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[Kokoloko85]

Most people have a poor understanding of game industry economics. I think this is a no brainer. Only thing stopping Sony would be TSMC 5/7nm wafer availability. They need to prioritise chips for the PS5 before considering new platforms. If the chips situation is resolved, I can see Sony launching this. It's basically another premium accessory/device they can sell to enthusiasts.

Totally makes sense if they could do it. I have zero understanding of the economics but I think it makes sense and the past reasons of why Vita failed don’t exist today.
Battery would suck and it would probably be expensive but Id buy day 1

 

[Kokoloko85]

Or, you could use your phone/tablet/browser/TV and play all those games on the cloud via a subscription service.

Arent PS doing that now?
But Googoo would you play Switch if it was a cloud only device? I dont think you would.
Id rather have a actual portable like Switch and Steamdeck for my PS library. I have my Switch but I want my PS games on the go too.

 

[Sleepwalker]

But doesn't play Bloodborne

Don't care about bloodborne at all.

 

[Kokoloko85]

It would be better if Sony just release their games on Steam and let others do the hardware.

They make hardware though, whereas Steam is a software company.
I want to play my PS collection on the go. You already have a Steamdeck, let me have my PSP3 lol

 

[Baki]

Totally makes sense if they could do it. I have zero understanding of the economics but I think it makes sense and the past reasons of why Vita failed don’t exist today.
Battery would suck and it would probably be expensive but Id buy day 1

I think not needing to be a mass market success to be a good profit driver is what changes the game here. Vita at 17M units was a failure. PS deck at 17M units would be a wild financial success. At $100-200 profit per unit, they'd be making $1.7-$3.4B profit. To put that into context, that would be equivalent to 1-1.5 years profit for the entire PlayStation division.

Here is what the finances would look like based on a projection of 5M HW units a year and 20M SW units a year:

• $3.55B revenue for HW+SW (13% increase in revenue for PlayStation division)
• $750M Profit from HW (28% increase in yearly profit for PlayStation division)
• $600M Profit from SW (22% increase in profits for PlayStation division)

 

[ThatStupidLion]

vita was the opportunity.

Sony squandered it.

YOU all squandered it.

reap what you sow.

 

[Graciaus]

You'd have to be a massive Sony fan to buy something for $700 when something for $400 already exists. Said thing is an emulation monster and can play a huge portion of pc games.

 

[Baki]

The name should be PSP3. To maximise nostalgia factor. There were 85M PSP owners.

 

[Baki]

You'd have to be a massive Sony fan to buy something for $700 when something for $400 already exists. Said thing is an emulation monster and can play a huge portion of pc games.

I have a massive digital PS library (PS3, PS4, PS5, PS3, PSP, PS Vita)

 

[Davevil]

 

[AV]

Literally what is the point when they've started to port their games to PC and those games will work on a Steam Deck, as well as giving you access to, y'know, everything ever playable on a budget PC?

Sony don't make much scratch on hardware. It exists to sell you games. The Vita was a wreck.

Never happening.

 

[RoboFu]

Phones and tablets have replaced any other mobile gaming device beyond a Nintendo Switch.

 

[Baki]

Literally what is the point when they've started to port their games to PC and those games will work on a Steam Deck, as well as giving you access to, y'know, everything ever playable on a budget PC?

Sony don't make much scratch on hardware. It exists to sell you games. The Vita was a wreck.

Never happening.

Read:

I think not needing to be a mass market success to be a good profit driver is what changes the game here. Vita at 17M units was a failure. PS deck at 17M units would be a wild financial success. At $100-200 profit per unit, they'd be making $1.7-$3.4B profit. To put that into context, that would be equivalent to 1-1.5 years profit for the entire PlayStation division.

Here is what the finances would look like based on a projection of 5M HW units a year and 20M SW units a year:

• $3.55B revenue for HW+SW (13% increase in revenue for PlayStation division)
• $750M Profit from HW (28% increase in yearly profit for PlayStation division)
• $600M Profit from SW (22% increase in profits for PlayStation division)

 

[Kokoloko85]

vita was the opportunity.

