Rumour: PS Vita 2 Dreams Killed But Sony Might Have a Handheld for PS5 Remote Play in the Works

Of course, after all they stated that they arent in the Handheld Mode anymore. Everyone who actually thought it was a proper Handheld is just naive lol. If you want to play First Party Games on the go just get a Steamdeck.

Or just a put a streaming app on mobile....

And still Sony hasn't managed to release mobile apps for psplus streaming and a lackluster remote play app.
It's like they don't want to give a good reason to subscribe to premium.

Henderson said it's a accessory/companion solely for Remote Play, no cloud streaming without the console.

And to be honest, makes way more sense for Sony than a Steam Deck copy. No native ports required, no storage cards, no testing and so on.

It'll be dead on arrival then like all the PS3 games that are barely playable on PS Plus.

I hope Sony start announcing stuff I’m tired of rumors that may or may not be true.

If this is indeed true, it is dead on arrival as it has the same problem as PSVR2 in which you need to pay hundreds of dollars on top of a PS5... also remote play/cloud is going to be the future at some point but it definitely it won't be in a couple of years.

@Magnus_Selene Yeah I had no idea what those people were thinking. PS Vita might have been good but it failed financially.

Switch is also dominating the market for handheld and if you want a more powerful handheld, you'd go for the Deck which is already capable of playing all those Sony ports to PC.

Sounds better to me than a Vita 2. Why split Sony's efforts between two different pieces of hardware yet again? It's not like they're swimming in upcoming first-party titles for just the PS5 as is.

Then again it's Jeff Grub, so ocean's worth of salt.

Sounds exactly like something nobody wants.

In a moment of very wild speculation I hoped they'd make a branded Steam deck thing, running Windows of course

If this is true, pricing will be key here for me. I actually really like remote play for some games. I've been using my phone and the Razer kishi for it but a bigger and better screen and controls would be very welcome. That said, knowing Sony, it will probably have a hefty price tag.

@Gaia093 Jeff Grubb is reliable, as is Insider Gaming (unfortunately).

Could actually be quite interested as someone with a wife and kids who all game. But if it's streaming only, it would have to be around £100 and support geforce now and gamepass etc

I gotta say I have no clue what the appeal of a cloud streaming only portable is. The appeal of portable gaming is taking your games anywhere you want to go. Cloud gaming obviously requires reliable internet access which isn't everywhere by any stretch of the imagination. This means you can't take your games everywhere on the go. Plus if you want to stream a game portable...you can with a phone already...

Am I missing something? Just seems like a waste of resources to me.

I'd be interested. It'd be horrible to have another hardware Sony needs to create games for that could be directed to their main hardware, the PS5. Having a streaming device on the go is nice.

The biggest problem for PS streaming are the tiny UI elements of most games. Try to read subtitles or other text on a smartphone, it’s a mess. And compare this to the UIs of Switch games, which are perfect for both handheld and TV.

I'd love to see how hard a handheld Sony Stadia would fail.

Wont be for me, but intrigued to see more.

No Wi-Fi no buy unfortunately, I don't want to rely on having and internet connection. Love my Switch but I am really tempted by the Steam Deck for this reason!

Would be interested in that if it were like the Wii U gamepad meaning streaming the game from the console to the handheld but without Wi-Fi
But remote play as it is just doesn't work well with my internet

I’m all in if the price is right. £150-200.
If the thing can also double up as an extra controller it would be a day 1 purchase regardless.

@kyleforrester87 @Korgon Totally agreed, Kyle. That's always really stood out to me. In my whole life I've seen one person using a handheld out of the house (some guy with a 3DS on the train). That's including time in Japan, Italy, Greece, Finalnd, America, Romania, France, Germany and more - so it's not just my local area. I don't drive so there's a lot of buses and trains in there which would supposedly be prime places for it.

I've had a PSP, Vita, DS, 3DS, GBA and Switch and just use them in my house. I tried using my Switch in the garden last summer and couldn't see what was on the screen. I mean, if you think about it, usually if you're outside it's for a reason - you're shopping, playing a sport, with friends, on a date, working, etc. Not a situation you'd want to be trying to level up in Octopath Traveller.

