Intro – Is There Any Point in the Sony PlayStation Portal?
When rumors started circulating of a new Sony PlayStation Portal mobile gaming device the gaming community, me included, started to get butterflies in the stomachs. Could the much awaited successor to the PS Vita be announced? Unfortunately, NO! What we were presented with was a glorified mobile controller- The Sony PlayStation Portable. Something more akin to taking the remote play experience and selling you an unneeded accessory for it. When most people use their tablets, phones, or even laptops- something they already own.
Discussion – Is There Any Point in the Sony PlayStation Portal?
With devices like the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, Asus Ally and more exploding the gaming market. Resulted in mobile gaming being propelled back into the mainstream. It’s now cool and easy to truly play on the go. No more needing to rely on streaming services like remote play, we could finally play our games on a mobile device. However, PlayStation didn’t seem to understand what made all the previously stated systems great, it was their portability. Their true unlimited potential to truly be played anywhere. Limiting themselves to always online limits the console to being more of an accessory that needs to be nearby the PlayStation 5.
With services like remote play and gaming streaming services being available online and able to run on various devices. It does question what the need of creating a device solely to target this niche market. As most people, me included, use these streaming services it’s for accessibility and ease of function. My controller can connect to any device I own, I stream whatever to whatever device using Xbox Game Pass, GeForce Now etc and that’s it. With some services I don’t even need to have a console actually turned on. Something the Portal will lack.
Summary – Is There Any Point in the Sony PlayStation Portal?
In summary there is defiantly a market for PlayStation portable console. The mobile market is only going to be continuing to expand over the next few years. With many PC companies starting to release their attempts to capture on the expanding market. So, what will we see from PlayStation? Will they take the feedback and community backlash received over the PlayStation Portal and actively apply it going forward? Only time will tell.
But one thing for sure is that even with all the advancements in internet and Wi-Fi technology. To truly be a portable mobile device you need to be able to whip it out of your bag, press a button and play a game. There simply shouldn’t be a need to be always online. A trend unfortunately ever increasing in gaming. The small price point of the Portal does seem to be the only silver lining of the idea. Hopefully, Sony will revert their efforts in bringing a true successor to the PSP or PS Vita to life. Now that is something that IS needed in the gaming community.
