What would you like to see in a hypothetical PSP3?

It's easy to argue that PlayStation handhelds have always been lacking, that they have never quite lived up to their promise- that won't be wrong, but it would be wrong to deny that they have also always been awesome. The PSP, in spite of all of its issues, managed to garner a significantly great library by the end of its life, and though the Vita is in many ways a step down, it is still the best handheld ever built, and it does have some great games too.

Now, I understand this question is hypothetical- Sony is out of the handheld market, and after the failure of the Vita, they will not attempt any more handhelds ever again. I get that. But still, let's for a moment ignore that. Let's assume that they do follow up the PS Vita with a PSP3- in this case, what would you want this hypothetical third handheld to be like? What would you want from it?

No proprietary bullshit

Games.

Let's try to keep this realistic, okay?

**** handheld, there is no point for SONY to continue on that market.

ITs too difficult and wastes alot of resources.

Its a catch 22, you make a powerful system in order to attract people and developers, but making it powerful means it will cost too much, the games are too costly to make, battery will suck, people will want console like qquility games and if the developers attempt to do so... its wont be worth the time and money

lolhandhelds. It's not gonna happen.

Handhelds are a dying breed, Sony should spend their time and effort on worthwhile things that actually sell like the PS4 or future PS5.

If they were I'd say they should make a phone/handheld hybrid. It'd be nice to have a phone that could play games with better controls than my iPhone and better graphics too. Also no proprietary hardware bullshit like memory cards. Make it use android OS or iOS (lol, never happening).

So... I'm gonna go out on a limb here, but maybe don't make the handheld absurdly overpowered?

Sony handhelds are a dying breed, Nintendo on the other hand is a different story entirely.

Sony said they weren't making one, and I think it could be their undoing.

Despite it's low sales, fans have nothing but great things to say about the Vita's library, and Japanese developers truly have been showing it considerable support. That's because Japanese people love mobile gaming. If the Vita isn't around, where are they going to be making games? Well, won't be for the PS4. Instead they'll be making games for the Nintendo NX console/handheld hybrid, which IMO could really spell trouble for Sony's PS4 and future PlayStation endeavors if it's successful. PlayStation's biggest edge seems to be that Japanese third parties make exclusives for them because they're the only viable Japanese console, so the PS4 seems to be the only place for serious Japanese gamers to play those kings of games, or so people assume. Well, Nintendo has always had strong Japanese support but it has mostly been limited to the handheld, however with the NX poised to be a hybrid device, I think that will bridge Ninntendo's console and handheld markets into one, and the Japanese developers without the Vita to develop for will flock to the NX. That, plus, Nintendo has never juggled first party support between their consoles and handhelds very well and this will certainly solve that dilemma.

If this is how it plays out, Nintendo can rob Sony of their thunder, they'll just be left with their first party games and the indie shovelware.

Let's face it, the PS4's success has mostly been because of MS shooting themselves in the foot more than them actually making anything new, didn't make any killer apps. They've really done nothing to bring anything new to the table or give gamers a reason to get one. 2016 looks like a year they'll finally pick up the pace, but it's also the year the NX reveals and possibly releases. And if revealed right, can rob Sony of their edge that the PS4 is trying to deliver on in 2016.

If anything, Sony should invest in a portable for no other reason than to protect their console base from getting thwarted.

The official announcement that it's not happening. :p

If they did make one. It would be a smart phone type deal, right? Running off a customized android os, possible partnership to develop hardware with a leading phone company . Would that be the same as just releasing mobile games?

Throwing that out. An open handheld. With the power to play ps3 titles with no compromise at 1080p. A 4k touch screen, and a stronger emphasis on Indies. Like "best version" strong, taking advantage of touch screens, voice commands, facial expressions, and tight controls. Like vr without the helmet, and Kinect without the shit.

Exclusives

First Party support. I might be asking for the moon here.

Nintendo handhelds are dead or on life support outside of Japan. It's all about phones and tablets these days.

54.5 million 3DS's sold 15+ of which was in the US is life support?

Low cost mobile tech with light skinned Android OS. You should be able to use all if not most of the mobile apps you already use.

A quick death.

Use regular Micro SD cards for memories and have R 1,2 and L 1, 2 for controller.

None of that expensive memory card BS for one.

Secondly to have some more interesting exclusives. The Vita had some great games on it, the problem though is that most could be gotten another platform, and whatever exclusives it did get didn't terribly interest me. There was Gravity Rush, but the first game and its sequel are now coming to the PS4. I mean at this point the only worthwhile exclusive on the Vita that I'm aware of is a PS2 remake (P4 Golden). I'm sure it's a damn good remake, but still.

then who will want to get a weak sauce NEW handheld?

Then they should have just kept going with the PSP and not release the VITA.

Yeah... now you are gonna tell me about the 3DS.... please realize that NINTENDO systems are usually the exceptions to logic. Nintendo handhelds have a huga fan base and loyal support, exclusive games that are meant for the system.

- Full SNES backwards compatability
- Full N64 backwards compatability
- Full Playstation catalogue compatability

We'll never see a PSP3 I'm afraid, so if it were to happen, might as well hope for the best !

PSP did SNES/Genesis emulation really well. As well as PS 1 emulation through official, slightly modded means.

Vita on the other hand had a good deal of PS2 games make it over thanks to PS3/Vita collections like GoW and Sly.

