Do you see Sony ever entering the handheld market (hybrid console or straight up handheld) again?

[Ara63]

I don't see what they could get out of the market.

Nintendo are very successful, yes, but you can't separate the draw of the Switch being handheld-capable from the draw of evergreen exclusive Nintendo first-party IP. Nobody else has come close to making a successful mass-market handheld in the smartphone era. Without either a novel new USP piece of tech that no other console or phone is doing, or Nintendo-level exclusive coverage, I don't think there's much of an audience for a new handheld no matter who's releasing it.

 

[Schmitz]

The portal is a good enough compromise.

 

[Santar]

If MS does it and it becomes a smash hit then sure.

 

[Kirbivore]

Not only could they not support two systems at once, they couldn't even get their top of the line studios to throw a bone. They just did not want to make anything on the system. Why would they start now?

 

[NinjaScooter]

Beyond the Portal and iterating on that I don't see a dedicated handheld as feasible for them at all. They can't really just whip up a portable PS4/PS5 like so many people hope (and even if they could, say, make a Portable PS4, what does that actually mean in 2024 and beyond? PS4 is a dead platform. Are they going to force developers, both their own and third party, to start making PS4 SKUs again?), and it would also force them to split their developmental resources at a time when everyone is talking about how thin their margins are. It doesn't make any sense beyond people day dreaming of a PSP 2.

 

[BassForever]

Best hope is for a refined version of the portal. Maybe has the ability to play ps1/ps2/psp games natively, but is largely focused on streaming via the cloud for ps3-5.

 

[SupersonicHypertonic]

Not really, I think switch killed any hope for MS or Sony to enter the handheld market because of how dominant it is and how much it changed the gaming landscape.

If they try 2 consoles then as with Vita it would come off getting scraps with little support, and if they try hybrid not only will they go against Nintendo switch 2 but they will have to make comprises from their powerful home consoles, I don't think after all these years of chasing power they want to suddenly put out less technically impressive games.

 

[ManOfWar]

They wont ever do it, but they should come up with a PS Vita 2 capable of both running Android and bespoke games.

 

[Bigkrev]

I could easily see Sony (and explicitly NOT PLAYSTATION) creating a handheld steam deck like under their Viao laptop division without any involvement from the Playstation side of the company (ie, it would use ABXY instead of the playstation buttons)

 

[Shizuka]

As one of the biggest Vita fans you'll ever meet, I'm afraid they'll fuck it up again, but I'm hoping they'll do another one after the Switch's success.

 

[LumberPanda]

No.

To sell a dedicated handheld (and not a niche one like Analog Pocket) today you have to offer a lot more software than what smartphones are capable of. You need developers dedicated to the device with budgets magnitudes higher than what they could've spent during the PSP days.

In order to support their handheld business, Nintendo had to shut down their whole console business. We get HDMI out on a handheld as a compromise. Sony isn't ditching the PS6 to make a handheld.

 

[NinjaScooter]

I could easily see Sony (and explicitly NOT PLAYSTATION) creating a handheld steam deck like under their Viao laptop division without any involvement from the Playstation side of the company (ie, it would use ABXY instead of the playstation buttons)

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Sony doesn't own VAIO anymore they spun it off and sold it and I don't think they are in the PC game at all.

 

[Advance.Wars.Sgt.]

Not really, I think switch killed any hope for MS or Sony to enter the handheld market because of how dominant it is and how much it changed the gaming landscape.

If they try 2 consoles then as with Vita it would come off getting scraps with little support, and if they try hybrid not only will they go against Nintendo switch 2 but they will have to make comprises from their powerful home consoles, I don't think after all these years of chasing power they want to suddenly put out less technically impressive games.

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To me, it's less the impact of Switch and moreso the impact of mobile. There really isn't any avenue for two tech giants who focus on performance, multifunctionality, and premium finish that *isn't* already covered by flagship phones and tablets.

Nintendo have only been able to survive/pivot because of their synonymity with handhelds, and like Ara63 said, their brand of software you can't get anywhere else.

