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Sony confirms its working on a new Playstation portable, codenamed Project Q
- mepian 3y agoReminds me of the Wii U gamepad.
- MBCook 3y agoThat’s exactly what it is. And you know what? That was the best part of the Wii U! You could play games while watching TV. Or while someone else watched TV. With any luck you can play this in another room! I’ve wanted this for years. One wish: OLED. I don’t wan’t to go back to LCD.
- brandrick 3y agoI'd be surprised if it wasn't an OLED panel considering Sony's Vita back in 2011 had one.
- MBCook 3y agoUnfortunately The Verge says it’s LCD. Despite all the advantages, LCD is much cheaper. I wonder if it will have VRR or 120hz though. Can’t wait to see Digital Foundry play with one.
- rektide 3y agoSupposedly a remote steaming device. I was going to say, good luck competing with Asus Ally & future AMD chips especially!
- coffeebeqn 3y agoI mean they would just buy AMD chips and PlayStation certainly has much better chances of making a portable console stick than asus
- rektide 3y agoAsus might not have a better chance but I feel like Steam has the best chance of all. What would Sony'd competitive advantage be, creating their own non-PC system?
- coffeebeqn 3y agoThey have exclusive games.
- chaostheory 3y agoAll of the major consoles have been using AMD for multiple generations now.
- LegitShady 3y agocompeting with the asus ally is simple. It doesn't have enough battery life to play games at full resolution and high refresh rate without being plugged in, it isn't as efficient at lower power gaming as the existing steam deck, and it costs more than the steam deck. It's PR claims were a lot better than the benchmarks, and I don't really need a portable that requires being plugged in all the time to be effective - thats sort of missing the whole point.
- vivaldidev 3y agoToo bad it's not a Steam Deck or ROG Ally competitor, to enable native games to be played on device..
- shmerl 3y agoA better question is when will Sony support Vulkan instead of constant NIH. Nintendo does.
- Operyl 3y agoTo be fair, only the Switch does. Xbox One/Series Families and PS4/5 do not. It’s not just a “Sony thing”.
- jsheard 3y agoVulkan also isn't the primary API on the Switch, it has a proprietary API called NVN which is apparently what most games actually use. It having OpenGL and Vulkan is a more of a bonus feature, probably taking advantage of Nvidia's already existing driver implementation, rather than Nintendo going all-in on the open standards.
- shmerl 3y agoNintendo aren't happy about that and they want to avoid this split. They've been working on some Vulkan extensions to address uses cases they need. So they'll likely double down on that and drop that NVN down the road to avoid reinventing the wheel. See: https://www.khronos.org/blog/you-can-use-vulkan-without-pipelines-today https://www.khronos.org/blog/you-can-use-vulkan-without-pipe... I agree, given general Nintendo's reputation it's kind of unusual. But that's what we should be seeing from Sony and MS as well instead of their NIHs.
- jsheard 3y agohttps://mynintendonews.com/2022/03/01/nvidia-leaks-mention-nvn2-nvn-is-the-switch-graphics-api-suggesting-revised-switch-model-on-the-horizon/ https://mynintendonews.com/2022/03/01/nvidia-leaks-mention-n... They're going to the trouble of developing NVN2 for their next system, it doesn't sound like they're doubling down on Vulkan.
- devops3 3y agoInteresting
- lillecarl 3y agoIt'd be pretty cool if games could use it to argument playing on the TV too, like multi-player gaming on one console with separate displays, for games that don't need all CPU power that is, or extra stats or whatever in some triple A game.
- bluefirebrand 3y agoThe Wii-U did this and it was a massive flop.
- duskwuff 3y agoThe market failure of the Wii U was in large due to marketing -- many consumers were given the impression that it was an accessory for the Wii, not an entirely new console.
- goosedragons 3y agoI'm sure this accessory for the PS5 will do much better then!
- nocsi 3y agoYou can already do that. Just turn on your tv and remote play in, it’ll be seen as another controller.
- RobotToaster 3y agoWhy would you want a streaming handheld? The places you would want to use a handheld (trains, planes, &c) all tend to have unreliable or no wifi.
- tapoxi 3y agoAs a dad, because my kid is using the TV.
- alexballas 3y agoI second that!
- delecti 3y agoI use handhelds plenty just because I like the formfactor. Also sometimes the TV is in use, or I want to play in a different room.
- nocsi 3y agoSo I can play tucked in bed. Most of my ps5 gameplay has been that 1 hour window of time before I fall asleep
- jimmygrapes 3y agoYou do you, but I'd be remiss as an old fart to not mention how you may want to research and/or practice different sleep hygiene over time, cuz tbh that shit will you faster than a pack of smokes a day.
- gambiting 3y agoAs someone who has been reading/playing games in bed since early teens into my 30s - I think I'm ok. Not sure what you mean about it having worse effects on your health than a pack of smokes a day - in what way exactly? I've never had any trouble falling asleep, games or no games, put my head down and I'm out in 30 seconds or less, one of those people I guess.
