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Forums - Sony Discussion - PlayStation Portal (Remote Play device) announced for $199, coming November 15th

curl-6 on 27 August 2023
Biggerboat1 said:
curl-6 said:

By the time that's viable with decent battery life, a convenient form factor, and a reasonable price point, the PS4's library will be old hat. I don't think many people would buy a new system just to play old games, especially when there are other competing options like Switch 2 and Steam Deck that play new stuff.

Isn't switch 2 reportedly around the power of ps4? And that's rumoured to be using tech that's already 2-3 years old. I'm not talking about emulation which would obvs require way more power. 

Again, there may be technical reasons why a mobile chipset couldn't play ps4 games natively, but I don't think power is one of them. 

Also, I think we're entering an era of many games being scalable enough to fit on modern handhelds, so Sony and devs wouldn't have to assign tonnes of resource to a new ps portable (arguably the main reason for their exit from the market), it'd simply just be another platform to play the latest releases (as well as a huge back-catalogue). 

I'm not saying this is likely to happen by the way, but it'd be cool. Essentially a PS-Deck. 

Switch 2's specs are unconfirmed as of yet, but even if you had the raw power, portable hardware has bottlenecks in different places so the games would need some investment of resources to adapt them, like how PS3/360 games still need to be ported to Switch even though it's more capable than those consoles. 

The technology to play PS5 games on a portable without sinking a considerable resources into the conversion process doesn't exist yet, and by the time it does, Sony will be looking to move on to PS6.



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Biggerboat1 on 27 August 2023
curl-6 said:
Biggerboat1 said:

Isn't switch 2 reportedly around the power of ps4? And that's rumoured to be using tech that's already 2-3 years old. I'm not talking about emulation which would obvs require way more power. 

Again, there may be technical reasons why a mobile chipset couldn't play ps4 games natively, but I don't think power is one of them. 

Also, I think we're entering an era of many games being scalable enough to fit on modern handhelds, so Sony and devs wouldn't have to assign tonnes of resource to a new ps portable (arguably the main reason for their exit from the market), it'd simply just be another platform to play the latest releases (as well as a huge back-catalogue). 

I'm not saying this is likely to happen by the way, but it'd be cool. Essentially a PS-Deck. 

Switch 2's specs are unconfirmed as of yet, but even if you had the raw power, portable hardware has bottlenecks in different places so the games would need some investment of resources to adapt them, like how PS3/360 games still need to be ported to Switch even though it's more capable than those consoles. 

The technology to play PS5 games on a portable without sinking a considerable resources into the conversion process doesn't exist yet, and by the time it does, Sony will be looking to move on to PS6.

Of course Sony would have to design the chip with the specific target of it being able to play PS4 games natively, so zero resources would be required to play that library on the handheld. It's not analogous to porting PS3/360 games to switch, just like PS4 games don't require porting to PS5...

Again, maybe this ain't possible, but we're talking about matching very antiquated hardware now in terms of PS4.

The steam deck is doing something similar in the PC space, and it's hardware would be easily eclipsed by a PS equivalent. 

Re. your last point about PS5 games, Ratchet & Clank was supposedly only possible via the power of the PS5 hardware, and what do you know, steam deck offers a very playable experience, and again a PS equivalent would be far more capable.

We'll see a lot of 3rd party games ported/playable to/on switch 2/steam deck (and it's likely successor), my understanding is that unreal engine 5 has a lot of tools geared towards scalability. 



Leynos on 27 August 2023



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

curl-6 on 27 August 2023
Biggerboat1 said:
curl-6 said:

Switch 2's specs are unconfirmed as of yet, but even if you had the raw power, portable hardware has bottlenecks in different places so the games would need some investment of resources to adapt them, like how PS3/360 games still need to be ported to Switch even though it's more capable than those consoles. 

The technology to play PS5 games on a portable without sinking a considerable resources into the conversion process doesn't exist yet, and by the time it does, Sony will be looking to move on to PS6.

Of course Sony would have to design the chip with the specific target of it being able to play PS4 games natively, so zero resources would be required to play that library on the handheld. It's not analogous to porting PS3/360 games to switch, just like PS4 games don't require porting to PS5...

