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Kyuu on 03 February 2025
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GymratAmarillo said:

Kyuu said:

Calling it now: Playstation 6 will launch in 2 forms: A moderately-powerful standard PS6, and a much weaker handheld version.

I had little doubt that Sony will launch a handheld SKU in the not distant future. When the SteamDeck launched, I surmised that it could be in the form of a mid-gen PS5 SKU. But with the terrible pricing trajectory of this generation and the rumors about a Sony handheld being early in development, it's safe to say that it's not coming this generation. The current generation showed that chasing high specs may not be worth it anymore,

Microsoft will beat Sony to the punch with an optional Xbox (or Xbox-branded PC) handheld, because it can potentially run Series S apps (or PC apps) natively without any extra work form developers. But I think it'll be too expensive and production limited.

Yeah, I can see it. The problem comes to what would Sony prioritize in production for the first wave, the base system or the handheld? The Portal production decisions were great so I expect more good production decisions in the future.

Also I wouldn't be too worried about the extra work for developers, if Sony keeps the same operative system (and they should if the idea is for it to run ps4/ps5 games) small to middle size devs shouldn't have any problem optimizing. Big developers could have problems just like how they are having problems with the series S right now. I have no idea how Sony would solve those but maybe cloud gaming is a work around. In the Portal subreddit most experiences with cloud gaming are positive.

BraLoD said:

I don't see the point of Sony doing it.
Won't play the big games as well as the home console and will have no exclusives on it.

If Microsoft can make a Xbox portable with Windows support so getting Steam on it, then it would be very interesting.

The fact that they wouldn't need to make exclusives for the device other than their own exclusives designed to run in the base console is actually a reason in favor of making a handheld. The main characteristics would be being cheaper than the ps6 (compromising power, just like the steamdeck), your exclusives and also offering the portable experience. Since the cloud gaming update for the Portal people have bought it as a "$200 PS5" option because you don't need a PS5 anymore to make a Portal work.

Also, I don't know a lot about pc handhelds options but the Asus rog has steam, epic and gamepass. You can also get gameplay on the steamdeck if you follow a tutorial. MS hardware is high quality but they will need a lot more than quality and a handheld with Windows to sell.

It's a bold prediction to be sure (that the handheld is coming at launch). But I think it's the right thing to do provided it's possible. The lowest common denominator will gradually drop regardless of Sony's hardware choices. Maybe they can find a balance where most games are required to be made on the handheld, and more demanding "impossible" games are allowed to only be made for the home console.

If they do take this path, the handheld won't necessarily be cheaper, and Sony will prioritize the home console for sure. The handheld will just be there for the minority that want it.