PS Portal Was the USA's Fourth Best-Selling System in November

selling worse than the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch is NOT an accomplishment. how can anyone turn that into positive press? grasping at straws here. we also don't know how many units they manufactured so again, selling out means nothing unless you have the data. if sony chooses to hide the actual sales numbers going forward then we will know definitively that this hardware is a financial failure for sony.

@Porco How can you be so extremely negative? it's a controller with a screen. How is selling out the product not an indicator of performance? Do you think Sony does no research on how many units it could sell?? It's probably the case they underestimated demand- because if they sold out it means there are now people who want it but can't get one. Every day its sold out is a missed opportunity for profit.

I'm really enjoying my Portal, but I'm having the hardest time finding a case for it. I've bought 2 that I returned for not fitting on the Portal correctly. Not sure why Sony wouldn't have release one themselves.

@Porco I think you missed Sony already said they don't expect to make money with portal, portal is designed to make ps5 money.

@zhoont many people despise this device for obvious reasons. i don't need to go into detail since you likely already know. it would be for the best that it fails so that sony makes a proper handheld that people actually desire next time. learning that the portal sold out is completely meaningless yet many news outlets are sensationalizing that information to portray the launch as being a "success" of sorts. it is premature to believe this device is destined to be anything but a failure so let's not kid ourselves.

@get2sammyb absolutely not. but it is disingenuous to report on the portal in such a way that it gives people the idea that it is some sort of runaway success. if we don't know how many units were produced at launch, we have nothing to go on here — they could have sold out on 100k units for all we know. the tone of the article doesn't seem genuine.

Portal Boys > Vita Boys don't at me.
Holla at my Portal Boys.

@gymratAmarillo sony doesn't need the portal to help sell ps5's though. ps5's were selling just fine on their own before the portal entered the scene so that idea doesn't really add up. gaming enthusiasts will want to play their games on native hardware and casual gamers will have no desire for a portal so who is it really for in the end? this is just part of an agenda to get more people conditioned to game streaming (which will be the next step once digital software becomes the norm and physical media is phased away for good). this is not something i am happy about and will refuse to support.

@gymratAmarillo Sounds like an excuse for low sales to the shareholders to me.
"Oh yeah, guys. We totes planned for this to sell in low numbers, honest. It'll help shift the bestselling console of 2023 somehow."

Currently I’m seeing them online for about 280-300 euros instead of the 220,- selling point, so I guess quite a few people out there still want one. And you know what, for all the things it doesn’t do I still like the concept, and as a dad who likes to game I’d still buy one once they are in stock. It looks like fun and the reviews are okay enough to justify its price point

@Fishface45 yeah, I'm still using the original box, that truth be told, is quite sturdy and comfortable to use, but an official case would be great.

I'm using mine in a brief gaming sessions but regularly, and I am quite satisfied with the product.

@Porco Sony is not using the portal to sell PS5s, no one is going out to spend £500 on a console to buy a £200 accessory. The Portal exists to maximise game time for those who are not able to play the PS5 on the main screen that's it. It complements the games as a service push also should that ever come to pass in any major way. I use the portal when the kids are using the main TV or the wife ect. It's an accessory sold for a reasonably niche market that is selling well. Would I ditch the PS5 for just the portal? No absolutely not but it's pretty serviceable for an accessory and it would appear lots of other people feel the same way.

porco the master baiter

@DeVrede_NL I’d highly recommend as a dad with a 5 & 2yr old. Provided your PS5 is LAN connected to your router directly and you tell the PS5 to connect that way (I initially didn’t!) then it works like a dream! I can now play the games I bought but never had a chance to 🙏🏻😁👾🕹️🎮

@Arthur_Morgan I’ve been taken back how great the portal is as bought to play Cyberpunk away from the TV, as wife doesn’t want me to sit watching me play games.

So far it’s been fantastic and even fast paced games like F1 2020 respond just like your in front of the TV playing.

