PlayStation 5: New Patent Leaves Fans Confused

As the world waits for an announcement regarding the price and launch date of the PlayStation 5, some interesting information has now come to light. A patent filed by Sony has surfaced that reveals some confusing information about the console and the accessories compatible with it.

As reported by Gamerant, the patent was filed on February 6 2020 and was published on August 20. The document shows a list of PlayStation peripherals compatible with the PS5. Gamerant reports “This includes the PlayStation VR headset, PlayStation Camera, PlayStation Move, a DualShock 4 controller, mouse and keyboard, remote, bluetooth headset, and the PlayStation Portable. The text of the patent also mentions the PlayStation Vita, so it seems the handheld may have a role to play with the PS5 as well.”

PSP and PS Vita to be compatible with the PlayStation 5?

What are PS Vita and PSP doing here? This is a curious thing to put in the patent considering both these devices are fairly old. Although, it could be possible that these are used for the remote play functionality. The PSP was Sony’s highly successful hand-held gaming device and dominated the market back in the day.

It is now known that the next-gen games will require the PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller. They will not be compatible with the Dualshock 4. This renders the remote play capabilities of the PS Vita and PSP useless. So, their inclusion in the list is all the more curious.

Recent reports also suggested that not all the games would have backwards compatibility. This raised a lot of questions regarding Sony’s communication regarding the same. There are a lot of unanswered questions that Sony needs to address.

There was also another report of a certain ‘Activities’ feature coming to the PS5. This reportedly takes advantage of the console’s powerful SSD and lets players boot up games almost instantly. They can start the game exactly where they left with almost zero loading time. This was accidentally mentioned by Gamereactor in a post that has since been deleted.

The patent suggesting PSP compatibility and questions about backwards compatibility prove that Sony still has a lot to answer for. There is no word from the company regarding the price and the launch date so far. Even the rumoured event happening on September 9 now looks highly unlikely. Sony definitely has to clear the air regarding a lot of things and hopefully they’ll provide clarity on the same soon.