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Speculation: PlayStation "Steam" Deck

Do you think Sony will eventually launch their own "Steam" Deck?

  • Yes & I would buy the Base Model at $499

    Votes: 17 9.7%
  • Yes & I would buy the Pro Model at $699

    Votes: 29 16.6%
  • Yes & I am not interested

    Votes: 7 4.0%
  • No - it's not technically possible

    Votes: 8 4.6%
  • No - Sony is never doing another handheld

    Votes: 114 65.1%

  • Total voters
    175
I think you misread what has happened with XSS. Without it, Xbox would be even further behind in sales. (a lot worse, actually)
Do you really think somehow MS would have sold more without it? I seriously doubt it, it's Sony that has delivered on key software over the past year, and that's along with the prior gen success is what is driving PS5 sales.

Steam deck is niche, I agree with that for the following reasons:
- No retail presence, no hardware in stores
- No exclusive games
- Weak marketing
- Lack of units to start
- Lack of track record and name recognition
- Lack of true console like interface
- Some games run, some do poorly, some not at all
- Was not a true hybrid in that there is dock included

This is really nothing like what Sony would launch.

They should have offered an XSX digital console @ $399 like Sony and just sold one console. I am guessing the sales would be similar.

Sony launching a handheld, after failing twice with a handheld, makes no sense. Their consumers clearly dont care about it and would rather play on the couch. I can't think of a single time I'd care to play my console when I'm not at home.
 

Elysion

Banned
Eh, a handheld that only plays PS4 games wouldn’t really be that appealing at this point, unless Sony keeps making games for it, which I very much doubt. It would need to be able to play PS5 games, but that‘s just not possible yet, and won’t be for many more years.

MS on the other hand might actually be in a position to do something like this, once it‘s feasible to shrink the SoC in the Series S into a handheld form factor. It might be possible on a 2nm process, which is only a few years away. If they do that, they‘d have a portable device that not only plays last gen games, but also current gen games, as well as a huge library of backwards compatible titles from all past XBox generations. In that case, having a low-power SKU like the Series S on the market would‘ve turned out to be an advantage.

I actually think something like this is the only way MS could ever hope to beat Sony again in terms of market share, or even to become market leader one day. Thanks to diminishing returns, tech will soon reach a point where to the casual observer mobile graphics look almost as good as PC/console graphics. I mean, once a handheld is capable of graphics like we saw in the Matrix demo (which did run on Series S too after all), a majority of the market won’t really care that much about further graphical jumps.

In short, I think MS are in a perfect position to copy Nintendo‘s hybrid approach, thanks to the Series S. Who knows, maybe that‘s what they planned from the start.
 

20cent

Banned
They've already released it..

18Fvgu8.png

:/

And considering they'll treat the PSVR2 the same way they did with the Vita (let the 3rd party devs take the risks), no thanks.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
They should have offered an XSX digital console @ $399 like Sony and just sold one console. I am guessing the sales would be similar.

Sony launching a handheld, after failing twice with a handheld, makes no sense. Their consumers clearly dont care about it and would rather play on the couch. I can't think of a single time I'd care to play my console when I'm not at home.

$399 is a far cry from the $249 casual price point they have been moving them at, sales would not be similar.

Talking about a failed handheld that participated in a smaller market, had massive flaws, software issues, and was too expensive doesn't mean one properly executed would fail today.

Thier consumers would love to play on a portable, I dont know why you think otherwise. Consumers like flexibility and choice. Just because you don't play on the go doesn't mean many other gamers wouldn't want it. What was the last numbers on the switch, something like 40% never play on a tv.......that 40 or 50 million switches being used exclusively handheld, and another 30 million in dual use.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Eh, a handheld that only plays PS4 games wouldn’t really be that appealing at this point, unless Sony keeps making games for it, which I very much doubt. It would need to be able to play PS5 games, but that‘s just not possible yet, and won’t be for many more years.

MS on the other hand might actually be in a position to do something like this, once it‘s feasible to shrink the SoC in the Series S into a handheld form factor. It might be possible on a 2nm process, which is only a few years away. If they do that, they‘d have a portable device that not only plays last gen games, but also current gen games, as well as a huge library of backwards compatible titles from all past XBox generations. In that case, having a low-power SKU like the Series S on the market would‘ve turned out to be an advantage.

