Hugare]

I don't see it, I think we're kinda ignoring the fact that it's *not* as powerful as PS5, 7 years later.

Doesnt need to be nowhere near PS5 in terms of power to consume a lot of battery

Switch 2 is far from being a PS5, and its battery life is supposedly very poor. And we are theorizing about a device that will be even more powerful.

 

[nial]

Doesnt need to be nowhere near PS5 in terms of power to consume a lot of battery

Switch 2 is far from being a PS5, and its battery life is supposedly very poor. And we are theorizing about a device that will be even more powerful.

It's along the lines of the first Switch 1 and people were perfectly fine with that.

 

[Fafalada]

I think consumers often give a pass to these downgrades if it's for handheld gaming, and remember, this is for a worst case scenario only if PS5 versions never get patched.

Well given how Sony handled their most recent platform they decided to remove BC from, I'm not super optimistic on better case scenarios.
And again - I think this thing would be fine in a vacuum, but that's not the landscape it'll be releasing into. Market expectations have changed since Switch and Switch 2 will be there for a few presumably before this launches.

 

[ArtHands]

The PSP sold 80 million which is still more than the N64, GameCube, and Wii U combined (also more than the 3DS). It's also more then every single console (including Game Gear) that Sega ever sold. I wouldn't call the PSP a failure by any means whether piracy was rampant or not. Sony has only released 1 console being the Vita which sold less then 80 million units.

The Vita is 100% a failure at between 10-15 million units but even then, it's on par with Nintendo's biggest failure.

The times are different though, and a PlayStation handheld wouldn't really be viewed the same as dedicated handheld consoles were as it will be more of a companion device then anything (much like PC handhelds, and Steam Deck). Sony has also shown that there is interest in a handheld as the Portal has sold roughly 2M units in a year which means it's sold more than any PC handheld outside of the Steam Deck (6m total pc handheld sales with SD accounting for roughly 4m) as well as selling faster than the Steam Deck (roughly half the sales in 1/3 of the total time on the market).

Steam Deck is selling in a very limited capacity. Require Steam account, only sell on Steam, only selling in limited number of countries, limited retail presence, backlogged for many months at launch.

Comparing them make 0 sense.

 

[nial]

Well given how Sony handled their most recent platform they decided to remove BC from, I'm not super optimistic on better case scenarios.
And again - I think this thing would be fine in a vacuum, but that's not the landscape it'll be releasing into. Market expectations have changed since Switch and Switch 2 will be there for a few presumably before this launches.

I believe on the existence of priorities. PS Portal is probably ahead of PSVR2's sales despite launching 9 months later, while PS Vita still sold over 5 millon units more than PSVR1. This is positioning as one of the key choices for PS6 at launch, it's absolutely not in the same ballpark.
I'm curious, what are those expectations? I would assume that the market, first and foremost, would expect forever games/franchises to work on it, and it's quite nothing to worry about. Fortnite will be there at launch, as well as COD, EA Sports FC and basically every third-party game from November 2027 onwards.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

With cloud streaming it is.

There's no need for new hardware if that's the intent. The Portal can do this already.

 

[L11ghtman]

I think handhelds are the future of mainstream gaming. I think they'd be iPads already if Apple wasn't so bad at gaming. People are growing up with laptops, iPads, and phones, not TVs. The power of a PS5 in a handheld package is ideal for mainstream gaming. There will always be people who want more power in a dedicated console, or want to build a big PC tower. But the mainstream that prefers a casual experience will move toward handheld.

 

[Loxus]

I think handhelds are the future of mainstream gaming. I think they'd be iPads already if Apple wasn't so bad at gaming. People are growing up with laptops, iPads, and phones, not TVs. The power of a PS5 in a handheld package is ideal for mainstream gaming. There will always be people who want more power in a dedicated console, or want to build a big PC tower. But the mainstream that prefers a casual experience will move toward handheld.

It's possible to get a handheld as powerful as the PS5 right now, but battery life and cooling are major hurdles to overcome.

 

[mckmas8808]

I think handhelds are the future of mainstream gaming. I think they'd be iPads already if Apple wasn't so bad at gaming. People are growing up with laptops, iPads, and phones, not TVs. The power of a PS5 in a handheld package is ideal for mainstream gaming. There will always be people who want more power in a dedicated console, or want to build a big PC tower. But the mainstream that prefers a casual experience will move toward handheld.

What makes you think there are that many people that want this "casual experience" and also NOT want a console or big PC?

 

[Mibu no ookami]

It would be really disappointing to see the PlayStation handheld not using Silicon Carbon. Would be great to see a precursor in this with Sony including them in their xperia phones.

