And again, it's a PlayStation Portable. Not a PS5 or a PS6 Portable.
We still don't know what it actually is so we can speculate about every eventuality. DF in their article and the last few months of rumors suggest it's aiming for a high degree of PS5 BC and cut down PS6 games. It would be a PS6 Portable in all but name.
If Switch 2 peaks in 27-28 (which I too think it will) then how can the power of a MORE powerful device (the PS Portable) really be a problem? Your reasoning doesn't make any sense.
In regards to the question of power, yes it'll be more powerful than a Switch 2, but the issue is that it potentially won't be powerful enough to adequately fulfil the use cases of either PS5 BC or portable PS6 games.
The PS5 is
already a hefty console to make portable so it's questionable how well this device will actually be able to pull that feat off. Remember that Sony don't have a cut down Series S version to lean on like Microsoft can for the Xbox Ally X if needs be. Sony are going to have to somehow get full fat PS5 games running on this thing and ideally without any intervention via patches. Needing to rely on developers to get 7-8 year old games working isn't a good solution (many are lazy - see the PS5 Pro support - and some don't even exist any more).
I'll spell out the problems on the 'portable PS6' front if they do go that route too. First, Sony are going to need some sort of mandated portable version, like MS did with Series S, to ensure the device gets continued support. That's the only way they can market this and count it as a PS6 sale like MS does with the S. But if they do that, it could potentially hamstring the PS6 because developers will need to stay mindful of making their games work to a PS5-spec.
Now, if people thought cross-gen with PS4 was bad enough this gen, Sony would be decreeing that PS6 will essentially be cross-gen with the equivalent of PS5 hardware for its lifetime... what, then, is the point of a new console generation? PS6 would in effect end up being just a PS5 Pro Pro. And why wouldn't most people just stick with their PS5, since presumably if developers can get PS6 games working on this thing, why stop there unless an artificial boundary is put in place by Sony?
If Sony
don't mandate a portable version, developer support for the device could crumble as PS6 games get more advanced. That potentially causes a mess of mixed messaging and puts the onus on the consumer to research whether the game they want to play is, or will be, supported. I've seen it compared to the way Steam Deck does things, but this isn't the PC space. People want simplicity not just in the experience (ie. not needing to consult some compatibility list like their daily horoscope) but also in expectations (ie. I buy this thing I can play PS6 stuff). Remember that these are console players:
So to me, the risk is a device with patchy PS5 support and lukewarm PS6 support. Jack of all trades, master of none. I personally want a PS6 console pushing path tracing, which should be more than doable by 2027, but I doubt this portable will be able to even keep up with
ray tracing let alone path tracing. It will be another gen of developers being stuck needing to make uglier fallbacks for weaker hardware which adds time to already bloated development schedules.
There is also the question of price. The Xbox Ally X is going to cost $800+ according to estimates and the specs of this are even a bit above that. How much can Sony realistically chop off that RRP by 2027? $100? And how much will a PS6 console cost? I'd wager probably around the same.
What does a gamer in the market for a handheld see when this device launches and they compare it with a Switch 2?
The Switch 2 will have the momentum. 2-3 years of games behind it, probably a new Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Smash, etc etc by then,
which they cannot play anywhere else. It'll potentially be nearly half the price of the PlayStation portable. It also has solid backwards compatibility of something like 99% of games.
Now compare that with a freshly launched handheld (read: unproven) which plays old games in a potentially gimped form, and newer games in an assuredly gimped form, for nearly double the price of the Switch 2 (and in the ballpark of the PS6 console proper) - and does what their PS5 can already do because a) it's the same power and b) cross-gen will be in full force, if not mandated?
I'd be shocked if people didn't just get a Switch 2 and pick up a PS6 console later.