Comments 795

Re: PS5 Pro Has a Remarkable Impact on Unpatched Games

Rich33

@Uromastryx
This alone would not make the price worth it, no, but it does help - we are talking about unpatched games here, not properly enhanced games.

All in all, yes I very much do think that its worth it overall though, based on the evidence we have. The various upgrades we have seen range from modest (eg R&C) to very significant (eg FF7R), and I can appreciate them (and I have a decent TV with 120hz / VRR to help in that).

Yes, its £700, but split over 3-4 years thats only approx £200 per year / £4 per week.
Most actual experts I have read / listened to agree that the price is perfectly reasonable given the tech on offer here, whether you can or want to afford it is up to you.

Getting back to your question on the 33% increase in fps - yes thats quite huge to me. I struggle with anything much less than 60fps locked (headaches, sickness etc) - 33% increase means games that struggle down to 45fps on base PS5 will now be locked 60fps, its not magic and does have variability particularly if we have CPU bound games, but it means games I previously skipped may now be potentially playable.

This is also ignoring the fact that we already have seen the 1st example of a game that is 30fps in base, but 60fps on Pro.

I see this comment about PS6 often - why wait 3-4 years when a better option is available, providing of course you can afford it and dont want to spend the money on something else.
PS6 will likely be 4 years away (maybe 3 at a push), will very likely not have games that are not on PS5 / Pro for at least 4 years+, and will likely either be not much more powerful or not much cheaper than PS5 Pro (or a combination) - my guess would be about £600 digital, and only a modest power increase. (This does of course depend on whether Sony release a single unit, or a cheap low power model, and an expensive (maybe near £800-900) powerful model at the same time.)
Tech prices in general are just not coming down in price like they used to in past generations, and tech ability is not going up like it used to either.
Plus, in 3-4 years time, if I like what I see I can buy a PS6, or move to PC if I dont.

Re: PS5 Pro Has a Remarkable Impact on Unpatched Games

Rich33

Game boost this time round ie PS5 to 5 Pro seems much better than I remember PS4 to 4 Pro being on unpatched games.

Its early days but the extra 33% on the fps might well bring a few titles which I would have previously found to be unplayable due to fps, high enough for me now to consider.

The DF video does mention elimination / reduction of stutter for certain games too.

Re: PS5 Pro Actually Gives You Almost All Its 2TB of Storage to use

Rich33

@LowDefAl @Voltan

(Low Def AI - You are quite correct - I meant OS / reserved space and I have corrected my original post.)

You are both probably right, its just that the amount of difference ie 48Gb was much bigger than I expected.

At least its the right way, giving me more space to hoard games!

Re: PS5 Pro Actually Gives You Almost All Its 2TB of Storage to use

Rich33

Am I missing something here?

825 - 667 Gb = 158 Gb used for OS / reserved space in base PS5

2.000 - 1.890 Tb = 0.110 Tb / 110 Gb used for OS / reserved space in Pro

Has the pro got slightly more than 2Tb (2.048) or has the OS / reserved space been reduced without the difference being passed on to base PS5?

Re: Round Up: PS5 Pro Reviews Love New Tech and Its Glimpse of PS6 Potential

Rich33

I had a PS5 on launch day, and barring delivery issues a Pro tomorrow - it was an easy choice once I had watched the DF video after they had seen it running & had footage (well apart from the lure of PC which is my go to option if sub 60fps becomes an issue).

Future proofing for the next 4 years is important, and I both can easily see and appreciate the upgrade in footage.

Re: In the UK, You Can't Buy a PS5 Pro Disc Drive without Paying a Premium

Rich33

@Bobobiwan
No argument there - Sony have been awful in their communication these last few years (PS5 Pro full Specs!) - and there have been several times they could have squashed sillyness with a simple communication eg here where a simple message detailing restocking dates could reassure people so they wait, leaving the scalpers with drives they cant easily get rid of (and therefore lose money).

Re: Hogwarts Legacy Summons Additional Sales, Soars Past a Staggering 30 Million Sold

Rich33

@J_e_f_f__D
I raised a similar comment yesterday to the one I am about to do so:
The outrage was over the top in my view as the game designers clearly added certain characters and plot points in direct contrast to the authors views, and the devs should have been supported for doing so.
The positive way the devs handled this was something I think that should have received far more attention.