 

[John Wick]

This is a bad idea. For a start for the handheld to be a success it has to meet a cost and power envelope. More than £450 then it's DOA. Imagine how fast the battery would drain with PS5 levels of power or the size of battery to power it?
For a handheld games have to be specifically made for it. As PS5 games are way to expensive to develop.
Can Sony cope with two systems???
Look at PSVR2 as an wx9

 

[CobraAB]

Switch 2 Killer.

I am all for that!

 

[L11ghtman]

It's possible to get a handheld as powerful as the PS5 right now, but battery life and cooling are major hurdles to overcome.

It's the same reason gaming laptops haven't overtaken desktops... you pay a premium for the portability, but then you also pay for less power in a hotter, noisier package. But the big money behind hardware manufacturers like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft could do portable gaming better because unlike PC manufacturers they can take more of a loss up-front.

 

[L11ghtman]

What makes you think there are that many people that want this "casual experience" and also NOT want a console or big PC?

i think it's generational shift toward laptops, tablets, and phones and away from tvs.

 

[Loxus]

It's the same reason gaming laptops haven't overtaken desktops... you pay a premium for the portability, but then you also pay for less power in a hotter, noisier package. But the big money behind hardware manufacturers like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft could do portable gaming better because unlike PC manufacturers they can take more of a loss up-front.

Not really, take a look the cost of the PS Portal. It has a Snapdragon 680 and cost $200.

Now add something like the Z2 Extreme, cooling and a bigger battery, we'll be looking at a price of $500.

 

[nial]

This is a bad idea. For a start for the handheld to be a success it has to meet a cost and power envelope. More than £450 then it's DOA. Imagine how fast the battery would drain with PS5 levels of power or the size of battery to power it?
For a handheld games have to be specifically made for it. As PS5 games are way to expensive to develop.
Can Sony cope with two systems???
Look at PSVR2 as an wx9

It will not be at the level of PS5, defining PS5/PS6 games as just big AAA productions is reductionist, and it won't have unique software like PSP and PS Vita.

 

[mckmas8808]

i think it's generational shift toward laptops, tablets, and phones and away from tvs.

I think too many in the media are hyping up this "shift" as I don't think it's happening to the degree that some say it is.

 

[L11ghtman]

I think too many in the media are hyping up this "shift" as I don't think it's happening to the degree that some say it is.

I think kids just don't love big boxes. Whether it's a TV or a console teathered to one. PC will always have space for enthusiasts but hardware is increasingly mobile elsewhere, in all aspects of media, and it's not surprising gaming is trending this way. It won't be overnight but it's for sure starting to shift.

 

[Perrott]

This is what I thought as well, the handheld would logically eat a share of home console's sales. But on the other hand, I don't think we've ever been on the situation of a home console launching alongside a handheld revision, so it's honestly hard to predict.
My bet is that neither system will get to 100M units separately, but the PlayStation 6 family as a whole will outsell both the PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 family of consoles. I honestly think the 140M range is possible in this case.

There's opportunity for double-dipping between the PS6 and PS6P, and for triple-dipping once PS6 Pro joins the stage.

The only thing that could possibly kill the ongoing growth that the PS brand has been enjoying since the PS4 era could be if the stupid kids of today have already had their brains rotten by Roblox and shit mobile games by the time the PS6 arrives.

 

[Durin]

Doesnt need to be nowhere near PS5 in terms of power to consume a lot of battery

Switch 2 is far from being a PS5, and its battery life is supposedly very poor. And we are theorizing about a device that will be even more powerful.

The Switch 2 only has a 5200 something mah battery, which a tiny smidge bigger than my Samsung phone. The Asus Rog Ally X for comparison has something closer to a 21622mah battery.

Sony could likely produce a more power-efficient chip that games are designed around to get nice visuals, go a bit thicker (none of these devices are pocket-able anyway) to accomodate a bigger battery, and so long as they nail the ergonomics like the ROG Ally X does...that will make it easy enough to hold with the added weight. My hands still cramp on the original switch without attaching grip handles to it.

If Sony does a handheld though, they gotta increase the frequency of older emulated game releases so you can take a good amount of a Playstation catelog with you on the go besides just new stuff.

 

[Kerotan]

People worried about them not supporting it like the Vita probably shouldn't. We are at a point where these handhelds will play mostly all the same games as the consoles with the necessary restrictions.

Good because I don't want Daddy Sony wasting any resources on ports to this or handheld exclusives. Press a button and it scales down the resolution and voila.

Now the handheld weirdos can play even more downgraded games. Oh the joys.

