themightyant

@WanderingBullet Sony are likely selling the stand separately because, like the disc drive, this is an already purchasable product. But it does seem mean spirited not to bundle it.

I agree Sony shouldn't sell this Pro unit at a loss. The vast majority of people buying one will be upgrading from a standard PS5 and will have already been subsidised once, it isn't sensible business to do this twice. But the larger price delta does make the PS5 Pro look even less appealing.

@darylb24 Yes the PS5 Pro is expensive, but this "punishing the UK" theory really needs to die as it's based off bad maths and the lack of understanding that US prices don't include tax whereas UK does.

E.g. The PS5 Pro is $700 in the US (without tax) and in the UK is is around $760 (without tax) that is within usual bounds of regional pricing variations and not some mad UK rip-off conspiracy.

There are many other countries that DO have truly awful conversion rates but the UK isn't one of them.

To be fair Sony never said this, this choice is always up to DEVELOPERS. If they decided not to add so many extra layers of detail and targeted 60fps from the start this would be entirely possible on base PS5. But they are always trying to make better and better looking worlds and seem to be happy with 30fps even if, as Sony have said, three quarters choose performance mode.

LOL. To be honest I don't mind 30fps in SOME games, it really depends on the genre. But anything fast paced, or anything where the camera is moving in many directions constantly I prefer more frames.

But I find 40fps a pretty good balance in many games both on PS5 and Steam Deck. It just feels MUCH smoother then 30fps. ymmv

That all said there are FAR more important things. If the game is good enough, look at most Nintendo games, then I will get used to 30fps pretty quickly. I'd rather play Tears of the Kingdom or Xenoblade Chronicles 3, or even Bloodborne at an unstable sub-30fps than not play them at all, and I will have a great time doing it.

Firstly I don't think they have done a good job of demonstrating what the PS5 Pro can do vs the PS5. The examples they gave were mostly terrible and shown in small windows. Before buying I would need to see more evidence of what we would be getting.

But assuming they do this, assuming PSSR is a game changer, assuming more games will be 60fps + high settings, and assuming PS5 Pro Boost mode improves existing games where it matters then I would be happy to pay £599 for it to play console games at their best for the next 4 years. Perhaps £649 at a push. But ONLY with a disc drive included, that is the biggest hurdle for me. I wouldn't mind if it was 1TB either as I already have the expansion for that, but a disc drive for another £100 is a hard no.

Probably because it is usually HOW things are complained about rather than that they are. And for something like this where only about 10% - 15% of the market will buy one that is 85% - 90% who won't, which will attract a lot of negativity over the cost. It's fine to say, "it's too expensive, it's not for me", and walk away, but instead gamers like to dogpile. Many seemingly enjoy complaining more than actually enjoying games.

That's a shame. I enjoyed Void Bastards a lot and was looking forward to this. Might still give it a go, but will need to see more reviews.

@NEStalgia I'm not saying it will stop scalping altogether but it should reduce it.

As for the 4090, it was only ONE example, look at MOST premium products from established brands, there is usually plenty of demand.

@LowDefAl Completely agree. The only frustration for me, as someone pointed out on another thread, was that I THOUGHT this was going to be a product aimed at me - an enthusiast gamer with some disposable income - just as PS4 Pro was.

To find out, at the last moment, it really isn't due to price feels a bit like a bait-and-switch. Even though I KNOW that is rubbish because they hadn't said ANYTHING about PS5 Pro before, many of us were still believing this was for us up till the price reveal. That isn't good marketing.

@IOI At worst you might call it anti-consumer, but that isn't really accurate either because most platforms holders and publishers are also raising their prices. It's not just Sony. While we may not like it as consumers the fact is the cost of making games and hardware HAS increased rapidly in the last 5+ years.

But I agree that most of these ever increasing game budgets need to be addressed. Yet potential solutions like AI are unpopular, and when Sony has made smaller games they typically haven't sold as well. Though I don't have a problem with Spider-man 2 costing $300m or GTA6 reportedly costing $2bn because these games have and will make a tidy profit. But they are the rarer exceptions, almost sure-fire hits.

@StonyKL I understand that disappointment. I felt the same, I thought PS5 Pro was going to be targeted at me too, an enthusiast with disposable income. But as you said, "it wasn't for me" and when I knew that I was no longer too bothered. Life's too short to be annoyed about such things for long.

Though like you I am cross platform and have a Switch, Series X and Steam Deck. I suspect if I was ONLY into PlayStation, and didn't spend all that money on other devices I would probably drop £700 much more easily. As it is I will save that money to rebuild my rig and there will be Switch 2 next year. Both are much more sensible purchases.

