Sony may be adding their portable handset to the new Playstation 4 console, if rumours are to be believed. According to several sources, Sony will add a small touchpad to the Playstation 4 controller, but new rumours have the screen to be around the same size as the PS Vita.
The PS Vita is a pricey portable gaming console, but Sony may take out all the horsepower and just make it a controller that works with the main console. This will drop the price to about $75, still quite expensive for a controller.
This could be a good move for Sony, the PS Vita, while commercially unsuccessful, was reviewed very well and many praised the device as one of the best handheld gaming platforms out right now. The only problem was expense.
Of course, major protesters of the old dualshock controller being changed will get into a rage about this. The Playstation 4 controller could be the second push to the duo-screen gaming, which the Wii U started.
As with the Wii, motion control became an accessory both Microsoft and Sony put money into. Microsoft more so with Kinect – both were quite large failures for the company and not many development studios bother adding motion control.
It could be said that Nintendo are somewhat leading the change in accessory gaming, although in actual fact most of the ideas Nintendo has previously come up with have failed to kick off in the gaming world.
The Playstation 4 controller is still highly debated, but if we see a full revamp of the design to almost match the PS Vita design, we could see a whole new gaming experience.
Gaming could be portable and work on the TV. You could play your games at home and on the journey to work. In our view, this is a good move for Sony, although they should still offer the classic dualshock controller for gamers that enjoy that experience.
Of course, Sony could add the PS Vita to the list of accessible devices that work with the Playstation 4 console. This means you connect to your account and then can play all the games on your Playstation 4 account on the portable device.
We will have to wait and see if this rumour holds and value, for now, we would take it with a large pinch of salt. Sony is hosting an event on Feb 20, where they will likely reveal the Playstation 4.