PlayStation Portal: Sony’s streaming console does not want to compete with the Nintendo Switch

In a handful of days, Sony will market its PlayStation Portal. The opportunity for the Japanese brand to clarify its ambitions with its new device.

While the list of games included with PlayStation Plus in November has recently been revealed, and players have finally been able to discover the first images of the PlayStation 5 Slim compared to the old model, Sony also plans to market a new accessory in a handful of days.

Called PlayStation Portal, this will allow you to enjoy your PS5 titles streaming from a portable gaming screen. If it is obvious that this is not a successor to the PS Vita, and even less of a competitor to Nintendo’s hybrid console, one of Sony’s representatives nevertheless wanted to point out that was the target of PlayStation Portal.

PlayStation Portal: Sony does not see it as an alternative to the Nintendo Switch

In the columns of BBC, Eric Lempel, one of the marketing managers at Sony Interactive Entertainment, spoke at length about the journey of the ninth generation console after three years of marketing. If the representative of the Japanese company took the opportunity to remind people that everyone will be able to find PS5s on the shelves by the end of the year, he also shared some important details on the philosophy of the PlayStation Portal.

Presented in the form of a DualSense with an 8-inch touch screen in the middle, this device is not intended to invade the territory occupied by the Nintendo Switch. As Eric Lempel points out, it is a “ different proposal “, both because it ” requires a PS5 to use it “, but also because she ” uses an Internet connection to send a game’s signal directly to the portable device, rather than via a cable to a TV “.

After the commercial failure of the PS Vita, Sony plays the card of caution

In this interview given to BBC, Eric Lempel concluded by affirming that the main aim of the brand with the PlayStation Portal is to allow those who wish to play on their sofa (or in another room) to continue their game in complete peace of mind while a partner watch TV. A gaming philosophy which is also reminiscent of that of a certain Wii U…

Note, however, that the gaming accessory, which will be available at a price of 219.99 euros, can be used outdoors if the internet connection is powerful enough, promises PlayStation.

For information, the PlayStation Portal remote play device is expected on November 15, 2023 (ten years to the day after the launch of the PS4) in many countries, including France, the United States, the United Kingdom , Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal. For Japan and Canada, you will have to wait until November 29.

Source : BBC