I actually think something like this is the only way MS could ever hope to beat Sony again in terms of market share, or even to become market leader one day. Thanks to diminishing returns, tech will soon reach a point where to the casual observer mobile graphics look almost as good as PC/console graphics. I mean, once a handheld is capable of graphics like we saw in the Matrix demo (which did run on Series S too after all), a majority of the market won’t really care that much about further graphical jumps.

In short, I think MS are in a perfect position to copy Nintendo‘s hybrid approach, thanks to the Series S. Who knows, maybe that‘s what they planned from the start.

It feels much closer than that, I mean we had a 2tf portable over a year ago already.

I agree that they would also be in an excellent position to do the hybrid. And word had it they were debating between the S and a hybrid befire they settled on the the S.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Sony launching a handheld, after failing twice with a handheld, makes no sense. Their consumers clearly dont care about it and would rather play on the couch. I can't think of a single time I'd care to play my console when I'm not at home.

PSP sold some 70 million units.

Saying consumers don’t care about it is absurd, as Nintendo is kicking Sony’s ass with an old ass handheld device. Switch 2 will absolutely obliterate PS5 in sales.

The difference is Sony half assed the games, while Nintendo’s top teams make their handheld games. How many handheld games did Naughty Dog make? Zero. Guerilla? Zero. Insomniac? Zero.

Consumers aren’t to blame for “not caring”. It’s Sony that didn’t care.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
I don't think they're interested. And even if they are, I am not. I spent 7 years playing PS4 games, I'm done with that.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
PSP sold some 70 million units.

Saying consumers don’t care about it is absurd, as Nintendo is kicking Sony’s ass with an old ass handheld device. Switch 2 will absolutely obliterate PS5 in sales.

The difference is Sony half assed the games, while Nintendo’s top teams make their handheld games. How many handheld games did Naughty Dog make? Zero. Guerilla? Zero. Insomniac? Zero.

Consumers aren’t to blame for “not caring”. It’s Sony that didn’t care.

PSP actually sold 80m+ units. The same as GBA and 3DS so not sure where people get that it failed.

People have a hard on that only Nintendo and Steamdeck can make portables but because Playstation has only failed one device ( Vita ) Whereas all other Playstations have sold 80m+ units, something Nintendo, XBox and the competition arent close to doing.

For Playstation haters, its ok if N64, Gamecube, Wii U, Og Xbox all fail sales wise and try again but Playstation cant make another portable because Vita failed…
Some true dumbasses here.

And your correct, Sony half assed the games back with the Vita but that wont be a problem anymore. Studios will be making games for one eco system like Switch and Steamdeck, PS4/PS5 would work on the next portable so there would be no issues with games. It would essentially launch with one of the biggest libraries ever

SD cards exist and L2/R2. So literally the problems with the Vita ( Games, Memory card, couldnt bring over console games ) wont exist anymore but people like to act like it will still be an issue and Steamdeck and Switch arent playing PC/Console quality games Downscaled for portable.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I voted incorrectly, but CBA to change it.

Anyway, if Sony made a PS5 handheld that I could download my library to and play on the go, I'd probably bite and buy it if it was priced correctly.

However, the chances of Sony producing such a device are pretty much zero.
 
I don't know if they will or won't but none of those options reflect what I'm thinking. Sony won't try and compete with the steam deck. Why would they? It's not their target audience.
 

Mephisto40

Member
I cant see them doing it unless it played current gen games, would be completely pointless for them to do a streaming device having seen how useless the switch is at streaming games over wifi unless you are anything over 10cm away from your router
 
If Sony can do a decent job offering a simple and effective handheld device that is greatly suported by their first party studios and third party partners i don't see why they cannot reach similar numbers than the PSP, the Switch keeps showing to us that are other places to make profit outside of your "traditional home console", I personally think that a handheld would do much better financially than the VR initiative altough both could co-exist, while also i would like to add that within the PS Studios you have the likes of Bend Studio, Housemarque, Team Asobi, Media Molecule, Pixelopus and Firesprite wich historically have experience with portable games so that wouldn't be an uncharted territory for them.
 
PSP sold some 70 million units.

