With the Steam Deck Announced, This Is What a Next-Gen PSP Could Be

As much as some people hate to admit it, portable gaming is a real niche these days. I've loved handheld consoles over the years — the GBA SP is still one of my favourite gaming machines of all time — but Nintendo's handheld success has always been built on games that fit the hardware. Pokemon, handheld Zelda titles, etc.

While it would be cool to see God of War PS4 running on a portable console, I don't want to play God of War PS4 on a portable console. I want to play it on a big TV while sitting comfortably on my sofa.

I feel the same way about the Steam Deck. Really cool piece of hardware, but if I bought one, I don't think I'd be playing AAA blockbusters on it. I'd be playing smaller games or turn based RPGs.

@ShogunRok In the West. In Japan, console gaming is the niche now. And Sony are Japanese.

I think a new handheld Playstation with the ability to run al the PS4 library plus backwards compatible with PSP and Vita would be crazy. Depending on how they manage the storage solution I think it could sell like pancakes, I mean, you will be able to play Horizon Forbidden West and the new God of War in that thing. But of course it also needs it's own software, maybe Sony could invest more so it doesn't end like the Vita speaking of exclusives; maybe they could outsource Gamefreak for an exclusive JRPG franchise? (They're now owned by Nintendo btw).

I just reserved a Steam deck

The Steam Deck seems similar specs wise to a ps4, so this could be feasable. They should just blatantly copy the switch, a handheld ps4, which could get an upgrade to ps4pro in docked mode.

@ShogunRok
You’re right, not all games are suited for handheld gaming. But surely no one would complain about the possibility to play any ps4 game this way.

tbh i do hope that this device makes sony interested in a hand held again.

I dont understand how it's niche when the Switch is selling/sold in huge numbers unless most people play it docked ?

@ShogunRok "portable gaming is a real niche these days"

The Switch's sales numbers say something else though, unless you mean devices that are portable only. I want Sony to make their own hybrid portable as that will help them capture Japan again since there portables are still king.

Problem is Sony just don't care about handhelds anymore. Every time Sony makes one it eventually gets dropped.

Eh, it's fine. With Sony bringing their games to the PC, consumers will have the option to play some of their games portably anyway. No reason HZD shouldn't run on it, for example. Think about that. Portable HZD. It even has gyro, so presumably you can play with superior aiming controls.

There's a real hunger in the market for a powerful hybrid device. Nintendo whiffed with the Switch OLED announcement. Valve's past ventures into console tech were answers in search of a problem, but it's pretty clear the Steam Deck hit a nerve. The timing is pretty brilliant too.

While I don't think this is 'the one' that'll really rival Nintendo's dominance, I do think hope they'll draw blood, and hopefully other big sharks smell it. I love Ninty, but there's no benefit to them coasting like this. Time for a wake up call.

The brilliant thing about Valve doing this is they don't need to be immediately, wildly successful to persist with this. They have 120 million users and access to almost all of the biggest games anyway, so if this thing sells well, they can just keep making Steam Decks.

@nessisonett I'm not sure even in the West. For all of the "handhelds are niche" talking points that go around here, Ninty's handhelds have always sold insanely well. PSP was popular as well, even against the NDS. The ability to be used away from the TV saved the Switch, frankly.

IMO, like Sammy's articles about E3, I feel like this sort of talk is narrative building in favor of Sony's actions lately. Just like I don't think we'd be seeing "E3 is dead" articles if Sony had remained invested in that show, I don't think we'd be seeing "handheld is niche" comments if Sony actually had the will to maintain a popular line of portables. And they could have. They messed up with the Vita by default, abandoned it early, and went all in on PS4.

I mean, nothing is impossible. I would love PlayStation to go back there again. But, with Japan Studio now closed and the first party titles are now focused on western developers and the culture at PlayStation is now more “western”, I don’t think PlayStation will develop a new handheld again. Sadly.

I hope the Steam Deck becomes a success. I kinda want one, never played games on Steam before and I love handheld gaming since the original Game Boy.