For anyone on the fence don’t wait it’s Christmas 🎄🙏🏻🕹️🎮👍🏻

I'm just wondering what other systems it was in front of. PS4? Gamecube?

@Luigia Exactly why I really want one, my kids are 6 and 8 and playing Cyberpunk everywhere in the house sounds like fun Thanks for the recommendation!

I love mine. I bought it half expecting to send it back, but since it arrived I’ve probably turned the tv on once.

@Porco
An accessory is generally not going to outsell a console. To think otherwise would be somewhat silly. Not even sure why they are tanking it against consoles, it can’t play games, and Sony themselves said it should be listed as a peripheral.

@Porco
Why would Sony make a native handheld device based on the sales of a console peripheral? Perhaps if it sells extraordinarily well, but still unlikely, and certainly a failure won’t make it more likely for them to make one. You have some very strange thoughts.
This is purely a device to drive PS5 game engagement, which Sony feels will ultimately lead to more game a Microtransaction sales because people will spend more hours gaming with their PS5s through this. Which makes complete sense and doesn’t require each unit to be profit making. Sony already have said they don’t expect it to be.

Can’t tell if Porco is simply trolling or not, but anyone who “despises” a piece of consumer electronics seems like they need help!

@Porco the very fact that people "despise" a device they can simply ignore is just internet at its finest.

@bigkingy beat me to it.

@thefourfoldroot1 but Sony themselves also asked those who are tracking sales to treat it as a console. No one knows why, especially considering that Sony list it as an accessory. Go figure.

Why is an accessory compared to console sales? This makes no sense whatsoever. Are the psvr2 and all controllers in this list of so called "systems"? Also selling out could mean Sony didn't believe in it and didn't produce much.

@naruball Never ceases to amaze me.

What amazes me even more is the typical "WhO iS tHiS fOr?! JuSt UsE a CoNtRoLleR aNd A tAbLeT" comment. Gotta love people who deem anything that doesn't fit their use case worthless trash.

@naruball
You are correct, I completely misremembered. Guess I was filling in fact with logic. Fair enough. But think we can all agree that it isn’t a console.

@thefourfoldroot1 I think this is a rare moment where I can't see anyone disagreeing with that. Other than Sony. Sometimes.

@dschons it's the "me me me" mentality. Some people act like the world revolves around them.

@DeVrede_NL your welcome and good luck finding a hiding place to game on the Portal 👍🏻

it’s the ultimate peripheral if you ask me extends your PS5 into the palm of your hands. Any room in the house, and all that just a pity the screen is so crap I mean the ghosting and that backlight really comes through. All the more when you’ve adapted to oled everywhere else but also it forced my to fully optimise my network as well like nothing else 😅 got em pulse earbuds too, I like em

I had mine for 2 weeks, liked it well enough but it never really worked that great despite wired connection to PS5 and literally sitting 2 ft from my modem. I just sold it on.

@Porco it's been sold out since launch, I think, at this moment in time, you can at least consider the launch a success. Might be a different picture in August but for now, yes, it is a success

I have been unsuccessfully trying to get one since it came out. Sells out in minutes each time. If they had a higher supply, I wonder if it would have been higher on this list. Imagine this peripheral beating out Xbox.

the fourth best out of four?

@SystemAddict
My screen is fine apart from the bloody reflections! Have to be careful where I sit and turn lights off! Colour is great and motion blur not noticeable for me. Best LCD I’ve ever used I think. Not that I’ve used one for a while.

The PS4 would have been 4th otherwise, as other sites have reported it at #4 (likely ignoring the Portal as an accessory), so this is not that much of an accomplishment. Beating out a 10 year old console definitely at least earns it a virtual cookie.

Now, I won't be as negative as some. I'm sure it really did sell fine since it's totally sold out, but I would say to celebrate the fact that it was #4 is a bit much given the fact that the #4 spot is virtually empty otherwise since the PS4 only sold just short of 6,000 units.

Its not a system.