- 8kingDreux8 3y agoThis is interesting. As a father in a house with only one PS5, I hope it allows concurrent play. It would suck to be on a trip, and not able to play cause my dudes are watching Youtube at the house.
- bentcorner 3y agoI didn't watch the Sony showcase but I wouldn't be surprised if they're working on a "PS5 as a service" thing like xbox has.
- throwawaymobule 3y agois there no ps5 games on psnow? I thought they'd stayed current since they launched it.
- gambiting 3y agoIt will not. It's literally just a PS Remote Client, it's been around since PS3 times and you can try it now with your phone - it just streams the screen of your PS5 to your device of choosing, nothing more complex than this. It's just a dedicated device that can only do this and nothing else. I guess the integrated Dual Sense is nice, but ultimately not that different to a Dual Sense + phone holder setup, probably somewhat more comfortable to hold.
- honkycat 3y agoEveryone keeps trying to sell us streaming gaming, and I'm sorry, it just is bad. It is too laggy and too disconnected for me to enjoy it. It constantly cuts out and makes me reconnect. No thanks.
- brandrick 3y agoYeah, the recent Logitech G Cloud (pushed as an Xbox streaming device) was met with rather lukewarm reviews. I can see this getting a similar reception.
- ThatPlayer 3y agoUnlike Logitech, Sony has an interest in pushing people towards the ecosystem. I could see it being sold at a loss to compete with other portables like the Switch.
- WhereIsTheTruth 3y agoThis device doesn't compete with the Switch, It's only to stream PS5 games over the Wifi, they even categorize it as "accessory", not "console" I think you have interest in a competing company for being this much disingenuous "Take a sneak peek at new accessories revealed at today’s Showcase — the Project Q device for playing games installed on your PS5 and streamed over WiFi" https://youtu.be/9PkeVRJBkIE https://youtu.be/9PkeVRJBkIE https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/24/playstation-showcase-recap-everything-announced-at-todays-show/ https://blog.playstation.com/2023/05/24/playstation-showcase...
- ThatPlayer 3y agoThat doesn't stop them from competing. They both fall under an umbrella term of "portable entertainment". Which could include even phones with Netflix. By your logic Netflix and Blockbuster didn't compete because one rents DVDs and the other streams tv shows. In the same way the actual goal of both of these is to get a movie into your face, both a Switch and this Playstation portable do the same with games.
- macjohnmcc 3y agoAlready bought into the PlayStation Portable and the Vita. I think I'll skip this next one.
- hammyhavoc 3y agoImagine applying that logic to the failure of the Wii U and assuming the Switch would also fail.
- d136o 3y agohttps://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35748566 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35748566 Old threads lock! Enduro 2 Anytime now I’ll run my second marathon…
- gtop3 3y agoThe big players all seem to be interested in 'portables' that feel very large and cumbersome to carry. I'd be much more interested in a PSVita or even GBA Micro sized device.
- jsheard 3y agoI think portables have settled around the Switch/Deck/Ally form factor because that's about as small as you can make a system while being able to run "full sized" games. You need enough processing power to run the games to a reasonable standard, and the battery/cooling to back that up, and enough physical space for all of the buttons and sticks on a conventional controller, and a big enough screen to see what's going on in games designed for TVs, which means you can't realistically go smaller than the Switch Lite. Sure you could make "pocket sized" games designed specifically for much more limited hardware like they did during the Gameboy and DS eras, but I'm not sure how much appetite there is for that now that people have had a taste of full fat console games on the go.
- darkteflon 3y agoThe Switch and the Deck are completely different sizes, though. The Deck I would consider at the very upper end of actually portable, while the Switch really does feel like it strikes a magical balance of pocketability, screen size and weight - not to mention battery life. Give me the Deck any day, though. Nintendo’s game pricing is absurd and the JoyCon controls are absolutely awful for adult hands. Like, “how did this happen”-level bad, imo. Valve has a tie-up with iFixit for the Deck, too, so I expect many happy years of use. Perhaps we’ll get a PC-based device between the two in a couple of years time. Deck-quality controls. 8” 1080p OLED VRR display. ~500g. 3 hour battery life. 1080p60-capable on more recent titles. That would seem like the golden path.
- safeimp 3y agoIt's still too early to say what it'll be like but the Asus Rog Ally is interesting and sounds like it checks off some of your requirements: https://rog.asus.com/gaming-handhelds/rog-ally/rog-ally-2023/ https://rog.asus.com/gaming-handhelds/rog-ally/rog-ally-2023... Again, it isn't even out yet and I imagine it'll take a few months to iron out bugs but I'm curious how this will be.
