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Insider Gaming: Sony’s next Playstation Handheld (not a cloud-streaming device)

yurinka

Member
Will they actually support it this time?
In theory it's only for Remote Play (and I assume cloud gaming too), doesn't seem to have native games.

Say this device is capable of a bit rate of 15Mbps and you play for 30 minutes during work commute for 22 days a month. That'll be about 150 GB per month.

How are data plans in different parts of the world? In my country we pay $8-15(!) for 1 GB pr month, all the way up to "free use" at around $50 pr month of 5G.

"Free use" here however accounted for 600 to 1000 GB though last time someone tested it.
I think that the common way here in Europe is to don't have data caps. I pay around $115/month for 1Gb/s fiber internet with a wifi6 router, cable tv including all the pay per view Spanish football (I'm from Spain, it's the top sport here) + Netflix + Amazon Prime + home phone line + 2 smartphone 4G lines. Both the smartphones and home internet have no data cap and unlimited calls.
 
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FoxMcChief

Gold Member
Say this device is capable of a bit rate of 15Mbps and you play for 30 minutes during work commute for 22 days a month. That'll be about 150 GB per month.

How are data plans in different parts of the world? In my country we pay $8-15(!) for 1 GB pr month, all the way up to "free use" at around $50 pr month of 5G.

"Free use" here however accounted for 600 to 1000 GB though last time someone tested it.
I get this text message every single month:

“Sprint: FYI, you've now used 50 GB of data. You may experience reduced speeds at peak times in some areas until your next bill cycle. See sprint.com/QOS FreeMsg”

I’ve yet to notice reduced speeds or a difference with game streaming connection. My current usage (about 20 days in on the monthly cycle) is at 127GB on my phone alone, while my wife’s is at 5GB and my daughter is at 7GB.
 
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SilentUser

Member
So this os basically a controller and not a handheld console, if I'm reading this right. Considering I travel a lot and even bought controllers for the smartphone so I could actually use remote play, I can see it's use. And since it is basically a remote play controller, that means Sony won't build games for it and, thus, avoiding Vita's biggest problem: lack of support.
Doubt Sony is thinking this is going to sell gangbusters, but it is another way to differentiate from its competitors and they surely will sell it for a profit.
 
So this os basically a controller and not a handheld console, if I'm reading this right. Considering I travel a lot and even bought controllers for the smartphone so I could actually use remote play, I can see it's use. And since it is basically a remote play controller, that means Sony won't build games for it and, thus, avoiding Vita's biggest problem: lack of support.
Doubt Sony is thinking this is going to sell gangbusters, but it is another way to differentiate from its competitors and they surely will sell it for a profit.

Yeah, and maybe it's a way to attack the japanese market more: seems like they play only on handhelds there. So bringing the "PS5 experience" to an handheld format might be important there.
 

Woopah

Member
Form factor does matter. It’s been over 20 years since a home console has sold over 11m units in Japan. Meanwhile, the only portable console to sell less than 20m units was the PS Vita.
Right, the Vita was a handheld but that didn't matter because it didn't have appealing software for the market. So it did much worse than the PS4.

That's the same issue PS5 has right now. A handheld doesn't help Sony in Japan at all, more appealing software would.
 

Azurro

Banned
They became increasingly American. The Vita and PSP were amazing in Japan, but the American heads failed to understand what made these platforms so great and ran them into the ground. Now that Playstation is based in America, we can say goodbye to ever seeing a quality handheld from them again.

It's not because they are American, it's because handheld consoles are a Nintendo only market. Splitting their dev efforts between consoles and handhelds does not work, stuff like the Steam Deck is much more niche and just runs existing PC games at lower settings, Sony already has a very big and sustainable userbase, there's no need for another handheld from them.
 

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Not directed at me, but I use it to play my games on my work breaks. I don’t get to game as much as I’d like at home. Or if I’m playing something like MLB The Show, I can easily play that while my wife and I have garbage tv on, like 90 Day Fiancé, Love is Blind or Married at First Sight.