@Ralizah Well yeah, the DS was exceptionally popular in the UK and the 3DS did well here too. It’s easy to say ‘handhelds aren’t popular anymore’ when there literally isn’t a dedicated handheld on the market to test that theory.

@nessisonett Well, Switch Lite is a dedicated handheld.

I don't necessarily think people want DEDICATED handhelds myself now that hybrids are possible. Why limit yourself to one mode of play? This thing can also be connected to a monitor and used as a regular PC. Valve should really emphasize that.

@Ralizah Yeah, I guess that’s true but Switch Lite doesn’t lean into its dedicated handheld status the way that 3DS had StreetPass for example. Hybrids definitely feel like the way forward from now on though.

Sammy that's God of War III, not II - and it wasn't on Vita.

I played almost the entirety of breath of the wild in handheld mode and didn't have any feelings of regret doing it. As long as the game looks and runs great, I couldn't really care less about the size of the screen I'm playing it on. Especially if it means I can have the tv on in the background doing something else at the same time.

@Ralizah Earlier this year the Switch Lite on it own have surpassed Wii U life time sales. So there is still very much a market for dedicated none dockable handhelds.

@Floki The WiiU was a massive failure so i would not use those numbers to tell people they are wrong about something.

@nessisonett But they make their money in the West so whats your point.

I'm defiantly getting the Steam deck.

The main advantage to me are that most of the Steam games I own, I can play on it when out and about and I don't need to repurchase the same games on the Steam deck that I already own on Steam, unlike some other platforms.

Also I never really enjoyed Nintendo like games and couldn't see the point repurchasing other third party games I already owned either on PS or Steam to play on the switch.

At least with Steam Deck, I'll be able to at least play most of my Steam games on the move which seems a win to me at least.

Sony should make ps4 portables with ps5 tech, it should be doable. Market it not as portable system but portables ps4.

1440p is overkill and would nuke battery life, but this is just a fan concept and not an actual product that would need to consider the actual logistics.

Either way I'd love a new Sony handheld, but the Switch has done a decent job of emulating the feeling (sans any of the multimedia capabilities) of the PSP/PSV with it's third party library and general style of console quality gaming on the go, so I'm content if Sony never tries again.

I really want a steam deck !

@nessisonett The PlayStation division is US based though, and like @Flaming_Kaiser said, their primary market is the US and Europe nowadays, which probably has a lot to do with why they relocated.

I would opt for a little cheaper thing lose the camera's. I was talking about wanting 1440p when talking about the Switch but i rather have a longer battery live with 1080p also makes the handheld cheaper.

sorry but that concept design isnt great the analogues are way too low you wouldnt be able to hold the console

@Flaming_Kaiser Even with the Wii U being a failure. It still sold 13-15 million. That still nothing to scoff at. It only looks like a failure after coming off the back of system that sold 100 million.

For something that people are calling a niche, and for a device that has a sibling that maybe offers a better experience. It about to out due the Vita sales. It shows that when done correctly handheld devices sell well, and aren't a niche. It also just shows that Sony is incompetent when it comes to handhelds.

if sony made a handheld that would play all your ps4 games at 720p with L2 R2 and usb-c to connect to tv and controller support that would be a good handheld

The Steam Deck has alot of potential but the issue valve is going to face is getting devs to jump on board and have them optimize their games for the steam deck.

even though the specs of the handheld are impressive the games are still going to be running on a mobile chip at the end of the day and I would not expect alot of the bigger AAA games to be running 60fps or more without some serious optimizing .

Playing tasking games like Jedi fallen order on the go means battery life will be no more than 2 -4 hours at most .

The steam deck might not tap into nintendo market but it might be the perfect device to bring the pc market to the mainstream

@nessisonett Yeah, and Japan alone isn't enough to warrant the release of a new handheld console.

@Floki It was Nintendo worst selling homeconsole i would call that a failure.