No.

To sell a dedicated handheld (and not a niche one like Analog Pocket) today you have to offer a lot more software than what smartphones are capable of. You need developers dedicated to the device with budgets magnitudes higher than what they could've spent during the PSP days.

In order to support their handheld business, Nintendo had to shut down their whole console business. We get HDMI out on a handheld as a compromise. Sony isn't ditching the PS6 to make a handheld.

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💯

It would be needlessly risky and foolhardy for Sony to reshape their entire business operation just to chase Nintendo's success, especially since their issues have little to do with failing to sell hardware (Japan notwithstanding).

 

[VanWinkle]

I think if they started putting all their games on PC they might make a PC one a'la Steam Deck. Although I'm sure they would want to brand it PlayStation, and I'm not sure the best way they could do that without running a custom PlayStation launcher.

 

[Uncle at Nintendo]

Playstations top western studios avoided the PSP, and they didn't touch the Vita with a 100 foot pole. Their Japan Studios and B studios hard carried their first party efforts for those systems, and they are pretty much all dead.

 

[PucePikmin]

Steam Deck, while great, is not a real competitor, it's not even being sold in retail. Switch is the obvious reason for Sony to want to try and get a piece of that pie, but again, they don't have the resources to support two consoles. Their first party titles already arguably aren't coming fast enough either, especially compared to Nintendo who are doing better now that they combined their dev teams to all work on the Switch.

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Well yeah, obviously any Sony portable would be a Switch-like scenario where it just plays PS5 games. They wouldn't go back to the Vita era and develop a whole separate line of portable games.

 

[IIFloodyII]

Sony maybe, don't think SIE will unless it's led by that and they just use the PlayStation name for branding. Stuff like the Portal is probably as far as they'll go as it doesn't take any development team resources to support it. If they do an official "Steam Deck" they will be expected to have their games running well on it I think, which I don't think they are interested in.

 

[IonMagus]

Aren't they already porting their games to PC which includes a very low settings

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Ports happen 1+ year after launch, not on release lol.

 

[IonMagus]

The new Sony Handheld is literally the Steam Deck because they port every Game to PC

 

[SMLZ]

I know it's anecdotal but, whenever I see a post talking about the PSP on Social Media, the replies always bring up how cool it would be to get a PSP 2.

I think Sony fucked up with the Vita (outside of hardware) in a lot of ways, specially the name. And if they really want to, and have the bandwidth to support it software wise - don't think they do lul - then it would perform well.

 

[Pendas]

The portal is a good enough compromise.

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I see them expanding on the Portal premise since it's selling so well, but I doubt we will ever see a dedicated handheld, especially with how production budgets and costs are these days.

 

[Lotus]

Well yeah, obviously any Sony portable would be a Switch-like scenario where it just plays PS5 games. They wouldn't go back to the Vita era and develop a whole separate line of portable games.

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Their bread and butter is chasing graphics though, you're not realistically getting a PS5 level portable device to pair alongside the PS5 anytime soon. At least not for a reasonable price anyways. The Portal/streaming is the best they can do in terms of letting people play current gen games on a handheld without severe drawbacks.

Also I wasn't talking about a portable getting its own exclusive software. I meant that it's hard to have to worry about two consoles. Nintendo couldn't do it, and we see Xbox struggling as well at times with the Series S. But mainly I look at Nintendo and think, if they themselves realized it wasn't sustainable, then why would Sony think they could do any better, while also satisfying those that expect the best graphics (for a console) from them?

 

[AmFreak]

A hand held SKU wouldn't shock me, but Ms has the far better setup in theory due to the S.

 

[Deluxera]

If they find a way to produce a handheld which can play everything from PS4-PS5 and does not require specific development work, they will. Until then...

I know it's anecdotal but, whenever I see a post talking about the PSP on Social Media, the replies always bring up how cool it would be to get a PSP 2.

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The success of the PSP should be nuanced. It moved a lot of units but software suffered from very widespread piracy, whih explains why many publishers (especially JP devs) jumped to the 3DS instead of the Vita.

