Smartphone game controller grips are nothing new, and Razer's Kishi pioneered the idea of turning a phone into a makeshift Nintendo Switch via two parts that attach to either side of the screen.

And now it appears that Sony is considering going after the same target market. A new patent imagines a DualShock-shaped grip for enjoying PlayStation games on the move.

The patent, first reported by Video Game Chronicles, was published by the Japanese division of Sony Interactive Entertainment and is described as "a left-side grip portion and a right-side grip portion to be grasped by the user's left and right hands."

However, it is slightly more advanced than the familiar shaped molded plastic pieces, and the description adds the possibility of motion control. The patent describes "a shaft portion that can be tilted by the user and detecting the direction and amount of tilting of the shaft portion."

In practice, this seems a bit unwieldy as the perfect accessory to keep in your bag on long trips. After all, if you just want to play games at home, you can easily use any old Bluetooth controller, iPhone or Android device, including DualShock and DualSense controllers.

However, there are obviously some people who are very familiar with the layout and feel of the PlayStation and may find Razer's solution a bit too different to enjoy. For those people, this could be a great solution if the solution can leap off the patent page and become commercially available.

More importantly, it gives us insight into Sony's future plans, and in the absence of a new Vita or PSP, smartphone gaming is certainly an important part of that.

Indeed, PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has already stated that some of the company's "iconic" IPs will be coming to mobile.

"PlayStation has a huge catalog of diverse first-party IP that can migrate to smartphone gaming and complement our AAA and live service games," Ryan said at the time.

"We're exploring the mobile market with our amazing PlayStation franchise, so stay tuned.

Of course, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can already stream titles to their phones, which works especially well with the dedicated game grip.

If Sony's idea of a mobile experience turns out to be a scaled-down version of free-to-play apps made for mobile, hardcore PlayStation fans will no doubt be looking for the PS Vita's successor, namely the Valve Steam Deck and the supported might be better off betting on all the excellent games that have been confirmed to be supported.