@Mostik Nah! the crypto-GPU-boom had bottomed out by the time the 4090 released in late 2022. In fact the market was flooded with cheap GPUs that had been hammered be crypto-mining at that time, and STILL it sold out. Within reason there is always a market for the hot new expensive thing. Plenty of people make enough money that dropping £700+ isn't a big deal.

@IOI That's more than a stretch of the use of the word. As for Sony's profit margins they have been in single figures for the last 8 quarters, so raising prices is a sensible business practice to prevent them making a loss in future as everything gets more expensive, which i'm sure you would agree would not be clever business.

I get it no one likes a price hike, but to call Sony ABUSIVE for doing so is just an inaccurate bending of the facts. Cost of everything is rising, Sony/PlayStation (or Xbox and others) aren't immune to that.

Good month for me. Plucky Squire Day1 is the big news though. But Night in the Woods and other also of interest. Win.

@IOI I agree with many of your points, but you might want to look up the word 'abusive' before throwing it around so casually. Nothing Sony have done could be called abusive in the correct sense of the word.

@Mostik They said the same about £1650 4090 Graphics cards. I expect it to sell out at least.

People have short memories. This makes sense to try to prevent mass scalping.

Man! do I wish Sony didn't announce the PS5 Pro... but only because the amount of whinging online is truly nauseating.

Yes it's too expensive for me, I won't be buying it, but so is a Ferrari, that doesn't mean I go online and whinge about the price of high end cars. If its not for you, accept that and move on.

Not really. PS5 pro is a premium offering that will have a niche audience, maybe around 10%-15% of the total PS5 market. Most people will NOT pay that amount either for a PS5 Pro or PS6. Sony HAVE to keep a more cost effective offering or their whole business model will fall apart.

@Zeke68 Hahaha! I haven't seen a good Hitler Reacts in a while this had me rolling.

@JohntheRaptor Absolutely. Someone was talking to me about "two ninety nine" the other day and how cheap things were (Referencing when PS1 was announced for $299 / £299) but that was almost 30 years ago and with inflation that $299 / $299 is now £595.56 OR $617.61. By inflation standards (which granted is not the same as buying power) the PS5 was cheaper than the PS1, but people forget this.

@LowDefAl Very well written and balanced post. 👏👏👏

The only thing i'd add is that Sony's investor briefings consistently mention for the next upcoming quarter "Decrease in hardware losses due to lower unit sales" which seems to indicate they are still making a loss on hardware, just less or a loss than before.

@jrt87 This will depend country to country but there is plenty of evidence that around 35% - 66% of people buy their phones outright and are on a sim only contract (See this article for USA at 66%, and this one UK at 35%)

I agree they are different markets and products but just like premium headphones, £1,500+ Graphics cards and more there is absolutely a market for expensive premium products like PS5 Pro. The pricing doesn't suit ME, or perhaps you, but it will be fine for many.

The poll is interesting. It has stayed pretty steady as more votes have been added. Around 10% say they will buy the PS5 Pro at launch. Around 15% say they will buy it sometimes and around 20% will buy or are interested but need more info. While this is an enthusiast site those are much higher than I would have guessed.

People will ALWAYS buy things like this. Look at how many people buy a new premium phone every year, buy premium headphones like the £500 Airpods Pro Max, or own £200+ controllers like the Dual Sense Edge. There absolutely IS a market for this. It's not for me, but it will be for others, that's OK.

@tselliot When a new iPhone comes out it isn’t the price of the iPhone Pro. Same with most other products, you can have a base model and an expensive premium model. Yes the base model may increase a bit due to inflations, cost of manufacture and materials but it isn’t the price of the pro model. Same here.

More importantly PlayStation’s business model, where they get most of their money through games and MTX on PSN, only really works if they have many millions of users. If they are selling it at £700+ the business model fails.

@DNortonX The point is PS6 won’t cost the same as this premium PS5 Pro, just as the DualSense doesn’t cost the same as the premium DualSense Edge. PlayStation is only viable as a brand if they have tens to hundreds of millions of units sold, that isn’t happening at £700+ so they are worrying over nothing.

While I think the PS5 Pro is too expensive for what we have been shown so far I REALLY don’t understand the “this is the end of PlayStation for me” posts. This is the niche premium version, no one needs it, the base PS5 is a great piece of kit.

Sony isn’t stupid, they know this will be a relatively low volume unit at this price, there is no reason to expect PS6 to be a similar price as that would just kill their brand.

