It only took a few days for Sony to sell out the pre-order units of PlayStation Portal, its upcoming “handheld console,” in the Japanese market. The pre-order period began on September 29, and against all odds, the stock in all major chains sold out within hours. PlayStation Portal was announced by Jim Ryan, the current president of Sony Interactive Entertainment, who also announced his resignation for 2024 just days ago, during this year’s PlayStation Showcase. From the start, the press and part of the public were quite skeptical of this peripheral, which, although it allows us to enjoy our PS5 titles via streaming, cannot run them natively.
The news of the sellout comes from the outlet Essentially Sports, which specifically references the initial skepticism from the press and the public regarding the launch of this product. Despite the initial doubts, Sony has managed to sell out stock in Japan, but it hasn’t stopped there, as sales in the United States, England, and Germany have also exceeded expectations. At the moment, there are no official figures on the number of units sold, so we cannot be sure whether this has been a major success for the Japanese tech giant or if the quantity of available units was relatively low. On November 15, we will find out, as this will mark its official global release.
Features of PlayStation Portal
As for hardware, it includes all the key features of the DualSense wireless controller, such as haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. It features an 8-inch LCD screen capable of running images at 1080p and 60 frames per second, ensuring visual quality that meets current demands. It also includes a 3.5mm audio jack.
Since it’s a remote gaming device via streaming, it’s absolutely necessary to have a PS5 and an internet connection via Wi-Fi. That means you can forget about enjoying your favorite games on the subway or in the mountains. Another limitation of this device is that it cannot run games that require virtual reality headsets or games streamed through cloud services. This means the number of games available to us will be somewhat limited.