Another (what will be) false rumour from Jeff.

@Matroska
I used to always use my VITA on the daily commute, so there are some of us around. I have seen many, many more people play “games” on their phone though. I think there are just comparatively few dedicated gaming handhelds around. And the most popular, the Switch, is just too big to carry easily. Not to mention the fear of theft or loss.

I’d happily stream on my commute if it was reliable. Hell, I’d likely try even it was patchy given I have nothing else to do at those times. Sony won’t let me though! The idiots do not allow for data in the U.K., only wifi connection, so 🤷‍♂️

I think it makes far more sense for Sony to partner with other hardware manufacturers to have a PlayStation focussed handheld. The same way Xbox did with Logitech and the G Cloud.

I don't think I really need anything other than the Backbone for PS5 games. I'm finding the experience really good. The problem for a lot of the UK is that they don't have super stable internet, which isn't a Sony issue, but more a UK infrastructure problem.

@__jamiie - Sony is trying to emulate that PS1/2 era of hardware and accessories. Tom Henderson mentioned in his article that Sony plans to release five new PS5 pieces of hardware by 2025:

• PS5 with detachable disc drive
• PS5 Earbuds
• New set of PS5 headsets
• PS5 Pro
• PS5 Remote Play accessory/handheld (Q Lite)

Incidentally if you have a hacked Switch, you can already do this with PS5. I think it was called Chiaki. Better than a phone due to larger screen and built in controllers (and that it also plays Switch games, of course).

@thefourfoldroot1 Yeah, one of the two PSPs I had was lost in a pub on the same day my brother gave it to me. Left it there by mistake, rushed back half an hour later, it had gone. That's what I get for going to dodgy pubs (and being drunk). And that was one of the few times I've personally ever used a handheld outside, like single digit times.

Depending on the price, I'd buy one. Maybe if it's 100€ without OLED and 150-200€ with OLED screen,

@kyleforrester87 Yeah exactly. I mean also just the fact the battery life can be so bad and the screen brightness is crap. The one time I tried my Vita outside it looked like it was off. I had to go inside to check if it was even on. They're much more for in bed, on the sofa while someone else is controlling the TV, or in the bath if you feel like living life on the edge.

And as for the funny looks, yeah I know what you mean. And it just shows how rare it is that people aren't used to it. I tried playing Valkyria Chronicles 4 on the way back from Glasgow and just couldn't get into it because I was on a train next to some random girl who was probably wondering why a cartoon girl in a bikini was on a battlefield.

Boo, nearly nobody want cloud only device, I'm sure sony will sells way more more playstation portable device compared to something like this cloud device or psvr2 😕

Why do Sony just keep doing things that nobody likes or wants, who is this even for 😂

This sounds like something Sony would be exploring, but I suspect they ultimately rejected the idea.

You can use any mobile phone, tablet or even a portable monitor with an existing controller and achieve this at a cost of zero.

We all have phones. Most have tablets. A lot have the option of a portable monitor if working from home. I doubt Sony would bother with this product.

It's also about managing expectations. I pair am existing screen with an existing controller to play on Remote Play and I am a lot more forgiving when it doesn't work perfectly/ disconnects again. If I buy a dedicated device at a premium cost and it still doesn't work then "oh its your ISP" doesn't cut it as an excuse to rely on.

@wiiware Can I just ask why you think Sony would invest massive amounts of money into a handheld device, that would play PS5 games? They have Remote Play which is far less costly to them, and not to mention that devs won't have to try and port their games onto a handheld device... Streaming unfortunately is the future.

All I would consider is a better device for Remote Play, that somehow cut the lag. Would love to play Wo Long on the coach while my lady watched TV 🤷🏻‍♂️

That's stupidest idea on the market where you can buy devices that can handle multiple streaming services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, GeForce Now etc.

Only reason to buy this would be to "experience" Adaptive Triggers and Haptic Feedback or if Sony will give it ridiculously low price.

