In general, Sony already raised the white flag when it comes to handheld gaming console since the company has decided to cease the production of PlayStation Vita in 2019. However, the recent emergence of a patent filing in South Korea might offer some hope for gamers out there that are hoping to see a successor to Vita in the near future.
Clearly stated in the filing as an electronic game cartridge, the patent was originally filed by Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2017 but was only announced by the Korean Intellectual Property Office earlier this week. It was also stated that the game cartridge is made from synthetic resin and metal.
Also included in the filing are drawings of the cartridges in multiple angles. However, there are no other substantial information was mentioned in the patent document.
The design that Sony has patented is way different from the medium that the company has used for Vita which was essentially a flash card. That being said, it also seems that the cartridge is using a proprietary port just like how Sony utilizes a proprietary interface for the Vita game card.
As you might already well aware, it is hard to tell from filing document alone whether a patent would end up as an actual product. Nevertheless, it is interesting to note that Sony might still be thinking of having another go at a handheld PlayStation device.
(Source: Korean Intellectual Property Office via TechTastic and The Verge)