 

[fran.fernandez]

They just a need a processor to run basic shapes and use ai to upscale and recreate the game .

 

[NicolasBai]

Is it even technically possible? PS5 hardware on a handheld?

Edit: I'm thinking perhaps an ARM architecture and AMD GPU that closely resembles that of the PS5, but games still have to be reprogrammed and refitted to the architecture. Perhaps another dev team (like Nixxes's job) doing the porting.

maybe a scaled down version of PS6 soc?

 

[mckmas8808]

I think kids just don't love big boxes. Whether it's a TV or a console teathered to one. PC will always have space for enthusiasts but hardware is increasingly mobile elsewhere, in all aspects of media, and it's not surprising gaming is trending this way. It won't be overnight but it's for sure starting to shift.

But people said this EXACT thing literally in 2012 about mobile vs consoles. Yet here we are.....

 

[clintar]

Will this handheld support the UMD format?

If it comes with a UMD, then no.

 

[TrebleShot]

But people said this EXACT thing literally in 2012 about mobile vs consoles. Yet here we are.....

hmmm yes with 150 million nintendo switches sold and the pc handheld market booming.

 

[Loxus]

hmmm yes with 150 million nintendo switches sold and the pc handheld market booming.

The Switch selling 150m, is because of it's hybrid console/handheld design, not that it's a handheld.

With PC handheld, games are made with multiple hardware specs in mind, so games can easily be played on it without any patches. But with a new PSP, in order to play PS5 games, it'll have to receive many optimization patches. Which may limit the games it can play, which in turn can limit sales.

 

[TrebleShot]

The Switch selling 150m, is because of it's hybrid console/handheld design, not that it's a handheld.

With PC handheld, games are made with multiple hardware specs in mind, so games can easily be played on it without any patches. But with a new PSP, in order to play PS5 games, it'll have to receive many optimization patches. Which may limit the games it can play, which in turn can limit sales.

I dont disagree, but you can see why Sony would be very interested in going into the handheld market, lets not forget that it would also function as a gen 2 portal.
I also dont envision a world where Nintendo has a 120hz vrr handheld and sony comes out with a 60hz dumb handheld.

So this could be a really interesting proposition - 120hz, vrr, OLED (USP), higher fidelity streaming. SO they could in theory have native specialised games or ports of current games with advanced upscaling and then have the streaming element if you want to connect to your PS5/6.

 

[Boy bawang]

I see three ways this could play out:

1. Games are exclusive to this platform, which would be a gimped PS5 like the PSP was a gimped PS2. We can discard this possibility. They already struggle to push first party games on the PS5, which is understandable considering the amount of resources one has to dedicate to take advantage of more powerful hardware.

2. It plays PS6 games. However, being a gimped PS5, it would severly hinder the ambition of PS6 games. I doubt that Sony would go in that direction either.

3. It plays PS5 games at lower settings. Cool, I guess? But considering that the PS6 would be either out or just around the corner, I don't believe that many people would really be interested. Still the most likely outcome in my opinion though.

If it releases in 2028, it will, no doubt, be more powerful than the Switch 2. But considering that AMD is late compared to NVIDIA on features such as RTX and temporal upscaling, I don't think that the gap between both machines would be that large, unless it has 30 minutes of autonomy and costs 800 coins.

I am sure that Sony is monitoring the handheld market and considering possibly releasing a machine, but I doubt that they will go through with it. They have a good thing going on with home consoles already.

 

[mckmas8808]

hmmm yes with 150 million nintendo switches sold and the pc handheld market booming.

Lets not act like the Nintendo Switch is a handheld now......

 

[Esppiral]

Can't wait for their proprietary super expensive storage solution.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

3. It plays PS5 games at lower settings. Cool, I guess? But considering that the PS6 would be either out or just around the corner, I don't believe that many people would really be interested. Still the most likely outcome in my opinion though.

Most likely scenario.

PS5 if going to have a ridiculously long lifespan.

 

[ergem]

But considering that AMD is late compared to NVIDIA on features such as RTX and temporal upscaling, I don't think that the gap between both machines would be that large, unless it has 30 minutes of autonomy and costs 800 coins.

Switch 2's SoC is 10w on 8nm. PS6 handheld will be 15w on 3nm. The difference will be huge.

 

[Minsc]

Switch 2's SoC is 10w on 8nm. PS6 handheld will be 15w on 3nm. The difference will be huge.

How does that compare to the Ally X with 40w on 4nm? You'd think 40w + 4nm would be better than 15w + 3nm.

I'm not sure saying 15w is a great thing, anyway. More watts would be better, more power. But less battery life.