8 ms·

Playstation 5 Pro

85 points by jsheard 2y ago

Rinzler89 2y ago
Will it play Concord?
- talldayo 2y ago
  0 PT compatibility, either. Guess there's still a reason to keep the PS4 around a little while longer, eh? Honestly speaking though, I don't "get" Sony like I "get" Microsoft and Nintendo's business strategy. This feels like the PS3 launch all over again, a big console with a never-before-seen price tag, with few headline features besides "graphics". It appeals to the core fanbase, and absolutely nobody else. It's like Sony thinks they have Nintendo-tier market control. I dunno, maybe they're leading up to some big software change that will really wow their users. It's a good day to be an offline PC gamer though (especially if you want to catch up on the state of Bloodborne emulation).
  - dangus 2y ago
    I’m actually amazed that it’s now Nintendo that is the only console manufacturer with a sane strategy. Their strategy is simple: affordable portable console for the whole family with exclusive access to a wide library of acclaimed first-party titles. They essentially have zero competitors besides relatively obscure retro handhelds from China that are too difficult to use for the average person. But Sony’s strategy is seems to be basically begging their users to ditch their PS5 for a PC. Go play our games on PC, here’s a Pro console that costs as much as a new PC or GPU upgrade. At least Microsoft’s strategy to own a large chunk of the AAA software market makes some level of sense in a world where they see their console hardware possibly exiting the market.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      I think Microsoft's strategy is sane, albeit kinda stupid. They're the "Windows" people - they know that better options exist. A timeline for depreciating Xbox hardware in lieu of Xbox services makes sense, doubly so when you realize most console players already subscribe to Xbox Live/Game Pass. It's not genius, but it does involve a level of foresight that could save them from a "hardware crunch" that ushers in $700 console hardware. Sony seems to be entrenched in a weird hole of Nintendo envy that does them absolutely no good, as an outsider looking in. Nintendo has publishing power, actual franchises people will buy a console for. The PS5 has... Bloodborne. A few years ago there was Persona 5 too but now that's on most modern platforms so moot point. The biggest selling point for the PS5 is still last-gen exclusives, and I think that demonstrates Sony's deficiencies quite well.
      - johnnyanmac 2y ago
        >Sony seems to be entrenched in a weird hole of Nintendo envy that does them absolutely no good, as an outsider looking in. Nintendo has publishing power, actual franchises people will buy a console for. Sony themselves reported that "We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us." Which isn't only baffling but a slap in the face of people like me that grew up on Jak/Ratchet, Wild Arms, the Ico games, and has some beloved hits for me as recent as Gravity Rush and even Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice. AFAIK those are all wholly owned franchises for them. But I know what they are really saying. "We don't have our Fortnite. We don't have our Minecraft. We don't have COD". Thinking like that is exactly why they have exactly one franchise even close to 30 years old (Gran Turismo) and fumbled the idea of owning a half dozen IPs already assossiated with them, while Nintendo has at least 5 1st/2nd party IPs that old or older that are beloved. You're not gonna be Nintendo by trying to fix Destiny (and that's fine if that's Sony's direction. Just wish they'd be more honest about it). > The biggest selling point for the PS5 is still last-gen exclusives we can be fair here. It's not like the Switch had any truly new IP's this gen (Arms is the only one that comes to mind). Bloodborne and Persona (which Sony has no ownership of) also aren't current gen titles. Sony has: - Gran Turismo - two souls games (I guess that's my "minimum" for a franchise. 2+ games with a current gen game on there) - Ratchet and Clank - The Last of Us - God of War - Horizon and... that;s it. Ghosts of Tsushima looks promising, but that's a very late gen 8 one off as of this posting. When looking deeper, GT fans are being squeezed by MTX, Insomniac is planning a new R&C game for PS6, because they became a marvel studio, and Souls depends on a 3rd party to execute right. Naughty Dog's already said they are moving to a new IP, so we're left with God of War and Horizon, probably both coming by the end of the generation at this rate. and hoping GoT doesn't crash and burn its strong start. Again, they want to be Nintendo but sell out to being a Disney contractor at the firs convinience.
1970-01-01 2y ago
Still has shitty backwards compatibility. Sony thrives on subscriptions. Vote with your wallet.
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  Not entirely convinced they do, but I unsubscribed already after the price hike and different divisions of tiers.
dangus 2y ago
It is interesting but not surprising that it’s disc-optional with no pre-installed disc drive option available. Otherwise, in terms of specs and price, I am somewhat amazed that the console market is clinging on to life at this point. The PS5/Series generation pushed me to PC and I’m really not understanding the appeal of the consoles anymore beyond the convenience of not needing to do assembly. The consoles are just giving you hardware that PCs already had years ago and isn’t even really beating it on price all that well. This thing is $700 and you’ll end up with a better system if you build a new PC with a $500 graphics card at about $1000 total build cost. And then you have way more flexibility overall and a much larger game library.
- RandomLensman 2y ago
  Convenience value: Stable platform, fast to start, nothing much do or address other than play.
- gjsman-1000 2y ago
  Simple, there are two markets: - People who know about and build computers - People who want to play games There's some common overlap; but there are a lot of people who do not overlap. As long as that is the case, PlayStation will always have a market. Also, I'm glad for this; the PC is not a completely stable platform. I remember playing games with NVIDIA PhysX from about a decade and a half ago, and the physics are just ever so slightly broken and off (to the point some levels are unbeatable).
- pawelduda 2y ago
  And many more bluescreens/crashes/reboots from my experience. Godspeed if you aren't into tinkering and figuring out why your setup that worked yesterday is broken today. I moved from mainly PS5 to a beefy PC and the amount of troubleshooting you have to do is staggering. This kind of things never happened to me in years of playing on a console.
  - MichaelZuo 2y ago
    Yeah, gaming on a self built PC only makes sense if your time is worth ~$0.
jsheard 2y ago
$700 and it doesn't even come with an optical drive, oof. The optical upgrade kit for the digital-only PS5 Slim is $80, so the Pro is probably going to be closer to $800 in practice unless you're already all-in on digital.
- gjsman-1000 2y ago
  The disc drive is basically useless anyway from a long-term perspective (I don't say "preservation" because that's a farcical argument); because even on the bundled versions, it requires an internet connection to "activate" it. This also needs to be repeated when a user signs out or signs in as someone else.
  - cassianoleal 2y ago
    On the other hand, you can sell a physical copy of a game you're not interested anymore. You can potentially buy another used game for the same money you got from the sales. Keep repeating and in theory you could play infinite games for the price of 1.
- geerlingguy 2y ago
  No optical drive, and the vertical stand is also sold separately!
- StrLght 2y ago