Again, maybe this ain't possible, but we're talking about matching very antiquated hardware now in terms of PS4.

The steam deck is doing something similar in the PC space, and it's hardware would be easily eclipsed by a PS equivalent. 

Re. your last point about PS5 games, Ratchet & Clank was supposedly only possible via the power of the PS5 hardware, and what do you know, steam deck offers a very playable experience, and again a PS equivalent would be far more capable.

We'll see a lot of 3rd party games ported/playable to/on switch 2/steam deck (and it's likely successor), my understanding is that unreal engine 5 has a lot of tools geared towards scalability. 

It's not as easy as "just design a chip to play PS4 games natively" though, portable hardware is necessarily different from console hardware, so games built for PS4 would need to be reworked to run well on it. 

As for Ratchet on Steam Deck, that did require work; the ability to run at lower specs was a part of porting it to PC.

There will be PS5 games ported to run on Switch 2 and Steam Deck, just as there are PS4 games ported to the current Switch, but none of that comes for free, it all ties up development resources.

A new handheld would require a big investment and split Sony's resources, like what happened with PS4 and Vita.

Last edited by curl-6 - on 27 August 2023

twintail on 27 August 2023
Biggerboat1 said:
curl-6 said:

Cool as it would be to see Sony re-enter the handheld market properly, it would be almost impossible for them to do so successfully.

They already couldn't manage adequate support for the PS4 and Vita simultaneously; supporting both the PS5 and a handheld close to the PS4 at once would be even more difficult, and likely lead to severe software droughts for both platforms.

If they could somehow make a handheld that could play PS4 games natively I think they could really make a splash. Day 1 you could play one of the best libraries around.

Not sure if that'd be feasible from a technical point of view mind... 

Maybe a couple years ago. Now? Dunno, I doubt it. I mean, who is an expensive PS4 handheld truly targeting? 

I'd say that is a niche market too. 



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DonFerrari on 27 August 2023
Biggerboat1 said:
the-pi-guy said:

I'm downplaying the price, because you don't have to buy these. The PlayStation Portal for example has a headphone jack. 

Like I said in an earlier comment, Sony and Microsoft already locked out Bluetooth from their consoles. If someone has a headset they're using with their console, it's not a direct Bluetooth connection. I'm not saying that's fair, but it's what the options are.

These also seem to be high end/earbuds. They seem to be using the same kind of technology as the $700 Audeze ones.

It's true that you can use wired, though that's a pretty hard pill to swallow for a 2023 mobile device...

Earbuds are more important on something that's being marketed as a 2nd screen for obvious reasons, and being forced into old tech or earbuds that cost the same as the device it's supporting is nuts.

There was an outcry for Bluetooth connectivity for headphones on the switch for a reason.

And I don't buy the 'Sony is including hi-end tech in the earbuds' as justification. They're using an 8" 1080p, 60hz LCD screen (hardly cutting edge), which means they're happy to make big compromises to the visual experience, so why the insistence on this fancy lossless, latency-free audio?

Not to mention the on-board audio on this thing will likely be mediocre (due to the form-factor). Their dedication to 'techinal excellence' seems to be curiously selective...

It's all about the mula. 

Considering that playing on a small screen with streaming is already a lot of compromise I don't think the BT would make it much worse.



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Azzanation: "PS5 wouldn't sold out at launch without scalpers."

Leynos on 27 August 2023

 Making a chip as powerful as PS4 with AMD vs making a portable PS4 using the same chipsets are different things entirely and the latter is not happening. More than decade-old tech and not talking about power.



Bite my shiny metal cockpit!

Soundwave on 27 August 2023
curl-6 said:
Biggerboat1 said:

Isn't switch 2 reportedly around the power of ps4? And that's rumoured to be using tech that's already 2-3 years old. I'm not talking about emulation which would obvs require way more power. 

Again, there may be technical reasons why a mobile chipset couldn't play ps4 games natively, but I don't think power is one of them. 

