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[Shtof]

It seems quite clear that since the Portal can stream from PS5 over Wi-Fi, it should be able to stream games from remote servers.
This can currently be done to PCs and PS5/PS4 afaik. The games are usually streamed in PS4 quality.

It is thus obvious that Sony is intentionally limiting the capabilities of the Portal. But the question remains. Why do such a thing?

Sure, they don't want to cannibalize PS5 sales. Makes sense.
Also, streaming PS5 quality games from remote servers would require massive investments.
After all, PS5 owners pay for their own hardware.

But it is still strange to limit such a marginal, unproven product artificially.
Maybe they are planning to update it with firmware to stream from remote servers eventually?

 

[ElCasual]

Maybe this was the "Big great idea" of Ryan before leave.

 

[JaksGhost]

They want to sell it as an accessory and not it's own "thing".

 

[midnightAI]

Because it's a PlayStation accessory not a PC accessory?

Edit: besides, it'll probably be hacked to play other streaming services like gamepass in no time, they just won't officially do it

 

[diffusionx]

They still do want to sell PS5s.

 

[fart town usa]

They want to sell it as an accessory and not it's own "thing".

This. It's an accessory to the PS5.

Sony wants people engaged with the PS5 first and foremost. Boutique accessories are there to further the engagement.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Not at $200

 

[cormack12]

This. It's an accessory to the PS5.

Sony wants people engaged with the PS5 first and foremost. Boutique accessories are there to further the engagement.

Pretty much, for better or worse Sony are focusing on the premium selling point of PlayStation, which means every aspect is built to elevate a specific feature to the best it can be.

VR headset the same (for the bracket obviously). You're seeing the birth of an apple-esque ecosystem basically. And although it looks boring, now is the time to do it.

 

[nowhat]

Sony wants people engaged with the PS5 first and foremost. Boutique accessories are there to further the engagement.

Pretty much this. You'll be paying $70 for a DualSense alone (I'm assuming the old € -> $ conversion is still in place, haven't checked US prices), with this you'll get a screen and remote play capabilities as well. Still cheaper than DualSense Edge.

Having said that, I can't understand why a) there's no OLED, and b) no cloud streaming. I'd imagine the latter wouldn't have increased the price much if at all. Hell, Stadia (remember that?) worked with a bog-standard Chromecast Ultra (was Ultra even required? Can't recall), as it should, it's just decoding video.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Mom tells Johny he has to shut the TV off and go to bed.

Johny spends 6 more hours under his covers buying PlayStation games/mtx.

 

[Švejk]

My initial feel was that they're using the PS5, and local wifi, as it's bitter entry point of usage for this thing.. But ultimately, have this thing to stream from a form of Console-less PS Cloud essentially; extending its existence for future use .... But that's probably a far stretch and giving them/it too much credit.

I personally have zero interest in any hand held device. (My switch collects dust.) Getting old and my boomer eyes can't take such close proximity anymore... And our parents told us that sitting 3-4 feet from a TV was bad for your eyes. Lol

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

Mainly providing a portable option without splitting your development teams. Even Nintendo doesn't split their dev teams between console and handheld anymore.

 

[lughnasadh123]

It'll be interesting to watch the further development of this thing after it releases. Imo it's a way to dip their toes into streaming while also getting people used to them having a streaming product while not fully going all in quite yet until things advance a bit more. We'll probably see some software updates down the line for this or a revision that works better as a cloud streaming product.

 

[Interfectum]

They are providing PS5 owners with a Switch/Steam Deck-like option to play games around the house without using a main TV. I have no doubt there are a ton of stats that show a good bit of handheld gamers play at home so there probably is a market for something like this.

Sony has always done shit like this to attempt to remove bullet points from the competition. Similar to how the PS Wand was an answer to the Wiimote, PS Portal is an answer to playing all of your PS4/5 games on a TV or on a handheld screen similar to Switch.

 

[jshackles]

So they can sell you the PlayStation Portal Pro for $399 later on that also works with cloud streaming (from PlayStation, with a PlayStation subscription).

 

[onnextflix5]

Firstly they don’t have the server capacity, secondly the experience is just not good enough yet. I’m sure they will add game streaming sometime later down the road.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

Sure, they don't want to cannibalize PS5 sales. Makes sense.
Also, streaming PS5 quality games from remote servers would require massive investments.
After all, PS5 owners pay for their own hardware.

