The PlayStation Vita is long gone, but Sony is making a return to gaming handhelds — in a sense. At Sony’s latest PlayStation gaming showcase on Wednesday, the company teased a surprise new device that should be coming later this year. Called «Project Q,» it looks very much like a giant display fused with a DualSense controller.
The handheld, which should play all PlayStation games over Wi-Fi, has an 8-inch HD LCD screen and a controller that Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan promised will have all the features of the DualSense that’s standard on the PlayStation 5.
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The price of this screen-equipped Wi-Fi streaming handheld is unknown, and it’s unclear how Sony will position this device. Is it, as a colleague noted, something like a Wii U tablet for the PS5? Is it a home-based local Wi-Fi companion for the console? Can it be used on the go? And can it essentially also double as an everyday DualSense controller with second-screen benefits, like Nintendo’s Wii U once did?
According to a source that leaked the news of this handheld originally, the release date could be late November this year.
Streaming handhelds are a definite trend now, with Android devices like Logitech’s G Cloud and the Razer Edge. It’s unclear how or if Sony’s new handheld will work offline at all, but it’s clearly being pitched as a second screen and a mobile play option for the PS5. Meanwhile, the Backbone One game controller, which has a PlayStation partnership and works with phones to play PS5 games wirelessly via streaming, just announced an Android-compatible model.
A glimpse of the handheld next to the PS5 for comparison.
Sony’s had a lot of pricey PlayStation 5 accessories debut this year. The PlayStation VR 2, a $550 VR headset that’s tethered to the PS5 with a cable, almost seems like an opposite proposition to what Project Q offers. Sony also has the expensive DualSense Edge, a $200 customizable pro controller.
Sony’s second-screen PS5 game handheld does look exciting, though the price isn’t known. A screen that large could make games look great and a full-featured controller would make everything feel as responsive, possibly, as playing on the PS5 itself. Maybe, just maybe, Sony might consider a new Vita someday, too?
