Sony is reportedly working on a new PlayStation Portable device which aims to be a standalone piece of hardware to play PS4 games on. This is not the first time we have heard about this PlayStation Portable unit. Back in February when rumours swirled regarding Microsoft’s SteamDeck competitor, reports claimed Sony was also “looking into” developing its own unit.
According to Russian journalist Anton Lognivov, who has accurately leaked a number of previous PlayStation announcements, the new PlayStation Portable is officially in development at Sony.
Lognivov does raise some concern over what he has heard about the hardware. He says the device is being developed only to play PS4 games. So essentially, it will act as a portable PlayStation 4 handheld. It is too early to predict whether or not Sony will launch “exclusive” titles for this hardware but at this time, it is designed as a PS4 portable.
The leaker says that the majority of PS4 games are already playable on SteamDeck and other handhelds through official platforms and emulation. So developing a piece of hardware like this seems like a waste of time and resources.
Lognivov says that retail chains and partners who have heard about the new PlayStation Portable are sceptical about it. However, he also suggests that Sony might be withholding information about the device. Likely until more details are available.
“By the way, I can confirm that Sony is preparing a new PSP for release, but damn – there are only PS4 games in the launch lineup, which are generally available on PC, and therefore on SteamDeck. Retail chains, by the way, are quite sceptical. Either Sony is doing something completely, or they are still keeping secrets from their partners.”
Previous reports claimed that this so-called PSP aims to launch alongside Sony’s next-gen console – the PS6. If that is the case, locking the hardware to PS4 games only might make this a more “retro-grade” device than a modern piece of tech. It will essentially play games two generations old. Not sure how appealing that would be for the consumer.
Lognivov, however, did not back the claim of its launch window up. So the reports seem to be coming from two very different sources at this time.
Source: ResetEra