You answered your own question.

What else is there to discuss?

But it is still strange to limit such a marginal, unproven product artificially.
Maybe they are planning to update it with firmware to stream from remote servers eventually?

Why is it strange for Sony not to want the Portal (an additive product to the PS line of devices) to cannibalize the sales of the PS5, i.e. their primary platform?

I think it's a perfectly reasonable thing for them to guard against.

If you don't see a use case for the Portal then the product is not for you.

If the product only finds a meager audience, I don't really think Sony cares. It's a pure streaming device sold for profit. It's not intended to replace the PS5.

Unlike other companies, Sony doesn't go all-in on unproven products at the expense of their proven platform which drives their main business. They make sensible business decisions in that way.

 

[Gamerguy84]

What's crazier is I have a smart watch that works off of my smartphone. Practically useless without it. It doesn't have a cellular connection and was $400.

 

[GoldenEye98]

The biggest reason: leveraging a single development platform(PS5) that already has a massive library.

Portal is not dependent on developer support whatsoever.

 

[64bitmodels]

Mom tells Johny he has to shut the TV off and go to bed.

Johny spends 6 more hours under his covers buying PlayStation games/mtx.

who spells johnny with ONE n?

 

[Deft Beck]

The business case is 1.) They don't want to make a dedicated handheld and 2.) They want you to buy a PS5

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

who spells johnny with ONE n?

Cat Men in boxes

 

[Crayon]

Does it do over home wifi or directly to the ps5?

 

[Duchess]

Does it do over home wifi or directly to the ps5?

"PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi**, so you’ll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal."

PlayStation’s first Remote Play dedicated device, PlayStation Portal remote player, to launch starting Nov 15 at $199.99

Pulse Explore wireless earbuds and new Pulse Elite wireless headset revealed; features lossless, low latency audio using new PlayStation Link technology.

blog.playstation.com

 

[Crayon]

"PlayStation Portal will connect remotely to your PS5 over Wi-Fi**, so you’ll be able to swiftly jump from playing on your PS5 to your PlayStation Portal."

PlayStation’s first Remote Play dedicated device, PlayStation Portal remote player, to launch starting Nov 15 at $199.99

Pulse Explore wireless earbuds and new Pulse Elite wireless headset revealed; features lossless, low latency audio using new PlayStation Link technology.

blog.playstation.com

Hmm.

" low latency lossless audio from PS5 and PlayStation Portal using our new PlayStation Link wireless technology"

Still not sure if that means direct connection or they are just trying up standard home Wi-Fi usage.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Hmm.

" low latency lossless audio from PS5 and PlayStation Portal using our new PlayStation Link wireless technology"

Still not sure if that means direct connection or they are just trying up standard home Wi-Fi usage.

You've misinterpreted that.

the low latency audio is simply 2.4ghz audio via PS Link on supported devices.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

PS Portal is quite the topic of conversation for Gaf this week.

I’ll admit it was a puzzling reveal to me at announcement but after that IGN video I was immediately sold.

 

[Agent X]

They want to sell it as an accessory and not it's own "thing".

Because it's a PlayStation accessory not a PC accessory?

This. It's an accessory to the PS5.

It might be an accessory, but it's priced like a system.

 

[Billbofet]

If my PS5 is in my basement, is it going to suck three floors up in my bedroom? My wifi is solid, but nothing amazing.

 

[vivftp]

It seems quite clear that since the Portal can stream from PS5 over Wi-Fi, it should be able to stream games from remote servers.
This can currently be done to PCs and PS5/PS4 afaik. The games are usually streamed in PS4 quality.

It is thus obvious that Sony is intentionally limiting the capabilities of the Portal. But the question remains. Why do such a thing?

Sure, they don't want to cannibalize PS5 sales. Makes sense.
Also, streaming PS5 quality games from remote servers would require massive investments.
After all, PS5 owners pay for their own hardware.

But it is still strange to limit such a marginal, unproven product artificially.
Maybe they are planning to update it with firmware to stream from remote servers eventually?

Allow me to explain.

