Rumour Buster: No, Sony Isn't Launching A New PlayStation Portable To Rival Switch

Sony is too busy ruining their own reputation to waste their time on giving Nintendo competition in the portable gaming industry.

Sony have failed twice in the handheld market and I never saw this rumor holding any water.
They currently are on fire in the home console market and seem to be more focused on exclusives and the games as opposed to new hardware (outside a PS5)
Handheld gaming is Nintendo's realm and no one has come close to their success in this market.

Sony proved with the Vita that they are better off not having their hand in too many baskets. The PS4. PSVR, and Vita were too much to juggle and they just gave up when the numbers weren’t there. Do PlayStation gamers even want a God of War: Pocket Edition? I think not...

@kobalt I wouldn't say 80 million PSPs sold is a failure... The Vita? Yeah, definitely, but the PSP was very popular.

Vita and psp were both nice systems with tons of exclusive content so it wouldn't be a stretch to say with the success of the switch Sony may decide try their hand at it again (hopefully with better marketing this time round).

@Octane
Fair point.
I think I just remembered things like the psp go being a bit naff and hard to sell. Plus those I knew who had one traded them in,myself included.

@GameOtaku and cheaper parts. those exclusive hardware parts are just redicilous that expensive

Would be funny if Sony released another portable just to see the "who cares about portability?" crowd do a 180. 😁

Sony will NEVER have a lot of Cute / Girlie / Quirky games like on 3DS, so i will always choose Nintendo for the Best answer.

As much as I think the PSP and Vita are both underrated systems, with Nintendo consolidating both their (more profitable) handheld and home console divisions, i think Sony would be silly to try and wrestle their way back in when they're doing just fine with the PS4....

After the Vita I would be imagine Sony would want to stay as far away from handhelds as possible.

I read this yesterday on T3 (who seem to be a clickbait merchant) and didn't get why they would have a new game cartridge format for a portable designed to stream games from the cloud via 5G. A portable such as that would undoubtedly not use physical media at all for games.

Sony had huge success with the PSP, but then suffered with the Vita. Both of those products mean they have a lot of knowledge and experience in the handheld space.

The Switch is a rock solid proof of concept for HD portable gaming. The Switch is seen as the main competitor to PS4 (mainly because of Xbox One having a very small footprint in international territories, whereas Switch has a good presence in all).

The 5G streaming of AAA console games to a dedicated portable device is certainly something they will be spending some R&D time and dollars on, in my opinion. Whether it results in a viable product that they bring to market... I'd say it's 50/50 at best.

And then there's a long list of very wealthy tech companies who have been looking at the games industry with enviable eyes for some time... Google, Facebook, Amazon are all genuine possibilities in the next generation mix.

And of course there's Microsoft. They've not done a handheld to date... but they certainly could enter the space too, of course.

Click bait headline. There's actually nothing to tell in this story.

@TheGhostWhoWalks Is that sarcasm? Because the headline seems to sum up the article perfectly and isn't in the slightest clickbaity.

@AlexOlney just can't get into this guy.....

https://www.google.si/search?q=Sony+Toio&client=tablet-android-lenovo&prmd=ivn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDhZbBvvneAhUExYUKHSv-D0AQ_AUoAXoECAwQAQ&biw=962&bih=601#imgrc=q1LeK4eXrZFefM

Sorry I seem to have stumbled onto pushsquare.

@kobalt PSP was hardly a fail. It gave DS a run for its money. It sold 82 million consoles worldwide surpassing Gameboy Advance and 3DS lifetime sales (3ds currently at 73,53m it wont get close to 80 m).

Also it had Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII....it was really a blast to play a game that good (and graphically impressive) on a handheld....

I think PSP failed less by its hardware sales but heavily in its sofware more than anything. I knew a good few people who had PSPs but they were loaded with emulators and roms, they never bought a single game. And most consoles sell at a loss and make the profits on software.