Sony has been known to make baffling decisions throughout its lifetime with the PlayStation brand but what they did to the Vita is one of the biggest ones.

The lack of first party support, the lack of older generation support, the overpriced memory cards when everyone else used mSD.

With the enormous success of the Switch and the extremely fast uptake of the Deck shows there is a huge demand for portable gaming, perhaps now more than ever.

Sony has some incredible first party teams and IP's that can really shine on a portable device. It's a goldmine waiting to happen.

My opinion. Releases a PSP2 (or whatever), use mSD cards, use real R2/L2 buttons, use atleast 802.11ax WiFi for remote play, support it with a slew of first party titles, re-licence a major library of PS1/2 and PSP/Vita games to it's store. Entice some third party support with respect. And finally incorporate PSNow, improve it and give the library some respect.

Do all of that and watch the cash flow. Especially in Japan where portable gaming is more popular than ever.

I still have my Vita and when I look at it I sigh at the potential it had. A Sony handheld treated right could be as big as the Switch in time.

@Juanalf Yeah, Switch works because it's a hybrid (and because it's got some absolutely fantastic Nintendo games on it).

I think Remote Play fills the void a lot of folks are talking about when it comes to hybrid consoles. It’s a little cumbersome to get going every time, but it works. I got a controller mount for my phone a while back, and can play handheld PS games anywhere in my house. And it works great in PS5!

Not the same as a portable console though, obviously…

I play my vita on the commute to work each day, but only because of a recent game sale. Which is a rarity. Very soon I’ll be out of games / reasonably priced games. I’m hoping Sony start releasing mobile phone games, as indicated, and allowing third party games on a “PSN Mobile” service (given we all cary around hardware of a reasonable spec these days, I don’t care about playing the latest AAA on the bus); but I’d need it connected to PSN and with trophy support; have zero hope they’ll actually release a VITA 2.

Improve remote play and open up PS Now to mobile is a much much better option imo.

@Floki I'm not saying they can't sell. But I do think Lite vs OG Switch sales are clear enough evidence that people value the ability to play on as well as off the TV. Also, surpassing the sales of the Wii U isn't really some massive accomplishment. The Wii U was a sales catastrophe.

I'm more of a portable gamer than a home console person, and I actually use my Lite a good deal more than my OG, but if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose one model or the other, I'd still go with OG.

If I could get PS5 quality in a handheld, I love absolutely love it! Problem, you’ve seen the PS5, right?? That thing would be huge!!

Sony is the only company with hardware that has sold more than a Billion games on it. Ever.

They do not need a handheld... or hybrid. They make amazing home consoles with top support from publishers.

I play more 3rd party games than “1st party exclusives” in a year by a mile ( Nintendo + Sony output combined)

There is no “will 3rd party support the Steam Deck” - Like with the Switch (awful support) or Imaginary Vita2. We will get everything PC gets Day 1.

No guessing, No port begging... That is all I been wanting in a handheld for years.

Ordered a Steam Deck yesterday, have been almost entirely playstation gaming for last 26 years though used my wife's old laptop too play things like Table Top Simulator and Strategy games.
This is going to open up 10 years + of old PC games to me(and new stuff) and I can't wait. I'm a taxi driver so this'll be amazing to use when it's quiet. Was never interested in the Switch except for that Zelda game, games seem very dear on it too and it's the same old games generation after generation with Nintendo.
I wonder how many people out there who are waiting on a chance to get a ps5 are thinking sod it. Its nice too know I'll finally get one of these guaranteed.

Honestly, would i buy a successor to the Vita? In a heartbeat. Its one of my favourite consoles.

Is there a market for it? Probaly not if im realistic. Sony threw their toys out of the pram when Vita didn't meet sales expectations and let down those that had bought into the hardware. Those customers are unlikely to buy into Sony's side ventures again because they wont be able to trust Sony to stick with them if they dont hit the sales milestones they have in mind.

