this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 51 points 1 year ago

I think they misunderstood what about the steam deck is making it popular

[–] [email protected] 48 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Sony making their own Wii-U tablet but with less functionality?

Seems like a great idea, totally worked out for Nintendo

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Didn't the Wii-U mostly fail because most people didn't know what it was? The marketing and name were terrible and plenty of people thought it was just a Wii add-on or something.

The console itself was actually pretty cool, playing Wind Waker on it was great.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

For me personally, Wii U was the worst console purchase I've ever made lol. If it wasn't for Smash, Mario Maker and Nintendoland with friends every once in a while I never would have turned it on. I honestly had way more fun with the Vita.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Maybe it's because mine is modded but I get a lot of use out of my Wii u. My switch on the other hand, collects dust.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Honestly, dumb as this sounds, they can't lose. It's not a platform. There's no infrastructure. It doesn't even do cloud streaming, for some reason; it is 100.0% dependent on your hardware and your network. If Sony went bankrupt tomorrow, this gizmo would still work. If the hardware's sold at a comfortable profit and they're not gambling anything on its success, why wouldn't they launch this ridiculous object? They don't care if you don't buy it.

It's not a handheld. It's an accessory.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Well they can lose if they are stuck with unsold inventory. Also r&d costs that need to be recouped.

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[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago (5 children)

Playing on it so someone else can watch TV is great but has no value outside your home if it relies on your PS5. For gaming like this I will stick with the Switch.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Feels like PlayStations version of the Wii U not the switch

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Except without the GamePad's uses for giving one player exclusive information in local multiplayer or the touch screen actually being used in games.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

There's a a hands on post that says it will work outside the house. It just needs to be on a wifi network still.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Not to mention all the same utility can be had with say a small TV or computer monitor and like a HDMI switcher for a little over $100. Maybe less if you find a good deal. I had a Wii U. The gimmick of the controller screen got old fast and it sucked pretty hard overall. Not looking to retry that failed concept.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Even comparing it to the WiiU, at least some games took advantage of using both screens.

This is just the tablet as a single screen, with none of the utility.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yup. That and, if a little more distance or wireless is needed, you can remote play to android/ios devices via PSPlay w/ dual sense and 3rd party controller support.

This is basically the non-techie or expensive taste version of the remote play experience as the WiiU screen added more functionality than mirroring.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I use my Switch exclusively for this. If this handheld can eliminate lag, I'd love to get it. But it's priced a bit too high.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I already use Chiaki on my Deck to play my PS4/PS5.

Sometimes my wife is using the TV for something else. Sometimes I want to be out on the porch, or in bed. Sometimes I just don't want to put my glasses on.

This thing has a better screen and, for PS5 in particular, better controller features than the Deck.

It's a bit pricey, but not as bad as I was expecting. If it goes on sale I'll be tempted to grab it.

Weird that PlayStation named their device the Portal and valve didn't though lol.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Oh my God you idiots just bring back the Xperia Play how hard is that???

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Genuinely as hard as "bring back the NGage." Nobody wants to buy a smartphone that's also a console platform. There's no three-year contract required, and AT&T doesn't get to micromanage the dashboard, but it's still two wildly different commitments for no sufficient benefit. It means being stuck with a wonky smartphone on a longer console lifecycle and overpaying for a console with all the limitations of a smartphone.

By contrast - this is a controller with a screen in it. That's all. Why wouldn't they sell that? What's the downside, for them? You buy another accessory priced well beyond its material costs, you provide all the electricity and electronics necessary for it to do anything, and they don't care if you ever play games on it. It's not lashed to the success of yet another online store. It's not even a vehicle for recurring subscription fees. It's a dongle for another toy. They have no incentive to force it to catch on. If it doesn't sell - they'll just stop.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's been over a decade since Xperia Play, and two since ngage. The market has changed, people are now spending a grand on phones, gamers are now buy some very expensive hardware for their hobby.

The biggest hurdle would actually be the Google Android rules about accessing Play Services on a device that would also need its own store for PlayStation branded games.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Don't recall mentioning price as an obstacle.

The fact people are buying expensive-ass phones is an obstacle to any console trying to be a cell phone or vice-versa. Phones already play modern-ass video games. Any new iPhone is surely more capable than a Switch. Who's going to be swayed into buying some custom Sony bullshit just to access an entirely separate wallet vacuum?