- koito17 3y agoI still have a Japan model PS Vita that was manufactured circa 2018. It is unfortunate the hardware is stuck in 2014 (including the bundled WebKit!!). Through a Vita->SD converter and a jailbreak, I have nearly 40 games in this device. It has great battery life and is truly portable. I also recall last year a few new releases made for the Vita in the Japan PS Store, but due to the SSL certs in the Vita, you need to purchase the games on a PS4 device then transfer to the handheld, or something like that. Very unfortunate because from every angle it seems like deliberate sabotage by Sony, and the platform is basically dead, but not to me. I'm still yet to finish all of the games I have on the device. If Sony releases a new handheld, I hope they took lessons on how poorly they managed the Vita.
- gambiting 3y agoWell this device is just a PS Remote Client, literally nothing else. I would love to see a new PSP/Vita-like device, but this isn't it.
- throwawaymobule 3y agoare you sure? I was hoping it'd be an android device when I saw it announced, but I'm guessing they don't want MSs xcloud thing to work on it.
- cosmotic 3y agoDo you mean the software is stuck in 2014?
- koito17 3y agoHardware and system software. Blue Reflection is a game that really pushes the hardware to its limits; when there are heavy particle effects in the game, you can discern a steep drop in frame rate. This game was released March 2017. There is also space limitations in play. A lot of assets are seemingly missing. In many cases, a character will have a dialog, but you do not hear their voice. I've never played this game elsewhere, so I don't know if this is correct, but it wouldn't surprise me, since the game is at most 2 GB on the Vita, and storing PCM audio is expensive. (I doubt AAC is used, despite hardware decoding available, because you will have to take into account encoder delay, remainder samples, and other annoying things in order to synchronize speech with character movement. Feel free to disprove me!).
- detaro 3y agoStreaming from your existing console is an interesting choice. No/less server costs, but also a bunch of extra latency if you are away from home. So maybe mostly for in-house streaming? would have to be relatively cheap to justify itself for that IMHO, but that's possible.
- robotnikman 3y agoI've always hoped they would release a successor to the Xperia play phone. That looked perfect for on the go. And overall their current phones are not too bad either. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play I know that this is not what the announcement is about, but if they are embracing remote streaming maybe they might make something similar in the future.
- sureglymop 3y agoI remember when this came out it blew my mind as a kid and I really wanted it. Now we are deep in the era of the resurgence of the handheld and it's everything I ever wanted!
- WhereIsTheTruth 3y agoCloud only, what a mistake.. I want a dedicated Sony handheld like a proper PSP/PSVITA with its own games including PS1/2/3/4 PSP/VITA games.. They should do like the Nintendo Switch, not like Microsoft and their cloud only devices.. I don't think this will sell very well.. that's a shame because that'll give wrong market signal.. This whole event.. I feel like somebody wanted to sabotage it, I can't believe that's what they have to offer!
- ThatPlayer 3y agoI think 'its own games' is the problem. It would require a lot of investment to be able to support it. Which is what they didn't do with the Vita. The competitors like the Switch and Steam Deck deck don't split the game library they have to support into two separate libraries. The dedicated handheld market is just another of the devices replaced by smartphones. The Vita and 3DS generation combined sold about half as many as the Nintendo DS alone. So an investment into those games may not get a return.
- WhereIsTheTruth 3y agoI don't buy that narrative, Nintendo Switch sales beating both PS5/XBOX, despite being already 6yo, is a clear signal about what the customers want, it could be a heaven for indies and AA games, games you see on the Switch, most of them are also on Steam.. Not every games are AAA/Photorealistic Check for yourself, https://store.steampowered.com/ https://store.steampowered.com/, all the games from "news&trending" would run on the Switch with no problems at all
- ThatPlayer 3y agoI'm not talking about computing power? I'm talking about libraries. The Steam Deck is appealing because you can play those new&trending games right? A new system that doesn't have new&trending games is not appealing to users and gets no users. And a system with no users gets no developers. That's why the Vita failed right? Look at before the Switch: Nintendo are dividing their attention between a failed WiiU and a 3DS library. The Switch worked by combining the libraries instead of splitting effort in a way that neither library ever gets enough games that users want to play on it. Sony would have to spend a lot of time to build such a library for a new handheld. Or they can do what Steam Deck did and make it compatible with your other library. I don't think the hardware is there for a portable PS5, so they have to stream.
- kin 3y agoThis is kind of a shame. I was hoping from the headline that it would be a PSP successor. Instead, they're coming out with something already accomplished by this: https://playbackbone.com/playstation https://playbackbone.com/playstation I own this and it sucks because the connection always cuts out. I'm considering feeding a direct ethernet cable to my PS5 so that it could hopefully work? But improving your home network is a lot to ask of consumers IMO
- dylan604 3y agoI remember when the PSP came out, and we thought it would have been cool if it had a phone in it, as the form factor was pretty close to landline phone headsets. other people complained it was too big for that purpose. hindsight and all, but it's funny that it's close in size to some phablets.
- dirtyid 3y agoThat design looks not portable... cloud only.