@Porco

Show us on the doll where the Portal touched you.

It's not a system though is it. It's an accessory

It's quite embarrassing that Sony insists on it being classed as it's own system.

@KilloWertz @McBurn @Chapapa “ wondering what other systems it was in front of. PS4? “

My first thought was - What was 5, 6, 7, 8 & 9 b/c there are only 3 consoles so being 4th is the same as being last, so just say it was the worst selling console (even though it isn’t a console).

Didn’t realize PS4 was still being sold so thanks for that. But really if there are only 3 consoles being readily sold and a 10 year old one and you come it 4th, don’t bother mentioning it. When you’re in a 5 way race no one cares about 4th or last. It’s like wasting time arguing whether your team came in 3rd or 4th in pool play, you didn’t move on to elimination, it’s over.🤷🏻‍♂️

I think it’s really cool, but I don’t have much use for it since I have a Steam Deck, Switch and a dedicated TV for my Ps5. I want one, but feel the need to show restraint with purchases given all the hardware I have and a potential new Switch on the horizon…..

@Porco to be fair, your tone is as subjective as what you point out with press "it is premature to believe this device is destined to be anything but a failure so let's not kid ourselves."
You are making your own conclusions without anything to back it up other than your personal views and needs.
I agree the way this news is delivered is a bit weird, but yes outselling PS demand forecast is a sign of relative success for that platform, for what it is. Of course it's not going to beat the top 3 main consoles, and of course, it's ridiculous to laude the 4th place (out of 4... ^_^), but calling out a failure is a bit much at this stage

@Porco to be clear, I am in the same camp as you, not super looking forward to cloud future, but it is inevitable at this stage. And to be fair not half as bad as internet makes it sound. I was convinced lag would be unbearable, but it is actually not noticeable in most of cases I tried (Portal, GamePass streaming)... I have become a fan of testing things in streaming in gamepass and downloading what I like on PS5 ^_^

@thefourfoldroot1 i believe you missed some important information. first of all, sony is indeed documenting the portal as a console and not as an accessory. there's that. now, you mean to tell me that if the portal fails for sony, that will have no bearing on its future plans and the possibility of making a native handheld? the success of the steamdeck and switch will have no influence on sony's future plans? sony makes some foolish and misguided decisions but they don't operate entirely out of a vacuum. the portal is a failed experiment purely based on how inconsistently it performs in various use cases, good internet or not. a native handheld would have been infinitely better for sony and gamers alike. that much is clear. as i already stated in another post, part of this strategy is to ease and condition people into game streaming as a primary option — if that is a future you are fighting for, by all means jump on the train.

@Shepherd_Tallon I believe very strongly that you are right ^_^

I know we don’t have hard numbers, but I would consider selling out almost immediately after launch to be a runaway success. I want one and can’t get one.

True that Sony may have been gun-shy of making too much inventory after the PSVR2, but to not have any of these available even from PS Direct four weeks before Christmas is a huge surprise success. So many more units could have been sold over the last month for Christmas gifts. Clearly the unit is doing way better than planned. And I’m reading near universal praise for it from people who have one. I wish I had one for Sunday football games. Perfect fit to have a game on the tele and grind away on a game simultaneously and during commercial breaks.

@Porco man... why so emotional on this topic ^_^
"the portal is a failed experiment purely based on how inconsistently it performs in various use cases, good internet or not. a native handheld would have been infinitely better for sony and gamers alike."
1. have you even tried it out? As far as I am concerned (playing games for more than 30 years, owning all consoles, playing competitively... I mean as hardcore as it gets), the performance of the Portal is definitely great, and filling a gap. Is it for everyone, no (not for you clearly ^_^), but that doesn't mean one should get angry.
2. do you realize how much money Sony lost last time they tried launching a proper handheld? IF they were consider reentering that space, they would do it very cautiously

@Th3solution I bought it purely for research purpose, and it s been using daily since then... great device if you have a strong local wifi network. Hope you can find one soon

@thefourfoldroot1 it s amazing that a LED screen can feel so OLED... I've been using OLED screen for PC, mobile and TV of course for quite a while, and still cant believe the image quality of the Portal LED screen...

