Interesting that the article doesn’t mention the Steamdeck and the explosion of portable PC gaming devices as well. The Switch opened the market, but the Steamdeck expanded it and showed there was room for competition.
Sony is reportedly planning a Nintendo Switch-style PlayStation 6 portable | VGC
Submitted 5 weeks ago by theangriestbird@beehaw.org to gaming@beehaw.org
Comments
SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 weeks ago
theangriestbird@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
That’s because that market is still niche. It’s “exploding” relative to the population of PC gamers, but outside of that circle, people still find the Switch more appealing than any of those options. Certainly there are people out there for whom the Steam Deck is obviously better than the Switch, but those people are a niche within a niche. Small fries compared to the Switch audience that Sony is eyeing.
mohab@piefed.social 5 weeks ago
Yeah, isn't the Switch very close to becoming the highest selling console of all-time or something?
PC handhelds are booming, but the Switch is on a completely different level.
Ashiggan@eviltoast.org 5 weeks ago
Revival of the Psp, fucking finally?
Faydaikin@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
At this point in time, I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
Venus_Ziegenfalle@feddit.org 5 weeks ago
But instead of exclusive titles it’s all ugly ports, basically like 90% of the Switch library.
megopie@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
It’s a very interesting trend, it seems like companies are convinced that this form factor is the future, that consumers will choose something with a portable option over something stationary.
Like when the steam deck and switch came out, they both did well, I think the switch did well mainly on the grounds that it was the Nintendo device for that console generation generation. But they’ve hardly taken over the market.
I think the console industry kind of just wrote off the mobile market because they were late to the party, despite it being immensely profitable and a huge market segment. It seems now they’re becoming interested in it again, and I wonder if it’s due to there being an unmet demand, people who want to play games outside of their living room, but who are turned off by the state of games on mobile.
Like, the mobile games market is just a swamp, and people who want a more meaningful experience than a time waster puzzle game, or a cash grab gatcha game, are kind of left out in the cold. Maybe this is the legacy games companies seeing an opportunity, all it would take to smash that opportunity is for the mobile phone games market to start being… not awful.
theangriestbird@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
the problem with the mobile game market is that it is aggressively opposed to any kind of premium experience. Time and again, the market has proven that they are not willing to pay very much upfront for a premium gaming experience. Games that try to charge a “premium” price like $10 or $20 tend to suffer for the choice to charge that much. You’ve seen attempts to address this problem (like Apple Arcade), and they’ve seen moderate success, but it doesn’t seem to be changing the overall shape of the market. App stores are still full of free-to-play slop because that is what gets the most downloads and plays and positive reviews.
brygphilomena@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 weeks ago
I find a big impetus to mobile games (on phones) is the interface. Touch screens absolutely SUCK for most games. Holding a rectangle is uncomfortable.
Its interesting to me that playstation isn’t new to the mobile market.
They’ve had the accessories for the psOne to add a battery and monitor, the psp, and the psvita. They are one of the companies I’d be interested in another mobile platform.
megopie@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
How much of it is that no one is willing to pay 20 or 30 dollars for a mobile game, and how much is it that anyone willing to pay is unable to find them, or has just given up on the prospect because of lack of visibility.
Of course the mobile store fronts have no incentive to increase the visibility, because a free to play game is liable to make them significantly more money in the long term due to their cut of each micro transaction.
brainwashed@feddit.org 5 weeks ago
I think people just go for the cheaper option which coincides with being a mobile form factor. If Sony thinks they can be more expensive than the switch they are mistaken.
SpookyBogMonster@lemmy.ml 5 weeks ago
It’s a very interesting trend, it seems like companies are convinced that this form factor is the future, that consumers will choose something with a portable option over something stationary.
I at least like the idea that a console can act as both. I just can’t get behind this form factor of “handheld” consoles that are so large. Like, yeah, I can hold it in my hands. But a steam deck, or even a switch aren’t exactly easy to carry around.
Not in the way that my old DS or GBA could. Hell, there’s a reason I do most of my handheld gaming on a Miyoo Mini Plus. The idea of taking a full console experience with me, on the go, was a neat idea when I was 10. But those kinds of games just don’t lend themselves to riding the bus, or sitting in the doctors office waiting room.
megopie@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Something like the steam deck or the original switch were probably on the upper end of meaningfully “portable” in that sense, and even they can’t really compete with smartphones on that front. But with the currently available chips/batteries/screens, you cannot really get much smaller without starting to limit the games that can be played on them.
There is a whole other conversation to be had about game optimization and the push in large parts of the games industry towards more power intensive games. If the PC/console games space had an incentive to better optimize for lightweight devices, that could change. Especially if something shifted on the smartphone storefront market that created more demand for better less exploitative games there.
Megaman_EXE@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
I would really like to see a company go back and make unique handhelds. Handhelds have become portable consoles, which is cool, but I miss the unique games that were built around limitations or unique hardware like the DS and 3ds. Also I would really like a handheld that doesn’t hurt when you hold it for extended periods of time.
ranandtoldthat@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Playdate definitely takes advantage of its limitations
Megaman_EXE@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Ohh man i want a playdate! They’re kind of expensive, but they seem so cool.
Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 5 weeks ago
…so a portable PlayStation. docking isn’t really anything different from just plugging it in.
stupid articles just using company names to generate clicks. literally nothing to do with tendo
SteposVenzny@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Handhelds that you can optionally plug into a TV to use the TV screen for aren’t exactly the norm.
slauraure@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Is this gonna be another huge handheld?
miguel@fedia.io 5 weeks ago
So, another Vita?
Too little, too late, probably. I love my Vita and my PSPs though, so I might be interested. If it's affordable.
theangriestbird@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Not exactly. “Nintendo-Switch-style” means it would be part of the PS6 stack, like any game that releases on console PS6 would also have to work on handheld PS6. And docking=the device runs in a higher power mode.
miguel@fedia.io 5 weeks ago
Yeaaaaa, I'll believe it when I see it. That sounds incredibly unlikely.
Deyis@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
What exactly are they looking to be able to achieve, though? How are they expecting to make a powerful handheld machine which improves on the PS5 AND the Steamdeck?
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 5 weeks ago
About time. The PSP and Vita were beautiful devices that gave a great playing experience. Sony obviously knew how to make a good portable, and throwing that away was a big mistake.
Midnitte@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Vita was a little too ahead of it’s time - trying to use psn without consistent network traffic was awful.
You shouldn’t need to reconnect just to see if you have messages. Hopefully they don’t require propriety memory or abandon the unit months after release either
chloyster@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Imo the biggest failure of the bits was the egregiously priced proprietary memory cards. Outrageously expensive for very little space. Made the value proposition compared to the post price drop 3ds (which used micro SDS) a no brainer unfortunately
tekeous@beehaw.org 5 weeks ago
Vita would have been goated if they had waited a few years and included a 5G data plan with PlayStation Plus on it