Sony's PSP 2 handheld can dethrone the Asus ROG Ally X
The new PSP 2 handheld has potential to upset the PC gaming market, as consumer are familiar with PlayStation brand and its many games
🎮 PSP 2 could shake up gaming handhelds in 2025
💿 Sony’s secret sauce: its vast library of game franchises
🕹️ Imagine God of War, Uncharted & Spider-Man on PSP 2
🏆 Asus wins on specs but doesn’t have beloved 1st party games
📆 Just don’t expect a PSP 2 release date until 2025
Sony hasn’t been in the handheld gaming space since it launched the PS Vita 12 years ago and the original PSP 18 years ago, but it has a chance to once again disrupt the portable marketplace with the rumored PSP 2 handheld in 2025.
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Our extensive Asus ROG Ally X review notes that the current “king of the handhelds” crown belongs to Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Asus and its second-gen PC gaming handheld. It’s quite good, with twice the battery life of the original ROG Ally and often besting its competitor, the Steam Deck OLED, in terms of performance.
I know Sony is likely focused on PS5 Pro this year. PS5 Pro pre-orders are rumored to start at the end of next month. But Sony will have an edge when it launches a new PSP 2 – if it actually gives us the one thing it failed to do with the PSVR 2 headset: deliver major games.
PSP 2 games that could make the difference
I want to play God of War Ragnarok on everything from the bus to the subway to an airplane. I currently can’t do that with a PlayStation Portal, which, as a PS5 remote player, requires a strong internet connection to link up to my PlayStation 5 console.
PSP 2 could become one of the most convincing purchases in video game history.
This is where the PSP 2 could become one of the most convincing purchases in video game history. It could have the power of current PC gaming handhelds and the library of PlayStation titles, something no PC handheld manufacturer has access to outside of maybe Valve to a limited degree (they’ve published great, but don’t touch the deep bench of the PlayStation catalog).
10 PlayStation game franchises I want on PSP 2
God of War
Spider-Man
The Last of Us
Uncharted
Horizon
Gran Turismo
Ghost of Tsushima
Ratchet & Clank
Astro Bot
MLB: The Show
The list could go on with even older franchises that haven’t been on the PS5 console: Sly Cooper, SOCOM, Twisted Metal, LittleBigPlanet (Sackboy doesn’t count), and Jak & Daxter. All of these are PlayStation-owned franchises that could be resurrected for the small screen of a PSP 2 handheld, and AUS ROG Ally has none of these besides select PlayStation games that have come to the PC with much later release dates.
PSP 2 would offer more than mobile games
I remember playing the standalone Daxter game on the original PSP at E3 2005. I was impressed by developer Ready at Dawn Studios (yes, the one that Meta recently shut down; this was their first game) and how they were able to fit the charm of a Jak & Daxter onto a PSP handheld that I bought the game on day one. Two years later, they did it again with the God of War: Chains of Olympus on the PSP.
On-the-go gamers will crave similar experiences, considering mobile games today are lackluster. Sure, in my iPhone 15 Pro Max review, I say that Apple’s iPhone hardware can support console-quality games (Resident Evil 4 Remake, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding, and Assassin's Creed Mirage), but they haven’t sold well.
I’d be surprised if Apple spotlights any more when the iPhone 16 release date rolls around. Now contrast that with the fact that Sony sold so many PS Portal units that it became the best-selling gaming accessory of 2024 (so far). You couldn’t easily find a PlayStation Portal restock for eight months. And this is for a handheld that can’t play games offline.
GTA 6 on PSP 2?
We still don’t know if PSP 2 will play its own games (like PS Vita and PSP did before it) or if it’ll play PS5 games at slightly lower graphics settings. My dream is both.
If the new PSP could play PS5 games at lower settings, this would be the ideal way to spend time with the new Grand Theft Auto game coming out in 2015. The GTA 6 release date would fall perfectly with the rumored PSP 2.
GTA 6 isn’t coming to the PC and won’t be on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate any time soon, meaning the Asus ROG Ally X won’t be able to play the biggest game of 2025. GTA 6 would be a huge system seller, both for PS5 Pro (which would give Sony an edge on graphics unless there’s a new Xbox or Xbox Series X Slim by that time) and for a handheld PSP 2 (unless there’s an Xbox handheld).
By this time next year, you could be playing GTA 6 on both ends of the Sony console spectrum: on the highest settings (on PS5 Pro at home) and the lowest setting (on PSP 2 anywhere in the world). You’d never have to leave Vice City.