The Portal runs Android, and as of this moment there is no PlayStation app for cloud streaming on Android. That will be a fundamental pre-requisite to get cloud streaming working on Portal

Sony are about to launch PS5 hardware in the cloud, this is being beta tested as we speak by the public. Until that launches, the entire cloud infrastructure is only PS3/PS4 hardware for now. You are correct that streaming from PS5 hardware in the cloud should be no more difficult than streaming from your PS5 at home over the internet, but as of this moment the PS5 hardware in the cloud hasn't fully launched yet.

Jim Ryan said an "aggressive cloud initiative" was coming, and we're probably less than a month away from that occurring. It very well may be that an Android app is planned, but won't be released in time for the release of the Portal. They can't sell the Portal on the promise of something that'll come in the future, so at the very least they have to sell it on what it can do day 1 - which is remote play. So it is quite likely that cloud functionality will come to the Portal, but they can't put the cart before the horse, everything else has to be in place first before that can happen.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

If my PS5 is in my basement, is it going to suck three floors up in my bedroom? My wifi is solid, but nothing amazing.

the proximity to the ps5 isn't what is important, the proximity to your wireless access point/router is what is going to be important.

 

[yurinka]

It seems quite clear that since the Portal can stream from PS5 over Wi-Fi, it should be able to stream games from remote servers.
This can currently be done to PCs and PS5/PS4 afaik. The games are usually streamed in PS4 quality.

It is thus obvious that Sony is intentionally limiting the capabilities of the Portal. But the question remains. Why do such a thing?

Sure, they don't want to cannibalize PS5 sales. Makes sense.
Also, streaming PS5 quality games from remote servers would require massive investments.
After all, PS5 owners pay for their own hardware.

But it is still strange to limit such a marginal, unproven product artificially.
Maybe they are planning to update it with firmware to stream from remote servers eventually?

• Some people want to continue playing their PS5 game when pooing
• Some people want to continue playing their PS5 game while other people wants to see something else in the tv
• Some people want to play their PS5 from the bed and have the console/tv in other room
• Some people likes the remote play idea but their phone, tablet, PC have a shitty wifi chip
• Some people like the remote idea but their phone or table don't have a DualSense attached in the sides or their phone screen is too small
• They are selling record accesories, some fans seem to buy any overpriced gamepad they release, so they will release now one with a screen in the middle
• Remote Play means the player doesn't have to buy the game again and the dev doesn't need to make a port, and that Sony doesn't have money making games for it or moneyhatting devs to make games for it

In terms of marketing, it's complex to communicate its concept. But it's simpler to sell it as "It's a remote play gamepad to play your PS5 games there streamed from the console" than "It's a remote play gamepad to play your PS5 games there streamed from the console plus other games from the Sony servers if you have the subscription".

Pretty likely will launch it only streaming Remote Play, and in a future firmware update they'll add the PS cloud gaming future, streaming directly from the server (not via PS5).

They already have PS Cloud running on multiple consoles and PC, adding another device should be very simple. Specially one optimized for streaming and that uses DualSense controls. So probably didn't include it at launch because of marketing reasons or having the devs busy and couldn't have it at launch and may add it later.

 

[Kilau]

Mom tells Johny he has to shut the TV off and go to bed.

Johny spends 6 more hours under his covers buying PlayStation games/mtx.

This is exactly why Sony finally disabled the "beep" after all these years.

 

[simpatico]

Can we get WiiU latency out of this thing?

 

[Sorcerer]

Mom tells Johny he has to shut the TV off and go to bed.

Johny spends 6 more hours under his covers buying PlayStation games/mtx.

Is the Playstation 5 nice and quiet or does it sound like a jet engine when it's on? If it's the latter than Johny is getting spanked when Mom hears the roar.

 

[Dorfdad]

It seems quite clear that since the Portal can stream from PS5 over Wi-Fi, it should be able to stream games from remote servers.
This can currently be done to PCs and PS5/PS4 afaik. The games are usually streamed in PS4 quality.

It is thus obvious that Sony is intentionally limiting the capabilities of the Portal. But the question remains. Why do such a thing?

Sure, they don't want to cannibalize PS5 sales. Makes sense.
Also, streaming PS5 quality games from remote servers would require massive investments.
After all, PS5 owners pay for their own hardware.

But it is still strange to limit such a marginal, unproven product artificially.
Maybe they are planning to update it with firmware to stream from remote servers eventually?

