Sony has updated the PlayStation Portal in Japan, releasing a new handheld that maintains many of the same features as the original, with one key difference. The revised gaming handheld now includes internal storage.
That signals a big shift away from the brand's original vision for the device. The PS Portal we know in the US and UK functions as a remote player first and foremost, streaming PS5 games from a console (or separately via a PlayStation Plus Premium account). It's still one of the best PS5 accessories, but with the PS6 expected to launch alongside its own handheld device, there's one line in Sony's official announcement that brings this internal storage under the microscope.
"With an eye towards future functionality," the PlayStation Japan blog post states, "the new model includes additional internal storage."
It's that future functionality that has ears pricked across the industry this morning. Sony states that more information on this mysterious storage is incoming, with details surrounding the feature still to be "finalized." However, it's one of the first official statements we've had linking Sony's current lineup to its future handheld ambitions.
What that storage will be used for in the existing PS Portal remains a mystery. With no listed upgrades to the internals, it would be pretty difficult to consider Sony running games directly from the Portal handheld in its current state. We also don't know how much extra storage is under the hood.
Just after launch, it was discovered that the existing PlayStation Portal has 6GB of free space floating around. Including the storage upgrade within the announcement, and citing future features, makes it seem like there's a chunkier drive being added - rather than a few extra gigs to support a larger Android OS update.
The new PlayStation Portal launches in Japan only and, like the Midnight Black PS5 announced last month, it's pretty locked down to the region. It can only be set to Japanese language and requires a Japanese PSN account to run. That said, it will be available to pre-order in the region from November 13, at the same ¥39,980 price as the regular model.
- PlayStation Portal | $249 at Amazon
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