  Asking this as a PC gamer who went fully digital ~15 years ago: why are optical drives such a big deal, is that because of buying/selling used games?
  - Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
    We don't have the option for physical on pc, but it's the only way to "own" a videogame. Even steam is at risk. If Gabe dies, bad stuff will happen.
    - pjmlp 2y ago
esaym 2y ago
> retail price (MSRP) of $699.99 USD
dharbin 2y ago
"Pro" is a funny qualifier for a game console. The definition has morphed from "for professionals" to "more expensive" or "more capable."
5350-uiop-1130 2y ago
i realised recently that the transition to HD made everything look and sound the same to me. unlike the distinctive eras of the 90s, 80s, 70s...so on. and now with realistic graphics, even games are starting to all look the same to me. i feel that the limitation born art and era-specific traits of the pre-HD era have been lost. i just dont feel anything looking at these new games. but then i'm not young anymore.
- WillAdams 2y ago
  Well, could I interest you in a Nintendo Switch? Switch games still have markedly diverse graphic styles (and _great_ art direction).
  - evilkorn 2y ago
    Only because they are underpowered with old hardware. Just overclocking gives better performance but still dips below 60fps on first party titles. But they had to make those sacrifices because it's a portable console first with a tv dock. Nintendo always had slowdowns from the beginning with nes, SNES, N64. But these days it's just not acceptable to have those kinds of performance issues.
    - WillAdams 2y ago
      My wallet and battery life thank Nintendo for these compromises.
    - paulmd 2y ago
      > Only because they are underpowered with old hardware. yes, adversity breeds character. did Star Wars get better when Lucas got unlimited money and green screens? Having hardware limitations forced devs to scope their vision appropriately and focus on the aspects they actually wanted to emphasize.
    - talldayo 2y ago
      > But these days it's just not acceptable to have those kinds of performance issues. Somebody show this guy the PS4 sales compared to the Switch. If you actually believe this, you won't believe your eyes.
pixelatedindex 2y ago
$700 and no disc drive? Yikes. I guess it makes sense when compared to the PS4 lineup cost wise, but usually when they launch the slims it drops the price to some degree. Doesn’t seem to be the case here.
- himinlomax 2y ago
  I haven't had a disc drive in any of my PC for a decade. I bought a USB DVD reader just in case, it's somewhere collecting dust — I've never used it. Why do you want one in a console?
  - darkwizard42 2y ago
    Used games + retailers regularly sell games for much cheaper than the online store (which is a monopoly by PS/Xbox)
    - Sakos 2y ago
      I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept for people.
      - johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Like other media, games are going the way of not caring about ownership. They just want cheapest and most convinient way to play new games. Microsoft had a point when the said the future was cloud. They simply underetimated when free money would end and are reeling over that long game. And anyone that does, they will simply pirate the media anyway. So no loss on their end.
  - _a_a_a_ 2y ago
    I've never owned a games console so I don't know, but I thought they could be used to play DVD films. It makes perfect sense as part of their function. ISTM anyway.
  - FMecha 2y ago
samier-trellis 2y ago
Pro?
- indy 2y ago
  It's an abbreviation of "proctology"
ChainOfFools 2y ago
How strange is it that this console is to be priced considerably higher in its home market than it is in the US. Either that or Sony is hinting that they expect the yen to crash dramatically against the dollar (from 142:1 over 170:1) between now and the end of the year.
- Narishma 2y ago
  They recently increased the price of the PS5 in Japan, presumably due to the weak yen.
  - _--__--__ 2y ago
    The recent price increase was directly because of demand to import PS5s from Japan to China after the release of the Wukong game. I'm not sure exactly why, but importing Japanese consoles was cheaper than buying whichever ones were left in China.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      >I'm not sure exactly why, Simple. This was actually the second price increase in Japan. second one was recent. First one from 2022: https://blog.playstation.com/2022/08/25/ps5-price-to-increase-in-select-markets-due-to-global-economic-environment-including-high-inflation-rates/ https://blog.playstation.com/2022/08/25/ps5-price-to-increas... China was also included on the first one, so I do think the weak yen is a strong factor behind the second increase
pawelduda 2y ago
A lot of people seem to be unhappy with the price? Especially if you want to have disc drive. As someone who played through many of current gen titles already, I don't see the appeal. Might be worth it still if you already own a PS5 that you can trade in. Shame there's no comparison on how PSSR differs from DLSS/FSR.
- kmlx 2y ago
  the appeal will probably come from gta6. not sure if it helps anyone here, but: $700 is $575 in 2020 money
- FMecha 2y ago
  PS5 Slim trade-in value is already tanking because of the PS5 Pro, though [1]. [1] https://twitter.com/Jebailey/status/1833540904797528080 https://twitter.com/Jebailey/status/1833540904797528080
yesimahuman 2y ago
Beyond the exclusives, if you're willing to spend this much for a playstation why not just spend a bit more for a nice PC? I have the PS5 but barely play it since the gaming experience on PC is just better and you have a lot more selection and can upgrade it piece by piece as needed over the years, which I'm finding I rarely need to do.
- sjnonweb 2y ago
  A similar performing 4070ti alone will cost $750, and thats just gpu. Including cpu, memory, storage it will be more than $1500.
  - yesimahuman 2y ago
    Thanks for the downvotes for pointing out that, as part of the target market for this product, I scratch my head a bit as it touches more in the PC territory than cheaper consoles did in the past. If you bought both this and the PS5 you're already at ~$1200, and a great PC build can be had for close to that. I think it's totally legitimate to point out this starts to encroach on the pc's territory.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      >Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. reminder. >If you bought both this and the PS5 you're already at ~$1200 why would I buy both? PS5 probably still sells for more than launch price in the US. I'd basically break even selling it and then proceed to spend $130 on a dang disc drive. So we're still 600-700 dollars in after 4 years. >I scratch my head a bit as it touches more in the PC territory than cheaper consoles did in the past. Mostly because PC's stopped enroaching in console territory some 7 years ago or so, when mining became popular. There was a time where you could build a PC for $400 with the equivalent specs of a PS4/XBO. Any premium was to get better performance. PS5 Pro does start to enroach, but PC components (mostly the GPU, but a few other components as well) have inflated faster than the consoles. Feels like one of the worst times to buy a PC if your argument is price matching a console.
deadly_penguin 2y ago
> our most advanced and innovative console hardware to date. This is a bit hyperbolic - there's no way a PS5 iteration is more innovative than the hardware in the PS3 or even 2, unless it suddenly stopped being an AMD box with a slightly funky system architecture.
- rcarmo 2y ago
  That sentence (from Sony) read too much like an Apple keynote prompt.
  - dmix 2y ago
    Never understood why people get upset at generic marketing lines in press release.
nerdjon 2y ago
