The Japanese giant couldn’t go ahead and actually do the deed, could it? About the only thing hardcore PlayStations fans want more than the spiritual follow-up to the PSP and PS Vita is a new Twisted Metal spin-off featuring Sweet Tooth in his own horror game. Actually, clearly that’s just me. Everyone else just wants a new Sony gaming handheld.
And going by recent reports, it looks like you may all get your wishes granted. Well-known hardware leaker Moore’s Law is Dead (thanks Insider Gaming), says Sony is working on a non-streaming pocket-sized console.
That “non-streaming” part is key. If this rumored handheld ever comes to the market, we shouldn’t be dealing with a PlayStation Portal situation. As weirdly popular as it proved at launch, Sony’s latest gizmo is nothing but a glorified streaming device. According to Moore’s Law that won’t be the case with the company’s latest gaming portable, as it will run titles natively.
The leaker’s report suggests the first proper handheld to come from Sony since 2012’s PlayStation Vita will rock a custom AMD APU (just as PS5 does). The device is “currently in the high level design phase” and is “at least two years out, and technically not greenlit for launch yet”.
Latest new PlayStation handheld rumors
In terms of how powerful Sony’s unannounced handheld could be, tidbits from MLID’s report hint at a system that will support backward compatibility for PS4 games. If true, this would make you assume this device is at least as powerful as Sony’s eighth generation home console. Should this prove to be the case, we’d be looking at a handheld more in line with Steam Deck power than Nintendo Switch.
While MLID says he’s confirmed AMD has a contract with Sony to manufacture this rumored new PlayStation handheld’s APU, he doesn’t have any precise specs on the device.
If Sony truly is working on a new Portable PlayStation, it’s almost certain the Nintendo Switch 2 will beat it to market. After all, rumors persist that Nintendo is gearing up to manufacture 10 million Switch 2 units in its first year.
As for the levels of grunt this alledgled next-gen PSP/whatever it ends up being called could have to square off with, some reporting points to an underpowered Nintendo Switch 2 that will be “roughly on par with PS4 when docked”. Although in cheerier news, it could also be treated to a 7-inch OLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Cross all of Mario’s fingers that’s the route The Big N choose to go down, because those rumors of Switch 2 getting an LCD screen make the OLED obsessive very sad.
A few years from now if we find ourselves thrust into a Nintendo Switch 2 vs next-gen PlayStation Portable, the bigwigs at Sony will be hoping for a very different outcome from when the companies last clashed in the handheld space. While the PS Vita sold around 15 million units throughout its lifecycle, the Nintendo 3DS utterly battered those numbers; shifting north of 75 million machines.
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