Sony many not be talking about it an awful lot but it's pretty much been accepted that they are hard at work on their next major home console, the PlayStation 5, with rumors already circulating that it will be revealed next year. While we have absolutely no details about it, however, gamers are already beginning to form their own theories and desires, especially now in the wake of a new patent registered by Sony.

Initially reported by Dutch site Techtastic, a new patent filing appeared on the Korea Intellectual Property Rights Information Service (KIPRIS) for an 'electronic game cartridge.' Considering home game consoles have been using optical discs since the days of the PlayStation One and then began to embrace distributing games digitally, this patent has naturally raised many eyebrows, especially since game cartridges are more expensive. However, given the success of Nintendo's home console/handheld hybrid, the Switch, maybe Sony wants to challenge Nintendo and provide something similar. The other theory is that Sony is planning a successor to their last handheld, the Vita, but at this point, both possibilities can't be proven and should be taken with a grain of salt.

The patent itself provides very little information to go on. The images show the casing has a hole which could be a handle so people can carry it around or so it can be pulled out from another device that it plugs into. We can also see a connection port on the bottom which could be for a USB cable.

This isn't even the only patent registered by Sony to be discovered this month, as one for a touchscreen PlayStation controller was found a couple of weeks ago. However, it's important to remember that patents don't necessarily confirm anything and Sony could simply be covering their bases should they decide to actually follow through on any of these ideas.

In the meantime, PlayStation fans can look forward to the PlayStation Classic, Sony's own take on the miniature home console, though the once-hyped machine has been gradually losing popularity as of late, due to some find its selection of games lackluster and the recent reveal that some of these games will run at 50Hz.

The PlayStationClassic will release on December 3rd.