Tag: PS Vita

Introducing PlayStation Portal: Project Q Gets a Name and a Price

PlayStation Portal, the Sony device we knew as Project Q, has been officially confirmed with price and features.

Although PSP and PS Vita were considered failures by Sony’s standards, they were both resounding successes for the gaming community in terms of what portable consoles should be. These two devices, now considered cult classics, garnered the favor of an audience that, while they didn’t manage to penetrate the mainstream in the same way Nintendo’s consoles did, set a precedent for understanding portable gaming that paved the way for other devices, such as the Steam Deck.

Now, in an official post on the PlayStation blog, Sony has unveiled the details of its streaming console that, until now, we only knew as Project Q. Officially named PlayStation Portal, it will cost €219.99 and will be released at the end of the year. However, there is still no official release date or information on when pre-orders for the device will open.

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For those who are not familiar, PlayStation Portal is a device designed for playing PlayStation 5 games that we own through streaming in a portable manner. These games will not function independently, so we will need both a PlayStation 5 and an internet connection to play them. Sony has referred to it as a “remote gaming device,” which is exactly what the PSP and PS Vita application was called that allowed us to play PS3 and PS4 games via streaming on portable consoles. This underscores the connection between both concepts.

In any case, its similarities are closer to the DualSense than to Sony’s much-missed portable consoles. With an 8-inch LCD screen, haptic feedback, and the same functionalities as the DualSense controller, it will run games at 1080p and 60 frames per second, as long as the game allows for it.

In addition, PlayStation Portal will come with two peripherals. On one hand, the Pulse Elite is a new version of the PlayStation 5 headset, now offering lossless audio and an integrated noise-reducing microphone. On the other hand, the Pulse Explore are in-ear headphones that will also feature microphones and noise cancellation, aiming to provide a premium experience on a portable system. Both peripherals will cost €149.99 and €219.99respectively. And, similar to the case of the PlayStation Portal, we still don’t have a release date for them.

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Unstoppable Momentum: Game Kickstarter Funded in Just 60 Minutes, Surprises Backers

We’ve already seen many success stories on Kickstarter, but this spiritual successor to Patapon, the mythical PSP game, takes the cake and by far.

Sony has two of the greatest handheld consoles in history in its repertoire. PSP and PS Vita are true engineering masterpieces that, if they ended up failing, it was neither due to a lack of great games nor because the consoles were anything less than extraordinary in every way. The lack of support from the Japanese company had much more to do with it, something that becomes increasingly evident as we see how they are trying to (badly) resurrect that idea even today. It is not surprising, then, that games that lived and died on those platforms now return, embraced by the love of a passionate community.

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That’s the case with Ratatan, a game created by Hiroyuki Kotani, the mastermind behind the cult PSP game called Patapon. In Patapon, players controlled a group of creatures through button presses that, when timed correctly, gave them different commands. To advance, attack, defend, or execute any tactical move, players had to follow a rhythmic composition using buttons and associated syllables, creating a unique and charming gameplay style.

Ratatan is the spiritual successor to Patapon, with a markedly more pop, animated, and beautiful art style. Recently announced, its Kickstarter campaign was launched on August 1st. As expected, the funding has been an absolute success.

Seeking 127,164 euros to fund their project, they achieved that amount within just 45 minutes of its launch. At the time of publishing this note, they have already reached 544,921 euros with still 30 more days in the campaign, ending on September 1st. A remarkable achievement!

For those curious, the rewards for backing the Ratatan Kickstarter campaign start at 44 euros, which grants access to the beta, the game’s Discord community, and a digital copy of Ratatan. For just nine euros more, at 53 euros, backers can get the physical edition as well. The highest reward tier allows backers to become an NPC in the game and costs approximately 4,133 euros. However, it seems that if you were considering this tier, you might be out of luck, as there were only two available, and they are already sold out.

With an estimated release date set for April 2025, there is still some time before we can play Ratatan. Nevertheless, its funding is already secured, and this spiritual successor to Patapon, one of the best PSP games and one of the most original games of its generation, will undoubtedly find its way to our PCs and consoles in the future.

Some of the links added in the article are part of affiliate campaigns and may represent benefits for Softonic.