Sony squandered it.

YOU all squandered it.

reap what you sow.

That makes no sense. 1 failed console doesnt mean they shouldnt try again.
Otherwise Nintendo shouldnt have bothered after N64, or Gamecube or Wii U. Or Xbox should of quit when it sold 24m for OG Xbox.

A modern PSP would sell more than he Vita easily, especially with Playstations popularity now days

Every other time a Playstation Console or Portable has sold more than 80-100+units per device.
I dont think the other platforms have that much success with everyone of their consoles

 

[Sorcerer]

The Sony Steam Deck going into production is hinging on Sony coming out with a proprietary memory card that they can charge an insane amount of money for. It might have an SSD but you can't save games to it. LOL!!!

Seriously though, history has proven that Sony has failed to support everything but the main console at any given time. The new VR headset is probably already headed for obsolescence internally at Sony before it even comes out. Sony cannot or will not give attention to anything but PS5 currently. Sony sucks at multitasking.

 

[Baki]

Makes no sense. 1 failed console doesnt mean they shouldnt try again.
Otherwise Nintendo shouldnt have bothered after N64, or Gamecube or Wii U. Or Xbox should of quit when it sold 24m for OG Xbox.

A modern PSP would sell more than he Vita easily, especially with Playstations popularity now days

Every other time a Playstation Console or Portable has sold more than 80-100+units per device.
I dont think the other platforms have that much success with everyone of their consoles

Key is that it plays an existing library and doesn't need additional support & Sony just targets enthusiasts.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Literally what is the point when they've started to port their games to PC and those games will work on a Steam Deck, as well as giving you access to, y'know, everything ever playable on a budget PC?

Sony don't make much scratch on hardware. It exists to sell you games. The Vita was a wreck.

Never happening.

Pretty sure the games they have now would sell alot better than the Vita games. Vita was a wreck but they wouldnt have anything in common games library wise, tech wise, memory card wise or anything.
Portable games can sometimes sell more than PC games so it would just bring in more. Just like PC is supposedly bringing in more sales for PS, so would a portable device that plays modern games like FF16, Spiderman 2, GTA6 etc

 

[SLB1904]

Yeah nope. Ps4 is already holding ps5 as it is. No more week hardware

 

[Magic Carpet]

Maybe Sony will release a Quest version of the PSVR and it will have access to all the PS4 and PS5 games, even if they are not VR maybe they could at least be used on it's screen.

 

[Topher]

My first PlayStation was a PSP. I'd be onboard for Sony to get back into the handheld market

 

[Crayon]

Last gen only games? Nah that ain't happening.

 

[Kokoloko85]

Key is that it plays an existing library and doesn't need additional support & Sony just targets enthusiasts.

Id like it to play PS5 games, downscales to 720-800p etc would be fine to play PS5 games. When we see Returnal and TLOU1RE on Steamdeck it would be a good indication.
I dont think it would need additional support. I dont think every developer on SteamLibrary is doing anything specific for Steamdeck games

 

[Baki]

Id like it to play PS5 games, downscales to 720-800p etc would be fine to play PS5 games. When we see Returnal and TLOU1RE on Steamdeck it would be a good indication.
I dont think it would need additional support. I dont think every developer on SteamLibrary is doing anything specific for Steamdeck games

I think that should be on a case by case method. If a studio only wants to target PS5, then I'd prefer they just do that. That said, I do think the specs on this thing could support PS5 games at a 720P resolution. 720P has 8x less pixels than 4K.

