Last Wednesday, Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming dropped a bombshell article that got the internet talking. And it didn’t have much good to say. According to Tom’s report, Sony is actively developing a new handheld gaming device to try and compete with the success of the Nintendo Switch and more recently the Steam Deck. If you would wager that means Sony is trying to come up with a successor to the PS Vita that can run modern games, you’d be making too much sense. Instead, Tom’s report suggests that they are working on project Q Lite, a remote play device for the PS5. As in, you need an internet connection so that your PS5 can run the game at home and then send the needed visual output to your handheld. Design wise, it’s supposedly similar to a PS5 controller but with a big screen in the middle. Very Switch-like in my opinion. Now as you might imagine, people were not too thrilled about this leak for a myriad of reasons.

To start, a constant internet connection? My guy that’s the entire reason people enjoy handheld consoles in the first place, you can take them on the go and play anywhere without worrying about hooking it up to the internet. I don’t want to need to rely on connectivity while I take my Q Lite on the bus, plane, or car. Requiring connectivity with your PS5 seems to be at complete odds with one of the core advantages of portable devices in the first place. Secondly, it was already hard enough for people to acquire a PS5 due to both availability and finances. As inflation continues to dominate, people are saying there’s no way they’d pay more than about $60 for a device whose only purpose is to let you do remote play (a feature many Android devices can already perform for free). Furthermore, what reason is there to really buy this right now? Valve’s Steam Deck has garnished great attention for being more technically capable than the Switch while still remaining portable. At this point there’s not much need for this product outside of exclusively Sony fans who want to play PS5 games remotely and don’t already have a cheap way to accomplish that. I can’t imagine that’s a very big market. Honestly once you become an adult, I think the value of ANY handheld device drops drastically. I’m not taking a Switch with me to go shopping, go to the gym, to work, or the strip club. I’m busy shopping, working out, being productive, or throwing $1 bills at those respective places to stop what I’m doing and play a game. I’ll do that later, at home, in a comfy chair.

Now this is the true power of portability.

All of this being said, it’s still a mere leak so everyone should keep their pitchforks safely stored in their sheds for right now. Much can change before the product is released, IF what we’ve learned before is even entirely accurate. It also makes me think surely this has to be misconstrued somewhat, because based on the community’s reaction I don’t see many buyers lining up for this. Maybe it will end up being a real handheld console that can actually play games once Sony themselves come out to officially announce it and explain their strategy here. Did you hear about the Q Lite? Do you think this product could be useful even if it can only perform remote play? How much would you pay for it, if anything? Grab your PS Vita, slide in a game cartridge, and remember the glory days in the comments below!