Sony in the early stages of developing a portable console that plays PS5 games

[Loy310]

This thing will be a drm always online proprietary memory hell scape after how the vita ended up. Otherwise its gonna get hack cracked and sony will instantly drop support just like they did on the vita.
Based on their history with handheld you really cant trust sony with them. This thing gonna be doa.

 

[Hezekiah]

MLID confirmed there was a handheld in development earlier this year in like February, but people wanted to ignore this story for some reason. At the time he said it was at least two years out.

A lot of hindsight merchants here, but Sony didn't have a viable option for maintaining two platforms when the PS3 was struggling so much. Not only are they back on good footing, but they can move forward with a unified library. It's an absolute no brainer for Sony.

Well we see currently the ported PS4 and PS5 games running on the Steamdeck
Only this time around on more powerful hardware, PSSR (3.0?) and optimisation from first party. This for sure will be a digital only handheld and an incentive to buy and push digital on the PS (console) eco-system. Feed a different market + cheaper entry point on top of pushing back other competitors in this space.

MLID did confirm that Sony signed AMD for 2 SKU's likely the handheld is with the PS6 family.

MLID gets a lot of shit online but he does have some good sources. This story is basically year old news

 

[Petekilla]

This thing will be a drm always online proprietary memory hell scape after how the vita ended up. Otherwise its gonna get hack cracked and sony will instantly drop support just like they did on the vita.
Based on their history with handheld you really cant trust sony with them. This thing gonna be doa.

But you probably think the Xbox handheld will fare better right? Lol

 

[FatKaz]

For me the usecases for this device

PS5 pro enhanced/ps6 games -> Remote Play
PS5/PS4 games -> Cloud streaming/Remote Play
Game that run well on a handheld or can't cloud stream/remote play(e.g. using outside, bad wifi) -> Play nativeley

Portal covers the first 2, last one will be covered by this device.

Although not gonna lie, the cloud streaming/remote play for me has been so good the last point will be used occasionally if sony do go ahead with a device like this..

 

[Kokoloko]

Obviously.

People thinking Sony was gonna release a handheld that only played PS4 games were kinda in nowhere land and would of been the device

 

[Kokoloko]

As long as you combine both console & handheld into 1 + it’s cheap ($400-$500) & has many many permanent exclusive games. Something PS doesn’t have.

If PS makes a PS6 a traditional box console & then a PS6 handheld both will flop. We’ve seen what happen to studio split into having to make games for both. It’s a negative for 3rd party & 1st party. Best chance is PS copies Nintendo 1 to 1 & just makes a hybrid handheld less focus on power & more focus on making exclusive games w a output comparable to Nintendo

Id rather they keep it separate but have a combined library. Portable can be docked too though

No1 point taking away from hardcore PS fans who want More power. I dont want a switch 2 powered PS6

 

[arvfab]

Yeah, who wouldn't want AAA games with no voice work, 30 fps and cell shaded graphics. And nothing but that. I don't think you people really know what they're wishing for when they say they want Sony to go the Nintendo route.

1) A handheld capable of playing PS5 quality of games would already be more than what you described as "Nintendo" way, but would limit PS6 games if it's mandatory for devs to release on it (same as the Series S for Xbox).

2) I didn't say it's what I'm wishing for. In fact, a proper PS6 console (not hybrid), without a Series S-like generation gimping device which the rumored handheld would be, would be my preference.

But if I'd have to choose between a hybrid solution (Nintendo way) or gimped gen (Xbox way) I would choose the former, as at least it would put a break in the ballooning dev costs used as an excuse for making customer unfriendly decisions like making multiplatform games. Of course only as long as the hybrid device has physical games.

 

[Vertigo]

I only like this idea if it’s just running ps4 and ps5 digital catalogs and not its own proprietary software and platform to dev for.

Otherwise that would be a disaster. Almost ended Nintendo a few times. These lessons should have been learned.

 

[Syndr0mePK]

Welcome back PSP.

