Subj : Sony may be considering the handheld market again, but please don
To   : All
From : TechnologyDaily
Date : Tue Aug 27 2024 21:45:05

Sony may be considering the handheld market again, but please don't let it be 
a repeat of the PS Vita

Date:
Tue, 27 Aug 2024 20:40:03 +0000

Description:
Sony may be thinking about reentering the handheld market - it could compete 
with the Steam Deck as long as it doesn't repeat the mistakes of the PS Vita.

FULL STORY
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Remember when Sony released portable gaming systems that, at their peak, 
stood toe-to-toe with the handheld king Nintendo? Apparently, Sony remembers 
as well, at least according to a reported statement from the tech giant. 

Well-known leaker, Tom Henderson , claims Sony is paying very close attention 
to the current handheld market due to its success with the PlayStation Portal 
.. The Portal indeed has been a surprise hit since its release back in 
November 2023, with Sony stating sales exceeded its expectations and it 
reportedly becoming the best-selling PS5 accessory in 2024. 

Its not a bad bet considering how the PC handheld market has been booming in 
recent years due to Valves very successful Steam Deck , which was then 
followed by other strong entries like the Lenovo Legion Go , the Asus ROG 
Ally , its follow-up the Asus ROG Ally X , and more. And Sony is a veteran, 
knowing how to craft an incredibly successful portable that sells well in the 
millions, a la PSP. 

However, there is one major blemish on Sonys track record, one that caused 
the tech giant to pull out of the market and stay out since then  the PS Vita 
.. What happened to the PS Vita? 

Despite the Vita having incredible hardware for its time (easy to develop 
for, excellent graphics, smooth UI filled with tons of features, and a very 
affordable price point), it soon floundered and failed to live up to sales 
expectations. 

The worst part is that this failure was largely due to Sonys own 
shortcomings. The first and biggest failure was the sheer lack of both first 
and third-party game support. Sony Japan Studio largely carried the 
first-party gaming charge, developing many titles for the portable but other 
than a few scant other ports there wasnt much support on this front. 

Third-party support was also more difficult to come by, as many developers 
chose to release titles for Nintendos 3DS which, despite its far weaker 
hardware, had a much higher install base and therefore would most likely 
return higher sales. And if the library of games is lacking on both fronts, 
what incentive does a gamer have to invest in this system? 

Finally, there was the memory card issue. The PS Vita had very little memory 
in the micro SD card it came with, so buyers were required to purchase other 
SD cards. Not much of an issue, except that instead of making the system 
compatible with literally any brand of SD card on the market, you could only 
use first-party cards specifically made for it, which were marked up several 
times the price of regular ones and rarely went down in price. 

To this day I still mourn the PS Vita, an incredible portable system that was 
mishandled so thoroughly. If Sony does decide to enter the PC handheld 
market, I truly hope it learned its hard-won lessons from the Vita and will 
ensure that it receives proper support without the memory price gouging. 

Please Sony, dont make the same mistake again. You might also like Controller 
grips and thumbsticks have changed the way I play PlayStation Portal sales 
continue to do well It's me, the person the PlayStation Portal is being made 
for



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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/gaming/consoles-pc/sony-may-be-considering-the-handh
eld-market-again-but-please-dont-let-it-be-a-repeat-of-the-ps-vita


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