Honestly, the vita is so good thanks to the hard work of passionate 3rd parties and indie developers who brought some phenomenal games to the system, and have continued to do so to this day

@MinerWilly sounds like a great plan and hope you enjoy it. Im definitely interested!

Only thing id caveat (in respect of your final point) is that ive seen that people are getting 'opportunities' to order one all over the shop. I've seen some say they will have an opportunity to buy one in Q2 2022, and they 'reserved a spot in the queue' as soon as preorders went live. So chances are by the time they have an opportunity to get one of these, PS5 should be more readily available in stores. Particularly with Sony's logistical network and experience in production/hardware which valve won't have.

Either way, i think the Steam Deck looks great, and I hope you have a great time with it

Sadly the ship has certainly sailed for Playstation to get back into portable gaming at this point. But I'm looking at the Deck with great interest. If that thing can actually play the vast majority of steam games, then it's already got everything beat library-wise.

As an example, with myself being a huge Trails fan, the idea of being able to play the entire series on one portable system, with mod support for the older titles in that series is very enticing indeed.

I would love a PSP2. The first one sold something like 80 million units.

But realistically Sony are focused on VR as their gaming side project. It's working well for them.

Any platform holder that has to divide their resources between a home console and portable console will need to make sacrifices. Sony focused on their home consoles and gave a reduced effort to handhelds. Nintendo focused on handhelds and their home consoles had fairly poor content for years - few GameCube games and mountains of Wii shovelware

Nintendo came up with an elegant solution - make a handheld, make it also plug into your TV, and market it as a home console that you can take on the go. This way they can focus on both markets with one machine.(though I personally think it is not very portable in a practical sense - one of the joysticks broke the first time I transported it.)

I think the only way Sony could manage is if they straight up copied Nintendo. It could work. But I doubt they'll compromise the power of their home console to accommodate a portable version.

While it's all well and good to say that the next gen PSP could run PS4 games, just imagine the cost of the thing on a cartridge - Sony would no doubt physically prevent copying again and a blu-ray holds up to what 50GB?

A Vita with better sticks, no rear touch panel, L1 to L3 and R1 to R3. Add into that some sensible storage costs and they could easily have a winner. But they won't. Because the current management can't see what an absolute runaway success the Switch is.

Other problem they faced with the Vita was getting all the PSP UMD disc games onto the digital store - and I can't see a way round that. That's unless you do a Nintendo and release a remastered version for the new hardware?

Slick design, but 1440p on a 6” screen? WHY?

@KippDynamite Agreed. I don’t think a dedicated handheld spec will ever fly again. Switch works because it’s hybrid, Steam Deck hypothetically works because it shares the PC storefronts. A Sony handheld would have to literally be a PS4 to succeed — full compatibility with current library, no “handheld upgrade fee”, and push developers to continue a cross-gen philosophy. Never say never, but it ain’t happening.

I managed to get the £459/$529 (250GB SSD) middle version so i can enjoy Game Pass on the go!

Will be interesting to see how Nintendo/NVidia react i guess in 2023 with the Switch replacement???

@jdv95 I won't buy it. Sony didn't show that much interest in the Vita after release.

I plan on buying a Steam Deck. It is exactly what I need.

I'm all for a new Sony handheld. But no gimmicky stuff like touchscreens or cameras. Just focus on making it a pure gaming machine. Give it R1/L1 and R2/L2 shoulder buttons along with clickable analog sticks so we can have R3/L3. Give it a quality gamepad and normal PS buttons. And give it the same architecture as the PS4 and PS5. Make it an x86 system with a compatible GPU with the same SDK as the consoles so more developers will have an easier time getting started with it!

I was at first skeptical of the Steam Deck because my Switch has seen such little use over the past 4 years, but after thinking about the possibilities on it I’m very interested. I’ll list a couple why not:

1) you can install windows on it, and use a mouse/keyboard, meaning it can be a much cheaper gaming laptop. Having Steam + Battle.net on a handheld would be amazing. Especially considering most laptops that rival PS4 level power are twice this price.

