Digital Foundry Corroborates Report of a New PlayStation Handheld - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 January 2025 / 6,245 Views
it was reported last month by Bloomberg that Sony Interactive Entertainment was in the early stages of developing a new handheld console that would be able to play PlayStation 5 games on the go.
Digital Foundry in a new video has corroborated the report saying it heard about this handheld from a couple of sources.
"What’s interesting about this is we actually heard about this handheld some months ago from a couple of sources specifically," said Digital Foundry senior staff writer John Linneman (via VideoGamesChronicle).
"So, we’re not in the business of leaking things, but it’s interesting that this finally sort of started to make its rounds because it just sort of confirmed what we had seen and heard off the record about this existing, which is cool.
"So, to me this sort of just strengthens the notion that yeah, they’re very much working on something. And this article makes it seem like it’s even further out than I actually thought based on that, so I’m not sure where it’s going, I think there’s like prototype stuff out there possibly. There’s still a lot of questions for this, but it does feel like this future of offering a handheld and a home console option is very likely at this point."
The original report claimed the device would be standalone rather than like the PlayStation Portal, which plays PS5 games by streaming them from a PS5 console.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer last month revealed Xbox is working on prototypes for a handheld Xbox, however, any device is at least a few years away from release.
Spencer wants the Xbox hardware team to analyze the handheld market, which includes the Nintendo Switch, the Steam Deck, and more. He wants the team to "develop its vision based on what it learns."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Man I remember when all I heard was that phones would make handheld devices obsolete.
I get deja vu here .. with the Wii. Nintendo does some innovation, it sells like crazy, then Sony and MS follow ..
Not really... If its still 2-4 years away, I highly doubt it will be much less powerful than the base PS5, if at all
My body is ready.
I'm trying to find that PlayStation Switch video from years ago but can't find it. Damn!
If it can't run PS5 games, Sony shouldn't bother.
Dedicated HW will result in a failure like the Vita
Only playing part of the software libary will result in a failure like the Vita TV
I'm fine with a new Sony HH.
PSP and Vita are among the most played HHs I own.
As long as there is support for physical media I'd be on board.
... and a few exclusives here and there would make me happy :)
It won't. 80- 90% of Vita games are sold digitally. 70%+ games sold last quater for PS5 are digital. It won't be a handheld with their own versions of multiplattform titles. It will be downloadable versions of PS5 games. The same goes for Xbox. They cannot compete with the Switch and they know that especially MS.
But can we agree on one thing? IF both handhelds fail to outsell the Switch (sucessor) they won't suddenly target so called "different audiences" just to find an excuse why Sony is not Nr.1, ok?
To echo Killer7, there won't be physical media support. It will be either portable PS5 or an underpowered portable PS6, and no handheld is playing a 6" Blueray disk.
No exclusives either. If you design a game for PS5 you design it for the portable and vice versa
Digital only for sure. Both! So... not interesting...
Please be PSP 2 with optional physical media. Please.
Essay Pro