Sony PS4 Pro Announced; Nov 10th Release Date @ $399

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Sigh...

I know that they're trying to ensure that the consumer base isn't going to be split up, and I admire the effort to require a "Base" and a "Neo" mode and no exclusive features, but...this just is so against what I feel the console consumer base deserves: iterative models at full retail prices instead of being able to upgrade specific parts (beyond hard-drives since you can already do that) at better values.

Like, what does this say to the people who only recently bought new PS4's? What if there's going to be an even better version just down the line? It sets a very uncomfortable precedent to me that doesn't fit consoles. I'm also not a fan of Nintendo's handling of the New 3DS.

But we'll have to see the numbers of if (or more probably when) this new PS4.1 is released. I hold very low enthusiasm if it's not obvious.

 

Yeah but nobody HAS to buy this, and if people are complaining about not being able to get "x or y" features for a certain amount of money, then the unfortunate repsonse is to:

A: Save your money until you can afford it
or
B: Stop worrying about having the latest and greatest "product" because unless you are filthy rich, you will never be able to keep up with it.


This is the problem that I have with how people are reacting. Everyone is saying "aww I just spent 350-400 dollars on a ps4, and now its already outdated / i have to get a new one". I am sure you already know this, but the ps4 was outdated before it even came out, and when people like me have talked about that in the past, certain people on either side have said that having the latest and greatest hardware doesn't matter. So if that is the case, this is just a luxury PS4 that less people will be able to afford. From a consumers standpoint (not a business one, I am not saying this is a good or bad business move) this is no different than any other case of "this new expensive tech came out, and less people will be able to buy it because it is expensive". I don't see how this is news or how people are shocked and appalled by it. Welcome to capitalism.

 

I'm also definitely not "shocked" or "appalled" by this; I'm disappointed because I saw it coming and hoped it would have been tackled some other way. Like if they could do what certain computer companies are with, for example, external GPU's, to save costs while still upping performance, but even that would segregate the consumer base in a weird way.

I know the PS4 was already outdated but I also know I'm from what I can tell one of the vocal minority who actually wanted to wait longer for this console generation to start, so that the standardized unit would have began with stronger specifications.

And I'd say this isn't the same as all other cases of expensive tech because alternatives exist: namely, PC's which can be built and taken apart at consumer discretion (and budget, obviously.) The precedent of iterative gaming consoles to me feels like risking getting enough people to buy this new stronger system to makeup for costs of these new models, whilst also trying to keep the market that wants simple, all-in-one gaming consoles that have basically functional parity with every other model in the same title (all PS3's perform basically equally.) Because that's what I'm told each time I ask someone I know why they don't just build a gaming PC (not to push them toward that, but simply to see other perspectives.)

But people can spend their money however they want, regardless of what I think, which is exactly what Sony is banking on with this move.

 

I knew it really wasn't going to be that big of a different from the current version, but sometimes I wonder if I shouldn't get the new version. I probably might depending if they give you a discount, and I mean a major discount if you're trading in a PS4 for the new one. Other than the CPU, GPU, and framerate being slightly more than what it is on the original, I don't see any more incentive to get an upgraded version. At least it's not like with the new 3ds and you have to system transfer to get your PSN ID switched

 

I'm not saying that the upgrades that are being offered in this "new" version are worth swapping out for, and I am also not saying that this is a solution/option people should go for.

However, if there are improvements across the board, for the price point there really isn't another console solution that would be "worth" it.

 

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Of course this gets announced. I finally got my PS4 in June. I wonder if Newegg will let me return it if I bought the 3yr warranty...well, time to find out! lol

I'm kind of disappointed they didn't make any changes so that it could at least play PS3 digital content.

 

There have been decent trade in offers from stores like Gamestop if you preorder the PS4 Pro, just gotta know when/where to look. That being said, unless you really want what the Pro offers, I don't see a reason to upgrade. Regardless of your choice, you should be fine.

 

Hmm, well for me it is worth it for the considerable upgrade on the processing power, as well as the gpu upgrade. It means more intense graphics and better framerates. And the way I hear it, some devs will be implementing PC like options to turn down graphics in favor for performance (or vice versa). There is the 1TB hard drive upgrade to consider as well. I only have five PS4 games but my drive is nearly packed with all of the games, digital content + their 3gb+ updates and patches.

 

My thoughts as well, but its important to remember that if a company doesn't optimize their games to benefit from these upgrades, the main benefit you will be seeing is fewer/less significant frame drops. I say this because a lot of games have locked framerates, meaning the only thing that this power can really do is keep the framerate more consistent, that is unless the creator of the game updates/optimizes it. I could be wrong about this, but to my knowledge this is how it works at the moment.

 

It is true optimization goes a long way for performance (Unity had a terrible optimization), but a lot of the devs said it was the limitation of the hardware that kept them from doing more. And if the options to turn down graphics or resolution or anything like is truly there, it will also help with those who prefer graphics or performance or perhaps convince the devs to push further like those who developed Uncharted 4 did (which is an incredible feat). Though if they don't optimize from the start, they can always patch it in later, right?

In the end though if I can get even consistent performance, that would be awesome. Uncharted 4, for example, still has a lot of slowdowns that triggers my motion sickness pretty bad.

 

I think regardless of what happens, these steps forward into better hardware should be pretty exciting to watch.

 

Definitely exciting. I'd imagine that the PS5 (totally will see it by 2018-19 at least) will be pretty comparable to a computer with what it can achieve, assuming they want to make a bigger upgrade, which I do assume by considering their latest actions like the PC connectivity feature, 4K, HD, better performance etc.