Portal: PlayStation's Handheld Remote Play Console
Portal, the PlayStation handheld Remote Play console, has been revealed, and it costs $199. The PlayStation 5-powered console is named Portal, and it seems to offer a handheld PS5 experience in the palm of your hand. That’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s exactly what I want.
We already knew that the DualShock controller’s key elements like adaptive triggers and haptic feedback would be present in Portal, but now we have a clearer idea of what the handheld looks like, and what its specs are.
According to PlayStation, Portal features an “eight-inch LCD screen capable of 1080p resolution at 60fps,” and it connects remotely to your PlayStation 5 over Wi-Fi. This means you’ll be able to seamlessly switch between playing supported games on the PS5 and playing those same games on Portal.
In terms of gameplay, you’ll be able to play supported games installed on your PS5 using the DualSense controller, but the console doesn’t support PS VR2 games or games streamed through PlayStation Plus Premium’s cloud streaming.
That’s a bummer, especially since it means you won’t be able to play games that support PS VR through Portal. Similarly, it’ll also be frustrating if you have games installed on your PS5 that support streaming through Premium, since you won’t be able to play them using the handheld.
Portal’s reveal comes just a week after PlayStation 5 dev kits were sent out to select studios, meaning that we could end up with some great remote play games on the handheld.
At first glance, the handheld looks pretty good, and it’ll deliver a decent experience. However, it’s the cloud-only limitations that might be a deal-breaker for some.
Personally, I’m not a big fan of such restrictions, as I think PlayStation should allow gamers to access the entirety of its extensive PlayStation library via the handheld. After all, the specific PlayStation 3 cloud library that you can’t access via Portal doesn’t even work on PlayStation Deck, given that it’s been years since Sony switched off the service.
Thankfully, PlayStation has actually addressed the battery life concerns, saying that Portal “is designed to be used primarily with the AC adapter included with the device.” That means the handheld won’t be able to last longer than three to four hours without being plugged in.
The specific release date is still up in the air, but reports suggest that it’ll drop sometime in November. Given that it’ll release during the holiday season, I wonder if it’ll be hard to find.
Alternatively, if you’re desperate to play something on the handheld, you could always wait one more month and play Spider-Man 2 on it instead. Alternatively, if you don’t want to use the handheld for games, you could use the PS5 as a Wii U and leave the TV on instead.