@Kalime78 appreciate your reply. true, it was an emotional response from me. the way this article was written was clickbaity and misleading, as is the case with many topics and issues on this site. while it may be premature to gage the financial success or failure of the portal sales wise, it is also premature to assume that the portal is doing well based on "selling out" if the initial batch was severely limited which it likely was.

we have nothing to go on other than looking at this tech for what it is. if you had done a survey 6 months ago asking gamers what they would prefer from sony — a native handheld or a streaming device, i promise the skew towards the former would be overwhelming. this is a textbook example of telling us what we think we want and then manipulating us with sensationalized news articles in hopes of making something perceived better than it really is to create a false sense of demand. that is the FOMO effect and it appears that many people are victims to this tactic . it won't work on me. also, i will vote with my wallet as always and the portal is the last thing i would spend my money on since that would be telling sony: "yes, sign me up for a streaming-only future of gaming" which is a hellscape i do not want to be a part of. not sure how inevitable that future is if large portions of the united states and canada will likely never have optimized internet access. i have not tried the portal and don't need to because my sample size of reviews on the internet serves its purpose in understanding the product. experiences with the portal is a crapshoot and you never quite know how it will behave.

@Porco ha no worries, I understand your fear... I knew you'd be a reasonable person given your profile pic ^_^

and it's funny you mentionned consumer research... i'm not going to expand too much on this topic, but one could be surprised at how quickly the market and gamer needs are changing. this Pushsquare site audience is super not representative of the entire market, and I can assure you there is a huge streaming market looming.
We won't have a choice eventually, so I understand your fears, but on the positive side, the tech is actually far more reliable than one would think. I encourage you to try it out if you have the opportunity ^_^

Cheers, and thanks for engaging in civil discussion !

4th best selling system?

IT'S NOT A SYSTEM FFS! IT'S A DUMB TERMINAL and totally useless if it's out of communications with a particular PS5!

@Kalime78 absolutely. at heart, i am a "retro" gamer. over the past 3 years, the launch of the ps5 has pushed me further and further away from the AAA space as it is not catering to my interests. an endless stream of sequels and remakes is not doing it for me and certainly not enticing me to purchase a ps5. i will always be a playstation fan since the ps1/ps2/ps3/ps4 are among my favourite consoles of all time, but it is hard to be a fan in 2023 with the current landscape. ultimately, what i am trying to say is, if things fall of a cliff and we find outselves in a world of cloud gaming, i will simply carry on with my endless backlog of of "retro" and indi games to keep my hobby alive and well. i get emotional about this stuff because the gaming industry means a lot to me and i hope it can eventually self correct. Cheers!

@naruball that is true. but it is difficult to turn a blind eye to something that means a lot to me. the current state of playstation and AAA space at large is not exactly in a good place for a myriad of reasons. the last thing i wanted to see was a streaming handheld from sony that nobody asked for (literally, nobody asked for it and it came out of left field). can we at least agree that a native handheld would have served the majority of playstattion gamers better?

@Porco
You are right on two points only, that I forgot Sony requested it be counted as a console (although this makes no difference, it is clearly not a console), and that an exclusively streaming future will be awful (luckily that’s a long way off being practical).

In everything else I can’t agree with you. I mean how does selling a product that isn’t a handheld console impact the decision of whether to sell a handheld console?

Plus you’ve misunderstood the point about the hardware not needing to be profitable as long as it increases software sales, which it will clearly do through people finishing more games and spending more time in them buying MTX. This is how a console manufacturer makes their money and why everyone is chasing engagement figures.

@CharlieChooChoo right. because 12 months ago, you were writing to santa asking for a sony streaming device? as if that thought ever crossed your mind and it was something you actually wanted? you sound like a blind loyalist that cannot think for yourself. lost in the FOMO trend huh?