This has been such a weird generation of consoles from a price standpoint but I know a lot of that is just due to pricing of things being weird anyways. This is expensive, I am struggling to really justify it at the moment (and I have a 4090 in my PC so it isn't some thoughts about price or power or whatever). Games right now are just not really struggling. Last time around these pro consoles came out we were running up against the limits of the hardware at that time. That isn't the case yet. It will be interesting to see what Xbox comes out with, the timeline for this coming out is pretty quick. So unless xbox was just about to announce something not sure how realistically they will have an answer to this
- darkwizard42 2y ago
  Is this expensive because of the components or because you feel systems were priced lower in the past and this is a small upgrade? I think for the number of hours people put into it gaming systems are actually quite cheap. You get to have them functioning for 5-10 years with 100s of hours played. On a per hour level, it provides massive amount of entertainment. Now, if you already have a strong PC (which you allude to) and game on that, your ROI is probably going to be a lot lower.
  - nerdjon 2y ago
    I see it as expensive mostly because we have not had any drop in price this generation. For example, take last generation. The Xbox One launched at (all USD) $500, $400 without Kinect once that was an option. PS4 launched at $400. The PS4 Pro also later launched at $400, The xbox One X launched at $500. This is a $200-$280 (including adding the drive) jump in price and the base model is still the same price or more expensive in some places than it was at launch. On the flip side, I also do worry about what exactly we are seeing from Sony again. We know that Sony can get cocky when they are on top (See PS3, cross play, etc) and make decisions that are not good for gamers. I worry this is a sign that they are going that way again.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  XBox is in a strange position, there are rumours of a next generation console, but I don't believe it matters. Microsoft has been behaving as if XBox has become an umbrella brand for Microsoft Game Studios, after ABK acquisition. They are going the way of SEGA, regardless how much Phil Spencer says they aren't.
mrweasel 2y ago
I'm getting really tired of this "Pro" bullshit. The issue with the PlayStation 5 isn't the bloody specs, it the f-ing price. The PlayStation 5 Slim is $600 already, we don't need a $700 one (which it won't be, because that is US pricing and probably not including tax). Sony needs a $350 model, not this Pro nonsense. Who is the target audience for this?
- pryelluw 2y ago
  Agreed. I’m still rocking the ps4 and enjoying its vast library of solid games. PS5 lacks games and is expensive. They should have a $350 model with optical drive and one remote. Sell it on a plastic shopping bag for all I care.
- deadly_penguin 2y ago
  I'd be much more impressed if they released one that was the same size as the PS2 slim; that might, maybe, come close to being worth the price.
  - mrweasel 2y ago
    It would still be a bit to pricy for me, but I can see the logic. Either get the old model, at a reduced price, or get the new slimmer version at the old price. I think many would take the new model in that case, while some of those who have been waiting for the price to drop would pick up the old model at the reduced price.
- Sakos 2y ago
  I thought there would be price drops with the Pro being launched. Should've seen the writing on the wall that this is just a more expensive SKU to sell alongside the existing ones.
- paulmd 2y ago
  Microsoft was upfront that they didn’t think a mid-gen price cut was in the cards, so here’s the series s, it’s what we can do and we’ll do it right now, etc. They were right and not only have prices not really come down, but in some ways they’ve increased. The unfortunate consequences of a post-Moores law reality. Like yeah nothing is getting 2x better for the same price even every 3-4 years anymore. Your expectations based on past history will no longer hold true, and this has been clear for a number of years now. You can’t make a gamer understand something when his wallet depends on him not understanding it. People have been in active denial for years, in ways that have crossed into objective denial of reality. The "AMD is just choosing to join NVIDIA and gouge!" stuff has been joined by "and sony is in on it too!" etc. Yes, corporations suck but the margins are not actually very fat here, this is just what it costs now.
rcarmo 2y ago
I suppose the "Ultra" model is going to come with either the optical drive or an even better chipset... Seriously now, at $700 and at the pace Ryzen mini-PCs (with the 780m chipset) or new Alder Lake chips (with Xe2) are evolving, by next year you'll be able to build yourself a 4K Steam box running Bazzite. (you can already spend that much and have a very good HD, maybe even 1440p gaming experience - I have a 680m iGPU machine I stream Steam games from, and it's pretty good for 1080p)
IncreasePosts 2y ago
Are there side by side videos or something of how this is better than a plain old PS5?
- cassianoleal 2y ago
  Yes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0NA6CnkjY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0NA6CnkjY
- wmf 2y ago
  The second video in the article.
prmoustache 2y ago
What kind of work can I do with it?
deng 2y ago
Wow, the console is effectively 25% more expensive in Europe? That's crazy. Yes, I'm aware of taxes, extended warranty and other requirements in the EU, but still. Usually, you had a simple 1:1 mapping $->EUR, which effectively is about 10% markup.
- TiredOfLife 2y ago
  The taxes are about 20% in EU. And is included in advertised price. In us the tax is smaller and is not included in price.
- ineedaj0b 2y ago
  the euro is very weak. many different reasons for this
- lotsofpulp 2y ago
  Most US jurisdictions have a 7%+ sales tax that is not included in the advertised price. And VAT in Eurozone is roughly 20%, included in the Eurozone price.
sergiotapia 2y ago
still no games unfortunately. :( i had such a wonderful time with Demon's Souls - but the rest I just play on my pc with my rtx 4090. we need more console exclusives but the calculus does not make sense anymore i'm afraid. budgets has ballooned so much that games takes years to release, and release compromised. i wonder what the solution is. shorter more linear games? not everything has to be open world! look at ghost runner 2, one of my favorite games of all time, linear, sharp, exciting!
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  I feel like Hawthorne's law is ruining this solution. Last of Us 2 and God of War are about as linear as you can get away with and those games aren't able to be cranked out in 2-3 years, even last generation. I have various solutions in mind, but nothing that would be well received I think the practical consumer solution is to simply stop hyping around these AAA games and invest more in studios that do in fact make smaller scale games. They won't sell 10 million copies, but they also need much less to succeed. Your $5 is proportionately way more valuable to an indie than $70 is to Demons Souls.
egypturnash 2y ago
wake me up when there's a PS5 Pro Slim that only costs a couple hundred bucks, thanks, I'll be over on my couch with the Steam Deck
hs86 2y ago
This upgrade seems a bit one-sided. Some badly optimized games are usually CPU limited, and this upgrade apparently will not improve on that. I wouldn't be surprised if games like GTA 6 run at 30 fps on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, with some added effects and resolution for the Pro model.
paxys 2y ago
