One thing to look ahead to: Gamescom 2024 simply wrapped up, and Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson had some attention-grabbing insights and opinions relating to Sony’s future within the handheld gaming market. For these contemplating buying a conveyable console, Henderson mentioned, “Save your cash somewhat longer.”
His tweet was in regards to the many enhancements he noticed at Gamescom that may be coming to portables from producers like Asus, MSI, and Valve. Nevertheless, somebody requested him if there have been any hints that Sony would launch a “devoted” handheld.
Henderson says that the success of the PlayStation Portal has led Sony to begin paying shut consideration to the moveable gaming market. Whereas his opinion on the matter doesn’t suggest that Sony is engaged on a brand new handheld, it does remind us that it’s late for a real PlayStation-branded handheld. The Portal is okay for somebody who already owns a PS5, but it surely’s not a gorgeous proposition for somebody searching for a standalone moveable sport participant.
Virtually everybody at Gamescom gave attention-grabbing {hardware} discussions about handhelds. My hunch is that you must save your cash somewhat longer in case you’re planning to purchase one. It looks as if much more choices and enhancements are coming quickly (undecided on precise timelines).
– Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) August 25, 2024
The PlayStation Portal was very profitable and they’re paying very shut consideration to the present handheld market 🙂
– Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) August 25, 2024
Sony’s relationship with handhelds has been virtually a sidenote within the firm’s historical past. The PlayStation Transportable, higher referred to as the PSP, launched in 2004 for $250 and was an important albeit costly various to Nintendo’s $100 Sport Boy Advance, which launched just a few years earlier than. Sony spent a lot money and time enhancing the PSP with no fewer than three {hardware} iterations over its 10-year run. It additionally produced two spin-offs of the PSP – the PSP Go and the PSP Avenue – however each suffered from an absence of curiosity.
The PlayStation Vita got here alongside in 2011 however didn’t entice as a lot consideration from PlayStation followers. Its lackluster gross sales have been a direct results of the $250 machine discovering itself in competitors with a completely new (to Sony) class of gaming device–the smartphone. Everybody had a cellphone, and the video games for them have been less expensive than Sony’s Vita titles. Regardless, the Vita held its personal for eight years, however Sony solely up to date the {hardware} as soon as.
Whereas Sony loved overlapping gross sales of the PSP and Vita between 2011 and 2014, it had no alternative deliberate when it discontinued the Vita in 2019, leaving the corporate with no foothold within the moveable gaming marketplace for 4 years. It wasn’t till mid-spring 2023 that Sony lastly introduced “Challenge Q,” subsequently launched because the PlayStation Portal final yr.
In contrast to the PSP and Vita, the Portal was not a standalone sport participant. As an alternative, Sony determined to make it a PlayStation 5 accent. The Portal was primarily a PS5 controller with a secondary show hooked up. In different phrases, the $200 gadget streams content material from a $500 PlayStation console wirelessly somewhat than having a built-in disc or cartridge reader, making the price of entry $700. It was a substantial danger on many ranges.
Having been a long-time Distant Play person, I used to be unconvinced that Portal had a shot at promoting. Since its inception in 2006, Distant Play was by no means an important various to enjoying video games natively, even with high-speed web. Latency was at all times a difficulty, and stuttery efficiency additionally hampered the expertise.
Nevertheless, within the lead-up to the Portal’s launch, I seen that Sony had considerably improved Distant Play. Whereas it’s nonetheless sketchy when attempting to play over the web from one other location, it runs easily when the 2 units run on the identical community.
This efficiency enhancement is probably going as a result of Sony quietly added a quasi-ad-hoc mode to the Distant Play app. Whereas the corporate has by no means talked about this function, I just lately confirmed it exists when utilizing Distant Play on my MacBook. The web went out, however the sport continued as if nothing was fallacious. Up to now, no web meant no Distant Play.
Nonetheless, even with the enhancements to the app, gamers are tethered to their console, which isn’t excellent for PS5 homeowners and is a deal breaker for everybody else. With a completely new handheld market simply beginning to gear up for battle, it may be the appropriate time for Sony to make a transfer and supply a conveyable various that fits everybody, not simply PS5 homeowners.