Saying consumers don’t care about it is absurd, as Nintendo is kicking Sony’s ass with an old ass handheld device. Switch 2 will absolutely obliterate PS5 in sales.

Nintendo consumers care, their demographics are much younger

Sony consumers don’t care. Their demographic is older

Don’t see how Sony is getting their ass kicked either, PS5 is just now selling with more supply and had a record revenue quarter

Nintendo was forced out of the dedicated console market so their teams could focus on one platform
 
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Trogdor1123

Member
I voted no as I don’t think they want that market anymore. They are dominating the console space and switch is taking the mobile stuff. Frankly, I’m not sure there would be much roi. Maybe if they were able to unify games like how Ms sells Xbox 1 and series games in the same package? Probably hard to do in that space though
 

SlimeGooGoo

Party Gooper
So I can play them on the go Googoo. Im traveling alot more the last year and probably next year too. My Switch was 99% docked but its been undocked recently when Im away for months. Id like to play my PS5 on the go one day like FF16, Ronin, Spiderman 2 etc
Don't you guys have phones?

Just kidding.
It would be nice if Sony had another portable, but I'm not a big fan of it being just a "portable PS4/PS5" with the same games.
Ideally portable consoles should have games made exclusively for it, to provide unique experiences that can't be had on a traditional console.

Just look at the types of games that were made for the NDS.
Sure, some devs just used the dual screens in a very boring way, but some of them got a lot more creative with it.
Because the hardware allowed them more possibilities.

I think it would be valid to make some machine that you could download PS1/PS2/PS3/PS4 games from PSN and have some fun on a small screen, but it would be kinda of a wasted opportunity.
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Nintendo consumers care, their demographics are much younger

Sony consumers don’t care. Their demographic is older

Don’t see how Sony is getting their ass kicked either, PS5 is just now selling with more supply and had a record revenue quarter

Nintendo was forced out of the dedicated console market so their teams could focus on one platform

Did you ignore the sales of the PSP? It sold a shit ton of units, so don’t speak for Sony consumers. If anything they’ve shown they care more about handled gaming than VR.
It’s up to Sony to support their handheld, and they dropped the ball by not supporting their handhelds as well as Nintendo.
 
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Did you ignore the sales of the PSP? It sold a shit ton of units, so don’t speak for Sony consumers. If anything they’ve shown they care more about handled gaming than VR.

It’s up to Sony to support their handheld, and they dropped the ball by not supporting their handhelds as well as Nintendo.

PSP was released in a different era where it was a unique novelty. Not so much since we have smart phones now

And it didn’t sell much software

The vita follow up was not successful and split resources. With VR, you can add modes of flat screen games and you have a much bigger third party VR ecosystem to support the platform
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
PSP was released in a different era where it was a unique novelty. Not so much since we have smart phones now

And it didn’t sell much software

The vita follow up was not successful and split resources. With VR, you can add modes of flat screen games and you have a much bigger third party VR ecosystem to support the platform

Switch may wind up being the best selling console of all time, so it’s not a different era. Portable gaming is very popular despite phones.

It didn’t sell much software because like I said; they were poorly supported. Sony didn’t put their best teams on any games, and it showed. Vita was starved for games, therefore it didn’t do as well as PSP.
 
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yurinka

Member
The Steam Deck has sold over 1M units at an average price of $499. The Steam Deck success comes from being a companion device that can play an existing library. What is the likelihood of Sony launching a PlayStation "Steam" Deck that plays PS4 games, select Xbox Series S cross-platform ports, some downscaled PS5 games running in 720P and other legacy PS games (PSP, Vita, PS1-3)? I
These Steam Deck sales would be a way bigger failure than the Vita was already was for Sony.

Sony and the 3rd parties wouldn't make games for another device, it isn't possible to put the exact PS4 hardware in a portable to make it 100% compatible and Sony isn't Valve so they don't have the Steam library.

Sony's dev teams are already too busy with the platforms they currently are working on. So no, won't happen.
 
Switch may wind up being the best selling console of all time, so it’s not a different era. Portable gaming is very popular despite phones.

It didn’t sell much software because like I said; they were poorly supported. Sony didn’t put their best teams on any games, and it showed. Vita was starved for games, therefore it didn’t do as well as PSP.