I don't think people commenting here realize how expensive gaming GPUs have become. A top of the line RTX 4090 is upwards of $1700. A mid range card that can play the latest AAA games at a decent resolution and frame rate (say RTX 4070) is $600-700. And if you're building a PC you still need to buy everything else around the card. Yes $700 is expensive for a console, but that's just what the market rate is now.
- golergka 2y ago
  > Yes $700 is expensive for a console, but that's just what the market rate is now. I remember buying PS3 at launch for $700.
  - angry_moose 2y ago
    In what currency? It was USD $499 (20GB) and $599 (60GB).
  - FMecha 2y ago
    Adjusted for inflation that PS3 is $1,100 now.
    - adventured 2y ago
      The US Government's BLS inflation adjustment calculator puts $500 in January 2006 to $793 today.
    - canadianfella 2y ago
      Based on what calculation?
      - FMecha 2y ago
        I used this one: https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2006?amount=700 https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2006?amount=700
- TiredOfLife 2y ago
ukuina 2y ago
The pricing feels like a direct response to Microsoft essentially exiting the console market.
- nerdjon 2y ago
  Except Microsoft has said they have new Xbox hardware coming. We really need to stop spreading this misinformation (and hyperbole) just because Microsoft is operating a different business model than Sony is. I am not happy about the price either, but this generation has been weird with Microsoft and Sony not dropping their price and increasing prices in some locations. I doubt this has anything to do with Xbox.
  - pjmlp 2y ago
    That is whishful thinking, even if they release the magical console, it will tank, given their attitude of "You don't need a box to play XBox branded games", while putting their games everywhere there is a GPU. I certainly don't care any longer about it beyond the XBox App on Windows.
    - nerdjon 2y ago
      How is it "wishful thinking" when they have said they are doing it?
      - ukuina 2y ago
        I want to believe as much as you do. Sarah Bond's exact words were: "And we're also invested in the next generation roadmap. And what we're really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that they're building." Source (18m33s mark): https://youtu.be/KGlD9SO3rKU?t=1113 https://youtu.be/KGlD9SO3rKU?t=1113
ageitgey 2y ago
I'm sure this will sell just fine, but in the history of consoles there has never been less incentive to upgrade. It just doesn't feel like the upgrade delivers anything tangible for the average person. Many games I want to play these days barely take full advantage of the base PS5, let alone needing more hardware. A lot of cheaper titles aren't even bothering to take advantage of the PS5 over the PS4. There are some really stand-out PS5 titles like Ratchet and Clank that look amazing, but they are relatively few and far between and they don't really leave you wishing for "more power". Sure, this will let you play some games at 8k instead of 4k. Or this will let you get more FPS in 4k. If that is enough to upgrade, great. But I bet 99% of people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in most real world situations unless they were staring at the two systems side by side with magnifying glasses. There's just no big obvious difference in most games.
- diggan 2y ago
  > But I bet 99% of people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in most real world situations unless they were staring at the two systems side by side with magnifying glasses I don't think this matters at all. The market of people who uses consoles + care about graphic fidelity / fps count are basically like the audiophile community today, eating up what the companies are pushing on them.
  - makerofthings 2y ago
    I know a lot of console fanatics like that and they all like to keep games on disc, shunning digital. The new ps doesn't seem to have an optical drive so I'm really not sure who they're aiming this at.
    - Sander3Utile 2y ago
      It does have an optical drive but it is sold separately
- paxys 2y ago
  I doubt they anyways expect the majority of existing PS5 owners to rush to upgrade. Mid cycle console releases are done for the enthusiast crowd and the holdovers from the last generation.
haunter 2y ago
800€? That's a Ryzen 7 5800X / i5-13500 + RTX 4060 Ti + 32GB RAM + 1TB SSD build. I'd rather have a PC
xnx 2y ago
The prices and features of the latest Xbox and PS5 are making the Nintendo Switch 2 look like an amazing bargain.
bane 2y ago
The differences in strategies between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are absolutely wild, but I think it also really speaks to their respective DNA as a consumer electronics company, a software company, and a toy company respectively. Superficially they all look like videogame console companies, but they're very different companies that just so happen to use videogames as the means to execute their strategy. Sony seems to presently be on a path that's somewhat dictated by their traditional console concepts of moving data around as fast as possible given consumer budgets, and using that as an enabler of greater and greater spectacle for consumers by a large and well rounded network of development houses. This has worked really well for them for all generations of their gaming strategy. Microsoft is focused on developer experience and using that to drive consumer demand, just doing it in games. This has worked pretty well for them in the West, but has failed abysmally in some parts of the world where the relationship between software developer and consumer isn't as strong. They seem to be working overtime trying to confuse consumers, kill viable IP, and get themselves out of the market in the next generation or two. Nintendo is focused on the best way to create unique experiences of "play" for the consumer where their own IP is the vanguard for the system, and every other company sits in "other play experiences you can also have...if you want". This will work for them on some generations, then completely bomb on others. But it has kept them viable as the smallest of the three companies for decades, and also near the top of the sales list in a few categories most generations. They also have absolutely impeccable Intellectual Property that they have maintained better than Disney, the former gold standard IP protection company. To bring this point home, for years there was hubub in the industry that Nintendo would bring out some kind of Switch Pro with 4k output and faster guts, rumors swirled around and around until Nintendo finally brought out? The Switch Light. The opposite of that. Nintendo was answering the question "how do we get more people into our world of play?" And a cheaper, less capable, more rugged, system was their answer. But for Sony, their DNA is "move electronics". So whenever they feel they can, they'll come out with a new revision or update or accessory to hardware they are already pushing. When Sony was pushing new VR headsets, Nintendo put our a toy kit made of cardboard. When Sony was pushing a handheld streaming accessory, Nintendo's system simply undocked. The PS5, which was at the bleeding edge of state of the art consumer electronics is around 4 years old. The Switch is about to be 8 and was basically a cheap tablet with clip on controllers when it was released. This isn't for the idealized customer the Nintendo is after. This is for people who want the absolute best hooked into their home multimedia system to show it off, which Sony hopes is also a Sony TV, Receiver, Speaker set, and so on. What Sony may run the risk for is becoming what NEC became. Lots of variations and incremental updates to their system, with different packaging, until they basically just suffocated themselves out of the running -- pursuing a strategy of pushing custom NEC electronics instead of going to where the industry was going. It could happen.

