In roughly a year’s time, the next generation of PlayStation will begin with the debut of the PlayStation 5. With only a year to go, PS5-related rumors have been popping up left and right, and fans have been analyzing anything that could hint at features of the new console with the utmost scrutiny. That’s why the latest Sony patent that’s been uncovered has people intrigued, if a bit confused.
Dutch website LetsGoDigital reports that Sony registered a new patent at Brazil’s National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) in late June this year. Said patent appears to be for some sort of cartridge designed by Yujin Morisawa, Senior Art Director at Sony Interactive Entertainment’s Corporate Design Center. He’s the guy in charge of designing all products associated with the PlayStation brand, so if anyone’s going to design something new for Sony, it’s probably going to be him.
Lending some credence to LetsGoDigital’s claim is the fact that this is playing out identically to this summer’s reveal of what turned out to be the PS5’s development kits. Like this one, that began with the site claiming Sony had filed a patent with the INPI that cited one of Sony’s top executives as the designer. A later leak appeared to confirm that report with photos of the dev kits, so there’s a fair chance that LetsGoDigital is right again and Sony is indeed designing a cartridge for… something.
That’s the biggest mystery so far. The patent offers no clue as to what Sony intends to use a cartridge for, and while it’s tempting to assume this has something to do with the PS5, fans already know that the PlayStation 5 will come with a disc-drive capable reading 100 GB discs. Of course, given that this all still rumor and speculation, one could argue that perhaps that Sony is developing some sort of dual-system that utilizes both cartridges and game discs, so maybe the cartridges are being designed for the PS5 after all.
The thing is, though, Sony has never utilized cartridges for its home consoles, and since cartridges have traditionally offered less storage space than discs, that probably won’t change for the PS5. If anything, this patent could signal the development of a new Sony handheld, but this is also unlikely. After all, Sony has effectively given up on its current handheld, the underperforming PlayStation Vita, and announced that it has no plans for a successor, but perhaps it changed its mind since then?
But then, given that it’s a patent, it’s possible that Sony has no plans for next-gen PlayStation cartridges and only patented Morisawa’s design to keep it out of competitors’ hands. Maybe that’s all it is, or maybe it’s not. Until new information emerges, fans can only guess what this patent could be for. If it is for the PS5, though, there’s a chance we’ll learn something at the official PS5 reveal allegedly happening in February 2020.
The PlayStation 5 launches Holiday 2020.
Source: LetsGoDigital (Via: Wccftech)