Sony launched its PlayStation Portal device late last year following plenty of scepticism about its appeal.
Many seem confused by the device early on as it didn’t fit into an easily classifiable slot – despite appearances, it’s not a handheld gaming device (ala Steamdeck, Switch, or the PlayStation Vita) to take on the go.
It’s more accurately a PS5 accessory or peripheral (like a controller) – a remote play device for playing games around other rooms of one’s house, in bed, or when someone else is using the TV where the console is plugged in.
Reviews for the device also complained about some obvious drawbacks (no OLED screen, no Bluetooth, no cloud streaming), and wondered what the use cases for the device would be and whether it would sell.
On the latter front, it has been a big success. In an interview with GameFile, PlayStation’s VP of product management Hiromi Wakai revealed that though they won’t share numbers they will say that demand for the device exceeded their expectations from the start and continues to do so months later.
Retailers have reportedly encountered significant stock shortages of the device since it launched in November, mirroring supply issues with the PS5 back in 2020. Wakai says Sony will be “shipping more units consistently” in the near future with production of the device running smoothly.
Talking about the device’s genesis, Wakai says they all knew going in this only had niche appeal and so understood the early sceptics:
“From the beginning, PlayStation Portal was intended to be a product best suited for people with specific needs and those who want to play in a specific way, so the reactions after the announcement were very much within our expectations.
The original idea of the PlayStation Portal remote player came from our goal to provide high-quality console gaming experiences in the players’ hands.
We presumed that we would be able to achieve this goal at an affordable price by utilising a technical solution often referred to as ‘Thin Client’, while maintaining the full features of a DualSense wireless controller and a screen that is capable of displaying content with crisp image and text.
The initial discussions of this product started out from the question of how to expand the PS5 console game experience, not launch a separate handheld device.”
The device, which requires a high-quality router/home wifi setup, has certainly carved out its own niche in the gaming community and is being seen as an especially popular device for busy fathers to the point of it being nicknamed the ‘DadStation 5’.
Source: BNN
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