 

[ToTTenTranz]

People keep insisting that a PS5 handheld will be rendering games differently than the base PS5 does, but that's just not possible.


PSSR is a temporal tech that needs motion vectors implemented and developer intervention. There's no world where Sony creates a weaker target spec for a handheld and all previous PS5 games just use PSSR at a lower base resolution.
That's not how PSSR works and I sure hope all this sheer ignorance around PSSR would go away, because it's always the same couple of suspects spreading it.


If a PS5 handheld ever comes out, it'll be running PS5 runtimes on PS5 hardware. There's just no way around it.
Otherwise it's a new hardware target that doesn't run PS5 runtimes and needs developers to open up the source code compile the game again for that new hardware. In which case it's not a console that runs PS5 games, it runs games for the new console.


The good news is AMD and TSMC are actually not that far off from being able to produce a mobile SoC capable of running PS5 games natively.
TSMC's N2 is probably good for producing a very small SoC with the 8core Zen2 running at 3.2GHz + 40CUs at 2.23GHz RDNA2, all running at 20-25W. LPDDR6 coming up in 2025 is also going to do 14.4MT/s which is a match to OG PS5's 14MT/s GDDR6.


In H2 2026 a PS5 SoC shrunk down to N2 should already do everything a PS5 does and at a low power, within the size and weight of a Steam Deck or ROG Ally.
There's no need to make up shit about PSSR if the release date is 2 years from now.

This thing will be a drm always online proprietary memory hell scape after how the vita ended up.

Even though I wish Sony would still support physical media at that point, a PS5 handheld will probably be digital only.

 

[Kokoloko]

1) A handheld capable of playing PS5 quality of games would already be more than what you described as "Nintendo" way, but would limit PS6 games if it's mandatory for devs to release on it (same as the Series S for Xbox).

2) I didn't say it's what I'm wishing for. In fact, a proper PS6 console (not hybrid), without a Series S-like generation gimping device which the rumored handheld would be, would be my preference.

But if I'd have to choose between a hybrid solution (Nintendo way) or gimped gen (Xbox way) I would choose the former, as at least it would put a break in the ballooning dev costs used as an excuse for making customer unfriendly decisions like making multiplatform games. Of course only as long as the hybrid device has physical games.

Agreed.
A PS2 + PSP kind of situation with a shared library is better than a hybrid. Nintendo went hybrid because they had no other choice, home consoles werent selling for them.
Sony didnt have that issue, they are the leading home console seller every gen.

Sony Never had a home console sell less than 87million, unlike Nintendo and Xbox. Nintendo has only ever had 1 home console sell above those numbers and that was the Wii being $200
Nintendo fans dont come for regular priced home consoles as we saw with N64, Gamecube, Wii U.

Best thing for playstation, keep selling PS consoles. Then have a portable with an optional dock for the other fans (portable fans, kids, cheaper audiences) and especially japan.

By the time a PS6 comes, the portable tech to upscale could be easier to downgrade games from PS6 to a PSP3.
4K 30/60 with higher setting/effects on console to a 1080/900- 30/60fps on portable

 

[Neversummer]

Id rather they keep it separate but have a combined library. Portable can be docked too though

No1 point taking away from hardcore PS fans who want More power. I dont want a switch 2 powered PS6

If they separate it it will be like ps3/psp & ps3/ps4 & psvita where you have 3rd party publishers not sure what platforms to support because of the lack of support by PS & consumers. Developers didn’t make games for psp or psvita because they were focus on making games on the traditional console. It will be another series s/x moment & for PS they will have to support it with even more exclusive games specifically for that hardware or PS 1st party will have to down scale there games for the traditional console so either way in both ends the developers & gamer looses.

Where if they copied Nintendo & just made 1 device in this case the PS6 being a hybrid handheld PS studios & 3rd party would have 1 device to fully maximize so overall you’d still get a quality experience w great support.