@thefourfoldroot1 i still don't understand your point. swap the portal for a native device and you can have a PROPER handheld that serves all purposes and benefits everyone. what is the problem in that? the cost of the portal is already 50-60% of the cost of a native handheld. sony is cheating its loyal customers with this shallow cash grab device and people like you are supporting it for reasons unknown.

@CharlieChooChoo clearly nothing will convince you that sony made a blunder here and released a half-baked toy. i am a long-time playstation fan but i can see when sony drops the ball. your blind loyalty to a corpration is concerning. it isn't too late to you know, think for yourself and come to your own conclusions. but until then, give sony your money in exchange for a cloud-gaming future that will work against you in every way imaginable.

@Porco
I don’t really know what you are talking about. I’m saying I’m willing to pay £200 in order to be able to play my PS5 for the next 5+ years when the TV is in use or when I’m in bed. It’s much better than the £100 backbone and infinitely better than cradling a phone to my dualsense. Especially as the connection seems to be much better. I’ll also get occasional use at family members and maybe when staying in hotels if I hot spot it to my phone. Sony have also said streaming is possible directly from their servers, so that could be an option moving forward.

You seem to be saying that this is stupid, and instead I should want to pay an extra £200 in order to be able to buy games to play natively on it.

Don’t get me wrong, despite it inevitably stretching Sony game production very thin, I’d buy a native handheld if one was available and it let me stream from my PS5 too (or directly connect without the need for going through the router, which would be even better) but saying this device is pointless is pure hyperbole. I’ll get loads of good use from it and get more out of my PS5.

But regardless, whether it succeeds or fails by your or Sonys standards, it will have little impact on whether Sony thinks a handheld is viable. Something like the steamdeck or switch will be more of an indication as those are actual handheld gaming devices.

I never saw the Portal in stock, so I was not able to buy on for myself and another for my brother as a Christmas/Boxing Day gift.

@thefourfoldroot1 i am simply saying that far more people would gladly pay an extra $200 for a native device (that can also do streaming) as compared to the potential market for a streaming-only device. a native device would kill 2 birds with one stone — sony garners more sales and revenue and you please the interests of all gamers (the vast majority who prefer gaming natively and those who want to stream.). we're talking about tens of millions of units sold as compared to a couple million that the portal will likely achieve when it is all said and done. sorry, but i cannot fathom how the decision was made to alienate 90% of the core users in favour of a sreaming device and all of the faults that comes with it. it makes no sense.

@Porco
Maybe the same reason most platform holders don’t split software sales between two platforms promoted to the same user base? I mean Sony tried cross purchase with VITA, but it wouldn’t work for big games as the handheld couldn’t play them, and it just didn’t take off.

Now I don’t know where your info comes from regarding how much more money Sony would make with a native unit, but maybe you should tell Sony this vital information rather than us here? Perhaps Sony invested millions but forgot to do simple market research? Or, maybe, you should calculate how much more it would cost to produce the device and run studios to make games for it (or the opportunity cost of divert devs from the far larger PS5 userbase) and see how many games sales would be canabalising PS5 software sale.

@thefourfoldroot1 as steamdeck has already proven, developers absolutely do not need to develop games specifically for the device. native pc releases generally scale down rather well to the steamdeck with little to no effort. that is the amazing thing with current day technology — you essentially have a medium performance computer in your pocket. when you factor in a 7" 720p screen as opposed to running games at 1080p/1440p/4k you are saving on significant performance requirements. i have no doubt that the vast majority of ps5's software lineup would run just fine on such a device only with some caveats to the resolution, framerate, loadtimes and texture quality which would be understandable of course. the entire ps4 library and below would run perfectly fine. so no, sony would not run into the same problem that they faced with the vita in requiring seperate development teams which i agree was a huge hinderance to its success at the time.

let's not overlook the simple fact that part of the intent behind the portal is to condition a new generation of gamers to accept streaming as their primary option of gaming. "you will stream and you will be happy".