Playstation 5 Pro

85 points by jsheard 2y ago

Rinzler89 2y ago

Will it play Concord?

talldayo 2y ago
0 PT compatibility, either. Guess there's still a reason to keep the PS4 around a little while longer, eh? Honestly speaking though, I don't "get" Sony like I "get" Microsoft and Nintendo's business strategy. This feels like the PS3 launch all over again, a big console with a never-before-seen price tag, with few headline features besides "graphics". It appeals to the core fanbase, and absolutely nobody else. It's like Sony thinks they have Nintendo-tier market control. I dunno, maybe they're leading up to some big software change that will really wow their users. It's a good day to be an offline PC gamer though (especially if you want to catch up on the state of Bloodborne emulation).
- dangus 2y ago
  I’m actually amazed that it’s now Nintendo that is the only console manufacturer with a sane strategy. Their strategy is simple: affordable portable console for the whole family with exclusive access to a wide library of acclaimed first-party titles. They essentially have zero competitors besides relatively obscure retro handhelds from China that are too difficult to use for the average person. But Sony’s strategy is seems to be basically begging their users to ditch their PS5 for a PC. Go play our games on PC, here’s a Pro console that costs as much as a new PC or GPU upgrade. At least Microsoft’s strategy to own a large chunk of the AAA software market makes some level of sense in a world where they see their console hardware possibly exiting the market.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    I think Microsoft's strategy is sane, albeit kinda stupid. They're the "Windows" people - they know that better options exist. A timeline for depreciating Xbox hardware in lieu of Xbox services makes sense, doubly so when you realize most console players already subscribe to Xbox Live/Game Pass. It's not genius, but it does involve a level of foresight that could save them from a "hardware crunch" that ushers in $700 console hardware. Sony seems to be entrenched in a weird hole of Nintendo envy that does them absolutely no good, as an outsider looking in. Nintendo has publishing power, actual franchises people will buy a console for. The PS5 has... Bloodborne. A few years ago there was Persona 5 too but now that's on most modern platforms so moot point. The biggest selling point for the PS5 is still last-gen exclusives, and I think that demonstrates Sony's deficiencies quite well.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      >Sony seems to be entrenched in a weird hole of Nintendo envy that does them absolutely no good, as an outsider looking in. Nintendo has publishing power, actual franchises people will buy a console for. Sony themselves reported that "We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us." Which isn't only baffling but a slap in the face of people like me that grew up on Jak/Ratchet, Wild Arms, the Ico games, and has some beloved hits for me as recent as Gravity Rush and even Freedom Wars and Soul Sacrifice. AFAIK those are all wholly owned franchises for them. But I know what they are really saying. "We don't have our Fortnite. We don't have our Minecraft. We don't have COD". Thinking like that is exactly why they have exactly one franchise even close to 30 years old (Gran Turismo) and fumbled the idea of owning a half dozen IPs already assossiated with them, while Nintendo has at least 5 1st/2nd party IPs that old or older that are beloved. You're not gonna be Nintendo by trying to fix Destiny (and that's fine if that's Sony's direction. Just wish they'd be more honest about it). > The biggest selling point for the PS5 is still last-gen exclusives we can be fair here. It's not like the Switch had any truly new IP's this gen (Arms is the only one that comes to mind). Bloodborne and Persona (which Sony has no ownership of) also aren't current gen titles. Sony has: - Gran Turismo - two souls games (I guess that's my "minimum" for a franchise. 2+ games with a current gen game on there) - Ratchet and Clank - The Last of Us - God of War - Horizon and... that;s it. Ghosts of Tsushima looks promising, but that's a very late gen 8 one off as of this posting. When looking deeper, GT fans are being squeezed by MTX, Insomniac is planning a new R&C game for PS6, because they became a marvel studio, and Souls depends on a 3rd party to execute right. Naughty Dog's already said they are moving to a new IP, so we're left with God of War and Horizon, probably both coming by the end of the generation at this rate. and hoping GoT doesn't crash and burn its strong start. Again, they want to be Nintendo but sell out to being a Disney contractor at the firs convinience.

1970-01-01 2y ago

Still has shitty backwards compatibility. Sony thrives on subscriptions. Vote with your wallet.

johnnyanmac 2y ago
Not entirely convinced they do, but I unsubscribed already after the price hike and different divisions of tiers.

dangus 2y ago

It is interesting but not surprising that it’s disc-optional with no pre-installed disc drive option available. Otherwise, in terms of specs and price, I am somewhat amazed that the console market is clinging on to life at this point. The PS5/Series generation pushed me to PC and I’m really not understanding the appeal of the consoles anymore beyond the convenience of not needing to do assembly. The consoles are just giving you hardware that PCs already had years ago and isn’t even really beating it on price all that well. This thing is $700 and you’ll end up with a better system if you build a new PC with a $500 graphics card at about $1000 total build cost. And then you have way more flexibility overall and a much larger game library.

RandomLensman 2y ago
Convenience value: Stable platform, fast to start, nothing much do or address other than play.
gjsman-1000 2y ago
Simple, there are two markets: - People who know about and build computers - People who want to play games There's some common overlap; but there are a lot of people who do not overlap. As long as that is the case, PlayStation will always have a market. Also, I'm glad for this; the PC is not a completely stable platform. I remember playing games with NVIDIA PhysX from about a decade and a half ago, and the physics are just ever so slightly broken and off (to the point some levels are unbeatable).
pawelduda 2y ago
And many more bluescreens/crashes/reboots from my experience. Godspeed if you aren't into tinkering and figuring out why your setup that worked yesterday is broken today. I moved from mainly PS5 to a beefy PC and the amount of troubleshooting you have to do is staggering. This kind of things never happened to me in years of playing on a console.
- MichaelZuo 2y ago
  Yeah, gaming on a self built PC only makes sense if your time is worth ~$0.

jsheard 2y ago

$700 and it doesn't even come with an optical drive, oof. The optical upgrade kit for the digital-only PS5 Slim is $80, so the Pro is probably going to be closer to $800 in practice unless you're already all-in on digital.

gjsman-1000 2y ago
The disc drive is basically useless anyway from a long-term perspective (I don't say "preservation" because that's a farcical argument); because even on the bundled versions, it requires an internet connection to "activate" it. This also needs to be repeated when a user signs out or signs in as someone else.
- cassianoleal 2y ago
  On the other hand, you can sell a physical copy of a game you're not interested anymore. You can potentially buy another used game for the same money you got from the sales. Keep repeating and in theory you could play infinite games for the price of 1.
geerlingguy 2y ago
No optical drive, and the vertical stand is also sold separately!
StrLght 2y ago
Asking this as a PC gamer who went fully digital ~15 years ago: why are optical drives such a big deal, is that because of buying/selling used games?
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 2y ago
  We don't have the option for physical on pc, but it's the only way to "own" a videogame. Even steam is at risk. If Gabe dies, bad stuff will happen.
  - pjmlp 2y ago

esaym 2y ago

> retail price (MSRP) of $699.99 USD

dharbin 2y ago

"Pro" is a funny qualifier for a game console. The definition has morphed from "for professionals" to "more expensive" or "more capable."

