Tom Henderson - The PlayStation Portal was very successful and they are paying very close attention to the current handheld market

They're not paying attention enough

Nintendo already showed it can be done. Multiple. Times.

Oh and please stop looking at the GAAS market.
 
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They wouldn't even have to mandate first party support. So many third party titles run natively on Steamdeck just fine. Put it out, native support for PS4 titles, remote play PS5, tons of third parties, 30% cut of everyone.

Main thing is to beat Microsoft to market.
 
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They wouldn't even have to mandate first party support. So many third party titles run natively on Steamdeck just fine. Put it out, native support for PS4 titles, remote play PS5, tons of third parties, 30% cut of everyone.

Main thing is to beat Microsoft to market.
I honestly think MS will beat them to it.

Sony just seem to slow, probably will be content with the portal being their handheld for now.
 
I honestly think MS will beat them to it.

Sony just seem to slow, probably will be content with the portal being their handheld for now.
Not to mention, the thing everyone trashes them for now (requiring a separate lower optimization for Series S from all devs) will pay dividends for a whole additional handheld generation. Sony doesn't have those uniquely optimized builds. They'd be stuck on cloud still.
 
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The best case scenario that I see, Sony releases a new handheld based on the Portal blueprint, but of course chonkier. This device can natively play PS1, PS2, PS4, PSP games downloaded from PSN. It can also play select PS5 games that have been specifically downported to run on this device, so case by case basis. Additionally, if/when Sony develops an emulator for PS Vita and PS3 games, add those to the above list for native playback. Additionally it can do remote play and cloud streaming.

Package it up and offer it for at least $499 USD. That way the Portal remains a viable option for those who only want remote play (and cloud streaming once it's eventually added) at $199 and those who want the ability to play games natively get their option at $499. Use this gen as a testbed for such a strategy for the handheld device to be released next gen around the mid-way point just like the PS6 Pro.
 
I would be all over a new Playstation handheld, even if Vita was a massive disappointment (in terms of Sonys support, not the console itself). Since the Switch and ROG Ally I've been gravitating towards handhelds more and more and Playstation in a portable factor would be awesome. The Xbox handheld rumor is also interesting. I think handheld in general is where the magic happens nowadays.
 
If they are only thinking about it now, then it's not coming out in the next 3 years, let's just hope Microsoft bring out a good one soon,
 
The common-sense approach should be a handheld (2027-2028 'ish) that is a mini-PS6, based on that same architecture but with a more advanced implementation of PSSR that can also handle as much of the "scaling" of assets as possible (maybe via additional AI hardware?). It should be able to natively play PS4, PS4 Pro quality, and PS5 games no problem, while playing scaled-down versions of PS6 games.

Something like that paired with the PS6 would do very well in the market, I reckon.

The best case scenario that I see, Sony releases a new handheld based on the Portal blueprint, but of course chonkier. This device can natively play PS1, PS2, PS4, PSP games downloaded from PSN. It can also play select PS5 games that have been specifically downported to run on this device, so case by case basis. Additionally, if/when Sony develops an emulator for PS Vita and PS3 games, add those to the above list for native playback. Additionally it can do remote play and cloud streaming.

Package it up and offer it for at least $499 USD. That way the Portal remains a viable option for those who only want remote play (and cloud streaming once it's eventually added) at $199 and those who want the ability to play games natively get their option at $499. Use this gen as a testbed for such a strategy for the handheld device to be released next gen around the mid-way point just like the PS6 Pro.

Depending on when this thing would come out (I'm assuming a good 3-4 years from now), that wouldn't be good enough. It has to be able to natively play all PS5 games; whether that's while portable or docked, it should just be expected.

Ideally it should be able to play downscaled PS6 games but not require devs to specifically make downscaled versions themselves (to avoid Series S-type problems). Which means more advanced PSSR and more AI-driven silicon that can smartly grab assets & scale them up & down (of course the PS6 proper would have all this same tech).
 
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Not to mention, the thing everyone trashes them for now (requiring a separate lower optimization for Series S from all devs) will pay dividends for a whole additional handheld generation. Sony doesn't have those uniquely optimized builds. They'd be stuck on cloud still.
The Series S optimised game isn't going to become a handheld game without further optimisation any more than a PS4 is.
 
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I used to think Portal was a completely superfluous device. If you have too much disposable income, sure go on ahead, but in general, meh.

Then I started to play SMT V Vengeance, and now I kinda want one. There's a lot of grind involved, and being a turn-based game, you don't have to pay constant attention to it. If I had a Portal, I probably would have already beaten the game while doing some other shit around home.
 
Sony most likely will just release a PS Portal 2 after PS6.

No reason to repeat the same issue as the PS Vita or Xbos Series S.
 
Well it worked out for the portal considering it's looked on as a success 🤷
They didn't have to support it with games though which helps.

Maybe they could repurpose the Sony Vaio Brand, Playstation Vaio. PC games and dedicated streaming solution with Duelsense support.
 