So yes it’s too expensive for many, including me, but it’s also something I don’t need just like DualSense Edge.

@XenonKnight Thanks for the correction, didn't know it got that high.

@Ooccoo_Jr Come on! It looks almost the same as the PS5, all you have to do is draw 3 go faster stripes down the side of the base model now and in 2 months time she'll never know the difference...

P.S. Vasectomies are cheap compared to kids. You're welcome.

@Ooccoo_Jr LOL missed that. To be honest I don't begrudge anyone who has the spare cash wanting the best, just as I don't begrudge people paying £1,650 for a 4090 GPU, it's not what I would do, but we're all different and earn different salaries.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Agreed. At £699 with EVERYTHING, including the 2TB of storage this has, I would have considered it. But as a physical media fan this is a no. At least for now...

Perhaps Digital Foundry comes out and says PS5 Pro boost mode is a game changer and that PSSR is worthwhile, then I MIGHT consider it, but it would take a LOT to convince me at that price.

What's most crazy is PS4 Pro was £349. Half the price WITH a drive.

@DualWielding @trev666 PS Blog says it's the same height as the OG PS5.

@riceNpea @Intr1n5ic @Ooccoo_Jr Good for you guys. Enjoy! Let us mere PS5 plebs know how it runs in due course

It does make more sense if you are tied into PSVR2 I think, as I expect that will get a boost too. Happy gaming.

EDIT: Also I just saw 2TB storage that will add to the cost.

On the flipside i'm surprised they didn't mention PS5 Pro boost mode which apparently works with up to 8500 PS4 and PS5 games. I wonder if Elden Ring will be smooth.

Additionally this is the current list of games getting a PS5 Pro Enhanced patch Alan Wake 2, Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Demon’s Souls, Dragon’s Dogma 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Gran Turismo 7, Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, The Crew Motorfest, The First Descendant, The Last of Us Part II Remastered, and more.

£825 for PS5 Pro + drive + stand... errr... NO!

But Honest question: Is ANYONE getting one?

@Bizzy Tax varies by state or region, but it's less than UK's 20% VAT. But that has nothing to do with Sony, it's a local government tax.
In the US I believe it's as low 3% and as high as 8%.

@Bizzy US prices don't include sales tax (as it varies by location) whereas UK prices do. So it's £583.33 excluding tax which is around $761 not $914

I was sold on the idea of Graphics AND framerate. But at £700 without a discdrive and a stand (£825 all in, assuming slim drive works) i'll I'll be happy to stick with base PS5 and performance mode for the next 4 years or so until PS6.

I saw the title and KNEW it was a Khayl article. Clickbait successful. FF8 is a good game but not even in the top 5 for me.

6, 7, 9, Tactics, 4, 8, 10, 12, 5, 15, 13, 2, 3, 1 for me today (It changex often). Haven't played 11, 14 or 16 yet.

@Grumblevolcano Yes. That makes a LOT more sense. Considering how often i've watched the Road to PS4 / PS4 Pro / PS5 I should have guessed this!

Tech will be interesting but i'm looking forward to seeing what games will do on it.

@Gaia093 The streaming aspect is awful for these games. Most could run on a 3 Watt Raspberry Pi, but instead they need a server farm, internet, and a PS5 (or other host device) to run on top of your tv. Just a few thousand Watts to run retro games, environment be damned.

Only 9 minutes... that really isn't much time to show many games. Not expecting too much TBH.

EDIT: On reflection this is likely to be a Cerny talk only similar to "Road to PS4 / PS4 Pro / PS5" with a games Showcase later

I just want to go Hollow Ichigo vs Ulquiorra and relive one of the most brutal fights of all time.

Do we know how many characters there are?

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt,

Not surprised Sony didn’t green light a sequel if the game director was this much of a pain in the rectum.

As a reformed trophy hunter I think their time would have been far better spent learning to let go. This level of obsessiveness is rarely healthy and often just makes you hate a game.

I kinda agree with them. Yes it's true they have had a lot of IP, but most of it is dead. Rightly so in my view. E.g. Jak for instance told it's tale and is done. Uncharted is the same. I don't want them making all the same franchises forever like Marvel or Star Wars or rebooting endlessly. Make a good set of games, tell your tale and move on. Don't get stuck in a rut like Microsoft did with Halo/Gears/Forza. Of course some can stay longer, especially if they are more pure gameplay than story based, but not most of them. Create something new instead.

My heart goes out to the miserable 14% of "glass half empty" souls out there. Cheer up.