 

[AV]

Read:

Pretty sure the games they have now would sell alot better than the Vita games. Vita was a wreck but they wouldnt have anything in common games library wise, tech wise, memory card wise or anything.
Portable games can sometimes sell more than PC games so it would just bring in more. Just like PC is supposedly bring in more sales for PS, so would a portable device that plays modern games like FF16, Spiderman 2, GTA6 etc

I'm not getting into this again, it's the exact same as every Nintendo Switch Pro thread where some armchair designer thinks because he can pick components off a list, Sony/Nintendo should do it and that they're leaving money on the table.

It's about completely misreading the market. Nobody wants to play downscaled PS5 games on a train. People are already playing PUBG on their phones. Sony don't have an Animal Crossing, they don't have a Mario Kart. Much like Animal Crossing and Mario Kart players don't need a Pro model of their Switch to play their fun little Nintendo games, they don't give a shit about power.

It's just not happening. The handheld market is completely sewn up by mobiles and Nintendo and the Steam Deck is just a niche thing for weirdos like me who want to use it as a backlog clearer on the couch. I'm dipping out of this thread quickly because I'm bored of pointing out that it's been 11 years since the Vita and almost 6 years with the base Switch and yet this thread happens weekly for some reason. It's exhausting.

 

[Holammer]

If I worked for Sony and was tasked to develop a handheld, it would it a PS4 compatible device. As a bonus it would extend the lifetime of the PS4 and give users access to a decent existing library. However, feature wise it would be a dead duck compared with the Deck.

The Deck does stuff Sony would never allow.

 

[Beechos]

Nah steamdeck as you have said sold about 1 million units and can prob do everything this so called sony deck can do and more. Having a official sony one i would say would barely move the needle in my personal opinion.

 

[Baki]

I'm not getting into this again, it's the exact same as every Nintendo Switch Pro thread where some armchair designer thinks because he can pick components off a list, Sony/Nintendo should do it and that they're leaving money on the table.

It's about completely misreading the market. Nobody wants to play downscaled PS5 games on a train. People are already playing PUBG on their phones. Sony don't have an Animal Crossing, they don't have a Mario Kart. Much like Animal Crossing and Mario Kart players don't need a Pro model of their Switch to play their fun little Nintendo games, they don't give a shit about power.

It's just not happening. The handheld market is completely sewn up by mobiles and Nintendo and the Steam Deck is just a niche thing for weirdos like me who want to use it as a backlog clearer on the couch. I'm dipping out of this thread quickly because I'm bored of pointing out that it's been 11 years since the Vita and almost 6 years with the base Switch and yet this thread happens weekly for some reason. It's exhausting.

That's my point. This would be a money maker as a niche device. As a niche device, it could be driving a 20% increase in the PlayStation yearly profit. Small but mighty.

 

[SportsFan581]

A little past the point in time where a portable built around the out-going gen tech makes any sense.

A portable PS4 might have had a shot if it had released the year before or alongside the PS5. At that point you have the entire past library and a few years of cross-gen support after release. I think you could find an audience for that, maybe not quite mainstream though (would need to make a profit on every unit to be sure).

 

[Baki]

A little past the point in time where a portable built around the out-going gen tech makes any sense.

A portable PS4 might have had a shot if it had released the year before or alongside the PS5. At that point you have the entire past library and a few years of cross-gen support after release. I think you could find an audience for that, maybe not quite mainstream though (would need to make a profit on every unit to be sure).

The strategy should be to making a healthy margin on each HW unit sold. Extra SW sales and subscriptions would be a plus.

 

[Kokoloko85]

It's about completely misreading the market. Nobody wants to play downscaled PS5 games on a train.

Id play FF16, GTA6, Spiderman 2 just like I played Zelda BOTW, Mario and Metroid.

Im sure others will too. No reason its said and done that it wont work. Not saying its going to be as big as the Switch, but even 40m units would bring in some decent software sales for them

 

[Baki]

Id play FF16, GTA6, Spiderman 2 just like I played Zelda BOTW, Mario and Metroid.

