In the last article I wrote for Eurogamer, I wondered how Sony would tackle the challenge of marketing a premium version of the PlayStation 5 when the standard PS5 – arguably – already commands a premium price-point which hasn’t shifted substantially since its launch four years ago. The answer was surprisingly straightforward: users love 60fps performance modes, so why not serve that up with enhanced quality comparable to today’s 30fps fidelity modes? It’s an elegant solution for presenting a higher-end piece of hardware without making the standard model look lacking.
Beyond that, the marketing became significantly less convincing, culminating in a price-point that’s so high, few saw it coming. We have entered the age of the £699/$699 console, rising to an astonishing €800 for our friends in Europe. This price rises still further if you actually want to run your existing library of physical games on it as you’ll need to invest £99/$79/€99 in an optical drive to run them.
Lead system architect Mark Cerny took centre stage in revealing PlayStation Pro – a good move from Sony. Cerny presents with an understated by intense passion for technology, shown at its best for the reveals of PlayStation 4 and its successor. However, this time around, he was not given the time to deliver any kind of deep dive into what makes the PS5 Pro architecture so clever. Instead, we get edited highlights, if you like, condensing the Pro’s key features into a ‘Big Three’ – a larger, more potent GPU, enhanced ray tracing and machine learning hardware used for upscaling. Bearing in mind that PS5 Pro will be appealing to the high-end enthusiast that’s thirsty for technical detail, the barebones nature of the presentation just didn’t make sense.
0:00:00 Overview0:01:20 How is Sony marketing the PS5 Pro?0:09:43 Big three features: larger GPU, machine learning and ray tracing enhancements0:25:10 The missing disc drive0:33:12 $700 USD sticker shock: does it make sense?0:44:23 What do we want to see out of PS5 Pro?0:49:43 Supporter Q1: Was Microsoft right to skip an enhanced console this generation?0:54:06 Supporter Q2: Is GT7’s 8K mode as stupid as it sounds?0:57:26 Supporter Q3: What PC GPU is the best match for PS5 Pro?1:00:27 Supporter Q4: Will Sony encourage developers to stick to a single PS5 Pro mode, or have multiple?1:02:58 Supporter Q5: Why doesn’t the PS5 Pro have a larger CPU upgrade?
A nine minute presentation is lacking already but as I imagined would be the case, the discussion to begin with a reassurance that the standard PS5 is still a great machine – precious minutes were spent there before we actually got to the topic at hand. Bearing in mind Mark Cerny’s skill in evangelising gaming technology, I couldn’t help but feel disappointed. The lack of press hands-on opportunities (as there were for PS4 Pro in the wake of the 2016 PlayStation Meeting) meant that there’s a void of information only filled in with existing leaks from the PS5 developer portal, with no accompanying context from the man that led the team that created this new hardware.