Take your PlayStation 5 (PS5) video games out of the house and play with them without having to move your bulky console. This is the meaning of the announcement made by Sony on the night of Wednesday to Thursday with Project Q.
Behind this name is the officialization of a rumor that was less and less one for a few months. The Japanese manufacturer, several years after the end of production of the PS Vita, is making a new foray into the mobile gaming market.
A little bit like Nintendo's Switch allows, the goal of Project Q, a provisional name, will be to facilitate mobile play. This expansion of the PS5 will be a kind of improved DualSense, the PS5 controller. Project Q will consist of a screen that will replace the central part of the controller.
Jim Ryan, president of Sony interactive entertainment, described the object as a "dedicated accessory that will allow streaming of any PlayStation 5 game." It will be "launched later this year." The screen will be 8 inches, or about twenty centimeters, HD quality, he added at an event called PlayStation showcase.
Project Q will be based on the remote play feature. This option allows you to control a PS5 or PS4 remotely using a phone or computer. Project Q will be the accessory dedicated to this way of playing.
Several conditions before playing
But it is not strictly speaking a real portable console. Several limitations limit it to the role of accessory and prevent it from being a truly independent device. Already you have to have a PlayStation 5 console because Project Q uses the games that are installed on it. Buying a Project Q alone won't be enough to play. Then, since this device uses the remote play feature, it requires a wifi connection to remotely access PS5 content.
Finally, the home console must not be turned off, but at least in a standby state allowing it to connect to the Internet. Project Q and the console will be able to communicate with each other, making streaming gaming possible on the portable device.
Having a PS5, buying Project Q, leaving the PS5 on standby and connected, having wifi there with your Project Q: the conditions for using your PS5 toy library on the go are cumulative. And there is one last uncertainty to be removed: the price, which has not yet been revealed.