Re: Metacritic Responds to Ongoing Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review Bombing Campaign

Rich33

@Flaming_Kaiser
Yeah, I find it 'interesting' (and quite morally sad/disgusting) that the biggest proponents of the right of 'Free speech' are those same people that have a meltdown when additional options for sexuality or gender etc are added, despite there being nothing forcing them to use these options at all, when said options are there to feel inclusive to minority groups giving them the basic right of 'freedom of expression'.

Re: Metacritic Responds to Ongoing Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review Bombing Campaign

Rich33

I took a look at Metacritic out of interest, and it only affirmed why I am done with that site - they appear to have zero moderation unless someone goes through the process of reporting reviews, and seem to attract all of the people with a certain type of viewpoint.
Some of the shared comments there were not just distasteful, they were borderline or probably illegal, and the people who posted them should be ashamed of themselves (but they wont be, which is sadder still).

Re: What Is PSSR for PS5 Pro?

Rich33

@TheJamesHollan
Not really. FSR is a software based upscaler, similar to all other upscaling systems currently available to present consoles (like Sonys own current in house systems, which i will add i always thought far superior in results to FSR).

PSSR and Nvidias DLSS (etc) have a hardware component - this is the Machine Learning / AI part of the GPU, which the software component uses in doing its calculations when upscaling. Hence why base PS5 cannot use PSSR because it doesnt have this hardware component.

Re: Hogwarts Legacy a Huge Priority for PS5, Will Connect to HBO TV Show

Rich33

@cuttlefishjones
The outrage was silly in my view as the game designers clearly added certain characters / plot points in direct contrast to the authors views, and the devs should have been supported for doing so.

What was funny imo was that whilst you can say the use of the 3 curses by good guys/girls is thoroughly covered in the books (Harry uses 2, including Crucio repeatededly, with others perhaps urging him to use AK in 1 scene), the devs allowed you to convert the 'ultimate good guy/girl' spell Expelliarmus into a curse...

Re: Hogwarts Legacy a Huge Priority for PS5, Will Connect to HBO TV Show

Rich33

@NEStalgia
From what I am remembering (and I may be getting it all wrong as its ages since i read all the books last) the game used the film designs for the individual rooms/corridors/areas etc, but tried to tie the locations of said rooms/corridors/areas together to better fit where the books describe them, but also to fit them all into the castle exterior - which ended up being a squatter, slightly simpler and more boxy version of flim 3 - in order to fit it all in!

Though they did end up with 1 major inconsistency in that im sure hagrids hut / CofMC were right next to the forbidden forest in both the films and books, but really werent close at all in the game.

The game also featured a number of rooms/areas not featured in the films.

I wonder if its this layout / extra rooms they are planning on using, but also the surrounding area (eg locations of hogsmeade and the hamlets / regions) they will use for the various flying scenes.

Quite agree RE the plot / script - if the idea is for the series to be closer to the books, you cant retcon in a story set nearly a century beforehand, much as I do like Legacy!

Re: What Is PSSR for PS5 Pro?

Rich33

@OldGamer999
I found those videos after our conversation yesterday - pretty impressive, particularly as we said yesterday given Youtubes limitations.

Re: Hogwarts Legacy a Huge Priority for PS5, Will Connect to HBO TV Show

Rich33

@NEStalgia
I suspect the layout/features of hogwarts and the wider area from the game may be used in the series - the game world and layout was based both on the books and films, but they also had to create a lot of things (and resolve inconsistencies between films etc). Maybe the series will use some of this. Just an idea - I dont know.

Re: Empire of the Ants' Creepy-Crawlies Will Move at 60fps on PS5 Pro

Rich33

@Randinator123
Very, very few games should be CPU limited really, but on the GPU front it depends on how low the devs are willing to drop the resolution, LOD's and graphics effects etc when using resource hungry engines like UE5 (i think thats an understatement when it comes to UE5 tbh).
Im not saying its right but as the game engine is likely very heavy on the GPU, it will be much easier to acheive 60fps on Pro, particularly if PSSR allows better images from much lower resolutions.

Re: Empire of the Ants' Creepy-Crawlies Will Move at 60fps on PS5 Pro

Rich33

I have no interest in this game having read the review, but 30fps should be consigned to history, and Sony could really help make sure it is, with a concerted effort.
Part of this would need Sony to never include or show images or videos of games that are not running in 60fps modes (with set spec for framerate drops) on anything they control, including store fronts, SoPs, advertising etc - this would ensure that 60fps modes are targetted during development, then devs can add 30fps modes via scaling if they want to (and I still think they should).

However in reality I fear this may happen far more - 60fps only for pro - and as a 60fps only gamer (NO exceptions) Pro may well give me more choice in what games i buy.

