Sony is once again eyeing the handheld console space, a market it was once a part of but abandoned after losing out to Nintendo. Sony is developing a new PlayStation handheld console that will allow users to play games on the go, a Bloomberg report said on Monday. However, the device is still years away from launch and the company may still decide not to bring it to market.
The Japanese giant already offers a handheld system playstation portalBut it serves more as a secondary screen for PlayStation 5 (Review) Home console. Despite its limited capabilities, the portal is performing well SonyInternal estimate of. This success has led Sony to seriously consider developing a dedicated portable console.
Sony continues to improve the portal as it recently received an update that allows users to stream more games without being tied to a local PS5. While Portal may seem like a strange creation – a DualSense controller split in half with an 8-inch screen in the middle – it’s basically a remote viewer and far from being a proper handheld console in the league of the Nintendo Switch. Is. Valve’s Steam Deck,
Sony and portable consoles
Obviously, Sony wants a share of the handheld console market as it has matured over the past few years, competition is more fierce than ever, and there is money to be made – all thanks to Nintendo. The Switch has been a massive success, and even after eight years on the market, the hybrid console is selling remarkably well. In fact, Nintendo hasn’t even launched a successor to the Switch yet, though it’s expected to eventually happen early next year.
But many people forget that Sony has had a history with portable consoles in the past. At one time, Sony was a juggernaut in the handheld market with the PSP, and the love affair continued with the PS Vita. Although the PSP was a popular console, the PS Vita struggled to perform well financially. This led Sony to exit the portable gaming market and instead chose to focus on home consoles and VR gaming.
When the PSP debuted in 2004, it wasn’t the only portable gaming system on the market. It faced stiff competition from the Nintendo DS, but the PSP stood out from the crowd. It came with a larger LCD screen and supported UMD, a new form of media disk. The PSP had better graphics than the DS, and Sony lived up to its promise of providing a console gaming experience on the go. Even though the DS outsells the PSP, players still remember Sony’s first handheld for its games, especially Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories.
PlayStation Vita and its failure
Following its success, Sony re-entered the portable console market, this time with the PlayStation Vita. The handheld was far more powerful than Nintendo’s, featuring a bright OLED screen, a touchpad on the back, front-facing and rear-facing cameras, and two analog sticks to better replicate the home console gaming experience. The PS Vita had no UMD; instead, it supported proprietary game cards. Several high-profile exclusive games were released on the console, including Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Killzone Mercenary, and its remote play capabilities made it a great companion to the PS4.
However, the PS Vita was an unsuccessful console. It never matched the sales of the PSP, but other than the numbers, the Vita wasn’t a bad console. It had some issues, such as expensive proprietary memory cards and premium pricing. ps vitaIn 2019, seven years after the PS Vita was launched, Sony ceased production of the portable console.
Experts and game veterans can blame smartphone gaming for the failure of the PlayStation Vita. However, in reality, it was not smartphone gaming but Sony itself that is to blame for not being able to hold its own against Nintendo and ultimately deciding to give up. Perhaps what worked against Sony was that the company, unlike Nintendo, never focused on making games that would appeal to all generations. The DS and its successor, the 3DS, not only had a gimmicky feature or two (dual screen, 3D screen), but also had games based on historical franchises that were fun to play. Neither the PSP nor the PS Vita had this, although years later, the Vita became popular for indie titles. However, it was too late to save the console from commercial failure.
embracing spectacular failure
No product is perfect, but what is important is how one reacts to mistakes and learns lessons to improve future versions. Sony decided to leave the market rather than follow the success of the PS Vita. That was Sony’s biggest mistake ever. In contrast, despite the failure of the Wii U, Nintendo never abandoned the market. Its strong belief in the handheld market remained, and the launch of the Switch proved that Nintendo was right. The Switch allowed users to use it two ways: on its own in handheld mode or docked to connect it to a TV, and the concept was refreshing and innovative. Furthermore, Nintendo has kept users excited with its catalog of games, making the Switch an essential console.
For years, Sony tried to break into the portable console market, but despite having great hardware with the PSP and PS Vita, it was never able to crack it. It was the software (or games) – the lack of both first-party and third-party games – that was particularly evident when the PS Vita launched. Developers instead chose Nintendo’s 3DS, despite its much weaker hardware, because it had a much larger installed base and an excellent library of games, likely resulting in greater sales.
Sony must now acknowledge its past failures and avoid repeating the mistakes it made on the PS Vita. Although market realities may be different now, competition is more intense than ever and growing (Nintendo is about to launch a new console, and Microsoft (Also showing interest in the portable gaming space). It would be a shame if Sony just gave up again, walked away and pretended all this never happened. Instead, it should acknowledge its spectacular failure in the handheld console space and try to come up with a new portable console that isn’t a Switch knockoff but is built on a new idea, in which the device can be developed by both first and third parties. Emphasis has been laid on supporting together. game. Stop it, Sonny.