Don't think that they should try going into the handheld/portable market. Don't have the same reputation as nintendo. Plus they have said themselves portable gaming is not profitable

@Octane

But compared to the ds and 3ds they kind of were

@Anti-Matter yeah it has those crap games you know: God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Uncharted 4, The last of Us

@nocdaes I wouldn't call psp a huge success at least software side as it was probably the most hacked piece of hardware ever (I didn't know anyone with one not hacked)

@Balta666 That's very true, and those core gamers that used emulators instead of buying games would have definitely put a dent in the potential profits of the system, no question. However, we're talking about 80 million systems here... Even if 20% were hacked, that's still double the install base of the N64, for example, that used their PSP in a normal, software buying way.

It looks like a phone.

@AlexOlney Your picture makes you look like your super proud of the pun.... and you should be !

I don't mind. As a gamer I want to own as much games as possible. Sony do has exclusive titles that I really like. So bring on Sony!

If the learn from their mistakes they could probably make a good handheld. The vita's biggest problems was the storage and lack of games in the west. But I still have my vita and my PSP because they are still good, but the vita could definitely be better if it had more games and used microSD cards for storage.
Don't think they would be much of a competition compaired to Nintendo's though...

No I don't think it would be a wise decision by Sony to directly compete against Nintendo patents, simply because they have a track record of failing in that perspective. I like the PlayStation console platforms, but as a business set of actions Sony is a known troll especially against Nintendo, they troll Microsoft as well. As I stated in another article, one of the main Sony reps in the PlayStation division was all up in that Switch reveal snapping numerous photos of the device, so it's always that possibility that Sony could directly compete against Nintendo, it just wouldn't be wise in my opinion.

The problem with Sony is that while they seem to know their customers in the home console market, they still haven't figured the handheld market, even after having created two handheld consoles.

Despite what some are saying, yes, the mobile gaming market changed something. I firmly believe that a pure handheld console with no additionnal functionalities, if released today, would fail to catch on with the general public. Why? Because these consoles ask people to bring ANOTHER device with them to play games, despite having one already able to do so with them at all times (their mobile phone). Maybe (definitely) not the same type of games, but for many people (most), it's good enough for them.

The Switch got popular because it merged two fields into one. It brought mobility to the home console market. It provided something that was uncommon (to the masses anyways): the ability to bring your home console with you and continue playing the same games wherever you are. THIS generated interest. A lot of people who ceased playing home console games for a lack of dedicated time started playing again.

The reason Sony failed with the Vita was mainly because they build it like we were still in 2001. An era in which the sole way to play videogames on the go was to get a dedicated portable console. All other aspects of the Vita besides games was an aftertought. It didn't bring anything new to the table, and every functionality besides games were badly implemented and were laughable, mediocre at best.

I still believe there would be a place for another handheld. BUT, it would need to go where people are right now, not where people were 15 years ago. A new handheld would need a PURPOSE. The Switch succeeded because it has a purpose.

How about a real mobile phone with a slide-out gamepad, based on an OS like Android, with, like for Amazon devices, a dedicated marketplace? Make games dependant on specific hardware to be playable (to avoid people playing them on other Android devices). Let people bring all their digital life with them on that single device (because it's Android, most apps people already use would work out of the box), so THIS would bring the fusion of portable gaming and mobile communications into one. ONE device to bring with me, instead of two (phone and portable). I know Sony tried that with the Xperia Play, but that was a bad phone that was outdated even before being launched. And it was badly supported.

Anyway... I'd be surprised if Sony would release another handheld. They tried it two times, and given how Sony is quick to abandon their products as soon as it doesn't sell as planned, I think having made a second handheld was already a miracle.

Hopefully they aren't going to try and copy the success of the Switch. That would be embarrassing for them. I remember when they announced the PlayStation Move when the Wii was flying off the shelves. I remember feeling warm-faced embarrassment when I saw the videos on it. I could not believe that they so blatantly copied the Wii control scheme (a remote/wand controller and an accompanying navigation controller). I had a launch PS3 at the time but I stayed far away from the Move. They panicked when the PS3 started off so slowly compared to the Wii and 360 but in the end it turned out fine. It all about the games the system had that the Wii didn't in the end. Then they pulled a similar thing with PlayStation Allstars game to try and cash in on the success and popularity of Smash Bros. That was a disappointment too. They need to just stick with their PlayStation brand as one of the leading home consoles each generation. All four generations of them have been huge successes.