Depending on when this thing would come out (I'm assuming a good 3-4 years from now), that wouldn't be good enough. It has to be able to natively play all PS5 games; whether that's while portable or docked, it should just be expected.

Ideally it should be able to play downscaled PS6 games but not require devs to specifically make downscaled versions themselves (to avoid Series S-type problems). Which means more advanced PSSR and more AI-driven silicon that can smartly grab assets & scale them up & down (of course the PS6 proper would have all this same tech).

My post is with an assumption of it arriving in the next couple of years (ie. holiday 2026). Yes, as the release date move further ahead in time then the requirements of what this thing would need to be capable of would also shift.
 
With the exception of Nintendo, I think both console makers were slow to react and will now be chasing Steam Deck and other PC handhelds. Sony has experience in handheld already. If they do decide to get back to a more traditional handheld console, I hope they take the lessons they learned from the past and avoid those mistakes if. They made slick hardware but handicapped it with stupid storage solutions.

Sony most likely will just release a PS Portal 2 after PS6.

No reason to repeat the same issue as the PS Vita or Xbos Series S.

Probably because it avoids the issue of piracy.


*edit - HAHA. Tom just reminded me to spend $200 on a PlayStation Portal. Football season is upon us and I will be multitasking a lot to play video games. BRB, gotta make a Target run. :LOL:
 
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They need to release an oled portal imo, the screen has way too much blur in motion. The difference between that and ps play on a switch oled via Android /oled phone or steam deck oled via chiaki is crazy when even moving the camera in any game.
 
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They don't need to release a dedicated handheld with its own library. Just allow the Portal stream your console library from the cloud.
 
Maybe they could repurpose the Sony Vaio Brand, Playstation Vaio. PC games and dedicated streaming solution with Duelsense support.
Sony sold off their PC business ages ago, they don't own the Vaio brand anymore.

And what's this about a "Duelsense"? You want to meet at dawn or something?
 
I don't want Sony to have another platform to develop for. If anything they should just get cloud streaming to the Portal working.

I have a Steam Deck and the Pc handhelds are not end user friendly enough for console mass market people.

So imo, a Sony lower spec dedicated handheld or a pc one like Xbox might be doing is a bad idea.

PC handhelds are more of a super user product, not mass market.
 
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They didn't have to support it with games though which helps.
They wouldn't really have to support this native handheld with dedicated games either.

Just would need scaling down, which they can leverage teams like nixxes.
 
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Well it worked out for the portal considering it's looked on as a success 🤷
Portal is an accessory, not a software/hardware platform. It's basically a DualSense with screen.

The way I see it, Sony learned their lesson with Vita and will just optimize ports for Deck and release a better portal later on.
 
Portal is an accessory, not a software/hardware platform. It's basically a DualSense with screen.

The way I see it, Sony learned their lesson with Vita and will just optimize ports for Deck and release a better portal later on.
Sony learned their lesson that creating a different ecosystem was a bad idea, I'm sure this time it would be a unified platform.

Doesn't make sense to leave the handheld market to competitors when it's becoming an increasingly popular way to to play games. MS are also rumoured to be working on one. Portal isn't good enough for different circumstances.
 
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If I were Sony, I would just not make a handheld. What the portal has shown, is that there is room in the market for a streaming handheld. And I feel that is what they should focus on.

Allow the portal, or its successor, to not just stream games from a user console, but stream everything on the PS store. Allow people buy the PS portal without needing to buy or own a PS5/PS6.

The only thing better the portal needs is a better streaming framework.

A $200 Portal that has access to the entire PS library even if you do not have a console, is what Sony needs to do as far as handhelds go. Imagine having Console-like experiences on a handheld, as long as you have a decent internet and can stomach the streaming lag.
 
Love my portal and I figured out how to do PS Remote Play on my Meta Quest 3 so I can play on a giant screen, a tiny one (portal), or the TV. Nice to have options and honestly it works so damn well and relatively lagless I don't see the need for a PS4 level portable like at all.
 
It can also play select PS5 games that have been specifically downported to run on this device, so case by case basis.
100% this.
Yeah, GTA 6 or whatever can skip a handheld version if they want to, but there's absolutely no reason as to why something like Disgaea 8 couldn't be compatible in such device.
 
Heck, hardware refresh not compatible with some software available for the main unit isn't really nothing new for SIE. See PS Vita > PS Vita TV.
 
IMO their best bet, especially with an ever growing handheld space, is to keep the main system as a power pushing PS(whatever) and really fine tune the portal to expand on it as a streaming device. That's the lane they can excel at going forward.
 
Portable PS4. No idea why it hasn't happened yet, as there would be a massive library of titles, and loads of people would be incentivized to buy the hardware.
 
I finding im finishing more games since I got the deck. Wonder if sony can do some Cerny magic and get a ps5 level handheld playing current gen games at around 720p.
 
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