‘We should have built a PSP 2', admits former PlayStation boss
And Sony might be doing exactly that
🤷♂️ Former SIE CEO Shawn Layden has admitted Sony should have made a PSP 2 over the Vita
👍 He argues that all the device needed was one more analog stick
😬 Instead, Sony focused too much on features that added too much cost, such as an OLED screen and its rear touch panel
🙏 Rumors indicate Sony could return to the handheld market with a companion console to the PlayStation 6
There have been a lot of rumors over recent years that Sony is working on a brand new handheld, and a former PlayStation boss has weighed in on the product’s development.
Former Sony Interactive CEO Shawn Layden recently gave an interview to PIE where he remarked that Sony should have made the PSP 2 as opposed to trying something new with the PS Vita.
In the interview, he noted that, “I wouldn’t be the first one to say it, but instead of the Vita, we [Sony] should have made PSP 2. And for PSP 2, we just wanted one more stick. One more analog stick. That’s all we needed.”
Layden continued that the “biggest strategic mistake” for the Vita “was the proprietary memory stick”, rather than opting to use SD cards as Nintendo’s 3DS did at the same time.
He contends that it would have been much better for the Vita to use a standard format, as they were ubiquitous when the Vita was released, being in phones, cameras, and otherwise.
Likewise, Layden thinks that some of the Vita’s originally innovative features, such as the rear touch panel and its OLED screen, weren’t necessarily worth the added cost it put on top of the original handheld.
Layden’s comments are particularly pertinent, as Sony has recently teased a potential return to the handheld market in a recent Q&A with investors, while the rumor mill has spun on this subject for some time.
These have stated that an upcoming Sony handheld console could be a companion to the upcoming PS6 and work like the Nintendo Switch 2. It could also be more powerful than an Xbox Series S, with Sony employing a custom Zen 6-based AMD APU and 24GB of LPDDR5X memory to boot.
Up next: PS5 games will no longer include a disc from January 2028, as Sony opts for a digital-only future
Reece Bithrey is a journalist with bylines for Trusted Reviews, Digital Foundry, PC Gamer, TechRadar and more. He also has his own blog, UNTITLED, and graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in International History and Politics in 2023.