I can’t believe this is $200

[Plouffe]

The PlayStation Portal isn’t Sony’s first attempt at putting the PlayStation experience in your hands, but it’s the first time they’ve built a device that’s ONLY capable of streaming from a living room console. Is it worth the price or have they created $200 worth of eWaste?

 

 

Buy a Sony PlayStation Portal: https://lmg.gg/Xf07h

Buy a Sony DualSense Wireless Controller: https://lmg.gg/6uR5Y

Buy a PS5 Slim MW3 Bundle: https://lmg.gg/ps5slimmw3

Buy a Backbone One USB-C PlayStation Edition: https://lmg.gg/GvSPm

 

Purchases made through some store links may provide some compensation to Linus Media Group.

 

 

[marcgii]

I have to say, this new kind of ad Youtube allows is a load of crap.  It shows up even if you have premium.  It's only a little less worse than the traditional banner popups. 

I think I've disabled them by setting "Show in-video info cards" to off.  Which isn't ideal because I'm pretty sure that also disables the popup video icon that appear in the upper right corner.  Or did they remove that as feature?  

 

 

[Quackers101]

yes you can believe its 200 (and 200 is not just the base price), it does feel like E-waste but a good screen, if sony can just disable the device at will too.

controllers for console is overpriced junk, as some of them are more expensive than old ones and breaks easier (not all).

wifi version DO make a difference, not just speed, wifi 5 for a handheld streaming device lol.

Not able to use it's bluetooth, geez and makes the steamdeck look so much better consider it's bulky size and battery life compared to just streaming.

 

Also many claim to have bad connection with this device, and mostly just sitting infront of the wifi or playstation itself works, that it can have sensitive signal, so... very doubtful on the device or the proprietary nature of sony and the extra latency it could give when trying to do things a bit different.

 

with some conditions that "10ms less" from OFDMA and BSS coloring technologies, 6E could be more expensive but it is just the extension needed for wifi 6.

https://info.support.huawei.com/info-finder/encyclopedia/en/WiFi+6.html

 

hard to find real world results but take these claims with a grain of salt

https://www.wi-fi.org/beacon/rolf-de-vegt/reduced-latency-benefits-of-wi-fi-6-ofdma

Edited November 21, 2023 by Quackers101

[VinLAURiA]

So can we all finally admit that the Wii U was a good idea that deserved to sell far better and get far more support than it did?

 

Because I've been waiting eleven years for that vindication.

[Middcore]

1 minute ago, VinLAURiA said:

So can we all finally admit that the Wii U was a good idea that deserved to sell far better and get far more support than it did?

 

Because I've been waiting eleven years for that vindication.

 

I thought the consensus was always that it had potential and Nintendo just biffed the marketing and didn't really ever make a case for it or utilize what made it unique.

 

"Deserve" is tricky.

 

[kuraai]

It has been mentioned but you know what was also less then 200$? The Wii U controller, which was essentially a better in almost any way except range.

 

Anyway aside from missing bluetooth support, ps cloud support and missed opportunities for local playing of lighter games (maybe psp?)...

 

The main thing this review misses as do most other reviews: Many normal non-tech savvy consumers will see this thing buy it and likely get a stuttery laggy low quality stream. Why? Because most people have a bad Wi-Fi setup. Their PS5 connected to Wi-Fi, low reception in another room. Why wasn't this tested?

It seems this was tested in pretty ideal conditions, close to the PS5, which was likely connected to ethernet, but this was not disclosed.

 

This whole device is so niche and instead they could have easily done so much more with it. It's just a bunch of missed opportunities.

 

Oh yeah and one more thing, repairability is not mentioned. And it's seems to be terrible, this device is just intended to be replaced once something happens with it. AKA as also already mentioned E-Waste...

[Si3Rra_7]

They ought to sell a portal plus with an OLED screen, HDR, wifi 6, bluetooth, bigger battery, a damn browser. 

[silentdragon95]

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who immediately thought "so basically, they made a Wii U controller, but worse?"

 

It's a bit of a shame too since it could be so much more useful if Sony had opened the device up just a little more. I mean, come on, it can't even stream from Sony's own online game streaming service? What the hell? Not that it would be all that useful with not having a browser for signing into public WiFi-networks anyway

Another seemingly arbitrary limitation appears to be that you can't stream anything but games from your PS5, so if you were hoping to use the nice OLED screen to watch some YouTube or Netflix, well, you're out of luck. Somehow, Sony has managed to make a device that is even more artificially limited than the Switch, and Nintendo isn't exactly known for their customer friendly practices.

 

As is, I can see why some people (like Linus) have a usecase for this device, however I believe that in most cases people who'd want to use this already have another handheld, rendering the PlayStation Portal pretty much redundant. I get that it's priced well considering the hardware, but the best hardware doesn't help if you can't use it properly.

 

The only real advantage besides the good ergonomics it has is that it streams from your PS5 on your local network, so even if your internet at home is crap, you could use this to play PS5 games without having to use the TV - assuming your WiFi is good enough (which is questionable). Other than that it seems that literally any other handheld and a cloud gaming service of your choosing offer a much better value (especially considering that you wouldn't need to purchase a PS5).

[Lord Szechenyi]

11 hours ago, Middcore said:

Nintendo just biffed the marketing

Woashi!

It's a Double Yoshi, Exploshi!