Your also not considering if they separated it let’s say PS6 is $500-$600 will the handheld have same spec? If so then your looking at a $600-$700 handheld if PS continues to chase power (which imo they shouldn’t, as ultimately consoles are supposed to be value base & the thing that’s supposed to drive consoles aren’t specs but exclusive games) so at a $600-$700 handheld it will sell 10 million if lucky which isn’t good when Nitnnedo handhelds are selling 150+ million. Also a $600-$700 handheld mean PS continues to decline in Japan & Asia in general as in those regions gamers don’t & wont spend so much money for a device where they are PC/Mobile dominated w free to play games.

And lets say the handheld that goes w PS6 is a weaker performance handheld but $400 maybe even $300 & it’s performance is just a PS5 then PS would make a handheld that’s weak and isn’t supported by PS themselves PS6 exclusive wouldn’t be on this handheld & it will just be for PS4/PS5 games you can argue what would even be the point of that handheld when PS own PS4/PS5 games are already playable on the Steamdeck, Rog etc a PS handheld that doesn’t gets PS6 exclusive is kinda obsolete & if PS wanted to support it then PS studios would have to down scale games for that separate handheld.

Overall it’s just better if PS copied Nintendo & comes its 2 market into 1 device while remaining both great performance & value retail. This is why exclusives games permanent exclusive will matter more then ever more then any previous gen as there will be more competition & more need to differentiate itself from other hardware/storefront. This is why PS porting all there PS4 & PS5 to PC & making it compatible is such a short sighted mistake that will further add question to future PS hardware & question why invest into the PS storefront when other competitors have better value, libraries & 1st party exclusive game output.

PS6 handheld hybrid doesn’t have to be Switch 2 level of power which is rumored to be around PS4. Steamdeck has already shown you can play PS4 & PS5 games in a handheld format at a value proposition. Really if PS continues to chase power what are you getting? More expensive console & what now games run 4K 60/8K 30 that you can’t tell & gamers don’t care about? Gamers want games & for a console it needs many many exclusive to drive consumers not power.

 

[On Demand]

Making a portable while putting your games on direct competitors platforms, Switch and Steamdeck.

Good luck with that.

 

[Boswollox]

I was convinced at one point they were gonna do a Remote Play bundle but it never happened.

Remote play was a brilliant idea and playing my PS4 while in bed with a Vita was genius. A little expanding and you could have had co-op games played on two screens, streamed from one console.
I was hoping the portal would be a proper handheld with remote play capabilities.

 

[FatKaz]

 

[Petekilla]

Making a portable while putting your games on direct competitors platforms, Switch and Steamdeck.

Good luck with that.

It’s about the ecosystem. People would want to play their digital PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, and PS5 games on the go. Also with their trophies.

 

[TrishaCat]

Interesting. I wonder what its power to battery life ratio will be like. The Steam Deck *can* play PS5 games, but not particularly well. But this is Sony's own hardware, and it being a portable PS5 means that it has the advantages of games not trying to account for a million different hardware types (such as with PC games). There is reason to believe they could make something more powerful with a better battery life, and be once again in the high end handheld market.
Exciting!

Hopefully it'll use SD cards or microSDs or something instead of the weird memory card thing they've been doing

 

[mibu no ookami]

Interesting. I wonder what its power to battery life ratio will be like. The Steam Deck *can* play PS5 games, but not particularly well. But this is Sony's own hardware, and it being a portable PS5 means that it has the advantages of games not trying to account for a million different hardware types (such as with PC games). There is reason to believe they could make something more powerful with a better battery life, and be once again in the high end handheld market.
Exciting!

The benefits here are that you'll be able to reduce battery drain by using cloud and remote play when the time suits it and only use native when you have to/want to.

 

[mibu no ookami]

Making a portable while putting your games on direct competitors platforms, Switch and Steamdeck.

Good luck with that.

Yeah, because Netflix putting Season 1-2 of Stranger Things on disc really derailed their subscriptions.

 

[arvfab]

Yeah, because Netflix putting Season 1-2 of Stranger Things on disc really derailed their subscriptions.

Did they also put it on Disney+/Prime Video?

Because your pretty useless comparison would be more in line with comparing the impact of sales vs. subscriptions.