Hmmmm interesting. Me and my wife watch those same shows, but I doubt she'd want me to be playing video games at the same time. But using it on lunches could make sense.

most of the chatter was around $99 or slightly higher with a controller.

There’s no real need for you to try to paint a picture of console warring at work. Streaming only handhelds have never been popular here.


Here’s the thread about the Logitech Cloud gaming handheld. Largely critical

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/xbox...logitech-g-cloud-gaming-handheld-350.1641741/

And the one for Razer’s attempt

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/verizon-teases-a-‘5g-gaming-handheld’-made-by-razer.1642155/

It wasn't about console warring. I'm honestly wondering why the Xbox Series Z is a no brainer for some folks, whereas this idea is stupid. They both seem to have their own place in my mind if priced properly.

So this os basically a controller and not a handheld console, if I'm reading this right. Considering I travel a lot and even bought controllers for the smartphone so I could actually use remote play, I can see it's use. And since it is basically a remote play controller, that means Sony won't build games for it and, thus, avoiding Vita's biggest problem: lack of support.
Doubt Sony is thinking this is going to sell gangbusters, but it is another way to differentiate from its competitors and they surely will sell it for a profit.

If the bolded is true, then it'll probably be $250. $200 minimum. :(
Right, the Vita was a handheld but that didn't matter because it didn't have appealing software for the market. So it did much worse than the PS4.

That's the same issue PS5 has right now. A handheld doesn't help Sony in Japan at all, more appealing software would.

Sony doesn't have a problem in Japan with the PS5.
 

Woopah

Member
Hmmmm interesting. Me and my wife watch those same shows, but I doubt she'd want me to be playing video games at the same time. But using it on lunches could make sense.



It wasn't about console warring. I'm honestly wondering why the Xbox Series Z is a no brainer for some folks, whereas this idea is stupid. They both seem to have their own place in my mind if priced properly.



If the bolded is true, then it'll probably be $250. $200 minimum. :(


Sony doesn't have a problem in Japan with the PS5.
Its not really a problem that prevents them being successful elsewhere, but they'd want software sales in Japan to be higher than they are.
 

Reallink

Member
So this os basically a controller and not a handheld console, if I'm reading this right. Considering I travel a lot and even bought controllers for the smartphone so I could actually use remote play, I can see it's use. And since it is basically a remote play controller, that means Sony won't build games for it and, thus, avoiding Vita's biggest problem: lack of support.
Doubt Sony is thinking this is going to sell gangbusters, but it is another way to differentiate from its competitors and they surely will sell it for a profit.

This will have no use for traveling. You run into the barrier of having to set up and connect to a hotspot on your phone every time you want to play it (with the data limits and costs that incurs), and I've never seen hotel Wifi that could even dream of streaming games in a playable state. That's without even getting into the massive amounts of lag incurred trying to connect to your home PS5 out of network. You're much better off buying the backbone style controllers for your phone and using the remote play app.
 
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Baki

Member
Right, the Vita was a handheld but that didn't matter because it didn't have appealing software for the market. So it did much worse than the PS4.

That's the same issue PS5 has right now. A handheld doesn't help Sony in Japan at all, more appealing software would.
Software, form factor, price are the 3 key factors. PS5 has most major 3rd parties already. What’s missing is the form factor.
 

DrFigs

Member
This will have no use for traveling. You run into the barrier of having to set up and connect to a hotspot on your phone every time you want to play it (with the data limits and costs that incurs), and I've never seen hotel Wifi that could even dream of streaming games. You're much better off buying the backbone style controllers for your phone and using the remote play app.
Obviously we have no way of knowing if the rumors are true. but it doesn't make sense to me why this device wouldn't be able to run vita or psp or android games natively. I doubt sony would make a handheld that can only be used next to your ps5.
 