 

[memzero64]

I'm interested to see what Microsoft might be cooking up. Steam Deck proved there's a real demand and market for this sort of thing. Current gen hardware is more bottlenecked by development costs than hardware capabilities, so more handhelds means a bigger market for AA games which struggle to compete in the traditional console and PC space.

 

[Rahkeesh]

If the timeline is "ever" I don't see how Sony doesnt' end up at hybrid at some point.

If diminishing returns on graphics is a thing (which we are already starting to feel this gen), at some point there isn't going to be enough advantage in keeping people tied to a box. Especially when we can see on the PC side that the handheld tech can be just one gen behind. Might be 3 gens out but if consoles are still being made then, it will happen.

 

[SupersonicHypertonic]

To me, it's less the impact of Switch and moreso the impact of mobile. There really isn't any avenue for two tech giants who focus on performance, multifunctionality, and premium finish that *isn't* already covered by flagship phones and tablets.

Nintendo have only been able to survive/pivot because of their synonymity with handhelds, and like Ara63 said, their brand of software you can't get anywhere else.

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Mobile games for the most part aren't in the same complexity of dedicated handheld consoles of the likes of PSP, ds or 3ds (excluding the dual screens, just purely talking about the type of games). Like you don't see many original mobile games have ambitions of say Zelda phantom hour glass, New super Mario, God of war, MGS peace walker, GTA stories etc so in that sense I don't see any competition from mobile impeding Sony or MS. If a home console COD is put into a handheld from Sony or MS it would still have explosive sales and interest despite there being a mobile COD game already because the games would be vastly different in what is offered.

 

[Red Kong XIX]

Remote Play/Streaming handhelds are the future for them. Anything else doesn't make sense.

 

[iksenpets]

I could kind of see a world where they release a handheld PS4. We're not going to make significant new software for it, but you have the back catalog, and any devs still interested in doing cross-gen would be releasing for it just by default. Would feel like a sort of surrender to the idea that cross-gen is now here forever, but if a lot of games are going to start being developed with a Switch 2 spec in mind, that may be happening whether they participate in it or not.

Or maybe they wait a generation and do it when a handheld PS5 is possible, but I don't know how feasible that's going to be for a while. They haven't even shrunk that down to console size yet. Feels like you'll be lucky to have a PS4-sized PS5 by the time a PS6 is releasing

 

[CatAssTrophy]

Yes but they'd have to coincide it's planning, development, release, etc. with the PS6 so that they could give devs a long enough heads up on how to develop for both. It should be like a Steam Deck situation where all games run on both but on the PS Deck it would run at a lower res, etc. and have the shaders precompiled etc. too.

Basically each game developed would I guess compile shaders for PS6 and PS Deck, and allow for natively rendering at all supported display resolutions, and have baked in graphics/performance modes that kick in based on which device it's running on.

Not impossible but Sony doesn't seem like they want to juggle multiple things at once so the best we'll probably get is further releases of the streaming devices.

 

[cardboardboxer]

Well yeah, obviously any Sony portable would be a Switch-like scenario where it just plays PS5 games. They wouldn't go back to the Vita era and develop a whole separate line of portable games.

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The problem there is x86, by the time you can get an x86 processor equal to the PS5 that is portable we will be halfway into the PS6 generation (aka the Steam Deck being close to a PS4 today).

The ONLY way this works is if Sony embraces 10+ year generations with overlap, which isn't usually their game (they killed PS4 production not long after the PS5).

 

[Dirigibleduck]

No, it looks like Sony has learned that handhelds are not where its strengths lie. I think what we're seeing is that the video games market is consolidating to the point where there is no separate "handheld market," "home console market," and "PC market," but rather each firm specializes in the product that gives them the most competitive advantage (e.g. Nintendo with the Switch, Sony with the PS5) and there is more direct cross-platform competition.

