The PlayStation Portal, aka the PS5 Portable, will be available on November 15, 2023. But surprise, it’s already a hit with pre-orders.
Sony will close the 2023 page with two big launches for PS5 owners. Obviously, the release that will interest the most people is that of Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. A highly anticipated total PlayStation 5 exclusive which should break records, and allow the manufacturer to add even more millions of consoles to its counter. But the Japanese firm will also stand out with the availability of new hardware: PlayStation Portal. A peripheral that leaves a lot of players doubtful, and yet…
The PlayStation Portal is being sold like hot cakes
PlayStation Portal arrives on November 15, 2023 and pre-orders are available in France and the rest of the world. But at first glance, the appeal for this remote player, which allows you to stream PS5 and PS4 games, is not identical depending on the region. For example, in France, you can easily go to any site to reserve a copy. Whereas elsewhere such as in the United States, but especially in Sony’s native lands, the reception is much warmer.
As one account noted X from a Japanese user, PlayStation Portal stocks were sold out in Japan in record time. It took merchants (Amazon, Bic Camera, Sony Store, etc.) just twelve hours to sell all the pre-orders.
A tsunami ? It seems like it, especially since at the time of writing these lines, the PlayStation Portal is also out of stock on Amazon US. It is even one of the best-selling products ahead of the DualSense Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 Limited Edition controller. A surprising success insofar as the PS Portal does not make players dream that much, especially when you have to spend €219.99 to own it. The lack of support for cloud gaming is also another factor that blocks some.
The PS5 Portable a victim of its success, scalpers or something else?
The PlayStation Portal therefore seems to be clearly a victim of its success, even if we do not know the number of units allocated to resellers. Maybe it is really substantial, or conversely, maybe it is reduced. But despite some mockery, there is ultimately a demand. In reaction to this PS Portal out of stock, two Reddit members highlighted their family configuration to explain their purchase. “I pre-ordered it. For those who have a busy life with a wife and children, it’s a chance”. “I just had a child and now I only play with my Steam Deck. The portable console is the solution for parent gamers ». In Japan, portable devices are also extremely popular.
In short, beyond the criticisms, the PlayStation Portal seems to have valid arguments for some players. But this “PS5 Portable” can also suffer from a phenomenon that has caused harm to the home console, scalpers. “To be taken with a grain of salt because Japan still has a serious scalp problem with the PS5” precise Genki_JPN. It’s difficult to get an idea of the success presented by this flow of pre-orders, but the PS Portal is currently unavailable in the land of the Rising Sun.
If you haven’t followed, the PlayStation Portal is physically a portable console, with a DualSense controller on either side of the 8-inch 1080p 60fps screen, but which does not allow you to run PlayStation 5 and PS4 games natively. The principle is to stream your titles from your PS5 to this PS5 Portable. A remote player device or Remote Play in other words.