2) it’s the perfect backlog machine. Most of the games I have in my backlog are older, easier to run games. This is the perfect machine to get into those when your not able to be with your console/ PC. The massive difference between this and the switch, for me, is that on the Steam Deck I’ll be able to play the Witcher’s 1 & 2, portal 1 & 2, and all the indie games I got for cheap and never have never found the time to play.

I mean I’m not going to get it day 1 or anything but I do think this is a great direction for handheld gaming. The switch is kind of a joke in my eyes and considering the Steam Deck is only $50 than the new Switch OLED I don’t see how they’re even comparable in terms of quality/price.

If Sony released a handheld that could play ps4 games and charged 600 euro I would buy it. Totally worth it

With Valve suggesting that they and Sony will have “things” to announce in the near future and all the noise about Sony PS exclusives heading to PC…. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is some new partnership with Sony and Valve to compete with MS. I would love if I could buy a game for my PS5 and then get to play it for free on Steam via Steamdeck. That would be Amazing!

I don't trust Sony anymore after they abandoned Vita. Steam Deck is what I would buy now. I had thought about getting the new OLED Switch before Valve announced its portable Steam machine, which leaves the Switch look awfully pity by specs.

Sony would fail in the handheld space again, colossally. Best leave it to those who know what they're doing and actually make an effort to try.

Sony are done with the handheld market. It's all about PS5, PSVR 2 from now on. Steam deck will probably bomb. Prove me wrong then I'll buy one.

Hi there fellow gamers.
I´ll be getting two of these, yes......
Wait, their not real? Does Sony not like money?
I guess they don´t.
Still have my Vita and still play it everyonce in a while.
And my 3DSXL as well.
The Steam Deck looks pretty interesting though.
I can play all my Stem and Epic store game list in a handheld?
I can get behind that...... In the future, when it´s less pricey.
Cheers, stay safe and happy gaming to us all

Ps handheld scene is dead cause Sony killed the vita. Remember the first party memory cards?

I reserved a Deck and a big part of why is because Sony are putting their games on Steam. I don't think we need a next-gen psp now but I used to really want one. What I want is for Sony and Valve to work together to make sure PS Studio games have a preset config to get the best experience on the handheld.

Sony won't have to go through the money and time to create a next gen handheld but can still focus on selling their games in a new market.

since you can use windows on the steam deck , you can use remote play and psnow also on it. meaning you can play pretty much any of the games off of your ps5 on your steam deck.

Couple this with a dock attachment for the PS5 and I could see this being a hit. The concept of the Vita being a controller was one of the coolest ideas that I wish they'd try again.

Now that I can fully play PS5 games portably using the Kishi/PSPlay app, I think I want Sony to focus on PS5 instead of fragmenting their development across another platform. Using my Note 20 Ultra with Kishi and PSPlay is heavenly.

I would love on, but one that can natively play all ps4 games, that would be amazing

@Subsided with remote play you can play ps4 and ps5 games on this , its not native since it will be streaming them off your consoles.

i would love a fully portable playstation console like this , even if it was some where between a ps4 pro and ps5.

My idea of having a new Playstation Handheld will be, it's going to be an all-digital device which plays the same games in both PS4/PS5 with at least a 1280x720p resolution with 60fps capabilities in OLED Display. With this in mind if it plays both PS4/PS5 it's not going to be a Vita all over again since the amount of supported games will be enourmous.

@Discol76 People buy it to play core Nintendo games, regardless of portability

@ShogunRok it's 2021, and some fans still manage to call a massive crowd of fully employed gamers "a niche".😏 It's been repeated ad nauseaum - while you folks with appropriate life schedules "want to play [insert game] on a big screen while sitting comfortably on a sofa", many others want to PLAY [insert game] at all. No matter how beautiful to look at, it's not some kind of painting, it's a game you're meant to make progress in, to advance the story and other elements of - which tends to feature activities fit for long sessions and those fit for short bursts alike. And no game will "look good" on a big screen if you have time to turn that big screen on once a week at best or one vacation a year at worst.