Imagine if sony teamed up with google for this as well, meaning access to the Google play store which we can download gamepass. Sony would have a device which can play both playstation and xbox games via cloud.

Why make an entire device to do remote play though? All Sony have to do is release an app for your smartphone like Microsoft did that allows you to stream your games onto it. They should just release there version of the Game Pass app for smartphone.

@UltimateOtaku91 I think Microsoft would be happy too. You need to pay for GPU to play through Xbox Cloud Gaming, so the will get their money.

If true this is absolutely pointless. Who wants a pure streaming device that u also need the console or? Cant leave the house with good wifi so just use the console

@Matroska @kyleforrester87
Fair enough. I guess I could see the appeal there. Though you could still do that with a phone. I guess it's the bigger screen size that would be the reason for buying one of these.

Maybe I'm in the minority since I primarily play my Switch for example on my break at work. We do have wi-fi but it isn't reliable enough for streaming games. As for bed time I usually read a book or watch a TV show instead.

It seems like every tech company wants to get these things out there though so clearly there is a market. I think I'm just not part of it.

Why not just make a Backbone type thing, with the ps5 stuff, and we can just use our mobile devices, as a screen? This seems pointless to me.

Remote play is rubbish unless you're actually in the house where your console is, which totally defeats the object. I bought a Backbone for a recent long haul flight and holiday and it was basically pointless.

Just invested in a back bone.

Playing on my ps5 a lot more now.

Would definitely invest in one of these as I have to turn off dual sense features in certain games.

@Korgon I'd imagine its the ability to play 'Premium' Quality games with relatively decent visual settings and frame rates that the 'hand-held' device isn't capable of running that well natively.

Take 2016's Doom as an example - on Switch, it has a 'low' visual quality and low resolution, limited to 30fps but with Streaming, you could get a much higher resolution with much higher graphical settings (inc RT for example) and 60fps too because the game is technically running on much better hardware.

Yes it may have slightly more Lag/Latency than playing at 60fps Natively, but it can still feel more responsive with lower latency/lag than Native 30fps because the game is updating twice as fast.

Imagine if ALL your games were playable on ANY device. So if you bought God of War, Horizon, Gran Turismo etc on PS5, you could 'stream' that game to where ever you are - not have to wait to get home, wait for the TV to be available to game on (as a lot are connected to 'family' TV's) etc.

For 'hardcore, dedicated' gamers who can't accept anything less than the 'best' version of a game possible and have the money to spend on gaming, Streaming isn't the 'best' option. But if you don't really care about the best Graphics, can't afford or justify buying the latest Hardware etc, Streaming can be a great 'entry' point for many.

There are 'supposedly' around 3bn Video Gamers - most on Mobile devices. Streaming reaches those people and lets them enjoy 'Premium' Games that would never release natively on their Hardware so they too can enjoy these experiences.

Are they planning to release a Wii U gamepad for the PS5?
Sounds interesting but not for me

@ED_209 come again?
What the point of buying a portable that you can only play if you have a desk console?
It makes 0 sense

Not a fan of this grubby chap.

Sony’s streaming stuff is whack. Man.

The ps3 stuff is not even worth bothering with.

They are miles off with this sorta stuff.

Luckily for them they are miles in front with me nearly everything else

If is cloud based then is already dead and I myself hope it bombs worst then the Virtual Boy! Streaming PS3 games in my home with really good internet is already an awful experience, now if I'm able to download all the games locally then we can a serious conversation ✌️

Like the Logitech streaming handheld, I think it's neat, and could be useful in situations. However, the price of admission is just way too high for that thing, and I'm sure it would be too high for this thing. I remote play on the ipad at home nearly every day, but even with 1gbps fiber and a wifi 6 router, I still find cloud play to be far behind a remote play on a local network. I'm not going to buy a PS handheld I can only use at home with my PS5, when PS RemotePlay on my iPad already achieves that. This is definitely an area I think MS has gotten right. Just find clever ways to bring games to devices people already have. Cloud is still a baby, but the tech will mature in time.

