I don't know about you, but it doesn't really make sense as a product to me. If all it is is some extra raytracing features + slight resolution bump, then it's not really worth it. Especially if it is a significant price increase over the regular PS5. And if you need significant development work to achieve those results, then I can see many devs just giving it a pass and not bothering to add any features.
Not to mention with all the supply chain issues, most people weren’t even able to get a PS5 until the last year or so and I’m sure none of those people want to repurchase a slightly upgraded version so soon.
Traditionally, console makers like Sony and Microsoft often create a mid-cycle console refresh,
Am I tripping or did this only happen once each? Was there some PS3 Pro or Xbox 360X that I missed?
I’m not saying they aren’t going to do it again, but I wouldn’t call it a tradition just yet.
Edit: People I know there were slim versions and other variants of consoles. I’m talking about mid-generstion upgrades to performance. Like Nintendo handhelds: the New 3DS and Gameboy Color would be reasonable examples. There’s some things you can stretch: the N64 memory pack, the Sega tower of power.
They did some minor hardware revisions and “Slim” models, but yeah they were never intended as a “Pro” model with increased performance/graphics. Definitely not a “tradition” by this point
They had slim variants going back to the Playstation/PS1. More recently was the “pro” models coming out trying to jump on the Apple marketing bandwagon.
The main reason the ps4 pro came out was the relatively sudden mass adoption of 4k tvs as the new standard. Sony wanted something that could reliably take advantage of it
Yes they’ve had slim versions of course, but their performance/feature mix has been the same (or even worse) than the original. I’m not sure why you’re bringing them up? That’s been a part of the industry for longer than Sony has- Sega had 3 models of the Genesis, Nintendo had the top-loading NES, etc.
I’m also not sure what you’re referring to with the Apple marketing bandwagon. The word “Pro” has been used for consumer goods for decades. Off the top of my head I always think of Bass Pro shops. Apple is just one of many, many companies doing the same thing. And also that only applies to Playstation- Microsoft is using their X terminology. Although we will have to see if Microsoft decides to upgrade the Series X what the hell they’d call it (2x? XX?).
My apologies if I come off as rude, but I’m genuinely trying to figure out what you’re talking about here.
It’s slightly different though. The PSOne was a post-PS2, cut-price version for the low end market. Same for the NES’ second version and more (360 E, PS2/3 Slims, Wii Mini, etc.). The PS4 Pro was the first real mid cycle performance upgrade we got IIRC (aside from the PSP getting double the ram mid cycle, I guess).
The PS3 was probably a more interesting piece of tech than the PS4, lol.
That said, ignoring that standardizing to x86 has been pretty clearly the right choice for a couple generations, they're still doing unique and novel stuff. The design of their chip around loads is impressive and directly impacts what developers can do if they lean into it, and the way they let devs customize the trigger experience on controllers is a game changer (even if some devs might overdo it a bit).
I think it's funny that he's using backwards compatibility and the fact that devs doing less demanding games were able to also publish for PS4 during a pandemic when availability was an issue as some kind of mark against it though.
Sony also did this same rollout in the same time-span. PS4 was released in 2013, Pro version was in 2016. It’s been about three years since the PS5 was released so it checks out.
It probably feels sooner to most people. Ignoring that Covid ate a couple years in a lot of people's sense of time passing, it's relatively recently that you could actually walk into a store and get a PS5, especially without a full priced game bundled on top.
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