I do recall Phil Spencer has said subsidizing consoles is much harder now and as someone has said you now have the CFO for Sony and Satya and Amy Hood for Microsoft now pretty much in this businesses. I doubt we see either company taking losses anymore. The series consoles are said to be 100 to 200 dollars subsidized. That will make a Series X between 600 to 700 dollars so the way I see NextGen could be starting at 1000 dollars. If anything, the PS5pro price suggest console gaming could be coming to an end or a big reset is necessary. At 700 or more I doubt theyâd be selling that much consoles. It will be like selling GPUs. This is why I think nextgen will have a lot of devices incorporating tech to play games either natively or through cloud as a new way moving forward.
Less tech would piss off way too many people. If PlayStation/Xbox was like Switch - two generations behind - oh man, I would quit both of them and go straight to PC.
I actually hope both the next Xbox console and PlayStation 6 are $800 U.S. because I want better fucking tech in the consoles. Best CPU/GPU available around that time, 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM because I want games to be guaranteed that they can hit 60FPS in Performance Mode. Give me 4K/60FPS locked/HDR and allow more effects and enemies on screen, better AI, etc. and I will be very pleased.
Also, I donât believe this would ever happen because PC doesnât slow down or stop. Itâs always advancing and if consoles went backwards like Nintendo, majority would just instantly jump to PC.
If people want games to have less tech, they already exist - theyâre called Indies. 
I agree/disagree. I will give an example. Ghost Recon Wildlands. PS4 Pro had 8GB of RAM. There was mission where I had to put down mines as a defense before enemies would rush the area I was in. I could set four mines. When I set the fifth, the first mine I set disappeared because the 8GB of RAM wasnât enough capacity.
I donât need/want the greatest visuals but I do want better enemy AI, more dynamic worlds, more lush worlds, ability to do what I just said above but even beyond, or when in an enemy outpost and walking through snow leaving footprints, enemies easily detect them and search for an intruder.
I want better gameplay/combat and just overall better stuff and in order to get that better stuff, you need better more advanced tech.
The problem with the PS5Pro and probably next gen too is not only is cutting edge hardware going to be expensive, itâs also probably too expensive to make AAA games that would fully take advantage of said hardware. The return on making these super high end games just isnât there when the sell for the same amount as low budget games.
I think weâre seeing the same visceral, gut-reaction, black and white thinking that we have seen in the industry over the last 5 years apply now to a piece of hardware.
There some aspect of this being blown out of proportion but I do think that PlayStation needs to carry some responsibility in how they rolled this out. Very similar to how Xbox carries a lot of responsibility with how the Xbox One was communicated.
Iâve learned the same lesson here on this forum in this community thread. I pitched an idea incorrectly and people werenât too hot on it and when I changed the nature of the pitch to other people, they loved it. Honestly, life-long marketing lesson learned for something as trivial as a forum post.
The more advanced GPU is going to benefit of a lot of games to ensure that current gen games can run the best they can on console. The games shown didnât convey that. If they showed brand new titles that ran 30 on the base model and 60 on the new one, people would be all over it. If they showed GTA6, running sub4K at 30fps on the PS5 and locked 4K and 45fps VRR on the Pro, people would have pre-ordered that next minute.
Showing off GT7 running at 120fps on the Pro is one thing, but showing off a brand new Wip3out game running at 120fps on the Pro and 60fps on the Base model would have been another. We havenât seen a true sequel to that game since the PS3 and would look stellar on the PS5. It would have impressed and got us excited.
The other way PlayStation bungled this up had to do with transparent greed: The decision to sell the stand (something that likely cost $2 to make) separately was a bone-headed move. With a product being priced that high, as a premium product, and not include something that basic was puzzling. Especially when itâs a high markup item like a stand.
Secondly we know that PlayStation, like MS, has a pretty convenient storage expansion solution, with the PS having the more affordable solution. Existing PS5 owners likely already have extra storage on their PS5s and would have no problem migrating that to the new machine. With that in mind, and the fact that SSD storage is pretty expensive right now, why not keep the Pro at 1TB and shave off $100 the total cost? Bring that machine down to at $599, even without a disc drive, and it seems far more reasonable. $599 for the digital, $649 for the drive version.
As you pointed out, the price of the 2TB Series X isnât flattering either. Xbox didnât really need to make that an offering.