Im sure others will too. No reason its said and done that it wont work. Not saying its going to be as big as the Switch, but even 40m units would bring in some decent software sales for them

Even at 15M, its a big winner financially. It might even carve out a nice niche in Japan and get some more Japanese devs onboard the PS5.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[Kokoloko85]

It's called the PSVita and PSP

I mean for modern PS games. I already have my Vita modded

 

[THE DUCK]

Nope

One expands the market into new and innovative areas

The other is a handheld that can play games nobody plays anymore

Not that I am anti VR either but, if you are going to compare at least make it fair:

One potentially expands the market into new and innovative ideas (and I would contend it doesn't expand it much, unless you get casuals, it's just taking PS5 players away from other forms of gaming)
It has a handfull of games.

The other is handheld that could launch supporting thousands of games that you can play anywhere, and also on a TV. Plus it could also play newer games.

At the very least you have to recognize that the market for a handheld is likely larger than PSVR2, considering the success of other portables on the market.

 

[theStartupSound]

I don’t believe in the “no devs needed” part. As long as this is not a ps4 in a portable case there will be many dev hours getting into having a working emulation on this new device which works with all (or most of) the ps4 games.

And there will be a requirement to all game devs in the future to make it PS4Portable compatible, the same way they did with the PS5. Which equals: More testing, more bug fixing on another device.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

At the very least you have to recognize that the market for a handheld is likely larger than PSVR2, considering the success of other portables on the market.

The other portables on the market that are successful are:

1) phones (mobile)

2) switch

That’s it. And Nintendo sacrificed its console to go handheld only

If you want Sony to have a successful handheld approach, then you also want them to abandon console gaming. Which is ludicrous. Just because Nintendo had success there doesn’t mean Sony will

 

[Business]

The best part of Steam Deck for me is emulation and using it as a desktop linux PC, and I don’t see Sony allowing this.

 

[SlimeGooGoo]

.

 

[THE DUCK]

The other portables on the market that are successful are:

1) phones (mobile)

2) switch

That’s it. And Nintendo sacrificed its console to go handheld only

If you want Sony to have a successful handheld approach, then you also want them to abandon console gaming. Which is ludicrous. Just because Nintendo had success there doesn’t mean Sony will

Yes to mobiles.

As to switch, there is no way to quantify exactly the % of each reason for success. You certainly can't say it's just the Nintendo games and not the portable hybrid concept. They didn't sacrifice their home console completely considering some of it's appeal was hookup to TV, this did sacrifice being any sort of cutting edge but that wasn't their thing for a long time anyhow to keep costs down. And today the power that could be put into a handheld means the gap appears even smaller.

I don't want Sony to abandon console at all, (that would be ludicrous), I want them to use the series S model. PS5 as primary, ports down to the portable, with very little cost or effort. (which is super easy vs the past due to the similar architecture)
Same with getting PS4 games to run.

 

[SNG32]

I think Sony releasing their games on PC now kind of defeats the purpose of this. They are starting to move into a service and software dynamic. I do believe eventually Sony will have their own store PC and release all their exclusives on their day and date and every where else at a later date.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Yes to mobiles.

As to switch, there is no way to quantify exactly the % of each reason for success. You certainly can't say it's just the Nintendo games and not the portable hybrid concept. They didn't sacrifice their home console completely considering some of it's appeal was hookup to TV, this did sacrifice being any sort of cutting edge but that wasn't their thing for a long time anyhow to keep costs down. And today the power that could be put into a handheld means the gap appears even smaller.

I don't want Sony to abandon console at all, (that would be ludicrous), I want them to use the series S model. PS5 as primary, ports down to the portable, with very little cost or effort. (which is super easy vs the past due to the similar architecture)
Same with getting PS4 games to run.

