Senior VP for PlayStation Portal Tries to Explain Why It’s Needed

The reasoning for the creation of PlayStation Portal doesn't sound as good as the executives may think and we've got an interview that details it.
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Playstation Portal Looking Suave
Image: Sony

In an interview with Impress Co., Ltd., Hideaki Nishino, Senior Vice President and Head of PlayStation Platform Experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), talked about the reasons behind the release of the PlayStation Portal.

During the interview with AV Watch, Nishino said that the PlayStation Portal is designed to provide users with a more immersive and convenient way to play PS5 games. He said that the device is perfect for people who want to play PS5 games on the go or who do not have a large TV in their living room. Nishino also said that the PlayStation Portal is a way for SIE to reach a wider audience with PS5 games.

Sony already makes TVs, so I don’t think the wise choice was to make a handheld that isn’t its own platform. You can buy a 30-inch TV or Monitor for around $100, and that removes the need for a handheld. This also doesn’t look very portable thanks to the weird side controllers.

The PlayStation Portal is a new handheld gaming device that was released on November 15, 2023, for $200. It is a remote-play device that allows users to play PS5 games on their mobile devices. The device has an 8-inch LCD screen, a DualSense controller, and a battery that can last up to seven hours.

For something that was meant to be more open to the public, it seems like a very niche device to buy. I don’t think it was a good idea at all if the intention was to open it to more players. Sony could have used this kind of money on R&D so they could make mobile games or something. I normally love PlayStation and most of their decisions but hearing the reasoning behind the creation of the PlayStation Portal is crazy to me.

Xbox Game Pass is incredibly cheap at $15 a month for the highest tier. I use it and it’s a smooth and seamless experience. It doesn’t even require an Xbox, you can play the games on your phone or PC and play on the cloud. PlayStation Portal doesn’t look like a great challenger to Xbox Game Pass in the least bit.

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar

Jorge A. Aguilar, also known as Aggy, is the current Assigning Editor.

He started his career as an esports, influencer, and streaming writer for Sportskeeda. He then moved to GFinity Esports to cover streaming, games, guides, and news before moving to the Social team where he ended his time as the Lead of Social Content.

He also worked a writer and editor for both Pro Game Guides and Dot Esports, and as a writer for PC Invasion, Attack of the Fanboy, and Android Police. Aggy is the former Managing Editor and Operations Overseer of N4G Unlocked and a former Gaming editor for WePC.

Throughout his time in the industry, he's trained over 100 writers, written thousands of articles on multiple sites, written more reviews than he cares to count, and edited tens of thousands of articles. He has also written some games published by Tales, some books, and a comic sold to Telus International.

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