5350-uiop-1130 2y ago

i realised recently that the transition to HD made everything look and sound the same to me. unlike the distinctive eras of the 90s, 80s, 70s...so on. and now with realistic graphics, even games are starting to all look the same to me. i feel that the limitation born art and era-specific traits of the pre-HD era have been lost. i just dont feel anything looking at these new games. but then i'm not young anymore.

WillAdams 2y ago
Well, could I interest you in a Nintendo Switch? Switch games still have markedly diverse graphic styles (and _great_ art direction).
- evilkorn 2y ago
  Only because they are underpowered with old hardware. Just overclocking gives better performance but still dips below 60fps on first party titles. But they had to make those sacrifices because it's a portable console first with a tv dock. Nintendo always had slowdowns from the beginning with nes, SNES, N64. But these days it's just not acceptable to have those kinds of performance issues.
  - WillAdams 2y ago
    My wallet and battery life thank Nintendo for these compromises.
  - paulmd 2y ago
    > Only because they are underpowered with old hardware. yes, adversity breeds character. did Star Wars get better when Lucas got unlimited money and green screens? Having hardware limitations forced devs to scope their vision appropriately and focus on the aspects they actually wanted to emphasize.
  - talldayo 2y ago
    > But these days it's just not acceptable to have those kinds of performance issues. Somebody show this guy the PS4 sales compared to the Switch. If you actually believe this, you won't believe your eyes.

pixelatedindex 2y ago

$700 and no disc drive? Yikes. I guess it makes sense when compared to the PS4 lineup cost wise, but usually when they launch the slims it drops the price to some degree. Doesn’t seem to be the case here.

himinlomax 2y ago
I haven't had a disc drive in any of my PC for a decade. I bought a USB DVD reader just in case, it's somewhere collecting dust — I've never used it. Why do you want one in a console?
- darkwizard42 2y ago
  Used games + retailers regularly sell games for much cheaper than the online store (which is a monopoly by PS/Xbox)
  - Sakos 2y ago
    I don't understand why this is such a difficult concept for people.
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      Like other media, games are going the way of not caring about ownership. They just want cheapest and most convinient way to play new games. Microsoft had a point when the said the future was cloud. They simply underetimated when free money would end and are reeling over that long game. And anyone that does, they will simply pirate the media anyway. So no loss on their end.
- _a_a_a_ 2y ago
  I've never owned a games console so I don't know, but I thought they could be used to play DVD films. It makes perfect sense as part of their function. ISTM anyway.
- FMecha 2y ago

samier-trellis 2y ago

Pro?

indy 2y ago
It's an abbreviation of "proctology"

ChainOfFools 2y ago

How strange is it that this console is to be priced considerably higher in its home market than it is in the US. Either that or Sony is hinting that they expect the yen to crash dramatically against the dollar (from 142:1 over 170:1) between now and the end of the year.

Narishma 2y ago
They recently increased the price of the PS5 in Japan, presumably due to the weak yen.
- _--__--__ 2y ago
  The recent price increase was directly because of demand to import PS5s from Japan to China after the release of the Wukong game. I'm not sure exactly why, but importing Japanese consoles was cheaper than buying whichever ones were left in China.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    >I'm not sure exactly why, Simple. This was actually the second price increase in Japan. second one was recent. First one from 2022: https://blog.playstation.com/2022/08/25/ps5-price-to-increase-in-select-markets-due-to-global-economic-environment-including-high-inflation-rates/ https://blog.playstation.com/2022/08/25/ps5-price-to-increas... China was also included on the first one, so I do think the weak yen is a strong factor behind the second increase

pawelduda 2y ago

A lot of people seem to be unhappy with the price? Especially if you want to have disc drive. As someone who played through many of current gen titles already, I don't see the appeal. Might be worth it still if you already own a PS5 that you can trade in. Shame there's no comparison on how PSSR differs from DLSS/FSR.

kmlx 2y ago
the appeal will probably come from gta6. not sure if it helps anyone here, but: $700 is $575 in 2020 money
FMecha 2y ago
PS5 Slim trade-in value is already tanking because of the PS5 Pro, though [1]. [1] https://twitter.com/Jebailey/status/1833540904797528080 https://twitter.com/Jebailey/status/1833540904797528080

yesimahuman 2y ago

Beyond the exclusives, if you're willing to spend this much for a playstation why not just spend a bit more for a nice PC? I have the PS5 but barely play it since the gaming experience on PC is just better and you have a lot more selection and can upgrade it piece by piece as needed over the years, which I'm finding I rarely need to do.

sjnonweb 2y ago
A similar performing 4070ti alone will cost $750, and thats just gpu. Including cpu, memory, storage it will be more than $1500.
- yesimahuman 2y ago
  Thanks for the downvotes for pointing out that, as part of the target market for this product, I scratch my head a bit as it touches more in the PC territory than cheaper consoles did in the past. If you bought both this and the PS5 you're already at ~$1200, and a great PC build can be had for close to that. I think it's totally legitimate to point out this starts to encroach on the pc's territory.
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    >Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading. reminder. >If you bought both this and the PS5 you're already at ~$1200 why would I buy both? PS5 probably still sells for more than launch price in the US. I'd basically break even selling it and then proceed to spend $130 on a dang disc drive. So we're still 600-700 dollars in after 4 years. >I scratch my head a bit as it touches more in the PC territory than cheaper consoles did in the past. Mostly because PC's stopped enroaching in console territory some 7 years ago or so, when mining became popular. There was a time where you could build a PC for $400 with the equivalent specs of a PS4/XBO. Any premium was to get better performance. PS5 Pro does start to enroach, but PC components (mostly the GPU, but a few other components as well) have inflated faster than the consoles. Feels like one of the worst times to buy a PC if your argument is price matching a console.

deadly_penguin 2y ago

> our most advanced and innovative console hardware to date. This is a bit hyperbolic - there's no way a PS5 iteration is more innovative than the hardware in the PS3 or even 2, unless it suddenly stopped being an AMD box with a slightly funky system architecture.