All that said, I think the future of handhelds is a bit troubled. Hardware has gotten so large so fast and doesn't seem to be shrinking down as quickly as it used to. The SteamDeck is cool, but it's pretty large, and the thing just guzzles the battery. I imagine Nintendo is maybe having difficulties developing the successor to the Switch by needing to get a meaningful performance gain and keeping a smaller form factor and reasonable battery life. So, I'm not shocked Sony is going this route, however I just don't see it as a product for many people.

This is very sad to hear, maybe it's time to invest in the Steam Deck... LE SIGH =[

I was very surprised when I learnt of the price of the Backbone. Similar devices have been available for phones for years. Is there any good reason why it costs £100? It’s a controller grip for a phone. There is nothing spectacular about it, other than it’s focussed on PS Remote Play use. It’s a £50 max product.

What is the appeal of a separate device for remote play? The Switch has shown the appeal of a single system for both home and portable use. It set a precedent. It’s unlikely we will see handhelds with separate game formats to their console brethren again. This is no bad thing.

What device could Sony possibly be proposing that wouldn’t do anything the Backbone doesn’t already do? Streaming games is not always ideal, dependant on scenario and setup.

@SeanOhOgain

It’s a great device. I went for the 64GB model. The system does have its quirks, some games don’t work perfectly, third-party logins can be a pain sometimes (even requiring a Bluetooth keyboard), but overall, it is extremely powerful and versatile.

I stream ps5 on my phone with a RAZR controller. Don't think there's much place for an always connected handheld. I use PSPLAY instead of the native app, because it works.

I still won't touch it. They'll happily charge you $300 for a handheld that doesn't even have its own library (speculation of course), and leave the early adopters holding water like they did for PSV.

I would kill for a Vita 2, but still severely hurt someone for an official handheld cloud device. I use remote play a lot with my phone and Backbone controller. It is my standard way of playing on my PS5.

@Shepherd_Tallon or just let the missus watch the stargate rerun on her tablet

@UltimateOtaku91
There is one. It's called "PS Remote Play" and it is excellent.

Does anyone at sony considered for a second that making a whole ass device focused exclusivelly on streaming games is a bad idea? SPECIALLY since you can already stream ***** from your phone.
What are they thinking?

If this is true then Sony really is unaware of what the players want. This thing will bomb harder than Hiroshima.

No physical games = no buy for me.

I genuinely can't think of a single reasonable use case for me so I have absolutely no interest in such a device. Can't I do exactly this on my phone today anyway?

Waste of resources. Game streaming, no matter my location or the hardware, has been a consistently disappointing experience. I've managed it with the fewest troubles on my PC, but that's not a situation where I'd want to play cloud games anyway.

Anyway, anyone who likes this sort of thing can buy a control for their phone or tablet and stream games that way. No need for a specific device.

@kyleforrester87 Portability is more about ease of access anywhere you are, not necessarily walking around outside playing a console. My Switch was very useful for me when I went on vacation recently and had lots of down time in mostly private interior spaces. It'll be useful this upcoming weekend when I leave for a convention.

If you have limited TV time, for whatever reason, or do things where you need to wait around, but not leave the scene, it's also helpful.

And, of course, playing before bed.

Not everyone's life is going to be setup to take advantage of portable freedom (these people can leave it on the dock, of course), but for some of us, it's tremendously beneficial.

@Korgon I genuinely don't understand cloud streaming only products, to me they're worthless as if you're somewhere without a reliable connection then its a paperweight. We can already do this on phones and tablets so what's the point of this?

@BAMozzy that 3bn number always makes me laugh, we know full well most of those are people who play the likes of Candy Crush because it's on a device they already own and would have no interest whatsoever in playing (or paying for) what we'd regard as premium games. Microsoft have already sort of proven this with Gamepass not exactly exploding despite being available on pretty much every mobile phone

@kyleforrester87 There are a few examples outside of commutes;

I used to take my vita when away with work, staying in a hotel. Easy to plug in and charge.

