'Sony's PS5 Pro Is a Pricey Test of Next-Gen Consoles' (theverge.com) 31
An anonymous reader shares a column: The PS5 Pro's announcement yesterday wasn't a surprise. What was a surprise was the price: at $699.99, it debuts as Sony's most expensive console ever. It brought back memories of the PS3's controversial price tag, a console that when adjusted for inflation is the same $779 price point of a PS5 Pro with the additional disc drive. It's a very expensive PlayStation, and I fear it's a test of what's to come for next-gen console pricing.
For years, console gamers have been used to purchasing hardware at a significantly reduced price compared to what you could build yourself in the PC gaming space. Yes, you can find components that match the PS5 or Xbox Series X on paper, but it's still difficult to hit the price points that consoles sell for, especially when they're discounted during promotions. Besides, the easy plug-and-play model, simplified UI, and hassle-free warranty process are all big benefits over having to build or find a good prebuilt PC and then deal with Windows and driver updates. Consoles sell in their millions because they're far more consumer-friendly than PCs.
For years, console gamers have been used to purchasing hardware at a significantly reduced price compared to what you could build yourself in the PC gaming space. Yes, you can find components that match the PS5 or Xbox Series X on paper, but it's still difficult to hit the price points that consoles sell for, especially when they're discounted during promotions. Besides, the easy plug-and-play model, simplified UI, and hassle-free warranty process are all big benefits over having to build or find a good prebuilt PC and then deal with Windows and driver updates. Consoles sell in their millions because they're far more consumer-friendly than PCs.
PCs are also getting consoleized (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:PCs are also getting consoleized (Score:4, Interesting)
Standard PC's are going that route, but gaming PC's are not. It used to be that a gaming PC was mostly a regular computer with a better video card, but now as 'regular' computers have shrank, become more disposable, and many shifted to laptops, the gaming PC market has pretty much stayed with the standard replaceable part model.
Even if you buy a pre-built gaming pc, they usually still are using parts that can be swapped out and upgraded as needed. With PC building itself being a big hobby of many of the participants, I don't see that going away. It is however, becoming more expensive as it becomes more niche though.
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That'll be true right up until APUs can reliably hit 1080p 60 fps medium settings no RT in new titles on Windows out of the box. Which looks to be in 2, mayyyybe three CPU/GPU generations for AMD.
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I'm sure Rockstar Games has a monkey wrench all ready to throw into that.
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But that's just the mainstream APUs. AMD still has Strix Halo in their release pipe. Strix Point (their current best consumer A
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Standard PC's are going that route, but gaming PC's are not. It used to be that a gaming PC was mostly a regular computer with a better video card, but now as 'regular' computers have shrank, become more disposable, and many shifted to laptops, the gaming PC market has pretty much stayed with the standard replaceable part model.
Even if you buy a pre-built gaming pc, they usually still are using parts that can be swapped out and upgraded as needed. With PC building itself being a big hobby of many of the participants, I don't see that going away. It is however, becoming more expensive as it becomes more niche though.
Yep, even before adjusting for inflation building a gaming PC is cheaper than ever, especially considering how powerful components are. It's also easier than ever as everything only really fits in one way these days (as long as you remember that ZIF really is _Zero_ Insertion Force, bending pins on your CPU is not a fun day). Components are also easier to get than ever. Adjusting for inflation, that $400 GPU back in 2017 is about $500 now and a $500 GPU is going to be a hell of a lot more powerful. I've bee
No Dreams were Cast (Score:4, Insightful)
I'm not sure a games console can be "Pro", meaning "professional". There are a relatively few professional gamers out there, I guess, but this clearly isn't being marketed to just them. And are they implying that this hardware gives you a competitive advantage over your rival professional gamers? I would think that it would be swiftly banned by competition rules in that case.
I mean, I guess if you could develop the actual games on it, then it would be "Pro".
Re: No Dreams were Cast (Score:2)
There is actually an increased number of people who make money from playing video games, i.e. professionals.
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I'm not sure a games console can be "Pro", meaning "professional". There are a relatively few professional gamers out there, I guess, but this clearly isn't being marketed to just them. And are they implying that this hardware gives you a competitive advantage over your rival professional gamers? I would think that it would be swiftly banned by competition rules in that case.
I mean, I guess if you could develop the actual games on it, then it would be "Pro".
Pro is also short for "prostitute" but again that may also be an allusion to the "professional" nature of the work.
However the colloquial meaning of "pro" for "professional grade equipment" means a higher quality and better performance. A "pro" bike is often better designed and built than a regular bicycle, even though most people who buy one won't be professional in the slightest.
Sony has used this label before, with the PS4 and I think one of their less successful handhelds. I think it's like the "r
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Pro is also short for "prostitute" but again that may also be an allusion to the "professional" nature of the work.
The world's oldest profession not withstanding, many of those "pro gamers" certainly are whoring themselves out to advertisers and sponsorships. So prostitute would be apt here.
As for the banned by competition rules comment, the whole point of these things is to sell hardware that eeks out 1 or 2 extra FPS over the next guy. If game developers / publishers really wanted to block that all they'd have to do is implement a hard upper limit on the game's framerate, or limit the receiving rate on network inpu
No hardware difference (Score:2)
Consoles are far less useful than a PC too. There isn't much hardware difference between a tablet and a console. Modern game consoles are internet-capable, that's how universal the technology is. For that price, a console should have a tablet-like OS with the standard built-in apps (browser, file manager, notepad, music/video player).
