The long wait is over: we now know what the PS5 Pro looks like, what it does, and what it will cost. So far itās not going over too well.
First letās take a look. We knew based on leaks that the mid-generation refresh wouldnāt be reinventing the wheel of the PS5’s industrial design, but itās not helping win over any skeptics. What the console does is also not quickly blowing fans away. While playing new PS5 games with high visual fidelity and high framerates sounds great, itās hard to show that off over a compressed YouTube livestream, especially when Sony is only showing old games, including some that were also on PS4.
Then thereās the price. $700 is a lot, especially with no disc drive included. Those are sold separately for $80. So if you already have a vast collection of PS4 and PS5 games on disc, youāre looking at forking over closer to $800 to see the background characters in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart appear more detailed, or your paint job glisten in the opposing cars as your drift by in Gran Turismo 7.
Hereās how fans, skeptics, and haters alike are currently reacting to the PS5 Pro reveal:
($700 was the right price. Pro products are supposed to generate positive margin dollars by selling to price insensitive super users, not have greater or comparable losses than entry SKUs, nor are they indended to drive install base growth. Same reason DualSense Edge is $200)
— Matthew Ball (@ballmatthew) September 10, 2024
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1833524481371083127
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1833526976101159193
Play has no limits.
It fucking does, and it's $700. #PS5Pro
— Tom Henderson (@_Tom_Henderson_) September 10, 2024
800 ā¬. No stand. No disc drive. We knew this reveal could turn out bad, but holy moly, this is a gigantic letdown from Sony. What about this is "with deeply engaged players […] in mind" (PS Blog), apart from an "they will buy anything we throw at them" expectation?#PS5Pro pic.twitter.com/GJkwmwwYCy
— Does it play? (@DoesItPlay1) September 10, 2024
The #PS5Pro is $700?!! pic.twitter.com/aPxnHrdcXf
— Jordan Maison (@JordanMaison) September 10, 2024
Corporate wants you to find the difference with these two pictures#PS5Pro pic.twitter.com/UYJHwnVDCe
— RockReigns. (@IAmRockReigns) September 10, 2024
please take a look at this [shows unbelievably beautiful, detailed game footage]. as you can see, it looks like garbage,
— Chris Kohler (@kobunheat) September 10, 2024
Many people are saying this is too expensive
But donāt forget you can easily make the money back by renting out the box it comes in as a 1 bedroom studio apartment in NYC for $2,000 a month. https://t.co/iu5gmJOLEk
— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) September 10, 2024
This is how Sony investors in the US reacted during the PS5 Pro presentation when the price was revealed at 11:10 EST. pic.twitter.com/wVlalXOVxo
— Dr. Serkan Toto (@serkantoto) September 10, 2024
If that was the pitch to get people to spend $700 on a PlayStation 5 professional…well, it wasn't a very good one.
— Alex Navarro (@alex_navarro) September 10, 2024
https://twitter.com/embed/status/1833526943201038343
Trying real hard to see the difference between PS5 and PS5 Pro graphics pic.twitter.com/5dXhFfVj2y
— Celinašć»ćŖć¼ć (@tkn0801) September 10, 2024
The PS5 Pro has lines across the middle of the console which are a nod to the lines Sony executives were doing when they priced the thing pic.twitter.com/NPWP5ilfsC
— Ross Tweets Games (@RossTweetsGames) September 10, 2024
Average PS5 Pro owner pic.twitter.com/fQK7wmRhrI
— Tamoor Hussain (@tamoorh) September 10, 2024
Rest in Peace "599 US Dollars" for the PS3
We have "699 US Dollars" now thanks to the PS5 Pro pic.twitter.com/GB6M2IFU7g
— Jawmuncher (@Jawmuncher) September 10, 2024
The PS5 Proās initial unveiling turned heads in all the wrong ways, but it might look more appealing once the next round of big-budget blockbusters arrives, especially Grand Theft Auto VI. Fans might not care about compromises for older Sony exclusives at this point, but any increase in the performance of high-end open world games expected to be some of the defining releases of this console generation is a different proposition entirely. GTA 6 wonāt be on PC at launch, and itās very possible a PS5 Pro might end up being the only way to play it with a stable framerate above 30fps.
Time will tell. For now, weāll see if the prices for the PS5 family of gaming hardware and accessories ever gets cheaper, or this is the dawn of a new era where console gaming is just as pricy as PC gaming but with fewer options.
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