PS Vita is still a sought after console and that released in 2011. Sony might be working on a new PlayStation Portable with support for PS4 & PS5 games. According to certain reports, the mystery device codenamed PSP3 can play PS4 & PS5 titles locally, meaning you can play PS4/PS5 games on PSP3 without internet! While still a rumour, it does make sense. Sony might be trying to get back into the handheld console market. Frankly, PlayStation Portable isn’t a major hit. To be fair though, the Portal was never meant to be a standalone console.
What makes this news believable is the recent advancements in the handheld scene with the Steam Deck, MSI Claw, and many other handhelds being able to play AAA games albeit at lower resolutions. By the way, thanks to Twitter handle, TCMF2 for sharing this news along with the ‘alleged’ image that you see above.
PSP3: Specs, Features
While we don’t have a lot of information about this console right now, we can only speculate. For now, it’d be safe to assume at the very least that this console would be able to play PS4 games and select PS5 games natively. But, this unique capability does raise a lot of questions. Before we discuss a few of these, let me remind you yet again that at this point, it’s all speculative, including the existence of such a console even though in early-development phases.
What CPU and GPU will PSP3 have?
This is the first question that comes to mind. PS4 uses the AMD Jaguar architecture while PS5 uses AMD RDNA2 (GPU). Will Sony opt for a miniature version of this architecture or would it choose something that already exists on handhelds, for instance, AMD ZEN 2 on Steam Deck. I am fairly certain they won’t opt for Intel chipsets at this point, keeping in mind the compatibility factor. Their choice of processor will have implications, most often huge for the PlayStation developer scene, More on that later.
The poster does say that the console will have “Access to PS5 titles” through patches to optimise performance. This might mean that Sony would stick with a mid-range processor. There’s also the possibility of AMD coming up with processors exclusively to be bundled with the PSP3. While I am not gaming development expert, I believe that a huge architecture change might not be in the books given the difficulty of porting games.
Design and build of PSP3
Here is an image of the original PSP compared to the rumoured PSP3:-
PSP3 looks strikingly similar to the original PSP. Infact, it resembles PSP more than the PS Vita, if you were to disregard the additional analog stick. If they do stick to this design, it would definitely add to the nostalgia factor, something the PlayStation Classic also tried to build on. Again, it’s too soon to say anything for sure.
Implications for homebrew, jailbreaking and emulation
This is another reason why their choice of processor becomes important. Developers might be able to get a better insight into the working of PS4 and PS5, depending on how PSP3 is designed and built. It’d be a different ballgame altogether if this device is basically a Linux OS with PS4/PS5 emulator built-in. Remember the PlayStation Classic? Long impossible shot though, since Sony would never risk it, since PS4 still hasn’t completely been phased out.
Conclusion
I will keep an eye on any further developments and will report on it. In the meantime, share your views. Would you buy a PSP3 instead of a PS4 or PS5? If yes, what would be the maximum price you’d shell out?
I doubt they will be playable on PSP3 or whatever it is called. Silly rumour. I am sure that Sony wants to continue where PSP was left. I am curious about the physical disc or sd card or something like that. I loved PSP’s UMD dish. ANd I am sure that PSP3 will have ltons of new AAA games and third party. PS4/PS5 games ? I doubt. Maybe PS3/PS4 but not PS5, Absolutely not.
That’s an interesting take. You are right. Raw PS5 games on a handheld seem a bit of a reach. Maybe they mean downgraded patches for PS5 games. As for UMDs, I am not sure if they’d go back to that era. These games would most probably be digital. Most developers and console manufacturers seem to have a soft corner for digital editions. Collectors are probably the only people holding the fort for now.