Re: PS5 Pro Makes Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Look Like a Whole New Game

Rich33

Unlike a few titles which show a nice but modest improvement, this does look like a generation apart from the PS5 version - although thats based on the PS5 version being behind the curve in performance mode visuals.

I did also read a headline about a game launching soon that will only be 30fps on PS5, but 60fps on Pro - due to UE5 use, but im not sure how true the headline was.

Re: In the UK, You Can't Buy a PS5 Pro Disc Drive without Paying a Premium

Rich33

@Bobobiwan

I think Sony just underestimated the number they needed, rather than any wilful act.

This will likely be because of few reasons including:

They know that far fewer physical copies of games are being sold now, but possibly didnt factor in purchasers historical physical collections for which they still require drives.

Some, and probably more than they thought, will buy the drive just to use their console as a blu-ray player.

Maybe there is a higher than the norm % of physical purchasers within the group that are interested in Pro.

Re: Golden Joystick Reveals Nominations for 'Ultimate Game of the Year'

Rich33

Dragon Age being on this list is interesting given a lot of the loud (and sometimes obnoxious) negativity around this game.
I say this as someone who has bought the game and holding off until I have my Pro.
(The metacritic review bombing has been distasteful - to be fair this is not abnormal, and im practically done with the site as they seem to have zero moderation for user reviews - i only looked out of interest after buying!)

Asto bot my clear GOTY so far though - imo a very easy choice this year!

Stellar blade not on the list is odd.

Re: Insomniac Developers Psyched for PS5 Pro, Enhanced Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is 'Phenomenal'

Rich33

@OldGamer999
I havent had chance to see any videos today - are these new ones put up today as I havent seen Dragon Age at all on Pro or TLOU2 (except DF from a couple of weeks ago).

(Im thinking you are replying to a comment I raised on the SM2 Pro update article, not this one, but apologies if im wrong here).
Ive watched quite a few videos now, and am generally impressed - there are a few games where the upgrade seems more modest, but these are the games that look great already in their 60fps+ modes.

Sadly, a lot of people dont realise that the games will look even better in person on Pro than a Youtube video - Youtube is a good guide but it just cant do things like this justice.
(Sadder still is when people play spot the difference on their Phones!)

Re: Insomniac Developers Psyched for PS5 Pro, Enhanced Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is 'Phenomenal'

Rich33

@cuttlefishjones
Thank you - I did wonder when I read up a bit after the specs were released over the weekend - they gave a brief reason why the difference from the rumoured 33, but nothing I read said anything about what they should have declared.
I suspect Sony didnt want a "but its not true 33 Tflops" headline like the sillyness we got about RDNA version of the Base PS5.

Re: How to Transfer Data from PS5 to PS5 Pro

Rich33

@Jrs1
Thats the way I would probably thought was safest too (as the data transfer will identify the same user), but it would be good if you could install the M2 first as 1) it would be easier and 2) I will just want to do a 'kid in sweetshop' as soon as that transfer is done lol!

Re: Insomniac Developers Psyched for PS5 Pro, Enhanced Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is 'Phenomenal'

Rich33

@cuttlefishjones
Yeah, I couldnt remember the exact details of the PS4 Pro extra RAM (ie type/amount), just it used a very similar method (OS into slower RAM to free up better RAM).
It is intriguing - as you say it may be for PSSR, or may be just to allow for a little overhead for when base PS5 struggles (if this is a thing) just to smooth over the problem. It must have been done for a good reason as it will cost, but Im not surprised Sony havent gone into this given their lack of detailed info!

You seem to know more than I do on the 33.5/16.7 Tflops point - would you say Sony were right to only state 16.7, or does the architecture really support a 33.5 Tflop declaration - not that Tflops are the be all and end all of course.

Re: How to Transfer Data from PS5 to PS5 Pro

Rich33

Same as @MxBcardi
I have a WD Black SSD drive in my PS5's M2 slot.

Can i just move this over?

If so, do I move it (The M2 drive) in before or after completing the PS5 built in SSD profile/settings/saves/screenshots/video/games transfer via network described above?

Thanks for the article - I have been wondering how this would be done.

Re: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Will Literally Melt Your Face Off on PS5 Pro

Rich33

Melting customers faces seems like a bit of an unfriendly practice to me....

But seriously, it nice to see Sony actually start advertising Pro, even if there are much better game examples they could use.

Unfortunately, they will have a harder time due to the problem that even if viewed on a top spec TV, Youtube will just not do the difference justice.