Reallink

Member
Obviously we have no way of knowing if the rumors are true. but it doesn't make sense to me why this device wouldn't be able to run vita or psp or android games natively. I doubt sony would make a handheld that can only be used next to your ps5.

Ain't nobody buying a $200+ device to play Vita and PSP games in 2023, and 99% of Playstation's audience has no interest in playing Android games. Chances are the free phone in your pocket already does all that stuff good enough or better than this anyways.
 
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This will have no use for traveling. You run into the barrier of having to set up and connect to a hotspot on your phone every time you want to play it (with the data limits and costs that incurs), and I've never seen hotel Wifi that could even dream of streaming games in a playable state. That's without even getting into the massive amounts of lag incurred trying to connect to your home PS5 out of network. You're much better off buying the backbone style controllers for your phone and using the remote play app.

Yeah it's not easy to make it work "on the run". In that case a "cloud" device could be better than a remote play device.

Remote Play works best with a good Wi-Fi connection based off fixed broadband, like an office maybe? You know, in an actual building
 

Trilobit

Member
the new device will require constant connectivity to the internet.

¡Adios, muchachos!

94cad1c8a786c9178858a38fc93d70cf3bc75729.jpg
 
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Woopah

Member
Software, form factor, price are the 3 key factors. PS5 has most major 3rd parties already. What’s missing is the form factor.
If you took PS5's lineup and put it on a portable, that portable would sell similar to the PS5.

If we look at why 3DS did mediocre in Europe and wose than the PS4 for example, its not because Europe loves consoles and doesn't like handhelds. Its because PS4 had the more appealing software for that market.

A portable device doesn't solve the software issue.
 
¡Adios, muchachos!

94cad1c8a786c9178858a38fc93d70cf3bc75729.jpg

I mean, how do you think remote play works? Maybe it won't need internet in the house but you still need a router/modem to connect this device to the PS5

Unless the PS5 itself has the ability to establish a direct connection with the device...

PS4 had that feature if i remember correctly
 

RCU005

Member
I don’t believe the PS5 Pro exist and will not exist. They are just saying this for hits and “probability” since it hope es last gen, so “why not this one too”.

It doesn’t make sense at all, but people love to be fooled by “insiders”. Just think about it:

- Sony doesn’t have games this gen. They haven’t announced a game since the PS5 reveal.
- They still mass produce cross-gen games. There are less than 10 games for PS5 only and the majority of those could also be PS4 games.
- No one has used more than 10% of the PS5 power not even 2.5 years later. Why would they release a more powerful console, when they can’t even finish developing games for PS5.
- This is just a wet-dream for people that think they only focus on 60fps, as if it’s something the majority cares about.
 
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Aenima

Member
Glad is not a traditional handheld that would most likely split some studios by making then create games exclusive to the handheld, and with PSVR already doing that, a cheap remote play machine its better in by books. But if you already own a smartphone its pretty much useless.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
It's not because they are American, it's because handheld consoles are a Nintendo only market. Splitting their dev efforts between consoles and handhelds does not work, stuff like the Steam Deck is much more niche and just runs existing PC games at lower settings, Sony already has a very big and sustainable userbase, there's no need for another handheld from them.

There is more than enough market share for other competitors to enter the Handheld market. PSP already proved that in the west and both the PSP and Vita were equally loved in Japan and other asian countries.

Its a blatant failure on the western leaders of Sony, plain and simple.
 

Azurro

Banned
There is more than enough market share for other competitors to enter the Handheld market. PSP already proved that in the west and both the PSP and Vita were equally loved in Japan and other asian countries.

Its a blatant failure on the western leaders of Sony, plain and simple.

Vita was a market failure. It didn't even sell more than 15 million units iirc, PSP was an eternity ago, what? 15 years ago? Just because you want a Sony handheld doesn't mean it makes sense. It's a problem of allocation of dev resources, it's not possible to make it work and keep a PS5 and a hypothetical PSP3 properly fed with titles.
 
