Entertainment
A PS5 portable is a great idea but I don’t trust Sony to do it well – Reader’s Feature-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro
A reader is dubious about the concept of Sony making a new portable and points to the failures of the PS Vita and PSVR2 as reasons why.
PS Vita – Sony is an old hand when it comes to portables (Sony)
A reader is dubious about the concept of Sony making a new portable and points to the failures of the PS Vita and PSVR2 as reasons why.
For a company that makes as many missteps as Nintendo, it’s a sign of the high regard that they’re held in by their competitors that they will always take the chance of copying them, even before they know something has been a hit or not. I’m thinking not so much of Kinect and PlayStation Move copying the Wii but the sudden flurry of games using tablets for asymmetric multiplayer and other features, just as the Wii U was about to come out.
Microsoft and Ubisoft went particularly hard on the idea but the moment it became clear the Wii U had been a flop they gave up. That, understandably, made Microsoft and Sony more reticent to immediately copy the Switch and so we’ve gone this whole generation without either of them having an equivalent.
That seems set to change very soon though, with Microsoft constantly hinting about making a portable console and rumours that Sony is planning one as well. There is a good chance the Switch 2 will be something completely different, although the sensible bet at the moment is that it will be a relatively sober upgrade that works in the same general way.
I think it’s interesting though that, going by the rumours and hints, Microsoft and Sony already have two very different approaches to making a handheld. Microsoft, who have never made a portable Xbox, are constantly hinting about making one, to the point where it’s now just accepted as fact, but the comparisons given are always the Steam Deck and ASUS ROG Ally, never the Switch.
For me, this doesn’t read as Microsoft not wanting to give credit to Nintendo – they’ve been trying to get in bed with them for years now – but simply that they want to make a straight portable Xbox, with none of the invention or customisability of the Switch. Everything that Phil Spencer and co. have said so far suggests they’re making an Xbox version of the Steam Deck, not of the Switch.
Sony’s a little harder to gauge, because they haven’t made any public comments, but all the rumours reference the Switch as the point of comparison, not PC devices. Of course, the difference here is that Sony has made a handheld before, two in fact and the PSP was extremely successful – more so than any Xbox console bar the Xbox 360.
To Sony, the idea of making a handheld is relatively natural and, just as they did with the Game Boy all those years ago (they’re reported as saying it should’ve been a Sony product) they’re likely to have looked at the Switch and thought they could do the same thing but better.
Except, how are you going to make something as powerful as the PlayStation 5 in portable form? The PlayStation 5 is the size of a house, with fans bigger than the Switch itself. I do not see, even with five or so years of technological improvement, how they’re going to make that work in a handheld.
Microsoft are okay because they can just stream games to their device or use the PC versions, but I don’t think Sony is set up for that. Sony are going to end up making native games, that run on the system itself, which in theory is better.
But that means making abridged or downgraded versions of existing games and I don’t think publishers are going to want to go to that effort unless the new console is a massive success. More importantly, I don’t trust Sony to do it either.
Their last console, the PS Vita, failed because Sony didn’t support it enough, in a situation very reminiscent of the PlayStation VR2. They just let it wither on the vine, refusing to make games for it and seemingly not caring that nobody else did either.
My concern with any new PlayStation portable is that we’d see the same thing again. After all, the best indication of future behaviour is past behaviour. I wouldn’t buy any new PlayStation hardware now, except the main console itself, without considerable evidence that Sony is going to support it for a long time into the future. That goes double for a new portable, considering the last one is one of their worst examples of not supporting their own products.
By reader Ashton Marley
The PSP is the 10th most successful console ever (Sony)
The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.
ArrowMORE: Why I blame Xbox for Sony buying FromSoftware
ArrowMORE: I’m a hardcore gamer but I haven’t bought a new game in 10 years – Reader’s Feature
Entertainment – MetroRead More