rcarmo 2y ago
That sentence (from Sony) read too much like an Apple keynote prompt.
- dmix 2y ago
  Never understood why people get upset at generic marketing lines in press release.

nerdjon 2y ago

This has been such a weird generation of consoles from a price standpoint but I know a lot of that is just due to pricing of things being weird anyways. This is expensive, I am struggling to really justify it at the moment (and I have a 4090 in my PC so it isn't some thoughts about price or power or whatever). Games right now are just not really struggling. Last time around these pro consoles came out we were running up against the limits of the hardware at that time. That isn't the case yet. It will be interesting to see what Xbox comes out with, the timeline for this coming out is pretty quick. So unless xbox was just about to announce something not sure how realistically they will have an answer to this

darkwizard42 2y ago
Is this expensive because of the components or because you feel systems were priced lower in the past and this is a small upgrade? I think for the number of hours people put into it gaming systems are actually quite cheap. You get to have them functioning for 5-10 years with 100s of hours played. On a per hour level, it provides massive amount of entertainment. Now, if you already have a strong PC (which you allude to) and game on that, your ROI is probably going to be a lot lower.
- nerdjon 2y ago
  I see it as expensive mostly because we have not had any drop in price this generation. For example, take last generation. The Xbox One launched at (all USD) $500, $400 without Kinect once that was an option. PS4 launched at $400. The PS4 Pro also later launched at $400, The xbox One X launched at $500. This is a $200-$280 (including adding the drive) jump in price and the base model is still the same price or more expensive in some places than it was at launch. On the flip side, I also do worry about what exactly we are seeing from Sony again. We know that Sony can get cocky when they are on top (See PS3, cross play, etc) and make decisions that are not good for gamers. I worry this is a sign that they are going that way again.
pjmlp 2y ago
XBox is in a strange position, there are rumours of a next generation console, but I don't believe it matters. Microsoft has been behaving as if XBox has become an umbrella brand for Microsoft Game Studios, after ABK acquisition. They are going the way of SEGA, regardless how much Phil Spencer says they aren't.

mrweasel 2y ago

I'm getting really tired of this "Pro" bullshit. The issue with the PlayStation 5 isn't the bloody specs, it the f-ing price. The PlayStation 5 Slim is $600 already, we don't need a $700 one (which it won't be, because that is US pricing and probably not including tax). Sony needs a $350 model, not this Pro nonsense. Who is the target audience for this?

pryelluw 2y ago
Agreed. I’m still rocking the ps4 and enjoying its vast library of solid games. PS5 lacks games and is expensive. They should have a $350 model with optical drive and one remote. Sell it on a plastic shopping bag for all I care.
deadly_penguin 2y ago
I'd be much more impressed if they released one that was the same size as the PS2 slim; that might, maybe, come close to being worth the price.
- mrweasel 2y ago
  It would still be a bit to pricy for me, but I can see the logic. Either get the old model, at a reduced price, or get the new slimmer version at the old price. I think many would take the new model in that case, while some of those who have been waiting for the price to drop would pick up the old model at the reduced price.
Sakos 2y ago
I thought there would be price drops with the Pro being launched. Should've seen the writing on the wall that this is just a more expensive SKU to sell alongside the existing ones.
paulmd 2y ago
Microsoft was upfront that they didn’t think a mid-gen price cut was in the cards, so here’s the series s, it’s what we can do and we’ll do it right now, etc. They were right and not only have prices not really come down, but in some ways they’ve increased. The unfortunate consequences of a post-Moores law reality. Like yeah nothing is getting 2x better for the same price even every 3-4 years anymore. Your expectations based on past history will no longer hold true, and this has been clear for a number of years now. You can’t make a gamer understand something when his wallet depends on him not understanding it. People have been in active denial for years, in ways that have crossed into objective denial of reality. The "AMD is just choosing to join NVIDIA and gouge!" stuff has been joined by "and sony is in on it too!" etc. Yes, corporations suck but the margins are not actually very fat here, this is just what it costs now.

rcarmo 2y ago

I suppose the "Ultra" model is going to come with either the optical drive or an even better chipset... Seriously now, at $700 and at the pace Ryzen mini-PCs (with the 780m chipset) or new Alder Lake chips (with Xe2) are evolving, by next year you'll be able to build yourself a 4K Steam box running Bazzite. (you can already spend that much and have a very good HD, maybe even 1440p gaming experience - I have a 680m iGPU machine I stream Steam games from, and it's pretty good for 1080p)

IncreasePosts 2y ago

Are there side by side videos or something of how this is better than a plain old PS5?

cassianoleal 2y ago
Yes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0NA6CnkjY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu0NA6CnkjY
wmf 2y ago
The second video in the article.

prmoustache 2y ago

What kind of work can I do with it?

deng 2y ago

Wow, the console is effectively 25% more expensive in Europe? That's crazy. Yes, I'm aware of taxes, extended warranty and other requirements in the EU, but still. Usually, you had a simple 1:1 mapping $->EUR, which effectively is about 10% markup.

TiredOfLife 2y ago
The taxes are about 20% in EU. And is included in advertised price. In us the tax is smaller and is not included in price.
ineedaj0b 2y ago
the euro is very weak. many different reasons for this
lotsofpulp 2y ago
Most US jurisdictions have a 7%+ sales tax that is not included in the advertised price. And VAT in Eurozone is roughly 20%, included in the Eurozone price.

sergiotapia 2y ago

still no games unfortunately. :( i had such a wonderful time with Demon's Souls - but the rest I just play on my pc with my rtx 4090. we need more console exclusives but the calculus does not make sense anymore i'm afraid. budgets has ballooned so much that games takes years to release, and release compromised. i wonder what the solution is. shorter more linear games? not everything has to be open world! look at ghost runner 2, one of my favorite games of all time, linear, sharp, exciting!

johnnyanmac 2y ago
I feel like Hawthorne's law is ruining this solution. Last of Us 2 and God of War are about as linear as you can get away with and those games aren't able to be cranked out in 2-3 years, even last generation. I have various solutions in mind, but nothing that would be well received I think the practical consumer solution is to simply stop hyping around these AAA games and invest more in studios that do in fact make smaller scale games. They won't sell 10 million copies, but they also need much less to succeed. Your $5 is proportionately way more valuable to an indie than $70 is to Demons Souls.

egypturnash 2y ago

wake me up when there's a PS5 Pro Slim that only costs a couple hundred bucks, thanks, I'll be over on my couch with the Steam Deck

hs86 2y ago

This upgrade seems a bit one-sided. Some badly optimized games are usually CPU limited, and this upgrade apparently will not improve on that. I wouldn't be surprised if games like GTA 6 run at 30 fps on both PS5 and PS5 Pro, with some added effects and resolution for the Pro model.

