PlayStation Portal Gains Increased Functionality with Retro Titles

PlayStation’s entry into the portable market (kind of) has received an update allowing even more PS1 and PSP games to be streamed to the device. This follows on from a recent update in which PlayStation finally allowed the device to be used without a PlayStation 5 being on in the same household. Instead, players were able to stream select games directly from Sony as long as they had a strong WiFi connection.

Of course, this doesn’t fix the most glaring flaw of the PlayStation Portal: its lack of real portability. Its true that this piece of hardware was never marketed as a portable take on the PS5 but its still a bit of a disappointment compared to its potential. At least now, owners will be able to play many more retro games on their portal semi-on the go since a PS5 no longer needs to be on and in the vicinity to play the new 50 PS1 and PSP titles.

Its important to note that, since this process involves the use of PlayStation’s classics catalogue, it also requires a constant subscription to PS Plus to make use of it. This also limits the titles able to be streamed to those within this library. On the plus side, hopefully, with the expansion of retro games added, there will be a boost in the number of games playable via the portal without a PS5 being on.

This latest update is still in beta but will likely start rolling out within the next couple of months or so. If you want to play Ape Escape and The Legend of Dragoon on a portable type platform, this is now the only official way to do that. It is still very limiting, however. The PS Portal remains essentially useless if you want to travel without constant WiFi but it has proved useful for those who just want an extra PS5 screen without the need for a new console and TV setup. Hopefully, its functionality continues to improve with more updates like this in future.