Good for the people that want one!

@Porco
I guess we’ll just have to disagree on that. Consoles and PC are not the same in terms of scalability. But, anyway, your main gripe seems to be against streaming. But this, at least for now, is not a streaming capable device. It just remote plays from a local native source. And even if it were to go that way, people will not need the Portal to become acclimatised to streaming, it will be commonplace on all of our phones soon enough.

A brand name situation like expensive shoes? I assume so who cared for a handheld, names and emotion towards them matters more than practicality doesn't it to most people?

Those that did buy it for practical reasons I understand that there is a benefit to it as a niche for off tv play (playing while watching/listening to TV, playing at night and so on).

But those that did for brand name/a new shiny thing and no understanding of it yeah.......... That and however much Sony had of stock too. Lets see about the next wave to be sure if it keeps going.

I won't buy it it isn't for me personally even as a uses remote play rarely, like handhelds, wants dual screen support then I'd consider it. Give the Indies sometimes to work with like PSVR2. Not a single screen device with not much going for it. If Deux Ex was willing to make Vita remote play second screen like Wii U for the PS4 version of that game then tell me why we can't have Indies or certain AAA use it for more than single screen Sony?

There was a bunch of SmartGlass/Second screen phone apps around the early period of them in 2012 and whenever. Why not again, a second chance.

This device is just PSP, Vita, phones, PS Portal, the 3rd/4th time doing remote play 10 years in to get people to use the tech, understand it, still struggle to with the PS Portal trailers.... but Chromecast/Fire TV/Apple TV are more widely understood in their own way right? Who uses a phone app on Android, maybe IOS has it to laggy cast their phone. Only a small percentage I assume. It isn't good but I mean it's something besides the not as bad as that of the PS Portal/Vita remote play, Xbox, Steam Link then the local to each device and not wifi approach of Wii U.

@SystemAddict

You like the Pulse earbuds? I want a pair, but I’ve seen very mixed reviews…

@Porco They're not making another handheld either way. Not even Nintendo splits their hardware anymore.

Honestly think Sony has a great opportunity to increase sales here. I would get some really good phone games on PS+. You could easily play those on this device via streaming and it would not be a lot of lag. I think the device is neat either way. Instead of splitting the base you essentially have all the PS games that can be streamed to this device. Makes a lot of sense. I would have liked to be able to have some storage and be able to DL a couple games to the device for native play, but I get it.

@Porco Because it could have been a flop like the Xbonex. Anyway, the Portal is very likely 4th on the list right behind series s with series x in 6th place lol.

But if Portal isn't an accomplishment, what does that make series x then???

I’m loving my Portal. Just so nice to not have to sit in front of the TV to play. It works well with my internet. No complaints here.

This one was a bit pricey for me so went with a backbone one instead, It's a cool little device so can see the appeal of the portal

@andrewsqual in the article, the series x/s were grouped together and ahead of the portal. so the order would likely be: ps5, series x, series s, switch, followed by the portal far, far, FAR behind. this was an article about nothing. we don't even know if the steamdeck was factored into this data. i wouldn't be surprised if the steamdeck outsold the portal in its sleep.

@JeongersGaming no splitting would be necessary. ps5 and ps4 games would natively run on the device, just at lower resolutions, framerates etc. similar to pc games running on the steamdeck.

@koverby I like em they sound decent. They look alright too

@SystemAddict

Nice. Thanks!

@Porco Not really. The only people bashing it are people who have never tried it.
Everyone Ive seen on youtube who actually got one likes it, even those who didnt like the concept before trying it.

And I wish people would stop saying Sony should make a dedicated handheld 'like people want'. If people wanted one, the Vita would have sold well, and Nintendo would still be making dedicated handhelds.

Id much rather have a Portal, that allows me to play all my PS5 games and full graphics anywhere in the world for a one off cost of £200

Not a £500 device, that plays cut down versions of my PS5 at an additional cost per game.