Sony seems to have a portable game console in the works. Enough rumors have made their way to the internet for us to be reasonably confident that it's happening. Where we're less confident is exactly what Sony's next handheld gaming console will offer. With the company already having the PS Portal, we can safely assume the console will be a standalone gaming machine, not a streamer.
Thankfully, the ultra tech-savvy folks at Digital Foundry have provided some interesting analysis that gives us an idea of what Sony could have up its sleeve, and it's not great news if you were hoping for a portable PlayStation 5 console.
According to the game tech website, it'll be impossible for a portable console to run PlayStation 5 games natively. This is because the PS5 uses a 200-watt system. It will be impossible to achieve that power level on a 20-watt system even a few years from now.
That means games will need to be scaled down to run on Sony's rumored portable console, like what happens when you play a game on the Nintendo Switch's handheld mode.
PlayStation Handheld Is Real... But Will It Really Run PS5 Games? - YouTube
Either that or entirely new games must be created, as they were on the PSP and Vita. Before the Switch, even Nintendo offered separate experiences on its DS and 3DS platforms. It was commonplace for handheld games to be different from their TV-sized counterparts.
However, with Sony jumping out of the handheld market several years ago, I don't think the company will be all that eager to separate handheld and TV games again, so downscaling existing PS5 games seems like the right move.
Whatever Sony decides, all reports indicate that the portable PlayStation is far from launching, meaning the company has plenty of time to figure out what a PlayStation handheld needs to be to succeed in a market with platforms like the Steam Deck and Nintendo Switch running the show.
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