 

[GulfCoastZilla]

If everyone else does it they will as well

 

[Asmodai48]

Ever is a long time

 

[TheKid]

They don't even support psvr 2, no way they even think about another handheld

 

[LumberPanda]

The problem there is x86, by the time you can get an x86 processor equal to the PS5 that is portable we will be halfway into the PS6 generation (aka the Steam Deck being close to a PS4 today).

The ONLY way this works is if Sony embraces 10+ year generations with overlap, which isn't usually their game (they killed PS4 production not long after the PS5).

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Yup. They would have to start telling their developers to cut back on features that use the CPU. And also go back and take things out of their previous releases.

 

[Deleted member 61531]

I think the Portal is the future.

the success of the switch, and the emerging market around portable PC handhelds both indicate that there's a growing appetite for home portables. As in, something portable enough, but you basically use it where you live most of the time.

Increasingly there's an appetite for hardware that people can easily take into another room, even if carrying on the bus/plane/etc. is awkward or inconvenient.

 

[Hanzo]

Unlikely:
First it lacks the kind of IP that suits a portable device like Nintendo.
In case Astrobot becomes a massive hit like Mario, then could maybe give it a go, but then would have to spread their studios workforce to support two systems at the same time. I'm sure the dual nature of switch has helped a lot to maximize Nintendo's output unlike in the past developing for both handheld an stationary consoles.

The only viable option would be create a portable ps4/5 that could run the same software without having to downport. But if they want to improve specs, then i doubt it is viable, and if it is, would be the 'past generation' console, not the current one.

So, nah

 

[Glio]

No, having great cinematic experiences on a handheld is a niche market, and that is the specialization of their studios.

 

[Creepy Woody]

If they did, they wouldn't support it and it'd die off, so what's the point?

I would love something equal to the PSP again. That thing had so many great games. After Vita and PSVR 2, I don't trust them with any kind of second platform.

 

[cardboardboxer]

Yup. They would have to start telling their developers to cut back on features that use the CPU. And also go back and take things out of their previous releases.

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Frankly the real chance for something like this is on the Xbox side of the fence. The way Microsoft has created their hypervisor for their consoles combined with the work they have put into translation x86 to ARM in real time for Windows ARM means that they could roll out a portable within five years (aka how long it will take for non-Apple tablet ARM chips to equal the Series S).

Sony letting people program nearly to the metal with their toolkits has been a great benefit for keeping parity between the Series X and the PS5, but really hampers any efforts like making a 100% compatible portable console.

 

[iceblade]

They couldn't support their last handheld, why do you think they could now with even more resources needed for console games?

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This. I'd argue that they're struggling to support the PS5 as is, considering how much of the first party library is made of last-gen games that've gotten updates and/or PS5 versions.

Much as I loved the Vita I certainly wouldn't buy a second attempt from them again.

 

[Stencil]

That would be cool to see. I loved the PSP. But Sony seems pretty reliant on cutting-edge tech, which is not something I care about in a handheld for the price point that comes along with that.

 

[Ant_17]

No, cause Nintendo fans have killed every Smash clone, so they will kill any switch clone.

 

[Patapuf]

Sony is more likely to bring their games to mobile phones than to make their own portable device again.

 

[Ruu]

I can't see them making a handheld ever again that has different games, that seems like an absolutely terrible idea. Even Nintendo would be crazy to do that. Maybe at some point they could release something that is just a portable version of their main console but even that I wouldn't expect in the next 10 years.

 

[KalBalboa]

I could see it, but only if they find a way to avoid creating bespoke software for the portable.

A portable PS4, basically.

 

[NinjaScooter]

I could see it, but only if they find a way to avoid creating bespoke software for the portable.

A portable PS4, basically.

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How would a portable PS4 allow them to avoid creating bespoke software? The PS4 came out in 2013.

 

[wiIdcard]

A modern PSP with PSSR would be powerful enough to run all the popular gaas, indies and probably most ps4 games like Spider-Man 1, gta5. It's just they shouldn't market it as a next gen machine.

 

[LumberPanda]

No, cause Nintendo fans have killed every Smash clone, so they will kill any switch clone.

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what