Switch is a different demographic and consolidated to one platform

Sony has to support their console with a different demographic they cater to

What works for Nintendo doesn’t work for Sony
 
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They've already released it..

18Fvgu8.png

:/

And considering they'll treat the PSVR2 the same way they did with the Vita (let the 3rd party devs take the risks), no thanks.
Wow nice that you’ve already traveled to the future. Please tell me more about how Sony will treat it’s products in the future so I can prepare accordingly. PSVR2 has some awesome first party releases at launch, let’s hope they continue releasing awesome first party vr experiences
 

X-Wing

Member
Sony gave up on handhelds to focus solely on what they did well and it resulted in one of the best consoles ever made with an outstanding library. PlayStation 5 is set to beat that so I hope they don't fuck around with a deck.
 

ResurrectedContrarian

Suffers with mild autism
The PS store on its best day gives you maybe 1/1,000,000th of the value of the Steam Store.

The whole point of the Steam deck is that truly vast library of games that are constantly on great sales, not to have an expensive walled garden.
 

Baki

Member
These Steam Deck sales would be a way bigger failure than the Vita was already was for Sony.

Sony and the 3rd parties wouldn't make games for another device, it isn't possible to put the exact PS4 hardware in a portable to make it 100% compatible and Sony isn't Valve so they don't have the Steam library.

Sony's dev teams are already too busy with the platforms they currently are working on. So no, won't happen.

Hardware based emulation for the PS4, the same way that the PS5 does it. RDNA2 can scale pretty low and pull that off. The upfront R&D would be probably less than the PSVR2 but likely earn them more money. A premium handheld that played your PS library on the go would sell to a niche but enthusiast audience. The same reason why they launched a $200 controller. It's the same type of people that would buy it. Unlike the VITA, the bar for success is lower, as the system doesn't need a large audience to make money. Sony would make money on each handheld sold. Even at 3-5m units sold a year, the revenue and profit would make a noticeable impact on their earnings.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Switch is a different demographic and consolidated to one platform

Sony has to support their console with a different demographic they cater to

What works for Nintendo doesn’t work for Sony

Im sure theres a demographics that will play PS5 games on the go if that can happen one day
 

Baki

Member
Much smaller than those that are willing to do so on Nintendo platforms

Sony’s audience expects GoWR or TLOU production values you can’t get with a portable
I think you totally misread the OP. This would be a PS handheld that plays existing PS4 games and all the cross-gen games that have been released and will continue to release. No one is expecting Sony to make an independent handheld platform that requires devs to make/port games to it. That market is gone.
 
I think you totally misread the OP. This would be a PS handheld that plays existing PS4 games and all the cross-gen games that have been released and will continue to release. No one is expecting Sony to make an independent handheld platform that requires devs to make/port games to it. That market is gone.

Their active userbase demographic isn't buying PS4 games or PS3, PS2, or PS1 era titles. Sony hardly generates any revenue from those games. Their revenue driver is PS5 titles.

Supplying a PS4 handheld would not cause a dramatic uptick in software sales, because no new games are coming out for those systems anymore. The value of a portable that isn't actively being supported is nonexistent.
 
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Baki

Member
Their active userbase demographic isn't buying PS4 games or PS3, PS2, or PS1 era titles. Sony hardly generates any revenue from those games. Their revenue driver is PS5 titles.

Supplying a PS4 handheld would not cause a dramatic uptick in software sales, because no new games are coming out for those systems anymore. The value of a portable that isn't actively being supported is nonexistent.

Again, in the OP, I specifically outlined that this would be a business strategy where Sony makes money on hardware and the software is just a plus. (I even outlined what the hardware revenue would do for the PS division). My main point is that there's a niche audience (probably 5-15M) that would buy a Sony handheld that let them play their legacy games on the go. Same rationale behind launching a $200 controller.

From the OP
Here is what the finances would look like based on a projection of 5M HW units a year and 20M SW units a year:
  • $3.55B revenue for HW+SW (13% increase in revenue for PlayStation division)
  • $750M Profit from HW (28% increase in yearly profit for PlayStation division)
  • $600M Profit from SW (22% increase in profits for PlayStation division)
 
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Again, in the OP, I specifically outlined that this would be a business strategy where Sony makes money on hardware and the software is just a plus. (I even outlined what the hardware revenue would do for the PS division). My main point is that there's a niche audience (probably 5-15M) that would buy a Sony handheld that let them play their legacy games on the go. Same rationale behind launching a $200 controller.