Sony once stood shoulder to shoulder with nintendo in the handheld marked with the PSP. But hey, let's mess everything up with a expensive, limiting and garbage-features loaded vita.

Sony should probably get those last 3 PS4 exclusives (Death Stranding, Ghost of Tsushima and TLOU Part II) out of the way before looking too far into the future

I don't think that sony would enter the handheld market again until they thought they could make a viable hybrid. And since having a ps5 in your hand would be a hot brick with no battery life...I think we have a ways to go.

This reminds me that I just uncovered my PSP2000 box, and a random treasure trove of included UMDs like Tiger Woods and a UMD video for National Treasure 2. Good times. It's like a time capsule.... Ratchet & Clank was fun though. And it's still home to the best Jak game: "Daxter."

@Octane 80M PSPs were sold in huge part though due to the hacking which meant a lot of them were sold to people with no intention of buying games.

Their reaction to that is why they locked down the Vita so hard they prevented it from being viable.

Wii experienced that to a degree with it being a cheap Netflix box, thus the huge Wii sales didn't necessarily translate to WiiU potential customers.

Its a shame. I loved the Vita. But Sony will never release a handheld again.

@NEStalgia Wasn't the same true for the DS? The number of R4 cards I've seen in my life is bigger than the amount of games I own for that system.

@Octane Yeah, but the DS wasn't particularly good at running emulators, the R4 stuff was mostly legit homebrew and very niche. PSP was a pirate haven and sold like crazy for emus and ripped PSP games. That's what you get when you focus on "power" as your selling point....

That's why they went with the obtuse memory and sealed battery the next time making sure absolutely nobody wanted one.

Why would they release a new Playstation Portable now when it's been discontinued for years? Why not a new Playstation Vita. It's still in production to my knowledge.

@kobalt psp sold better than 3ds. Psp was a lot, but not a failure.

Vita was a failure, but it did end up with 1600+ native games. So that’s a lot to choose. Add psp, ps mini and ps1 games you can play and a owner has enough to play.

What annoys me is that Sony could have done something so much better with the Vita. Screen is great, hardware is much better than 3DS, but it was just wasted. It's like they didn't care. And, then there was the proprietary memory to make matters worse.

@HollowGrapeJ The problem was it was powerful enough that expectations were for console games, but handhelds don't sell well enough in western territories, traditionally, to justify major studios dedicating resources to develop console games for a handheld. Anything that didn't need the power could go to the cheaper, better selling 3DS, and anything that did couldn't justify the necessary budget to not put it on console instead.

Switch smartly side stepped that by just being a console.

Interanally Sony seemed to almost treat it as a stopgap between PS3 and PS4 and little else. They threw 110% of their focus onto PS4 once the Feb '13 reveal happened.

Sony: Handheld? I don't recall ever releasing a handheld games system, let alone these 2 you're claiming we did!

What about the weird hybrid console patent that was reported on last year? I guess leaving the handheld market also means not maximizing revenue just because the Vita flopped. Link: https://ign.com/articles/2017/02/17/sony-files-patent-for-what-looks-like-a-switch-esque-handheld

If Sony continues their trend of forcing consumers to pay twice as much, for basically Sony branded memory cards, I'll pass. Learned my lesson with the Vita. Awesome handheld, until you run out of storage space which happens almost immediately after you turn the damn thing on.

Sony can patent as much cool tech as possible, but if they cannot properly support a platform or convince others to support said platform, then they won't bother investing in it.

That's why they will never make another handheld ever again.

I loved both of Sony's handhelds and the Vita still sports my favourite game ever on it (P4G).

However, I think they kept making an obvious big mistake with the proprietary storage and game mediums. UMD did not take off at tall and would be totally obsolete by now and the storage cards for Vita are still only 64GB which is not enough for a modern portable. Not to mention the added costs of producing these things for both Sony and the consumer.

I actually wouldn't mind a new Sony portable though. Just more choice ultimately and competition can spark quality and creativity.