 

[Middcore]

29 minutes ago, Lord Szechenyi said:

Woashi!

It's a Double Yoshi, Exploshi!

 

 

Thanks, I just cringed off the planet. I am floating in space.

[VinLAURiA]

10 hours ago, Lord Szechenyi said:

Woashi!

It's a Double Yoshi, Exploshi!

 

The Western marketing for the Wii U was a travesty. It completely failed to do the thing justice and to this day I have no idea what they were thinking.

 

Especially because the marketing was actually pretty good in Japan and - what a surprise - it actually remained the top-selling Gen8 home console there until some time in 2016, I think. PS4 only finally overtook the Wii U in Japan as the Wii U was nearing end-of-life.

[maplepants]

On 11/21/2023 at 4:16 AM, VinLAURiA said:

So can we all finally admit that the Wii U was a good idea that deserved to sell far better and get far more support than it did?

 

Because I've been waiting eleven years for that vindication.

I tried so hard to love my Wii U, but it was only any good if you used a pro controller or the TV or the tablet by itself (like the portal). What people disliked about it was the obviously poorly thought out experience of using the touch screen as a controller. Much like the DS the secondary screen was almost exclusively used for information you didn't to see anyway.

 

The portal gets it right by not pretending it will ever be anything than a second screen for your PS5 and by being an optional add on. If the Wii U had been a second screen accessory with the console sold stand alone as the Wii 2, it would have been a hit. And that's what we have here with the PS5 and PS Portal.

 

I've seen lots of posts on Mastodon calling it the "Dadstation" and I think that between parents, and teenagers there's probably a good chunk of PS5 owners whose time that could be spent gaming and time the main TV is available don't always line up well.

 

I don't own a PS5, but I do plan to get a Logitech G Cloud as basically a dedicated Steam Link device that does exactly what the PS Portal does (plus play NHL94).

[VinLAURiA]

2 hours ago, maplepants said:

I tried so hard to love my Wii U, but it was only any good if you used a pro controller or the TV or the tablet by itself (like the portal). What people disliked about it was the obviously poorly thought out experience of using the touch screen as a controller. Much like the DS the secondary screen was almost exclusively used for information you didn't to see anyway.

 

The portal gets it right by not pretending it will ever be anything than a second screen for your PS5 and by being an optional add on. If the Wii U had been a second screen accessory with the console sold stand alone as the Wii 2, it would have been a hit. And that's what we have here with the PS5 and PS Portal.

 

I've seen lots of posts on Mastodon calling it the "Dadstation" and I think that between parents, and teenagers there's probably a good chunk of PS5 owners whose time that could be spent gaming and time the main TV is available don't always line up well.

 

I don't own a PS5, but I do plan to get a Logitech G Cloud as basically a dedicated Steam Link device that does exactly what the PS Portal does (plus play NHL94).

We must have not been playing the same system, because "poorly thought-out" is the last thing I'd use to describe the way the GamePad was integrated. The games which actually bothered trying to utilize the GamePad properly (sadly, mainly Nintendo games and little else) and even simply navigating the system software showed massive potential for what could be done by bringing multi-screen experiences from the PC to the living room, especially with that second screen being a touchscreen in the palm of your hand. The notion that the second screen should only ever mirror the main one for remote play does a disservice to the capabilities of the tech.

 

Don't take the way the Wii U got snubbed by everyone as an indictment on the hardware concept. There was plenty else which went wrong that led to its poor sales, and I highly doubt making it a bog-standard console with a basic controller would've helped the system any when the GameCube did exactly that and sold just about as poorly. Making the GamePad optional would have guaranteed no one would have ever bothered trying to utilize it, because non-standard features never get touched. Even PSVR proved that, with a less than 5% attach rate among all PS4s. Less sales than even the Wii U itself.

[maplepants]

On 11/22/2023 at 6:01 PM, VinLAURiA said:

We must have not been playing the same system, because "poorly thought-out" is the last thing I'd use to describe the way the GamePad was integrated. The games which actually bothered trying to utilize the GamePad properly (sadly, mainly Nintendo games and little else)

I think the fact that Nintendo was able to easily port all their big games from Wii U to the Switch almost makes my point for me. 

 

If the Wii U gamepad were an important part of the control scheme than these ports would not have been possible. But it was possible, because the Wii U's gamepad was (in TV play mode) just a big controller with a screen you could completely ignore. 

 

I played through New Super Mario Bros U on the Wii U and on the Switch and didn't miss the gamepad at all on my Switch play through. 

 

Super Mario Galaxy's Switch port feels way more out of place than 3D World. That's the difference of missing system specific controls.

 

On 11/22/2023 at 6:01 PM, VinLAURiA said:

even simply navigating the system software showed massive potential for what could be done by bringing multi-screen experiences from the PC to the living room, especially with that second screen being a touchscreen in the palm of your hand. The notion that the second screen should only ever mirror the main one for remote play does a disservice to the capabilities of the tech.

I don't know about that. I really liked the way ZombiU used the second screen to raise the tension as you lose situational awareness by doing inventory stuff on the gamepad. But I thought the menu navigation wasn't very good. Maybe that's because it had to work docked with a pro controller, but still.

 

From my experience with the Wii U gamepad it was at it's best when it was a second screen for gameplay that left your TV available. Like the Portal.