So Iâd compare some of the reaction to this to the reaction to the Xbox One. Some of it overblown but some of it the responsibility of the manufacturer. PlayStation didnât need the 2TB drive much like how the One didnât need to include the new Kinect, both unnecessarily jack up the price of the unit when they could be sold as separate accessories. The benefits of digital ownership on the X1 wasnât conveyed properly and the benefits of this new GPU on the Pro wasnât conveyed properly either. Sure, not every game will run at 60fps but no game is going to struggle on it.
Sonyâs presentation for the PS5 Pro was bad but itâs not for the casual gamer or someone that has PS5 as their second or third gaming device. Itâs for the hardcore loyalists. Itâs a luxury item. Itâs also optional which a lot of people tend to forget. You donât have to buy it (or anything for that matter) if you donât want it.
Selling the stand for $30 is free money for Sony. The Pro does include the horizontal stand but for some odd reason, people want the vertical stand and Sony knows this. If anything, itâs a shitty but smart business decision. People always complain about prices or this or that and im like, really? Why? In this case, 3DO was $700 at launch in 1994. 30 years later and the PS5 Pro blows it away completely and yet, people are upset despite the fact that unlike 3DO, this is an optional console for those who want more graphical power.
I donât see this as being anywhere close or similar to what Microsoft did with Xbox One. First and foremost, Microsoft was forcing always online and always digital as opposed to it being optional until they went back on it. Second, the charged $500 for what was an under-powered console when compared to PS4 and in exchange for that extra $100, you were forced to have Kinect which would bring the total of trying to force something to three with one console.
PS5 Pro is the same as PS4 Pro. A graphical upgrade for the hardcore or those who want better/more graphics than the base model. None of it is forced. The stand is optional and if people really to stand up the console, thatâs on them. They donât have to do that and can save $30 in the process.
Disc drive is meaningless and pointless at this point. Everything is pretty much all digital now. Microsoft was accurate in 2013 but a decade too early. Capcom I believe reported their sales were 92% digital while Sony reported that they were at 80% as of this past June which was a 21% increase for Sony.
Best part is when people cry about physical dying and yet, never go out and buy any physical games to show that they are supported and wanted. Then these same people will act surprised when Microsoft/Sony/whoever decides to go all digital.
The reaction for Xbox One was far worse and actually fucked up the brand and whatnot in which Microsoft still havenât recovered from because it was literally their generation to lose and they did. Going into Xbox One, Microsoft was on fire with the Xbox 360 but they fucked it all up.
I was a huge Xbox 360 guy after being a PS/PS2 guy. They had me with 360 but lost me with Xbox One until a few years into the gen because they fucked up. It wasnât because Sony did anything amazing. It was because Microsoft was making horrible decisions that nobody asked for or wanted.
The Xbox brand is nowhere near what they were with Xbox 360. Sure, they make more money but they werenât everywhere back then like they are now and everything is more expensive than it was back then.
With the PS5 Pro, it could completely bomb, it wonât but if it did, would it change anything? The answer is no. With Xbox One, the screw ups did change everything.
I also believe that Sony and Microsoft selling a $700 PS5 Pro and $600 Xbox Series X with green sparkles on it is to basically give gamers/consumers a heads up. Be prepared to pay more than the normal $500 youâve been paying for the last two generations come next generation.
Iâm not comparing the consoles or their circumstances or the resulting fallout of the decisions made Iâm comparing how the benefits of features were miscommunicated to the point where it didnât get gamers excited at all and Iâm comparing the inclusion of pricey features that could have been standalone add-ons.
And yes I understand the role of the Pro console. Itâs absolutely not necessary to purchase if someone wants to get into PlayStation gaming.
This isnât necessarily a preview of the next generation when weâre talking about SSD technology inflating the prices of the consoles significantly when it didnât have to be that way. This is a design decision.
I would say that if there is any lesson learned from the entire industry based on this Pro announcement is that something like storage would be sold at the minimum in order to reduce the barrier of entry, allowing gamers to expand storage when they need it. That most of the cost of the console is to push graphics technology.
Unless game sizes inflate, I donât think any next-gen consoles should have more than two terabytes of storage. Thereâs going to be a ton of players that will only have two to three titles, likely FTP titles, and thatâs it.