I played literally thousands of hours on PSV and loved that platform. However, at the beginning of this year i decided to cave in and get Switch. Still, I used to be biased towards Sony. Still, I do not understand the decisions of that company. They had plenty opportunities to make Vita viable. Eventually, they stopped pretending to even try and decided to exit the handheld market. Still, as a customer I am happy as without those decision I wouldn't give Nintendo a chance and would not try gems such as BotW, XC2 or Octopath Traveler

They specifically went out and said recently that they would be closing down their handheld efforts, so I'm a little miffed anyone would have thought this was a thing.

@vitelus too bad all of those games probably would have been better movies than games.

@rdrunner1178 Didn't they also copy nintendo with the "playstation classic" like how nintendo released the nes and snes classic?

@OberonPrime Maybe it just wasn't worth it to them when their dedicated console sold much more? Also, with casuals moving to phones it was a sort of smart decision. The DS was a huge success, and the PSP sold more than the 3ds even. But as you can see the market has shrunk because casuals have left for phones. Sony would never beat Nintendo at a handheld, and with a shrinking market it made little sense to continue.

@OberonPrime your arguments against phones is for actual gamers. Casuals don't care about those things. Most people charge their phones all day long anyway.

And if you are a core gamer, you can buy one of those 8bitdo SNES pro controllers that has an attachment for your phone.

I know nothing about the Vita launch. Sorry.

Sony went with the PS because they wanted to get into the market. Look up the history of the Nintendo Play Station.

A Sony competitor is for sure coming. Sony is not just going to cede all of Japan to Nintendo, which is what would happen if they remain as is. The PS5 will have a portable option, one way or another.

@Octane While not a failure I bet you a good chunk of them were used for hacking. I mean almost everyone listed on eBay is hacked. It was the most widely modded system of all time.

@OberonPrime I'm not saying that it would stop core gamers from buying portables, just that the huge market isn't there anymore like it was 10 years ago. With more and more core gamers wanting increased graphics and frames, this hurts the idea of a portable console. We are already seeibg it with people that bought a Switch wanting a "pro" model thinking it will mean more third party games, which is foolish because third parties are already designing for the next gen.

I am a core gamer and know this. Every phone game I have played is pretty garbage. My concern is casuals have a lot of buying power. And there is more of them. The F2P model is also taking off. As well as "DLC" that should have been in the game to begin with. Add to this that the more powerful games become, the more they cost.

Nintendo is trying to get their foot in the phone games market...

Most people I know are always like "my battery is dying I need to charge". I don't have this issue because my phone has a 4500mah battery, but most phones do not have this. (Yes, it is larger than the Switch).

Almost no one actually uses a phone to make calls anymore.

Yes I am aware of how bad that deal was. That was Nintendo's fault for not reading a very important contract. Still, Sony was coming.

I wish they would. Playstation as a whole are good consoles and good platforms. The handhelds had obvious issues and the PS3 was a technical nightmare, but the PS4 has been a huge step forward.

If they took the online feature set of the PS4 and integrated that on to Switch style console, that would be an instant win as far as I'm concerned.

I think ultimately it would benefit the Switch too. THere'd be less risk in porting a game to Switch style hardware because there'd be a bigger market for Devs to sell that version of the game to. Potentially meaning more ports of current and last gen games, as well as brand new games made for that hardware. Nintendo would also be forced to directly compete with a console that does everything the Switch does, but does the online component much better. Hopefully forcing Nintendo to address that side of the console much sooner.

More over, we wouldn't always see a race to the high end. Consoles could be designed to be light, quiet, power saving, consoles again, instead of just standardised PCs. Less focus on graphics, more focus on gameplay and smart/innovative game design. Ninetndo's hybrid console design is an absolute dream, it should be a mainstay of the gaming industry from now on. That's why Sony should make a hybrid console.

@Jokerwolf Yeah, I don't remember the numbers off hand, but the PSP had one of the worst attachment rates ever (average number of games sold per system). Sony's profit model was always sell the system at price or for a loss, make money later on games. So the people that bought the PSP, hacked it, and then just pirated games (which apparently was a lot of people) ended up draining a lot of money from Sony.

@KryptoniteKrunch

Lmao Yep, me & a couple of buddies were talking about that exact same scenario heh heh.