The switch came with us on holiday for the plane.

I'm not a huge fan of mobile gaming. Usually due to hand cramps and having to hold devices a certain way. But the vita was essential when my wife was in labour. Took ages so I sat off in the back playing hungry giraffe for a break.

Nope. Make VITA 2 or don’t at all.

If this was a controller that somehow had a screen inside it (so it doubled as a Dualsense and a portable device) I'd be more interested. In fact that's what I was always hoping the PS5 controller would be — something you could take with you to cloud stream.

As it is, I don't see why I'd take this over the little attachment that lets me clip my phone to my controller and play on the go...for like $15.

@Ralizah yeah nailed it. Holidays, especially the plane if you are in the air 4+ hours is essential!

I genuinely hate this idea. There are so few places in the world that actually have internet good enough to support a product like this. Switch and Steam Deck show that native play is where the market wants to head. Logitech just made a device like this and it sucks. Just like the PSVR2, the market Sony is trying to corner is way too small for this device to be successful. I want to take my PS4/PS5 games on the go, not stream them.

It was obvious it wouldn't be a dedicated handheld as Sony are putting their games on Steam Deck.

I would be into it, if the device was a full android handheld with access to the play store, a web browser, and decent specs.

I personally would have no use for this.

I don’t travel or commute much, and if a game can play on PS5 that’s where I want to play it. Even my Switch and Steam Deck are pretty much permanently docked to the TV.

If I did want to use Remote Play, I have the aforementioned Steam Deck as well as an iPad to run that on.

It could be a good device for people that travel and don’t have those options. Depending on the price, of course. 😉

I’m surprised they’d go a handheld route for a streaming device rather than just something the size of a firestick that can just go in the back of any tv and give you access to psplus’s cloud streaming. I guess more people would prefer to play their ps5 games on the toilet than on additional tvs 🤷🏻

Either way, I can’t say I know enough about it right now to know what this does that a phone app wouldn’t. Right now, to me, it sounds more like a controller attachment for a phone than anything…which, with Duelsense haptics, could be pretty good if priced right

@kyleforrester87 I've had a few weird looks when playing the Vita on holiday or when I used to take my son to a soft play centre.
Probably trying to work out what kind of Nintendo it is!

PSP was a bit more identifiable and any replacement (however unlikely) should use that name, IMO.

@Zisssou I just want ps4 portables, so sony don't need to port any games, it can't fail because it's just a version of ps4. Considering steam deck has more power than ps4, I think sony can shrink ps4 tech to portable size.

Day one if true.

Looking forward to the official announcement. Anything else is just a waste of time. Don't want to get my hopes too high.

I might actually splurge on a Logitech G-Cloud mostly for cloud streaming and also remote play, and just bought a Retroid Pocket 3 (like the one Sammy wrote about the other day and uses a better third part PS RP app than the official one.) But....those are all for ALL platforms. Unless it's dirt cheap why would I buy a Sony branded one that probably does nothing but remote play with a single PS5 console when I could buy one that does cloud and all consoles/PCs? I can't imagine this is a real thing. It just doesn't make sense. Multiple third parties already do the same thing better, for less. Sony even officially supports one for iOS, the Backbone. People thought the Logitech one was silly for the price, and that does a dozen different services built in, PLUS local RP. A single-platform one is a terrible product unless the price makes it a cheap accessory. Given it would have to cost more than a $70 DS5, I don't see that.

@Matroska
When I was in Japan 10 years ago was actually surprised to see so many people gaming on 3DS on subway trains etc. not so much vita though, think I was the only one!
That said I’ve seen a few people using Switch on trains here in the UK over the last couple of years. Personally I would only take a handheld on longer journeys like flights or really long boring train rides. I have a steam deck and a switch lite - taking both on holiday with me to Korea next week mainly for the flight but also gaming in the hotel room which is probably the best use of a handheld IMO if you travel a lot. Other than that yeah it’s usually for 30 mins or so in bed!

Unfortunately, everything Sony puts out is overpriced.

No one will play $299 for a Remote Play device.