There’s a patent that resurfaced these days, coming from Sony and hinting at a potential response to the Nintendo Switch. The PS Vita is long overdue an upgrade and that may come in the form of a big gaming tablet/phablet.
The PS Vita didn’t sell well and it didn’t get enough games when it debuted back in 2012 to make it a sure hit. The Sony patent shown above dates from 2015 and has been made public recently. It’s actually not that far from the Nintendo Switch, except for the fact it replaces Joy Cons, with mechanisms more similar to a PlayStation controller.
The patent describes a central screen unit with “pronged controller grips” on the sides. The device feels more like the Razer Edge Pro Gaming tablet than the Nintendo Switch, though. Of course, a patent doesn’t mean that the product will actually get made, since Sony has other new gear to take care, of like the PS VR. With PS Vita selling only 15 million units, which is nothing compared to the predecessor (PSP) 80 million units, it’s hard to risk so much on a new format.
At least if Nintendo Switch makes it, it will show there’s room for such a device.