My take is that the Portable will eventually Get cloud streaming. Sony has been working on it for a while now and its rumored to be coming next year (HD gam streams) However its not been mentioned by SONY themselves at all. So They may not feel comfortable announcing features for a product they haven't released yet. At least that's my hope because if this becomes the case the Portable is a MUCH better device instantly.

If you cn play 1080p/60FPS streaming games with no latency issues on it they may be really onto something going forward.

 

[Elder Legend]

Mom tells Johny he has to shut the TV off and go to bed.

Johny spends 6 more hours under his covers buying PlayStation games/mtx.

Little Timmy please stop spending time on NeoGaf bad mouthing your 1 year old younger brother like that, he is only 5 and you are 6. It's bedtime now, I am going to be taking away your toys now.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Little Timmy please stop spending time on NeoGaf bad mouthing your 1 year old younger brother like that, he is only 5 and you are 6. It's bedtime now, I am going to be taking away your toys now.

Did you just dox me? Moooooods!!

 

[Beechos]

1. Prob cutting corners/being cheap.
2. Allow a future revision to include that capability and make ppl buy it again
3. Free up their servers since all the work is done from the users ps5/internet connection..

 

[Sorcerer]

This would have been a Brillant opportunity to draw people into the Playstation eco-system who don't have a PS5 if they let you sub to the service and stream games from it.
Draw a customer without the console but get them to sub, make future Playstation fans who will buy the PS5 and any future consoles.
It should have been about new customers first, loyalists second.
Is the PS5 hardware sold at a profit that it should matter to Sony?

 

[Scotty W]

Not at $200

Gamers are made of money. I have heard that many of them have large collections of games they have bought and paid for but have never and will never play.

 

[Rendered Tangent]

Must admit, saw the pictures and thought "nice" and assumed it was some kind of Playstation exclusive steam deck.

Come to realise it's really just a nicer version of an already available streaming service you can use on your phone.

Missed opportunity, in my opinion.

It should be a PSP/Vita style platform with it's own games as well as any link to ps5.

 

[CrimsonSquall]

Must admit, saw the pictures and thought "nice" and assumed it was some kind of Playstation exclusive steam deck.

Come to realise it's really just a nicer version of an already available streaming service you can use on your phone.

Missed opportunity, in my opinion.

It should be a PSP/Vita style platform with it's own games as well as any link to ps5.

Yea no. That’s a massive undertaking and not worth it. That would split studios time and it’s already tough enough to get good games out.

Why do you think the Switch exists?

 

[Famipan]

I think you answered it yourself.

- It’s extremely costly to invest and maintain streaming back-end.
- As a first step to test the waters regarding interest of handheld and streaming devices — Portal is a feasible product. It’s probably not intended as a big seller with its limitations, but more as a simple offer aimed for both families with limited space having one TV, and the hardcore PS crowd.

 

[DenchDeckard]

How many of these get returned by people who are stupid and don't know how to read or understand basic...anything.

 

[midnightAI]

It might be an accessory, but it's priced like a system.

And? There are many accessories that are $200 (or more), doesn't make them 'not accessories'

Headphones, controllers, VR headsets, stearing wheels, gaming chairs (not to mention whole SIM rigs) etc.

 

[Godot25]

There isn't one.
It's just plain stupid device that will only be bought by fanboys.

If it had access to PlayStation streaming so I don't need a PS5 for it to function, it's different case.

 

[StealthGoblin]

This'll be enhanced using project Chronos down the line I'm sure.

Having PlayStation Premium streaming available to you whenever you are on WiFi seems like a no brainer down the line

 

[BlitzerRadic]

How many of these get returned by people who are stupid and don't know how to read or understand basic...anything.

OK so if that happens so what? Is Sony supposed to stop selling Portal because of these people?

 

[midnightAI]

There isn't one.
It's just plain stupid device that will only be bought by fanboys.

If it had access to PlayStation streaming so I don't need a PS5 for it to function, it's different case.

Or, you know, people who have families and will use their PS5 more because of it (or I can actually get to watch the TV because the kids can use Portal to play Genshin or whatever)

Are you actively ignoring the reasons why this device will be VERY useful to some? (And you call others fanboys? Pot, kettle, black)