PSP had Sony and 3rd-parties putting effort to release games (a lot exclusives hits).
Vita not.
And to be fair Sony should focus all efforts on PlayStation 5… having to invest in two hardware platform is something that doesn’t work anymore (Sony and Nintendo already learned with that mistake while MS is still suffering even with two platform pretty close in hardware and software).
Ideally Sony should focus on one device. The problem is not that ideal scenario. The problem is that a competitor like Valve needs to have its balls cut-off at the very outset of any console like venture, including a handheld device. In order to cut Valve's balls, and, crowd them out of the market sort of speak, you need your own product offering so Valve's Steamdeck is not the ONLY appealing and legitimately-backed device seeking the non-Switch base, which the Vita/PSP had, and Sony abandoned freely. Steamdeck is just the beginning if Valve's wings grow unimpeded. Hiding behind the "open platform", Valve competes with PlayStation for consumers in the console space via Steam, for VR consumers, and is now going after Nintendo and the Switch, trying to fill the PlayStation handheld void that was left open when Sony left the market. Valve behaves as the vanguard for PC, the PC gaming device, something MS failed to do.
If you look at PC beyond labels such as "open platform", and "productivity/multipurpose device" and position it as a gaming device for those that mainly use it for gaming then it's a direct competitor to consoles (PlayStation/Nintendo) in many respects. For example, similar content is being offered and sold to gaming consumers with similar taste patterns. The software taste pattern differences that do exist, thanks in part to hardware differences is no different than PlayStation users used to consuming GOW and Uncharted, while Nintendo users dabble more on JRPGs, Pokemon etc, while PC users focus heavily on MMO RPGs, strategy games etc. Niche tastes exist for each platform, and then there is generalized mass tastes that each platform competes against each other for. Thus for everything else, the software consumption patterns are the same, and PC has way more overlap with PlayStation than Nintendo. The hardware taste pattern differences are also no different than what a Switch is to a PS5, as a PS5 is to PC. Bottomline, gaming devices with a ton of overlap.
In this business you can't leave shit to "ifs". The threat is real, clipping Valve's wings now is preferable than sitting it out and rolling a dice on whether the Steamdeck truly takes off or not. Cause you don't want to try to address the problem when and if Steamdeck truly takes off, and solidifies a base. In that situation, the job is infinitely much harder, and much costlier, requiring an even more elaborate effort. The advantage for Valve is that they invest very little in content support... sort of like both a weakness and a strength. It's a strength when Valve solidifies themselves with monopoly-like market-share unimpeded like what they did on PC Windows Gaming - thus they run a mean and lean operation with very little operating costs, reaping royalty cuts like the ultimate middle-man. It's a weakness when properly challenged by companies who are willing to differentiate by investing heavily in content software (exclusive titles etc), and thus the market is contested before allowing Valve to reach monopoly-like status. That's when you see Valve's ventures fan out and falter. Valve is extremely opportunistic, with some good minds behind them.
I think Project Q is partly an answer to that, to address both Valve and Nintendo, and why it exists but like many here, I consider it a flawed answer, from something as competent as say, a Vita/PSP product offering.... which pretty much set the blueprint for how to build such devices with a non-Nintendo differentiation. With that said, the PS brand carries a lot of weight, and a lot can be done to protect that VITA/PSP abandoned consumer base with a product at the right price. Project Q at $99.99 is the ideal price for a DualSense with a screen attached. That mass consumer pricing is the ideal price point for an aggressive crowding out push that can theoretically deprive Steamdeck of a market, as it seeks to position itself as the non-Switch alternative that the PSP/Vita occupied. Ideally, a more competent device, aka a proper handheld, would be better positioned to address the Steamdeck threat but what Project Q lacks in hardware and versatility, it can make up massively in price. If the price for Project Q is out of touch with reality, the market will pass judgement, ruthlessly. Sometimes the product, regardless of pricing is not the product the market seeks due to the competitor products appeal. All of that will play out.
Bottomline, the threat requires attention. Once the threat subsides, and goals achieved then I think, with the proper message sent to Valve HQ, Sony is free to again drop it if they want some years down the line.
