A decade after the early demise of the PlayStation Vita, handheld gaming is extra vibrant than ever, main many individuals to wonder if Sony will in the future attempt to get again into the transportable gaming market. Based mostly on a brand new report by Insider Gaming, the reply is each sure and no. Sony is seemingly engaged on a brand new handheld machine, however it’ll presumably solely be for distant gaming with the PS5. It definitely doesn’t sound just like the Vita 2 some followers have been dreaming about.
Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson experiences that this new machine is codenamed the Q Lite and gained’t work offline or like a standard cloud gaming handheld. As a substitute, it’ll seemingly work solely together with your present PS5 to stream video games remotely at as much as 1080p decision at 60 FPS. “Early prototypes present the console will look lots like a PlayStation 5 controller, however with a large 8-inch LCD touchscreen within the heart,” he writes. “The machine sports activities adaptive triggers for haptic suggestions and can embody what you’ll come to anticipate from a handheld – Quantity buttons, audio system, an audio enter jack, and so forth.”
Kotaku can’t corroborate Henderson’s report, however GiantBomb’s Jeff Grubb recently wrote that he has additionally heard about plans for a attainable “cloud-streaming handheld.” Sony didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
If correct, it’s an especially odd selection that can definitely be a letdown to longtime followers of Sony’s transportable gaming gadgets. Whereas by no means as profitable as Nintendo’s Recreation Boy and DS handhelds, the PSP and Vita have been slick gadgets in their very own proper that each expanded on the PlayStation gaming ecosystem in novel and helpful methods.
Learn Extra: Everybody’s Making A New PlayStation Vita However Sony
We may spend all day re-litigating why the Vita finally failed, each when it comes to gross sales and its recreation library, however what’s clear at the moment that wasn’t a decade in the past is that cellular gaming didn’t destroy the market for high-end portables. The Change is arguably the most effective console of this {hardware} cycle, and the Steam Deck has now proven that with the suitable tech you may completely benefit from the latest blockbusters from God of Conflict to Elden Ring on a tool that matches between your fingers.
So it’s disappointing, if not solely shocking, that Sony could also be making an attempt to string the needle by providing the worst of each worlds: a probably expensive accent that may’t play video games natively. That’s mainly what the Logitech G at $350 is for Xbox, although even that machine advantages from Recreation Move cloud streaming assist. Based mostly on Henderson’s report, Q Lite gained’t even be capable of stream PlayStation Plus video games should you don’t already personal a PS5. The Razer Edge is one other gaming handheld whose restricted options battle to justify its $400 price ticket (or $600 for the 5G model). In each instances the conclusion was clear: simply purchase a Steam Deck.
And in a method, Q Lite already exists. It’s referred to as my smartphone which at present helps PS5 Distant Play. Add the PlayStation Spine controllers launched final yr and you’ve got a full-fledged distant gaming handheld, although one I admittedly don’t use a ton as a result of the streaming expertise nonetheless isn’t nice total, particularly with so many higher choices round. Perhaps by the point it truly ships, if it ever does, Sony’s subsequent gaming handheld will be capable of justify itself. Henderson experiences it may arrive earlier than the top of 2024.
