Sony says "Pro." Most say "NO!"

*exasperated sigh* .............

I don't even know where to start with this. I guess I'll start with the reasons why there is no logical reason for this console to even exist in the first place. The 7th generation was a weird one to be sure. It was the most competitive console generation of all time, and it produced some of greatest games of all time. Many of which that have been remade or remastered numerous times. Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo made consoles that were great for the consumer, but all three companies ran into problems at the end. Obviously, the Nintendo Wii holds the champion belt from that era with 101 million consoles sold, but after the motion-control craze died out, so did the Wii along with it. Microsoft and Sony were not too far behind with 84 and 87 million consoles sold respectively with the XBOX 360 and the PlayStation 3, but MANY mistakes and missteps cost both companies hundreds of millions of dollars in losses despite selling a lot of hardware. As a result of taking such a massive L, both Microsoft and Sony chose to go off-the-shelf for the creation of the XBOX One and the PlayStation 4. This would ensure that profits could be made on the hardware either at launch or within a few months of launch. The downside to that however was that the PS4 and XB1 were already underpowered compared to where industry standards should have been at that time. This is why the PlayStation 4 Pro and XBOX One X were NECESSARY. Those mid-gen refreshes were the original-vision for both Microsoft and Sony for the 8th generation, but those were not risks they could afford to take at the beginning of that generation. Enter the 9th generation, which started with the Nintendo Switch. YES, THE NINTENDO SWITCH IS A 9TH-GENERATION CONSOLE. It irritates me when people suggest otherwise. Generations are determined by succession, not by power-level. The Wii was basically an overclocked Nintendo GameCube that was a little bit more powerful than the original XBOX, but no one calls that a "6th" generation console despite the PS3 and 360 being leaps and bounds more powerful. So, let this be the end to that ignorant and ridiculous line of thinking. Obviously, Nintendo choose the "Blue Ocean" strategy again with the Nintendo Switch, and it's worked like gang busters for them. Microsoft and Sony this time around took their time to create highly customized hardware with the XBOX Series family and the PS5 family. Now, mid-gen refreshes are not a new thing as they had been done long before Microsoft and Sony were doing them. In the 2nd generation, Atari had the 2600 or VCS, and then followed up with the 5200. Then, with the 3rd generation, they had the Atari 7800, and the Atari XEGS which was a computer/game console. In the 3rd generation, Sega had the SG-1000 and Sega Master System. After that in the 4th generation, they had the Sega Genesis, Sega CD, and Sega 32X. So, this is a movie most of us have seen before. However, I don't think Sony has watched that movie, because if they had, they would understand that making a mid-gen refresh just for the sake of doing so, or, to try and milk more money out of the consumer out of a spirit of greed............never works out. The mid-gen refreshes in the early 80s by Atari pretty much put them in a hole they couldn't come out of. The same thing with Sega. You can even throw Commodore in there as well with the numerous Commodore and Amiga computers in the 80s and early 90s. Same effect with them. Mid-gen refreshes only work when there is a ACTUAL problem that is being solved by more powerful hardware versus an imaginary problem created by that console manufacturer to try and pull a fast one. I listened to Mark Cerny's explanation and justification for the PS5 Pro, and after listening to that I feel like I have enough cow manure to plant crops all across America for 50 years. I guess that was his contribution to sustainability. I'm honestly insulted that they think we are that dumb. Tragically, there are some people out there that are. Being that the XBOX division is collapsing onto itself, and allegedly there was a mid-gen refresh for the XBOX Series X called the "Elite" that they were planning but cancelled, it seems like Sony thinks that they can do whatever they want without any consequences.

Now, an argument can be made that development studios asked Sony to give them a console that was powerful enough to handle their artistic vision to a point where it can be realized "faster" and thus the need for more powerful hardware, but despite all the technical jargon spewed by Cerny, the results were less than convincing, and that is being polite. We are literally just starting to scratch the surface of what the PS5 can do because now we are getting away from the cross-gen titles and into games built from the ground up on the PS5. Nothing they showed convinced me of why I would need this thing.

The first problem is that too many of the examples that they showed for the reasons to JUSTIFY the PS5 Pro were cross-gen titles like Horizon: Forbidden West, Last Of Us 2, and Gran Turismo 7. The second problem is that ground-up PS5 titles like Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Spider-Man 2 did not look like they took advantage much of the extra horsepower other than minuscule improvements in lighting and shadows that in action-packed games such as those, you aren't going to be paying attention to anyway. What Sony SHOULD have done is show us games that we haven't SEEN yet that were built from the ground up on the PS5 with the PS5 Pro in mind to tell the consumer, THIS is why you need a PS5 Pro. THIS is why it is worth $700. Sony should have worked out something with Rockstar to show an extended gameplay trailer of Grand Theft Auto VI. Sony also should have had at least two major 1st-party IP games to show off regardless on their stage of development. The last problem is that Sony has already announced that the PlayStation 6 will be coming in 2026. What logical sense does it make for ANYONE (even the enthusiasts) to invest $700 dollars into a piece of hardware in late 2024 knowing that the PS6 is coming in two years? Especially with NO GAMES, NO DISC DRIVE, and NO STAND for crying out loud. For $700 dollars you can't even give me a stand? If you don't have a PS5 already, by the time you get through paying for the PS5 Pro itself, the disc drive, the stand, and a $70 game, plus tax, you are literally looking at around $930 dollars (depending on your local and state tax rates.) I'm not even exaggerating. I'm DEAD SERIOUS.

Naw, Sony is trippin' on this one. For real. This could be one of those moments in history where you look back and say, "This is what broke them." $700 dollars is not worth Sony supposedly "closing the gap" between graphical-fidelity and performance. They can miss me with that. The PS5 Pro seems like a solution to a non-existent problem, and an answer to a question nobody asked. I know that they are gonna do their own thing when they feel like it, but if I was Nintendo, I'd drop the Switch 2 teaser-trailer in the next few days. If the Switch 2 has specs that don't measure up to the rumored specs, or if there is some crazy gimmick, the sheer consternation and disgust people have for Sony right now will allow them to get away with it. However, they too need to be careful with that price. Most people are thinking $400 and are comfortable with that. Stick with it.