This is the first in a series of regular guest columns. Push squarethe largest independent PlayStation website in the world. We are the voice of the PlayStation community, offering passionate, in-depth coverage and insight into the world of Sony. Our goal is straightforward: to inform, engage and be part of the conversation about all things PlayStation.
Starting at amazing $700 November 7this PS5 Pro is already facing significant scrutiny from fans: a whopping 89% Push square enthusiasts found the mid-range machine to be “too expensive” in the survey this week. Sony now faces the thankless task of convincing its most committed consumers that the console is worth the investment. But with many feeling that the PS5 generation hasn’t even started yet, the PS5 Pro’s problems seem to extend beyond the price.
The best proof of this was the decision of the system’s chief architect, Mark Cerny, to draw attention The Last of Us: Part 2 Remastered during the PS5 Pro reveal – a re-release of the 2020 PS4 game, albeit an undeniably lovely one. While it’s good to know the game will run at an unyielding 60fps in full 4K fidelity on Sony’s recent, supercharged system, few will feel the astronomical $700 price tag is justified by an improved last-gen title.
Cerny, to his credit, did point out some improvements to full-fledged PS5 exclusives, such as Marvel’s Spider-Man 2but the general sentiment remains that the base PS5 has yet to show its full potential. Tentpole first-party titles like God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden WestAND Gran Turismo 7 they all look and work great on PS5, but they’re also available on PS4, which raises questions about whether they even stretch the capabilities of Sony’s entry-level hardware.
The extended inter-generational period, where titles continued to release on both PS5 and PS4, left early adopters feeling cheated, as they expected the PS5’s full power to be tapped much sooner. Older consoles are typically left behind within a year or two, but bloated development budgets and pandemic-induced inventory shortages have ensured that previous-gen systems remain highly relevant to this day. We’re quickly approaching the PS5’s fourth anniversary, and yet many major titles are still being developed with the decade-old PS4 in mind, including upcoming releases like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 AND Metaphor: ReFantazio.
All of this leaves the PS5 Pro’s value proposition in a precarious position: How can it justify its pricey existence when games are still being developed with last-gen machines in mind? Amid a PlayStation-obsessed audience Push squareJust 9% of users say that are willing to buy a system with a top-up at the start – a drastic drop compared to 24% who wanted PS4 Pro at the time of the announcement.
One sec industry data states that the PS4 Pro only made up about 13% of the PS4’s total install base, but was generally received more optimistically. The timing of the system’s release coincided with the rise of 4K television, making the promise of improvements to existing 1080p content more enticing. Furthermore, Sony had long since left the PS3 in the dust by the time the PS4 Pro was unveiled, with acclaimed exclusives like Bloody AND Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End already under his umbrella and expected adventures such as Horizon Zero Dawn on, well, horizon.
Unfortunately, we are already in this generation and we still do not see what’s next for Naughty DogDevelopment cycles have lengthened to the point where we may only get one true native PS5 title from a beloved first-party developer – a stark change from the PS3 era, when a whole bunch of games were released Uncharted trilogy and The Last of Us in one console cycle.
GTA6 AND Marvel’s Wolverine It’s expected to put current-gen hardware to the test next year, but these are just two upcoming examples in a generation that’s had an incredibly ponderous start. Those who bought a PS5 in 2020 weren’t expecting to have to wait this long for titles that truly stretched their consoles’ capabilities, and that makes the PS5 Pro’s existence seem all the more unnecessary.
Sony will claim that the PS5 Pro is simply about giving gamers the flexibility to experience higher-fidelity graphics and smoother frame rates if they prefer. But it’s clear, at least from the console’s announcement, that fans don’t feel like their current systems have been tested yet. And that means the PS5 Pro still has a lot to prove – even apart from its stunning price.
Sammy Barker is the editor Push square. He’s lived and breathed the wonderful world of PlayStation for decades – and he’s got the tattoos to prove it. You can find him on @_get2sammyb.