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Possible new PlayStation Portal model pays homage to the Vita's OLED

While much of the focus on PlayStation's next steps is the PS6 and PS6 Portable , the two-year old PlayStation Portal could be getting a revamp according to those pesky internet rumours.  Update : Hints at pricing are around £/$250-299 for the new model, but everything remains deeply in rumours territory. Presumably the goal is to hit the 10% (currently 7%-ish) adoption rate among PS5 owners, something that would make it a bone fide hit gadget.   The recent February  PlayStation State of Play  saw no announcement. But, PlayStation needs to make Portal more a core member of the PS5 family, rather than the distant cousin that most of its appearances suggest.  As the improvement in connectivity and streaming tech, proven by many gamers enjoying their PS5 or PlayStation Plus streamed content from around the world, an updated Portal Pro could be on the cards.  Possibly featuring a 120Hz display and an OLED screen in honour of the mighty Vita, that'd be coo...

Sony Vita sales still stalled, Q2 results glum

Sony has just announced its second quarter results for the consumer tech giant, with the mobile division earning almost three times what the games division managed. Declining sales were blamed on the PS2 and PSP, while an $8 million loss in the gaming division was blamed on that Vita price cut. Forecasts were slashed 40% suggesting Sony is still in trouble, despite stemming the losses of cash in recent years.

The PSP and Vita sold just 800,000 units in the quarter to the end of September, that's up a little on 600K the previous quarter. If you want to be positive, you can add 150,000 thanks to the Vita 2000 launch in Japan and Killzone in the west to kick start the new quarter. Vita TV and God Eater, and Tearaway in the west, will easily double or triple that, and the Vita/PS4 harmony should drive things further. Sony expects to sell 5 million this year, leaving 3.6 million to go over six months, not sure if that includes the TV unit. 

All that activity is still small beans compared to the success of the PSP driven by GTA, Gran Turismo and Monster Hunter. Just one of those titles appearing on Vita might change the game, but Sony seems happy to sell it slowly but surely for the next few years. The success of Sony's smartphone biz might make portable redundant soon enough if the new wave of controllers takes off.

Currently playing on my Vita/PS3/PS4/PS5


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