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It could be either thing depending on how you boot it up. Why shouldn't it have both personalities? As long as you get to decide how the storage is partitioned and the one doesn't affect the other, it's a benefit. The majority of users don't need any more computer than that ever.
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It's not really next gen though (Score:2)
But if I may ask for people saying just buy a PC the equivalent to a PS5 in PC land is at least a grand and that's the base model PS5. Video cards are stupid expensive right now and if you want something that can hang with the PS5 you're going to need to drop at leas
PS3 (Score:3)
The article failed to mention that when the PS3 released it was when blue light diodes were extremely expensive. A standard bluray player set you back nearly $1500. So a PS3 at half that price was still a bargain even if you only bought it to be a bluray player and not a gaming platform.
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Well the PS1 was something like $300 at launch. But that was 30 years ago, so I'm a bit surprised the PS3 was the most expensive. Really, inflation adjusted, this seems a bit run of the mill.
Re:PS3 (Score:4, Informative)
That's a bit of disingenuous comparison for a few reasons.
Yes, PS1 launched at $299 however it ALSO was a CD player. While the music player wasn't used much in NA it was semi-popular in Japan.
The PS2 launched at $299 and was ALSO a DVD player. This was fantastic value.
The PS5 Pro doesn't play BluRays; a drive will cost you $80 and Sony charges $30 extra for a stand.
Historically PlayStations have sold for around $300 but have slowly been creeping up. PS5 Pro is out-to-lunch pricing. Guess Sony has to somehow pay for that $200 Million Concord clusterfuck.
Here is a list of all the models and launch prices:
$299 PlayStation
$99 PS One
$299 PlayStation 2
$149 PlayStation 2 Slimeline
$499 PlayStation 3
$299 PlayStation 3 Slim
$269 PlayStation 3 Super Slim
$349 PlayStation 4
$299 PlayStation 4 Slim
$399 PlayStation 4 Pro
$499 PlayStation 5
$399 PlayStation 5 Digital
$499 PlayStation 5 Slim
$449 PlayStation 5 Slim Digital
$699 PlayStation 5 Pro
$249 PlayStation Portable
$249 PSP GO
Eu99 PSP Street
$249 PlayStation Vita
$99 PlayStation TV
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Historically PlayStations have sold for around $300 but have slowly been creeping up. PS5 Pro is out-to-lunch pricing.
This is because the consoles have always been sold as loss leaders, Sony and MS (not Nintendo) have always sold the hardware at a loss with the plan to make up for this by selling software and ancillary services. The price creep is just evidence that this isn't working, the loss they're making on the initial hardware sales are not being made up by software licensing or ancillary sales any more.
The next XBox will also be priced at $700 (using Corporate American Mathematics, that'll equate to GBP 700, EUR
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No, it didn't. At least not in the US. This is one of those tech urban myths that just won't go away. Like the government not allowing PS2's to be sold overseas because they are too powerful.
I worked at a major electronics retailer when the PS3 was released. We sold several Blu-Ray players, and we had multiple models from multiple manufacturers that were cheaper than the PS3. Notably we had both Panasonic and Toshiba units around $300, or HALF of the PS3 MSRP.
Again, I know this for a fact because I was
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Are you sure you are talking launch and not later? Because, as a HD-DVD buyer, those too were half the cost. Hence why I bought the damn thing. I personally bought a PS3 because it was cheaper than the Sony BD player. Those other brands were no where to be found and especially at that price. In fact wasnt it Toshiba thst went all in on HD-DVD? Theres no way Toshiba had a BD player at PS3 launch. Sony didnt put the nail in the coffin for HD-DVD until after. It was Feb 2008 when toshiba gave up on HD-DVD. Tha
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Nope, at launch, the PS3 was considered both one of the cheapest, and one of the best, Blu-Ray players available. People were buying it *as* Blu-Ray players.
I only stopped using my PS3 for Blu-Rays about a year ago, and only because it doesn't do UHD.
I also had the Logitech Harmony PS3 adaptor that registered with the console as a controller, and had IR reception, so you could control it with your fancy Harmony remote.
Sure if you ignore the 60GB PS3 (Score:3)
Inflation is a thing you can't ignore, and while TFS mentions the PS3 20GB model it seems to ignore the pricier model released a year later.
Playstation 3 20GB model $499 released 2006 - $780 in today's dollars.
Playstation 3 60GB model $599 released 2007 - $910 in today's dollars.
The people who complain about the price of the PS5 Pro are the same who complain they can't buy a new car for under $5000 anymore.
Re: Sure if you ignore the 60GB PS3 (Score:2)
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3DO is back! (Score:2)
What I really dislike with my PS4 (Score:2)
Compared to my PS3 when I "bought" an online game I could play no matter what user was logged in. But When my nephew visits and want to play a downloaded game he needs to use my user when playing, stopping him from getting his own achievements and scoring. What's the reason for this, it's the same console and sony could easily check that the account is on that console and let any logged in user play a game I "bought/own".
The solution is to buy the games on disc, which takes away the main reason for a downlo
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Something is not right there. So long as it's your primary PS4, any other user should be able to play the games the console's owner has purchased and installed.
https://www.playstation.com/en... [playstation.com]
Based on what you're describing, it sounds like it's not your primary PS4. In which case you need to follow the guide above to move the activation to the right PS4.
The terminology is a little different, but it functions in more or less an identical ma