If Sony was going to release a handheld, it'd just be an under-powered PS5 variant, as a Nintendo Switch knockoff. AMD would be happy to provide appropriate chips.

[–] mee 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think the issue is always going to be games. Who wants to make games targeting such a small userbase? Half of the Android games don't even have good controller support (looking at you Genshin/Honkai)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I feel like Sony is the kind of company with enough muscle to get them to add controller support.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (11 children)

For 100€ more you can get a steam deck. Just saying

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (5 children)

PlayStation Portal is the ideal device for gamers in households where they may need to share their living room TV or simply want to play PS5 games in another room of the house.

Okay I can see there being a niche there, mom and dad want to watch a movie but Jr wants to play games. I don't know if that's a huge market, but okay

According to the description, PlayStation Portal is only a Remote Play device and will not allow access to cloud streaming of games on PlayStation Plus Premium. As a result, in order for the PlayStation Portal to function properly, players must own PS5 hardware.

This however seems like a massive lost opportunity. Like Steam Link I assume you could choose which device to stream from, and with companies being huge on the "reoccurring revenue" train this seems like it could have added a ton of value to the device and at the same time increased their subscriptions. It would have gone from a "at home only toy for a niche market" to "pretty much anyone who has a PS5 at home and/or travels"

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

There are definitely times when either my kids or my wife is watching something and I'd rather be gaming so I think I'd probably use something like this. However, last time I tried a remote play solution from Sony the lag was brutal, so I'm a bit skeptical.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Can one use the cloud streaming via their PS5?

Edit: also I don't think it's that niche. I see this being a common occurrence in any household with only one high end TV and more than one person who wants to use it. The price point isn't much more than a controller and a screen to begin with. They should sell the remote play hardware without the screen (just hdmi out) and controller (just include a bluetooth chip to allow controller pairing) at a lower price point to appeal to a wider market (cause portability in the household seems less useful, but just using another TV seems more common)

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It certainly is a common occurrence, but I don't see many households dropping another $200 on top of the cost of the PS5. If this existed back in the days, my parents would have told me to either play something else/go outside, or move the console to my room.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Kids aren't the only ones with gaming consoles. And I already countered the idea of putting a console on a different TV.

Again, the price point may be high, but it's literally not much more than the cost of a screen plus a controller.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

They are just talking about you not being able to stream ps3 games. That's all they are saying.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My experience with steam link was.... Really bad. I also tried the stadia, terrible. Unless things have changed very recently streaming game tech just isn't there yet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Streaming steam has gotten better, but it really depends on the game. I'd never play a twitch shooter like counter strike on it, but before the Deck I'd stream the Witcher from my home PC to my tiny travel laptop and it was playable. Never as a primary driver though

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I've used remote play to play a casual / non-story game while watching Sports or some other background noise show on my TV more times than I can count. This is perfect for me.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

So you need a $500 console to use a $200 handheld streaming device that doesn't have bluetooth so you probably will also buy a PS Link capable headphone that'll cost another $200.

Those are some big bucks to avoid using steamdeck or switch.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

It’s intended for people who already own the €399 console.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Yes, I think you could use this to play Koei Tecmo’s Dead or Alive series.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I see a lot of comparisons to steam deck but none to Xbox.

You can literally use any phone or tablet for the same function as this with an Xbox, in addition to cloud streaming most game pass games without needing an Xbox at all.

If we saw Microsoft releasing an identical device I bet there wouldn't be a single person defending it.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You can also use any phone or tablet to remote play on PS5.

What you’re buying here is convenience. A dedicated device with the exact same controller setup as an actual PS5, with the same features (haptics, triggers) and a nice screen with basically plug and play setup.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

The article doesn't seem to mention what OS this has, but if the earlier leaks are correct and it's android, you could even use this to do that very same Xbox streaming.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

I was on board with this for 150, 200 is just too much for it though

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

im more interested in the ear buds they announced. planar drivers for $200 or the over the ear with a mic for $150 are good deals afaik.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

What I haven’t seen anyone mention yet: Since the Remote Play protocol is already reverse engineered (since there are open source remote play clients like Chiaki), it would not seem difficult to create a 3rd party Remote Play server for use on any PC. You could use this to stream your PC games on.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

There's no way that Sony of all companies could have charged less money for it. Goes to show how aggressive Valve priced the Steamdeck.

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