I have always been a fan of portable consoles and it all started with Nintendo Game Boy. Back then my favorite games were Tetris, Super Mario, and Pokemon Blue. When Sony released their first PSP, I was blown away and couldn’t believe that a console can look that good. Even though I played Sega Game Gear, PSP was so different. I really enjoyed having a PSP and I played lots of games. When Sony released PS Vita, I believed that things were taken to the next level. The console had an OLED screen, and it was extremely well built. My main issues were the price of memory cards and the amount of games. Both of the issues can be solved with the upcoming PSP if there is one. When Sony decided not to support the device, I was really disappointed, because I have seen how Nintendo supported the 3DS back then even though most people thought that it would fail.
Seeing my friends and family who bought Nintendo Switch just because they wanted a portable console whenever they travel. What Nintendo did was really a genius move. The consolidated the console and portable market in one ecosystem. Now they no longer worry about developing a game for the home console and the portable one. After the release of Steam Deck, I see my friends and family wanting one, and they think of it as a replacement of the PSP. I believe that Sony still has room in the market, but can be done in a total different way than the PS Vita.
This is what I think Sony should do
- Make the new PSP with the same specs as the PS4 and uses the same operating system as the consoles. This way the development will be consolidated and Sony platform will have a larger user base. If that happens, I will be able to play all the PS4 games and all the upcoming indie games that doesn’t require PS5 power such as Sifu, Stray, Hades, and Ninja Turtles Shredder’s Revenge.
- Make storage expansion very simple similar to the PS5, where they can use something generic not proprietary like Xbox Series X or PS Vita that can be easily bought online like an SD Card or so.
If that happens, Sony will get back the people who played PS Vita and especially the ones who played Japanese games. The user base will be much larger for Sony, and Sony will be able to leverage their PS Plus much better because they are investing in bringing back PS1, PS2, and PS3 games on PS Plus. That should bring more sales to PS Plus and it will make more sense for Sony to invest in having PS3 games downloaded on their consoles. Not only that, with portable consoles, I see each family member having his/her own Nintendo Switch where it isn’t the case for a home console like PS5. It equals to more sales eventually and a larger user base.