It's funny to me that this thing causes so much anger or confusion, because the concept of a handheld inherently tied to a home console has already been done before, including by Sony. As much as I want a proper Vita successor, this is a niche device not made for most people here, move on.
It annoys people because its a half measure that nobody is asking for. It's a system with limited capabilities and use cases instead of something actually useful.
 
I don’t believe the PS5 Pro exist and will not exist. They are just saying this for hits and “probability” since it hope es last gen, so “why not this one too”.

It doesn’t make sense at all, but people love to be fooled by “insiders”. Just think about it:

- Sony doesn’t have games this gen. They haven’t announced a game since the PS5 reveal.
- They still mass produce cross-gen games. There are less than 10 games for PS5 only and the majority of those could also be PS4 games.
- No one has used more than 10% of the PS5 power not even 2.5 years later. Why would they release a more powerful console, when they can’t even finish developing games for PS5.
- This is just a wet-dream for people that think they only focus on 60fps, as if it’s something the majority cares about.
How do you figure?
 

nial

Gold Member
It annoys people because its a half measure that nobody is asking for. It's a system with limited capabilities and use cases instead of something actually useful.
You weren't asking for it and that's fine, because like I said, it's a niche device that's not necessarily made to appeal to everyone. Sony, as a hardware company, makes a bunch of products that a lot of people wouldn't find useful, that's not to say they shouldn't exist. Move on, getting upset over something like this is pretty dumb.
 

RCU005

Member
How do you figure?
It’s obvious.

Sony hasn’t used it because they have only released 2 PS5-only games (Returnal and Ratchet & Clank). None of those games look like they couldn’t be done on PS4 (specially after they did GOW:R and HFW.

Burning Shores is a PS5-only DLC, but we will see if they do something that merits it. They should remove pop-in for starters, and who knows if all the PS5-only changes will only affect the new area or the entire base game.

Third parties won’t ever reach any PS5 potential due to Series S and Switch.
 
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You weren't asking for it and that's fine, because like I said, it's a niche device that's not necessarily made to appeal to everyone. Sony, as a hardware company, makes a bunch of products that a lot of people wouldn't find useful, that's not to say they shouldn't exist. Move on, getting upset over something like this is pretty dumb.
It’s weird to me when any negative outlook on the Internet is conflated with being upset.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I'll reserve judgment based on how it works. I want to be a le to play PS games on the go like my Steak Deck.
 

SilentUser

Member
This will have no use for traveling. You run into the barrier of having to set up and connect to a hotspot on your phone every time you want to play it (with the data limits and costs that incurs), and I've never seen hotel Wifi that could even dream of streaming games in a playable state. That's without even getting into the massive amounts of lag incurred trying to connect to your home PS5 out of network. You're much better off buying the backbone style controllers for your phone and using the remote play app.
I understand your point and it is valid. I never play in a hotel or while commuting. I travel a lot to visit my mom and friends where I grew up, that's where I use the Remote Play. Yes, I know this means it will have a very, very limited market, but it seems like Sony is trying to create reasons/solutions to make people play on a Playstation. By doing this, I won't need to buy a supposed Xbox stick or subscribe to GamePass while I'm at my mom, for instance. I could just remotely connect to my PS5 and play it (which is, quite frankly, very good). It would be another option and nothing more. They want people to stay playing on PS5. It would be another companion, like that Backbone (thats the name of it?) smartphone add on
But yeah, it is just conjecture of my part based on a rumor 😅
 

Azurro

Banned
It’s obvious.

Sony hasn’t used it because they have only released 2 PS5-only games (Returnal and Ratchet & Clank). None of those games look like they couldn’t be done on PS4 (specially after they did GOW:R and HFW.

Burning Shores is a PS5-only DLC, but we will see if they do something that merits it. They should remove pop-in for starters, and who knows if all the PS5-only changes will only affect the new area or the entire base game.