PSP3 should be the go to station for any classic game.

Did i say make it 'weakass?' No, I said don't make it absurdly powerful. There is a line to be straddled- the PSP3 can be an improvement on the Vita even a minor improvement, and not be too powerful. And, you know, the exclusive games that are meant for it that you mentioned Nintendo handhelds get? Those wouldn't be remiss either, actually.

Non-proprietary memory cards, clam shell design, games that match the hardware.

Something more of a gaming tablet with apps like this

I don't care how powerful it is, I just want Sony to support it.

They way they dropped support straight out of the gate was disgusting. They have these great ideas they never follow through with like Vita and PSTV.

I really wanted a PSTV, I thought the idea was great, but I heard how badly Sony was supporting it. It's sad.

The memory card issue being resolved and better 1st party support would be ideal.

I'm fairly confident that Sony will stay out of the handheld market. Smart phones and tablets may not have affected consoles but there is absolutely no question that they have had an impact on handheld gaming.

Sony needs to double down on consoles and simply let the Vita coast through this gen. It will generate some business. It's a great companion device to sell on PS+ subscribers. Past that, a playstation handheld will never rise to the level of market presence the PSP did and it's no fault of Sony or even Nintendo but competition coming from outside the traditional gaming space.

Obligatory games post.

A part of me wonders if it's simply impossible for them to personally support a hypothetical PSP3 and PS5 at the same time unlike Nintendo. Haven't bothered counting, but I'd wager Nintendo put more games on the 3DS and WiiU in any single year each than Sony and their sub-divisions managed to put on the Vita in four years.

Support from Sony.

there still place for handheld in the market even thought it might evolve into a niche market

The Vita's hardware and the PSP's library (but a little better).

That would be the perfect handheld. But unfortunately, I don't think Sony are ever going to make another handheld system.

Yup, if they aren't going to do it with 100% of their effort and commitment behind it, dont bother releasing at all. As far as that goes, their memory card prices were way too high and to be honest a ripoff when compared to similar memory cards for camera.

"As a general storage solution for Vita, Sony’s proprietary cards obviously need to be secure. After all, the system will connect with the PlayStation Network, and Sony can ill afford to endure another security breach. That said, the assembled developers do not elaborate on exactly how the new tech manages to be more secure than standard SD cards, or why it must necessarily be so much more expensive."

That isn't good enough to me.

Hardware like the Vita, games like the PSP.

And none of the memory card shit they've pulled, just use SD cards please

They need exclusives and all the buttons that a regular dual shock would have. It needs to confotable for long play. They need to fix the memory card thing. They also need to cater to the cheap f2p smartphone gimmick to get the masses. I know they tried with ps mobile but I think the service was handled very poorly.

This one is easy. Look at Sony's business decisions for the Vita and do the opposite. The memory cards need to be a normal format. They need to make games handheld gamers will play, Buy a couple of RPG and visual novel studios. I don't care. They tried to slam AAA gaming down my throat when I wanted weird niche experiences that thrive on handhelds. You know, like the ones that are keeping the Vita alive right now?

YES! PSP was one of the best gaming device ever. Vita could have replicated that success if it weren't for the stupid memory card. 90% of the people that I talked to without a Vita didn't buy one because of that reason. The other 10% simply was because they aren't "handheld gamers".

highly overprice proprietary > low install base > low support > dead hardware

And people here at SW [lems] say sales doesn't matter.

PSP3 should be a stronger Vita with standard SD cards. It would be the PERFECT console! *loudass UMD suck: $100 memory card suck*

It should be a slim Vita but with a non-yellow screen, and improved L/R buttons.

Sounds petty right? To be honest I'm not sure where else to go from there or what else needs fixing. And this is coming from someone who prefers PSP over Vita. Well, I'd probably get rid of the rear touchpad because that's junk. I'd probably get rid of the front touch and cameras also, but might as well keep them if only games would use them properly. If Sony was serious about its success, they should probably ban many games and only advertise the good ones. Bundle each system with Gravity Rush and Mega Man X4. Instead of making bad games like PS All Stars and then releasing it with glitches if you get the PSN version, and then instead of fixing those issues or removing it from the PSN store and apologizing, put the game in a PSN sale so more people end up with that garbage. Because destroying your own brand is totally awesome right?

One thing I would probably do if I were them is put the game slot on the outside, like DS and 3DS, instead of hiding it away like a memory card. I think that might have been a mistake. Also I would probably release a model with a UMD drive and allow users to choose what folder to download mp3's to, so that they work in Gran Turismo and MotorStorm for PSP. Also, release games. The games don't have to be exclusives. They just have to be good, and cheap. Make PSP remasters, like Fat Princess and Resistance Retribution. Make a Gran Turismo PSP remaster, this time make it not suck. That will sell like hotcakes. But of course that will never happen. Gran Turismo sucked the first time around, it will suck the second time around too.

Or maybe instead of a model with a UMD drive, PSP3 should just be a PSP to begin with. A PSP-4000. Meaning it would come with a UMD drive mandatory and only one analog. But this time it would have a micro usb charging port, an even better screen, improved performance/specs and improved build quality, and a new cart slot so you can play carts Sony would release that would just be ISOs of PSP games dumped onto a cart. And maybe this time the analog is in the style of a Vita analog, just because that has better build quality / durability. "PSP games, but what about new games?" companies would be welcome to develop new games for it that would make use of the improved specs.