By Sony Interactive Entertainment is reportedly in the early stages of developing a new standalone, portable console which is capable of playing PlayStation 5 games natively according to a new Bloomberg report.
The device, which is still reportedly many years away from a potential release, aims at “expanding Sony’s reach and contending with Nintendo for the portable gaming market”.
Sony has had success in the portable gaming market in the past, most visibly with the PSP, but nothing to the extent of rival Nintendo.
It’s suggested the device could build on the success of the PlayStation Portal which has remained a strong seller ever since its release, beating all sales expectations. That device, which recently got an update to include cloud streaming, can only stream games – not play them natively on the hardware itself.
A native handheld solves latency issues and is playable anywhere with fewer restrictions. The downside is it’s much more expensive, heavier and consumes battery far faster.
The report comes as the competition among handhelds intensifies, including Nintendo who is preparing its Switch successor. Meanwhile, SteamDeck and Windows rivals like the ROG Ally have successfully brought PC gaming to the handheld market; and
Then there’s Xbox with company boss Phil Spencer confirming earlier this month that Microsoft is working on handheld gaming prototypes. Like the Sony one though, any possible device is still years away. Xbox is seemingly more focused on making its app work better on existing devices like phones and television.
The post Sony Planning A Standalone Handheld PS5 appeared first on Dark Horizons.