Third parties won’t ever reach any PS5 potential due to Series S and Switch.

That's not how this works. Game rendering perhaps isn't taking advantage of the Geometry Engine or perhaps titles haven't been designed to fully take advantage of PS5's IO. However, the performance of the machine is still being used to a 100% in every title, it's not like the PS5 is rendering at native 4k@60FPS and being capped.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Disappointing, if true. Come on Sony, we need some competition for Nintendo with a true hybrid. Competition is good for gamers.
 

TLZ

Banned
But why would that Asus employee mention the Sony portable as competition if it's an only streaming device? (Iirc)
 

lordrand11

Member
Its competitors don't do PS5 quality graphics. Also we have no idea what this thing is yet. Next theory?

It seems every generation there's some "thing" that needs to be done other than dedicating all time and effort to the core console experience - the only thing that seems to last in the long term. With the PS3, it was Move. With PS4 it was VR. Now, it's VR and cloud streaming.

To me at least, these are distractions. Sometimes they can have indirect benefits, but they're distractions nonetheless.
Personally they think by copying Nintendo and the other manufacturers that have had positive sales experiences with these they're going to take off. I honestly broke away from console gaming awhile back because it started becoming utterly atrocious and gimmicky, the only exception to that was playing on my 3DS.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
An always online device that streams games from somewhere doesn't seem all that different from a cloud device except for where you stream from.
 

Imtjnotu

Member
If their doing this it has to scale down and play PS5 games.

None of this shit that series X and S are going through.

UFS 4.0 has to be standard. No fucking proprietary storage cards or game cards
 

Agent X

Member
Oh, wow! A new portable game system from Sony to carry on the legacy of PSP and PS Vita, two of my favorite handhelds! It's exactly what I've w--

Insider Gaming understands that the Q Lite is not a cloud-streaming device, but instead uses Remote Play with the PlayStation 5

Sporting adaptive streaming up to 1080p and 60FPS, the new device will require constant connectivity to the internet.

Oh. Wow.

That's a big "nope" from me, dog. I'm outta here.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
If their doing this it has to scale down and play PS5 games.

None of this shit that series X and S are going through.

UFS 4.0 has to be standard. No fucking proprietary storage cards or game cards

That's exactly what it needs to be. But it will likely be exactly like the x vs s, some features will need to be trimmed to play on 4TF, 15 watt machine. And yes standard storage or bust.

The funny part, if this happen, would be to see all the backtracking that would take place, suddenly another 4tf sku wouldn't ruin next gen and would be fine. 😆
 
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Imtjnotu

Member
That's exactly what it needs to be. But it will likely be exactly like the x vs s, some features will need to be trimmed to play on 4TF, 15 watt machine. And yes standard storage or bust.

The funny part, if this happen, would be to see all the backtracking that would take place, suddenly another 4tf sku wouldn't ruin next gen and would be fine. 😆
It does need a trim it just needs to be a 1080p only machine.

Series S is hampered by its ram issue with two separate speeds.

12gb of a standard ram speed is all it needs with the same i/o and UFS 4.0 and you can easily make a handheld machine run the same game as a PS5. Just obviously minus the resolution
 

Zannegan

Member
I get what they're going for, and I see the use case. They can't put out a hybrid or a handheld without abandoning their high-end hardware strategy or splitting their output, but there is an audience out there for it. A purpose-built remote play device is their best shot at a "best of both worlds" solution, and it will do nicely for the PS gamer who just wants to play PS5 games on a handheld around the house.

I don't think it will have the same mass-market appeal that the Switch has, but then I'm not sure Nintendo's next device will either even if it's another hybrid. Hard to catch lightning in the same bottle twice. But, if Sony starts bundling this thing with a slim and enables some cool features besides just remote play, it might do well.

Who knows? If it works out, the PS6 could be what the Wii U should have been all along (screen controllers for all), only as a huge success instead of a total flop. Wouldn't that be hilarious?
 
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