If I were to design a next generation console it would have a bare minimum storage to reduce costs, it would not have an optical drive to also reduce costs, and one more thing, all done to reduce the cost of entry. Where someone could buy it and enjoy the library and if they want more of the library they buy a disc drive or more storage.
Hola gents
Think thereâs a major issue with game development and powerful systems.
With AAA games taking 5 to 7 years to develop now, when theyâre being designed it has to be on whatâs currently available or coming soon.
But 5 years later, technology has moved on - so the biggest games (beyond first party console games if they can plan well and minimise development time, maybe) arenât really going to be pushing systems when they finally release.
Add into that if consoles become more and more expensive, the transition rate from the old generation becomes slower - weâre still at 50% of users being on PS4 / One, which I imagine is much higher than previous generations and likely caused by the high console costs which will get worse as they get more expensive.
So the transition between generations will likely become even slower - games further into next gen will still have been originally designed for the current generation at the start, and publishers will want to target the largest install base possible which means PS5 / Series will likely still be getting games well into the 2030s.
Weâre still getting PS4 and One supported for big games 4 years after they were replaced ffs, and as prices go up thatâll get even worse.
Those wanting the most power and games pushing the boundaries are unfortunately going to find that becomes more and more difficult, as even if hardware caters to the whales (particularly with high end PCs and maybe Pro consoles) the games while they may scale resolution etc wonât be designed from the ground up to fully use the most power as the whales arenât enough for games sales to make back the huge AAA budgets - they need mass market appeal.
So unfortunately for the whales, while their hardware might be cutting edge, their games wonât be unless the industry seriously figures something out soonâŚ
Yeah the cross-gen period will be even longer next gen due to diminishing returns being even bigger plus we can all agree that probably next gen will be even more expensive⌠I donât see PS6 being cheaper than 800 euros (and probably their games being 90-100 euros).
Of course we will have to wait and see what MS and Nintendo will doâŚindustry is in a really weird place right now.
So I spent almost three hours last night not playing PC games.
Game wouldnât start on Geforce Now, fiddled with some settings, changed servers, wouldnât start, tried a different game, wouldnât start, googled help, fiddled with some settings, eventually gave up, booted up my own PC instead, game wouldnât start, updated Steam, updated graphics drivers, googled help, verified game files, fiddled with settings, googled help, re-installed EA, googled some more, updated anti-cheat software, fiddled with the settings again, wouldnât start, turned it off and played a blissful half an hour on Xbox before going to bed.
Console appreciation renewed.
honestly i have no idea.
No, they are called the biggest games in the world. Have you seen a game from Riot with raytracing? Me neither. Valorant doesnt even have real transparencies because this would tank framerate on low end GPUs.
I feel like a Xenogears HD remaster/remake is just around the corner! Glad they got over their phobia of working with xbox, I would be pissed missing something like that!
The usual pundits and gaming sites are trying their best to sell people on the Pro already , itâs funny to watch. I think people will be disappointed at what theyâre actually getting for all that money. Already seeing the PC card comparisons from certain fok who were doing a victory lap over some Digital Foundry video. I donât see things playing out as they think it will but we wil see I guess.
I really hope that Sony sends these guys a care package for the holidays or something, for all their hard work. Especially Geoff.
"We are trying to increase the overall game market by expanding content to PCs. There is no doubt that home consoles will be the core of our business, but by offering titles for devices other than home consoles, we will reach a wider range of customers" pic.twitter.com/2DNYLjY4zq
â HazzadorGamin, Dragon of Dojima (@HazzadorGamin) September 14, 2024
Well, in this regard, then we agree. Sony did do a horrible job presenting the PS5 Pro and convincing consumers as to why they should buy one. Unless their State of Play showcases a few games running on it that stand out, this isnât going to change. The hardcore will buy it and everyone else will ignore it. lol
I visibly flinched reading this, like some sort of mild PTSD. Iâm very glad I abandonded PC gaming lol.
Series S for next gen should be the handheld variant. And a regular X version as traditional console.
And here I thought all of that stuff was history, but yeah this sounds so similar to my pc gaming days too. So if I ever truly start to strongly consider dojng away with Xbox and just go pc, Iâll have to remind myself of this.
Yeah, I get PC gaming has a lot of advantages but Iâm not a person with enough technical skills to fix issues I run into.
If this were to happen to me I would just give up on PC gaming again.