EricHiggin said:
Hmm. PS5 Hybrid with a dock as the base console for say, $299 maybe $349, and PS5 Home as the typical console for say, $499? If they could do it, this would certainly be quite interesting as well. This way they could try and take on both Nin and MS on both fronts. It would also still leave room for the mid gen Pro upgrade(s). |
We'll see how Switch and Lite do going forward, but if they continue to have strong sales, which they should, it's not impossible for PS to take a crack at a new handheld hybrid device.
There's actually a couple of things recently that could make you wonder, without even taking into account past PS hardware overall.
To start, they launched Pro, and instead of making it a costly beast, they made it as powerful as they could, within a reasonable budget that certain gamers could justify as an upgrade.
Then sometime after Pro, PS said they can't ignore Switch, and so by not re-entering the handheld space they would be doing exactly that, ignoring it for the most part, aside from PS4 pricing maybe.
More recently PS pointed out how power efficient the PS5 will be, and while it could be that it's really efficient for it's monstrous power, a console like that wouldn't exactly be considered efficient overall, no matter how efficient it may be based on the hardware. If the base PS5 was an upgraded Switch (hybrid) type device however, then they could honestly say it's super efficient and wouldn't be lying, even though they would only be talking about the base model.
Then finally we get the recent rumor that comes from a source who's got some credit, of two consoles at launch. A $299-$349 handheld (hybrid) and a $399-$499 console?
PS has shown with Pro, that they aren't near as concerned about power as MS is. There was a higher performing Pro that PS had to wait another year for, yet decided on the weaker, possibly cheaper version, and it's worked out well enough. This opens the door to the possibility of PS having a more advanced handheld hybrid that would say, do 1080p/60 docked, while also having a home console version, that competes closely enough with Scarlett, but has a better price. This would also help keep the systems performance levels somewhat closer than if you had Switch level performance and a 4k/60 beast, which would make it easier on devs getting games working on both systems without major issue's. Not to mention the '4k' system would likely be fairly efficient since it's not a 'beast'.
For anyone who wants AAA and third party games at their best on the go, PS would have you covered, along with their exclusives. Want a home console that's quite affordable and close enough to 4k, where more power really only makes a minuscule difference at best? PS would have you covered. For the more casual handheld gamer, or the console spec heads, there would be Switch and Scarlett, as well as their fans who must have the games on those platforms of course.
Lastly, the rumors of a Switch Pro, which apparently would show up late this year, maybe, but more likely next year, if it's even true. A Switch Pro handheld hybrid would make so much more sense if there was a direct PS competitor launching 2020.
There's a ton of questions from what type of hardware to game distribution, etc, but nonetheless, it could happen. The ultimate question is would they do it?