You can’t get from PS5 to portable without massive compromises and a huge development headache

That model worked for Nintendo since they never went high end on visuals and their handhelds were more successful

So it’s a flawed strategy that won’t work for Sony’s audience. If you want a portable device you can use remote play with your ps5

 

[THE DUCK]

You can’t get from PS5 to portable without massive compromises and a huge development headache

That model worked for Nintendo since they never went high end on visuals and their handhelds were more successful

So it’s a flawed strategy that won’t work for Sony’s audience. If you want a portable device you can use remote play with your ps5

It's not that big of a deal, we are talking about likely a 4TFL machine here, and they are already very often porting these games to PC and or PS4.

It's already working for MS, despite all the bellyaching games are coming out on both machines. (just that MS's machine happens to not be portable)

We both know steaming isn't the same. Connections aren't reliable, the lag, not having wifi everywhere, etc. Plus you need a secondary device to remote play (not crazy about killing the batter on my phone when I need it for other things).

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

It's not that big of a deal, we are talking about likely a 4TFL machine here, and they are already very often porting these games to PC and or PS4.

It's already working for MS, despite all the bellyaching games are coming out on both machines. (just that MS's machine happens to not be portable)

We both know steaming isn't the same. Connections aren't reliable, the lag, not having wifi everywhere, etc. Plus you need a secondary device to remote play (not crazy about killing the batter on my phone when I need it for other things).

“Working for MS” being decidedly last place and getting outsold now 2:1 isn’t a business strategy that’s admirable

The XSS model should have never been pursued

We know that Steam Deck is pretty niche too.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

It will probably make sense for Microsoft to launch a portable Series S, since the dev work is already there. Though with future Steam Deck iterations I wonder if it won't have a small window of opportunity before a better PC-based competition comes up at a similar price.

For Sony it would have made sense to launch a portable PS4 back in 2019 or so. Right now I don't think it makes sense.
Maybe in the future when they manage to bring the whole PS5 SoC into a small form factor (in ~6 years using sub 1nm maybe?).

 

[Wildebeest]

If it doesn't play your already owned current gen games at lower fidelity and have cloud saves, then it isn't so appealing.

 

[BennyBlanco]

I would much rather have another Sony handheld over wired VR in 2023

 

[fart town usa]

No. Sony is doing VR, their handheld space is dead and gone.

 

[lughnasadh123]

Shhh, no, just let the dream die.

 

[THE DUCK]

“Working for MS” being decidedly last place and getting outsold now 2:1 isn’t a business strategy that’s admirable

The XSS model should have never been pursued

We know that Steam Deck is pretty niche too.

I think you misread what has happened with XSS. Without it, Xbox would be even further behind in sales. (a lot worse, actually)
Do you really think somehow MS would have sold more without it? I seriously doubt it, it's Sony that has delivered on key software over the past year, and that's along with the prior gen success is what is driving PS5 sales.

Steam deck is niche, I agree with that for the following reasons:
- No retail presence, no hardware in stores
- No exclusive games
- Weak marketing
- Lack of units to start
- Lack of track record and name recognition
- Lack of true console like interface
- Some games run, some do poorly, some not at all
- Was not a true hybrid in that there is dock included

This is really nothing like what Sony would launch.

 

[Eddie-Griffin]

The Steam Deck has sold over 1M units at an average price of $499. The Steam Deck success comes from being a companion device that can play an existing library. What is the likelihood of Sony launching a PlayStation "Steam" Deck that plays PS4 games, select Xbox Series S cross-platform ports, some downscaled PS5 games running in 720P and other legacy PS games (PSP, Vita, PS1-3)? I think a platform like this would be a success for Sony even if it only sells 1 million units a year (the VITA sold much more).

Here is why I think Sony might consider doing a PS4 Steam Deck.

This idea dies when you ask what OS is running. Stem Deck works because it's running a PC OS, or can have a PC OS (Windows) put on it. ALso PC specs are open.

So a PS5 Steam Deck would cost more than a Stem Deck for real, with WEAKER specs than another product by the same company, which if it's not running an OS is pointless, and if is running an OS, would mean Sony would be open to having common software on their systems not proprietary, which is something Sony is very unlikely to do as they want a wall.