Also, I think we're entering an era of many games being scalable enough to fit on modern handhelds, so Sony and devs wouldn't have to assign tonnes of resource to a new ps portable (arguably the main reason for their exit from the market), it'd simply just be another platform to play the latest releases (as well as a huge back-catalogue). 

I'm not saying this is likely to happen by the way, but it'd be cool. Essentially a PS-Deck. 

Switch 2's specs are unconfirmed as of yet, but even if you had the raw power, portable hardware has bottlenecks in different places so the games would need some investment of resources to adapt them, like how PS3/360 games still need to be ported to Switch even though it's more capable than those consoles. 

The technology to play PS5 games on a portable without sinking a considerable resources into the conversion process doesn't exist yet, and by the time it does, Sony will be looking to move on to PS6.

I mean technically a Steam Deck can run a lot of PS5 games today (and basically every XBox Series X game). Now they are the "PC versions", but PS5/XSX are basically PCs themselves too ... it's not like these are exotic chipsets ... they are basically a low end PC to begin with with a Playstation or XBox sticker slapped onto it. 

The only reason like God of War Ragnarok isn't running on a Steam Deck is because Sony hasn't made a PC version, but when it comes it will play on the Steam Deck fine just as Spider-Man Miles Morales already does. 

Steam Deck 2 (inevitable) will be able to run PS5/XBSX games probably fairly easily. 

Last edited by Soundwave - on 27 August 2023

Biggerboat1 on 27 August 2023
curl-6 said:
Biggerboat1 said:

Of course Sony would have to design the chip with the specific target of it being able to play PS4 games natively, so zero resources would be required to play that library on the handheld. It's not analogous to porting PS3/360 games to switch, just like PS4 games don't require porting to PS5...

Again, maybe this ain't possible, but we're talking about matching very antiquated hardware now in terms of PS4.

The steam deck is doing something similar in the PC space, and it's hardware would be easily eclipsed by a PS equivalent. 

Re. your last point about PS5 games, Ratchet & Clank was supposedly only possible via the power of the PS5 hardware, and what do you know, steam deck offers a very playable experience, and again a PS equivalent would be far more capable.

We'll see a lot of 3rd party games ported/playable to/on switch 2/steam deck (and it's likely successor), my understanding is that unreal engine 5 has a lot of tools geared towards scalability. 

It's not as easy as "just design a chip to play PS4 games natively" though, portable hardware is necessarily different from console hardware, so games built for PS4 would need to be reworked to run well on it. 

As for Ratchet on Steam Deck, that did require work; the ability to run at lower specs was a part of porting it to PC.

There will be PS5 games ported to run on Switch 2 and Steam Deck, just as there are PS4 games ported to the current Switch, but none of that comes for free, it all ties up development resources.

A new handheld would require a big investment and pull vital resources away from the PS5; they tried this before with the Vita and the result was disastrous.

I'm not suggesting it'd be easy, like any chip it'd require up-front investment. Numerous consoles have had backwards compatibility, though admittedly you'd have an added layer of difficulty working with a mobile SOC.

What I'm suggesting wouldn't require any work on the pre-existing PS4 library though, they'd run natively (or I suppose, be emulated at such high efficiency that it could work on a modern mobile chip). 

I genuinely don't know if it's possible, if you are an expert & know for sure it's not doable with today's tech then I'll take your word for it.

Also I've not claimed that porting a game is free, but it's orders of magnitude cheaper than creating games from the ground up for a single platform.

Developers would do their maths & decide whether the juice would be worth the squeeze, and that itself would come down to how well the platform is doing. As with Ratchet, games will be getting scaled down to run on low end machines, including a considerably weaker steam deck, so much of the work will already be done. 

A PS Deck wouldn't require any platform specific software so wouldn't demand resources like the PSP or Vita. 



Biggerboat1 on 27 August 2023
Leynos said:

 Making a chip as powerful as PS4 with AMD vs making a portable PS4 using the same chipsets are different things entirely and the latter is not happening. More than decade-old tech and not talking about power.

And do you reckon there's any chance of a modern mobile chip emulating PS4 games?