paxys 2y ago

I don't think people commenting here realize how expensive gaming GPUs have become. A top of the line RTX 4090 is upwards of $1700. A mid range card that can play the latest AAA games at a decent resolution and frame rate (say RTX 4070) is $600-700. And if you're building a PC you still need to buy everything else around the card. Yes $700 is expensive for a console, but that's just what the market rate is now.

golergka 2y ago
> Yes $700 is expensive for a console, but that's just what the market rate is now. I remember buying PS3 at launch for $700.
- angry_moose 2y ago
  In what currency? It was USD $499 (20GB) and $599 (60GB).
- FMecha 2y ago
  Adjusted for inflation that PS3 is $1,100 now.
  - adventured 2y ago
    The US Government's BLS inflation adjustment calculator puts $500 in January 2006 to $793 today.
  - canadianfella 2y ago
    Based on what calculation?
    - FMecha 2y ago
      I used this one: https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2006?amount=700 https://www.in2013dollars.com/us/inflation/2006?amount=700
TiredOfLife 2y ago

ukuina 2y ago

The pricing feels like a direct response to Microsoft essentially exiting the console market.

nerdjon 2y ago
Except Microsoft has said they have new Xbox hardware coming. We really need to stop spreading this misinformation (and hyperbole) just because Microsoft is operating a different business model than Sony is. I am not happy about the price either, but this generation has been weird with Microsoft and Sony not dropping their price and increasing prices in some locations. I doubt this has anything to do with Xbox.
- pjmlp 2y ago
  That is whishful thinking, even if they release the magical console, it will tank, given their attitude of "You don't need a box to play XBox branded games", while putting their games everywhere there is a GPU. I certainly don't care any longer about it beyond the XBox App on Windows.
  - nerdjon 2y ago
    How is it "wishful thinking" when they have said they are doing it?
    - ukuina 2y ago
      I want to believe as much as you do. Sarah Bond's exact words were: "And we're also invested in the next generation roadmap. And what we're really focused on there is delivering the largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation which makes it better for players and better for creators and the visions that they're building." Source (18m33s mark): https://youtu.be/KGlD9SO3rKU?t=1113 https://youtu.be/KGlD9SO3rKU?t=1113

ageitgey 2y ago

I'm sure this will sell just fine, but in the history of consoles there has never been less incentive to upgrade. It just doesn't feel like the upgrade delivers anything tangible for the average person. Many games I want to play these days barely take full advantage of the base PS5, let alone needing more hardware. A lot of cheaper titles aren't even bothering to take advantage of the PS5 over the PS4. There are some really stand-out PS5 titles like Ratchet and Clank that look amazing, but they are relatively few and far between and they don't really leave you wishing for "more power". Sure, this will let you play some games at 8k instead of 4k. Or this will let you get more FPS in 4k. If that is enough to upgrade, great. But I bet 99% of people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in most real world situations unless they were staring at the two systems side by side with magnifying glasses. There's just no big obvious difference in most games.

diggan 2y ago
> But I bet 99% of people wouldn't even be able to tell the difference in most real world situations unless they were staring at the two systems side by side with magnifying glasses I don't think this matters at all. The market of people who uses consoles + care about graphic fidelity / fps count are basically like the audiophile community today, eating up what the companies are pushing on them.
- makerofthings 2y ago
  I know a lot of console fanatics like that and they all like to keep games on disc, shunning digital. The new ps doesn't seem to have an optical drive so I'm really not sure who they're aiming this at.
  - Sander3Utile 2y ago
    It does have an optical drive but it is sold separately
paxys 2y ago
I doubt they anyways expect the majority of existing PS5 owners to rush to upgrade. Mid cycle console releases are done for the enthusiast crowd and the holdovers from the last generation.

haunter 2y ago

800€? That's a Ryzen 7 5800X / i5-13500 + RTX 4060 Ti + 32GB RAM + 1TB SSD build. I'd rather have a PC

xnx 2y ago

The prices and features of the latest Xbox and PS5 are making the Nintendo Switch 2 look like an amazing bargain.

bane 2y ago

The differences in strategies between Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are absolutely wild, but I think it also really speaks to their respective DNA as a consumer electronics company, a software company, and a toy company respectively. Superficially they all look like videogame console companies, but they're very different companies that just so happen to use videogames as the means to execute their strategy. Sony seems to presently be on a path that's somewhat dictated by their traditional console concepts of moving data around as fast as possible given consumer budgets, and using that as an enabler of greater and greater spectacle for consumers by a large and well rounded network of development houses. This has worked really well for them for all generations of their gaming strategy. Microsoft is focused on developer experience and using that to drive consumer demand, just doing it in games. This has worked pretty well for them in the West, but has failed abysmally in some parts of the world where the relationship between software developer and consumer isn't as strong. They seem to be working overtime trying to confuse consumers, kill viable IP, and get themselves out of the market in the next generation or two. Nintendo is focused on the best way to create unique experiences of "play" for the consumer where their own IP is the vanguard for the system, and every other company sits in "other play experiences you can also have...if you want". This will work for them on some generations, then completely bomb on others. But it has kept them viable as the smallest of the three companies for decades, and also near the top of the sales list in a few categories most generations. They also have absolutely impeccable Intellectual Property that they have maintained better than Disney, the former gold standard IP protection company. To bring this point home, for years there was hubub in the industry that Nintendo would bring out some kind of Switch Pro with 4k output and faster guts, rumors swirled around and around until Nintendo finally brought out? The Switch Light. The opposite of that. Nintendo was answering the question "how do we get more people into our world of play?" And a cheaper, less capable, more rugged, system was their answer. But for Sony, their DNA is "move electronics". So whenever they feel they can, they'll come out with a new revision or update or accessory to hardware they are already pushing. When Sony was pushing new VR headsets, Nintendo put our a toy kit made of cardboard. When Sony was pushing a handheld streaming accessory, Nintendo's system simply undocked. The PS5, which was at the bleeding edge of state of the art consumer electronics is around 4 years old. The Switch is about to be 8 and was basically a cheap tablet with clip on controllers when it was released. This isn't for the idealized customer the Nintendo is after. This is for people who want the absolute best hooked into their home multimedia system to show it off, which Sony hopes is also a Sony TV, Receiver, Speaker set, and so on. What Sony may run the risk for is becoming what NEC became. Lots of variations and incremental updates to their system, with different packaging, until they basically just suffocated themselves out of the running -- pursuing a strategy of pushing custom NEC electronics instead of going to where the industry was going. It could happen.