If Nintendo games were the only thing to buy Nintendo consoles for, Wii U wouldn't end up outsold (if marginally) by the very aforediscussed Vita. Which, by the way, is still THE reason some folks even own and can more or less use a PS4 in the first place. We turn to portable gaming for the ability to accommodate the hobby itself [back] into our adult lives, and no matter how long Nintendo evergreens may top Switch charts, you'll find very few among the 85+ million users whose Switch library would remain limited to these Nintendo evergreens. Steam Deck won't change the picture much - micro PCs offer portability with their own baggage of fine print, this one's strength is mainly a rather competitive pricetag among its own kind, - but I can see folks investing in it for the games not on Switch. Including the few Sony offerings in Steam library as long as Sony itself sticks to big screens and sofas, choosing to capitalize on demographics up to and including the college age.

The VITA was great. But it had no major games after launch, not enough marketing...you know, Sony things. It's clear they will focus more on PS5 and VR and I'm ok with it! We already have Switch and will have the Steam Deck, which is kind of a waste of money imo, but we don't need more handheld devices

No more handhelds for Sony. Just make PlayStations.

PSP was struggling until a 3rd party company looked at it and launched Monster Hunter which reinvigorated the handheld.

Vita didn't get that support since the Monster Hunter franchise had jumped to Nintendo. Vita got no first party titles after the first year and Sony basically left the Vita out in the cold to die.

New Sony will never release another handheld because they don't have the mental aptitude to work out what a success it could be. Old Sony understood the value.

Even if they received a strategic blow on the head, the practicalities of getting 40Gb worth of blu-ray PS4 data into a handheld would result in a colossal cost as they'd have to store that data internally on a hard drive of some sort or the biggest memory card if you wanted a few games!

Sony tried the PSP2, it was called the Vita.
It failed, bad. Ended up being nothing more than a retro rom machine, a raspberry pi with built in controller.

Much as peeps liked to say they wanted to play AAA on the go, or on the loo; they didn't. On the go one handed Threes is fine; on the sofa two hands are, well more suited.

Steam Deck is very tempting.
Very much the type of PC I would like in the future. No need of xbox and even no need of windoze 👍
I don't think a new Vita would be successful.

I will be getting the Steam Deck no doubt. If Sony is not going to get into the hand held market anymore but continue to port their games to PC then this will be an option. Plus there are lots of PC games I want to play.

It amazes me to hear people saying portable gaming is "niche" at least in my area of London every child I know has a switch and Nintendo is closing in on 100 Million sales, that's far from "niche". Almost every one of those homes will have at least one main console. PS or Xbox but kids and young teens have flocked to switch. My 11 year old has close to 4,000 hours on his day one switch and would have double if allowed. I loved my PSP back in the day. The fact that PS has failed in the portable market has to do with the fact they placed there energy into the console market, which has paired of well for them, not the fact that the portable market does not exist or is to small to be worth while.

@nhSnork Well stated! A played game is always better than a game that went unplayed.

I feel like Sony is digging it's own grave in slow motion. They handed the portable market to Nintendo. Even Steam wants in on that. MS is scoring huge victories with Gamepass. Both MS and Nintendo have solid attempts at BC. And at Sony we have Jim Ryan, probably the most hated man in all of gaming. I feel like everything Sony has done for 2-3 years was misinformed, but they are too proud to course correct and would rather go down with the ship.

Sony won't go for another handheld. The Steam Deck is going to monopolize any marketshare Nintendo doesn't have. To play PC games opens up decades of games and emulation. It's the ultimate handheld and no other company would try to compete. The handheld marketshare just isn't there anymore like it used to be.

I love PlayStation, but for them to say they are done with handheld gaming is, honestly, a bit of a tone-deaf move.

@skaarj217

I want to know what the battery life is.

My Switch V2 gets pretty solid battery life, even though I barely play handheld.