Re: Insomniac Developers Psyched for PS5 Pro, Enhanced Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is 'Phenomenal'

Rich33

@OldGamer999
Saw these yesterday.
You probably saw the rumoured specs, amongst these was a little addition, that Pro would make over 1gb extra RAM available for games - but no details on how. They seem to be doing what they did for PS4 Pro with the DDR5 RAM taking on part of the OS, leaving more GDDR6 for games - certainly an interesting addition, if only small.

RE 16.7 Tflop - I read up a bit on this. It seems due to the way RDNA3+ calculates its Tflops that if indeed the Pro is RDNA3/4 which is what the rumours suggest, you could declare it as 33.5 Tflop like AMD do on their RDNA3+ GPUs ie double 16.7 (with rounding error), which was the widely rumoured figure, or as the more conservative 16.7 Tflop figure. I think the 16.7 figure more reasonably shows the upgrade from the 10 Tflop PS5.

Re: Sony Says the Best Time to Get a PS5 Is Now

Rich33

@TrickyDicky99
We both obviously have different opinions on this, GOWR to me is a clear PS5 game (made all the more so due to running at 80-90fps most of the time), and I agree with @LogicStrikesAgain about MM with its Ray Tracing being a proper PS5 game.

Its also probably wrong to say all the games mentioned could NOT be run on a PS3 - as PS3 could cope with open worlds eg Skyrim - you would just have extremely cut back visuals / framerates / less enemies on screen etc. I mean Street Fighter 2 did have a speccy+2 version - it was horrifically dumbed down (with serious reductions including in what moves could be performed), but it did exist!

Im sure this question will be hotly debated as we pass into the PS6 generation - we may even have the odd game released on PS4 after PS6 releases (maybe), and most PS6 games throughout its entire lifetime will also be released on PS5 to get as bigger market as possible, but Im happy with generation classification based on release date (providing native version is launched).

Right, off to more exited about Pro arriving in 3 days.

Re: Sony Says the Best Time to Get a PS5 Is Now

Rich33

@TrickyDicky99
As per @LogicStrikesAgain, I agree, the first 2 are last gen, with skyrim being earlier (although I cant remember exactly whether there was a proper remaster in the PS4 era which would complicate matters).

I would have to go back and look at the DF video for GOWR, but as I said I played both it and GOW2018 back to back last year.

GOW2018 was played in quality mode in BC on my PS5 (which runs at 60fps on PS5), therefore the highest visual mode. GOWR was native PS5 version played in uncapped Performance mode.

If I remember right, and its been a while, this means that the native pre-upscaling resolution was actually higher in the way i played it in GOW2018 as it was either around 1800p or 1600p, whereas GOWR in its uncapped performance mode is 1440p I think before upscaling.

Even given this, the visual fidelity visible in GOWR was a clear and significant improvement over GOW2018, made more obvious by the fact I played them 1 after the other. To me, GOWR was a true sequel, a generational leap above 2018.

What constitutes a generational leap is only going to get muddier imo, as hardware improvement slows (and AAA production costs go up), and Im of the opinion that nearly all or all games released in the first 4 years (at least) of PS6 will also have PS5 versions, but as long as they are released on PS6 (from its launch to PS7's) I will still consider them next gen games.

Re: Sony Says the Best Time to Get a PS5 Is Now

Rich33

@TrickyDicky99
80+ fps (regularly higher), which no last gen console can achieve.

I think the visuals were significantly upgraded too - GOWR was definitely a massive visual upgrade over GOW 2018 (even when GOW2018 was played in backwards compatibility on my PS5 on quality mode at 60fps) - I played them both back to back last year.

Re: PS5 Pro Could Seriously Improve the Quality of Your PS4 Games

Rich33

@themightyant
Glad he got his - from what I heard DF got 1 or more a day or 2 ago, but I didnt know about him (all DF have done so far is based on captures taken during visits to Sony).
Not sure if game tech reviews will be governed by the review embargo, which may be the 6th with unboxings on 4th.

Re: Sony Says the Best Time to Get a PS5 Is Now

Rich33

@LogicStrikesAgain
Yeah, I think that what people called true generations are well and truly over - in fact by the time PS6 arrives, I doubt we will see more than a couple of titles that run on PS6 but not PS5 (or at least Pro - this bit may be contentious), for the first 4 years at least, mabye more.

Bigger game budgets, higher console prices, and backwards compatability all have their part to play in this.

I would add though that im not doom-saying, as im happy with this - so called 'cross gen' titles from 3rd parties imo usually have better performance than those just released on PS5, sometimes with clearer image too.