It’s Heating Up

The PlayStation Portal is getting people ready for the next native PlayStation handheld. Not only was it a device that’s been a big success. It allowed Sony to dip its feet back into unknown waters where its Japanese counterpart is having more success. It’s the success they’ve wanted, especially in Japan. It means that it provides a platform for them to really set their sights on the native version.

Cloud gaming is becoming incredibly important. However, there is no doubt that native is the most popular way to play games at this moment in time. I actually believe that the next few years are going to be dominated by new handhelds. They’re becoming more important than ever before. Sony has a great advantage in the sense of how it innovates and takes things on board from the success of the PS5 and Portal. However, Nintendo is still king in terms of content and how they’ve balanced their entire portfolio to take advantage of that platform.

Sony has anime locked down, however, and that is something that Japanese audiences really appreciate as well. It’s even becoming more important in western culture, and they really could take advantage of that. The interesting thing will be how they manage their studios and how they tie it all together at Sony. That’s the final piece of the jigsaw puzzle for Sony to solve.

When Microsoft comes swinging with whatever handheld device it has. It’s going to be interesting just how innovative they are with it and how they utilise PC and Xbox. Both are one and the same now anyway. How it fits around Game Pass and how they take advantage of their own strengths in the market. Because ultimately, each is going to offer something for everyone. I truly believe that.

Is there room for this many handheld competitors because it surely is heating up? There sure is. Because there is an audience of gamers out there now that demand to be playing on the move and play their way, they’ve become accustomed to that with the Switch. This could also do wonders for Nintendo as well because the competition and improvements in power will mean it has to continue to compete and innovate itself.

Personally, I think the uptake in handheld and people playing that way will only go up from here. The living room console is awesome. It’s just the next generation is more mobile, and chasing that casual market is like striking gold in this industry. Remember the Wii? That happened with the elderly. Could handhelds be the next generation focus point? I think so; it’s not getting crowded for no reason at all.

The PlayStation and Xbox handhelds might be a few years away yet. That’s what makes the Switch 2 announcement all that interesting. Because it’s ushering in a new generation of potential competition, when it gets announced, we’ll know a lot more about where that side of the industry is heading.