Sony has finally revealed their mysterious Project Q handheld device that had been rumoured for months now.
We had discussed the possibilities of an upcoming Playstation handheld, and we had heard that Sony was working on a cloud gaming device.
Would cloud gaming or a device that simply streams content from our Playstation 5 be our first choice in a new handheld from Sony? Nope.
But it would seem that Sony has opted for something that could leverage the power of the existing PS5 console rather than a new device that plays its own media.
Sony’s Project Q
The new Sony cloud gaming handheld was revealed during their Playstation Showcase 2023.
Between the numerous game trailers, Sony’s Jim Ryan appears to discuss how we play our games.
It was here when they gave us our first look at the physical design of the new “Project Q”.
In terms of the look of Project Q, it’s exactly what had been rumoured: A Playstation controller cut in half with a giant screen in the middle of it.
Many on social media have called this low effort on Sony’s part. And I agree with that sentiment.
It was mentioned in the reveal that this is a device that streams games over WIFI from your Playstation 5.
Surprisingly, they did not choose to give us any new details about this handheld. In fact, they didn’t even give us an official name.
Impressions
While this official reveal is a bit exciting because it was a long time coming, it was also quite disappointing.
And I am not the only one who felt that way, because my social media feed is full of negative comments about the reveal.
A quick scroll through my timeline got me comments like “looks pretty rough”* “It will have DualSense features, but I’m not sure if that will set it apart from other handhelds (or you know, just using your phone + controller)”** and “I think it looks dumb as hell”***.
[ *RetroHandhelds **RetroGameCorps ***BobWulff ]Not exactly the excitement you’d want from the handheld community.
Even Sony describes this as an “accessory”, if we are to take into consideration their chosen Youtube video title.
Many gamers had hoped to see what would be essentially the next PSP from Sony. And what they gave us was a glorified controller.
It still needs the PS5 to do anything at all. You’d still need to own the PS5, have the game on there, and I believe actually have it turned on as well.
So you might as well just play on there.
The Project Q really just leaves us feeling like there was an opportunity to make something new and great, and it was used on… this.
Sadly, not the exciting new iteration of the PSP we’d been hoping for.
Anthony has been a video game lover ever since he can remember. He became a fulltime nomad in 2018, living throughout most of Asia. He focused his passion in retro gaming and began creating a game for the Game Boy Color while living in Nara, Japan during the 2020 pandemic. He is now in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where he spends most of his time gaming, going on long walks and meeting as many stray dogs as possible.
