{"id":936604,"date":"2026-07-15T13:15:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/936604\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T13:15:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T13:15:19","slug":"the-ps6-sure-sounds-like-a-handheld","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/936604\/","title":{"rendered":"The PS6 sure sounds like a handheld"},"content":{"rendered":"

The video game industry is in turmoil. Microsoft and Sony are starting to pivot to their next consoles, but it\u2019s not looking great: Prices are soaring<\/a>, Sony is killing the video game disc<\/a>, and Microsoft is jettisoning studios<\/a> ahead of the transition. What could entice people to pay?<\/p>\n

On the Xbox front, we genuinely can\u2019t say<\/a>. But on June 5th, Sony dropped an unusual number of hints about the future of PlayStation in an investor \u201cbusiness meeting\u201d Q&A<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This Q&A arrived a month before Sony announced the end of PlayStation discs. But when I reread it with the death of discs in mind\u2026 it hits differently. Let\u2019s walk through it, shall we?<\/p>\n

Page two is where Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Hideaki Nishino drops the first hints (all bolding mine):<\/p>\n

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In developing the next-generation platform, we aim to anticipate<\/strong> changes in how players play and their evolving needs<\/strong>, while making the PlayStation ecosystem more accessible and approachable to a broader range of players<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Those words might seem trite and meaningless by themselves. Isn\u2019t it every company\u2019s responsibility to skate to where the puck is going to be<\/a>? But Sony has a specific idea where that puck is headed.<\/p>\n

The top of page three begins with an investor question about the price of a next-gen PlayStation. But instead of talking about price right away, Sony intriguingly hijacks the question:<\/p>\n

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First, we regard hardware as the base for providing the gaming experience, and by offering products such as the PlayStation Portal Remote Player<\/strong> (PS Portal), we aim to provide experiences tailored to users\u2019 play styles beyond the living room<\/strong>, which has traditionally been considered the primary usage environment.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

First, Sony said the next PlayStation will try to anticipate changes in how users play. Now, Sony\u2019s saying those changes may be about gaming outside the living room, that the living room might no longer be the \u201cprimary usage environment\u201d in future, and it uses a handheld as the example.<\/p>\n

Later, on page five, Sony partly hijacks another question to set the same \u201cbeyond the living room\u201d agenda. Asked \u201cHow can you bring back to the PlayStation platform users who migrated to gaming PCs during the COVID period,\u201d Sony says that \u201cPlayStation has long been strongly associated with the idea of playing in the living room,\u201d that Sony wants \u201cto break away from the fixed perception that \u2018PlayStation equals the living room,\u2019\u201d and that Sony wants \u201ca seamless experience that can be enjoyed naturally beyond the living room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sony also turns the question about PCs on its head: \u201cFor the next-generation platform, rather than simply serving as an alternative to PCs, we aim to deliver value that is unique to PlayStation.\u201d<\/p>\n

What kind of PlayStation is outside of the living room that isn\u2019t just an alternative to PCs? A handheld, I would think.<\/p>\n

Another possible answer is cloud gaming, but Sony throws cold water on the idea that you\u2019ll just be streaming PlayStation games to a phone or PC \u2014 it seems a dedicated handheld is the ticket there, too. Asked about cloud gaming, Sony says:<\/p>\n