From the OP

They can do the same with PSVR2 AND make more money on software sales

So those thinking this is a better alternative to PSVR2 are mistaken
 

Baki

Member
They can do the same with PSVR2 AND make more money on software sales

So those thinking this is a better alternative to PSVR2 are mistaken
LOL. PSVR sold only 5M units over 5 years (even Vita, the supposed failure, sold over 17M units) and they have to spend money building specific software for VR and the overall R&D spend & support for PSVR2 is probably much much higher than the legacy portable platform I've suggested.

Regardless, there's no reason why they can't launch this portable console, despite their investments in VR. FYI, I may come off as anti-VR, but I'm very bullish on VR and am a PSVR owner lol. But I don't think VR will take off on PlayStation until Sony launches a Quest competitor and is willing to invest serious $$$ into developing games for the platform.
 
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LOL. PSVR sold only 5M units over 5 years (even Vita, the supposed failure, sold over 17M units) and they have to spend money building specific software for VR and the overall R&D spend & support for PSVR2 is probably much much higher than the legacy portable platform I've suggested.

Regardless, there's no reason why they can't launch this portable console, despite their investments in VR. FYI, I may come off as anti-VR, but I'm very bullish on VR and am a PSVR owner lol. But I don't think VR will take off on PlayStation until Sony launches a Quest competitor and is willing to invest serious $$$ into developing games for the platform.

I guarantee that PSVR2 ends to selling more total software revenue compared to quest, despite a much smaller user base (from launch month onward)
 
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THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
That’s not such a big hurdle. It will eventually outsell in a calendar year what quest sells.

Seems unlikely that will happen when Quest 2 has over 15 million units sold. PSVR2 will be lucky if it sells 10 million in it's whole lifespan.
I suppose maybe if Sony brings more AAA games that sell for top dollar, is that why you think the revenue will be that high?
 
Seems unlikely that will happen when Quest 2 has over 15 million units sold. PSVR2 will be lucky if it sells 10 million in it's whole lifespan.
I suppose maybe if Sony brings more AAA games that sell for top dollar, is that why you think the revenue will be that high?

I think real interest in VR gaming will shift over to PSVR2 as a small, but hardcore audience that buys most games on that platform. And these consumers will buy a lot of games per headset sold.

Quest will essentially stay somewhat relevant for a more casual crowd, but they don’t buy a lot of games. They are fine with Beat saber at a party while it generally gathers dust otherwise.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
I think real interest in VR gaming will shift over to PSVR2 as a small, but hardcore audience that buys most games on that platform. And these consumers will buy a lot of games per headset sold.

Quest will essentially stay somewhat relevant for a more casual crowd, but they don’t buy a lot of games. They are fine with Beat saber at a party while it generally gathers dust otherwise.

That's true and it should help. It's certainly getting the press it needs to draw it.
 

Robb

Gold Member
I imagine going back to portable consoles is the last thing they want. Especially if they have to compete directly with Nintendo (not to mention Steam as well) for that market share.
 

Ozzie666

Member
If they could find a way to easily scale down new and old releases down to 720p or 1080p, with minimal cost to the developers, then maybe. if they had to charge a small $5 or $10 for an update patch for new games, maybe. I actually like the idea of a PlayStation legacy device for the back catalogue. I think it could create additional revenue. Anything Sony worked on should be better than Valve, considering the ATI partnership and mass production.

Also, if developers could essential easily port over PC games from their back catalogue, that would be a bonus too. Games that never made it to console previously. Might be some cheap cash grabs. I'm just not sure the PS development environment allows any of this.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Much smaller than those that are willing to do so on Nintendo platforms

Sony’s audience expects GoWR or TLOU production values you can’t get with a portable

We’ll have to see with Future tech. Steamdeck would be able to play GOWR as its a PS4 title and Horizon runs ok on it.
And its going to be able to play TLOURemake and Returnal this year which are PS5 exclusives. We’ll see how the performance is by then
 

EverydayBeast

thinks Halo Infinite is a new graphical benchmark
Psp use to be a real thing, Nintendo wanted an all in one console handheld which is what they make now a days.
 
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