In the arena of portable consoles, Sony, along with its really popular PlayStation brand, does not compete with the Nintendo Switch today. Surprisingly, in the period from 2004 to 2019, the company presented three generations of devices for mobile gaming to the world. PSP, PSP Go and PlayStation Vita – Sony once had all this, but now it has absolutely nothing to put up against Nintendo. Moreover, it is no longer so easy to grow to the level of Switch. However, after the successful release of the PlayStation 5, Sony has the resources to do so. The action plan is as follows.
PS4, PS5 and PlayStation Now library
Once upon a time, Sony was really active in the portable gaming arena. Back in the day, Sony had an interesting trick to populate its libraries of mobile consoles with games. The company agreed with studios that made electronic entertainment for full-size PlayStations to publish simplified spin-offs. So the owners of portable consoles could touch the universes of God of War, Uncharted, Grand Theft Auto and Metal Gear Solid. Some of these PSP mobile projects have been decidedly great. However, not everyone liked this approach.
Especially against him were the owners of the “adult” PlayStation. They were faced with a choice: to play a full-fledged game at home on the TV or go through the mobile version with simplified graphics and a minimum of possibilities. The decision in favor of the PSP was not always made. That is why Sony’s new portable console needs to borrow the approach from the Nintendo Switch – to release full-fledged games for a mobile device with cut textures and resolutions. As practice shows, no one will pay attention to this on a small screen. The PlayStation Now would also help close the performance gaps.
An easy way to store content
The main misunderstanding of the PlayStation Vita was the way it was stored. At first, this portable console came without any internal storage at all, and in 2013 a new model was released, which received 1 GB of permanent memory. The only way to download any information was a proprietary external drive specially for Vita in size from 4 to 64 GB. This is not the first time Sony has promoted its own storage standards, and it has been the least successful. The main reason for the failure was the high cost of the company’s cards, which was practically unjustified.
For a chance to battle the leading players in the handheld console market, Sony needs a different storage strategy. For a start, a capacious internal drive does not hurt – something like NVMe of the highest level, as in the Steam Deck from Valve, will do. Of course, additional external cards will also be needed. It is important to choose for them a non-proprietary format accessible to the masses. A fresh SD Express will do, which provides very high write and read speeds. Since the main feature of the PS5 are high-speed SSDs for fast data loading, the new PSP will definitely not hurt.
Fresh trackpad and touchscreen
At first, it seems that the PlayStation Vita has been completely overturned by the desirability of using a trackpad on the back of a handheld console. The device was really ahead of its time in terms of the ability to control what is happening in games. In addition to two analog sticks and buttons, Sony offered a touchscreen, motion sensors, and a trackpad. However, the latter was not appreciated by the developers. Apart from Tearaway, this control has not been adequately used in almost any games. Perhaps it is a matter of massive accidental clicks on it, but this is not certain.
However, today consoles without a trackpad will be very difficult. To reduce the number of erroneous clicks, it can be transferred to the front of the console. It is likely that it should be left behind, but made more tactilely distinguishable. The trackpad comes in handy in shooters – it will help you aim more accurately. It will also show itself perfectly in strategies – it will also be easier to move units and flip through the battle map. Valve’s Steam Deck, which seems to be one of the most potentially interesting, also has a trackpad. It is unlikely that someone can call such a decision erroneous.
Nice tactile feedback
One of the unexpected strengths of the PS5 is the tactile feedback of the DualSense controllers. They seem like a real revolution, because they give you the opportunity to feel the surface of various textures and get the necessary resistance when you pull the trigger. Of course, it is difficult to say that today all these technologies are completely bypassed, but they definitely have great potential – even the head of the Xbox direction believes that such developments by Microsoft must be creatively borrowed from Sony. The new PSP will also need something similar.
Tactile feedback, as a rule, is not a decisive argument in buying a console in general and games for it in particular. But DualSense is a different case. If you manage to implement something like this in a portable format, it will be great. True, in this case, you will have to equip the device with a really capacious battery. Moreover, since we are talking about tactile sensations, the new PSP will also benefit from the upgraded triggers that PS5 owners have already tried out, as well as the upgraded sticks – more reliable and definitely larger than previously used.
Cross-platform with full-fledged set-top boxes
If the new PSP can run PS4 and PS5 games in any form, it is important that the consoles use the same account with settings, saves and progress. Since Microsoft is actively building cross-platform between computers and Xbox, the separation of full-fledged and portable consoles for Sony will clearly not be the best solution. In this case, the company will definitely need an additional push, because gamers are already paying to update games from PS4 to PS5. We’ll have to look for additional monetization in other directions.
When Sony May Release Its New Portable Console
There is no doubt that Sony is jealous of the success of the Nintendo Switch. However, at this stage, the release of a new portable console under the PlayStation brand seems extremely unlikely. The manufacturer will have to come up with something really extraordinary to justify its next attempt in the mobile gaming market. It is likely that some of the ideas presented in this material will go into action, but the company may need some kind of more global release – something as big as Nintendo’s transition between Wii U and Switch.
A source: Android Authority.
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