Topic: PS5 Pro

Maybe you heard. I don't understand, though. Who is the target audience? Who needs it or wants it? Who can afford it? I'm not into this console manufacturers splitting their audience, particularly because it hurts development. Apparently, the Xbox Model S has been a huge problem for developers. I honestly think the PS5 Pro won't sell, and in that case, what's the point. Developers aren't going to put extra effort into maxing out their games if only a fraction of the audience will see the results.

@Gryffin The target audience will be the same audience the PS4 Pro was aimed at. Those who want the best experience and are willing to pay more for it. It's probably not a huge audience but it's big enough to justify the Pro's existence. Games will still be made primarily for the PS5 and XSX but with the Pro, you won't need to choose between quality or performance mode. It'll be like running games on a powerful PC rig on max settings. The XSS is different, as that is weaker, so developers are having to downgrade games and release them alongside XSX games. It could be argued the XSX is what's held back AAA games this gen.

There's is already an ongoing thread about this

https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/news/ps5_pros_eye_waterin...

Might want to check if a thread already exists before making one.

I had checked. I had no idea a non-Nintendo story would be anywhere but here. Thank you.

@OorWullie yeah the Series S is the opposite problem, for sure. I guess my feelings are that the PS5 itself still feels new to me. It's been 4 years, apparently, but I still feel like the software library is pretty weak. Most games are still available on PS4. Finally, AAA games are becoming this Jen exclusive, like Star Wars Outlaws. I guess frontiers of Pandora earlier this year was exclusive to this gen also. Without checking though, my guess would be that last holiday most third party games were cross-gen. All of this is to say that, in my view, this generation still feels new, and the power of the X and the 5 are still plenty. Oppositely, the switch is 5 years outdated. I will always choose to play a game on switch last, even 2D indie titles because I don't trust its performance. The game industry is in a really interesting place right now.

@Gryffin

My most cynical response is that the target audience is every Playstation pay pig.

Eventually inventory for the standard and slim will run through and the only option will be the Pro variant. Also, this most likely sets the floor for the PS6 at $700 as well.

@Gryffin I only game on Switch and sometimes Steam on my laptop, so for me, this gen has been a healthy one and I'm more than ready to move on (and praying that my library carries over). However I do keep up with the news on other consoles, and to me it seems like this gen has barely even got going yet. I'm not surprised at tbe lack of brand new exclusives from Microsoft but I am really surprised at Sony. How can it be that in the 4th year of the console's life, they have no major games from their big franchises? It just seems like really piss poor planning. They need to focus on putting out more games and releasing more of their classic IP like Nintendo do, forget about hardware for now and make this gen last till the end of the decade. Xbox are becoming irrelevant. I wouldn't be surprised though if rumours of the PS6 start at the end of next year. If that happens, there's going to be a lot of seriously disgruntled PS fans.

@Magician
[quote=Magician]

I have been thinking the same. If 700 is the new 500, Nintendo might be tempted to move closer to 500 than 400. Even if the specs don't justify them doing so. I wonder if Sony will make a profit on the hardware at that price?

What do you consider their big franchises? They've had
Last of us, God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Horizon, Marvel's Spiderman, Astrobot... One or more first party Sony games have been nominated for GotY every year of the PS5 lifetime. They have nowhere near the amount of IP games that Nintendo has and they have decided to make a lot of their own games non-exclusive, but those are still some very big games.

Rebirth is exclusive to PS5

Rebirth is at least temporarily exclusive although isn't a Sony IP. Astrobot is also at least temporarily exclusive and is a Sony IP. Decent chance both will be nominated for GotY since they are the top two rated metacritic games of 2024 besides Elden Ring DLC.

@FishyS I should have worded that better, I meant this year specifically. I remember reading at the beginning of the year that Sony won't be releasing any major first party games from existing IP before March 2025.

@OorWullie But... Astrobot!

And yeah, I did totally misunderstand what you said before 😅

Astrobot is an interesting one because even though everyone says it is amazing and it will win awards, I bet it would have sold more copies if it was on Nintendo hardware rather than PlayStation. Of course it is also very much a game which doesn't need PS5 Pro.

I don't agree but people keep saying that Switch is part of 8th gen, and there havent been any succesful games that havent been on either XB1 or PS4 so it feels like the 9th gen never started.

Idk. I don’t plan to buy it, because my original PS5 is much better. It’s cheaper, have non-detachable Blu-ray drive and free vertical stand. And I can play in all PS5 games on it.

Outside USA it's even much more expensive for Digital PS5PRO at Europe is 799,99€ = 883,43$! In My Country (Lithuania) it will be for Digital PS5PRO - 799€ = 882,34$, for Only Disc Drive 119€ = 131,41$ and total of both will be/ends up 918€ = 1013,75$! While PS5Slim with/along side Disc Drive in My Country is only 499€ = 551,05$! Here is some more conversions to $ for other 2 pricings that were revealed for Digital PS5PRO: 699,99£/GBP = 916,15$, 119980¥/JPY = 846,07$! So it's even much more expensive outside USA, so USA just: Digital PS5PRO 699,99$ + Solo Disc Drive 79,99$ = 779,98$ which is much cheaper!

Yeah, I don't get where this idea that PS5 hasn't had any worthwhile exclusives this year. They may not all be specifically "first party" and may or may not end up on PC eventually (but that's true of everything without the word Nintendo on the box), but honestly FFVII Rebirth & Stellar Blade stand up as the best games I've played this year (and I have a feeling Astro Bot will join them when I get around to it).

As for the Pro, I personally don't need it and think it'll flop or at least underperform. At that price (over $800 once you factor in taxes, disc drive, and stand. I imagine not many of the enthusiasts this is supposedly aimed at would be the type to skimp on ANY bells & whistles), the enthusiast type willing to spend that kind of cash on top of the line performance would likely rather get (or already have) a gaming PC.

Also doesn't have as much reason to exist as the PS4 Pro did, which released to provide 4K output at a time when 4K TVs were starting to become commonplace. The only notable advantage PS5 Pro seems to have is to allow the elimination of "performance vs fidelity" modes, which probably isn't as big of a draw given that the base can still do 4K, just usually at 30 FPS.

@NeonMullet

I've got truckloads of nostalgia for the PS1 days. No other platform felt full to the brim with experimental gaming experiences. The Dreamcast was also fairly close to that sentiment. No other platform burned brighter; it's wild to think how DC was only on the market for eighteen months.

It felt like years of greatness.