The Tuesday letters page discusses more reasons why you should or shouldn’t buy a PS5 Pro, as one reader assumes a GTA 6 delay.
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Arrogant assumptions
Thinking it’s too early to start talking about the PlayStation 6 seems to be about the only thing I’ve seen everyone agree on lately. You can’t deny that the wheels are turning though, and I think it’s obvious it’s going to be earlier than 2028, and even that sounded too soon to me, when the date was first talked about.
The obvious question at the moment, given the PS5 Pro has just been announced, is how much is it going to cost? I’ve seen some wonder if the PS5 Pro’s ridiculous price is a way to normalise a £700+ console and that that’s roughly how much the PlayStation 6 will cost. But I don’t think that’s the case. The PS4 Pro was more expensive than the PlayStation 4 (and the Xbox One X more expensive than that Xbox One) but that didn’t affect the consoles after that.
A lot of people have accused Sony of going back to their own arrogant ways, assuming people will pay anything to own their consoles, and that I would agree with. But at the same time, they’re not crazy. They know they’re not going to sell 100+ million PlayStation 6 consoles if they cost that much and arrogance, or the opposite, has nothing to do with that.
Rather than Sony setting the standard for future prices I think it’s going to be the Switch 2 that does it. If it’s around £400 and relatively powerful then Sony and Xbox are going to have a lot of trouble selling their next gen hybrid consoles if they try to make them more expensive – which you know they’ll want to.
Ipsum
Positive experience
Very valid point made by the reader, and ironically yourselves, in terms of recent Inbox negativity across Sony/Microsoft/PS5 Pro pricing, etc. So I thought I’d cheer the community up a bit and add further credence to just how amazing Astro Bot is!
I’m very well versed in platform games and would say them, along with third person action adventure (Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Last Of Us, etc.) are my favourite genre of games.
I loved Astro’s Playroom and that along with Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart are my only ever platinums. So I knew I’d love Astro Bot but wow… it truly is outstanding! The use of the DualSense haptics are truly GOAT, like you said, and it makes you angry how other games aren’t utilising this amazing technology. Especially in today’s shallow creativity pool. Although I can say Returnal’s rain on Biome 1 was also a big wow moment in terms of haptics.
The level design is a joy to behold, with each one really well done and each power-up cleverly executed. I said to my mate who is also loving it: ‘Astro Bot gives you the feeling you had when you first played a game as a little kid. Inner child nostalgia.’ And if that isn’t something we all want and need given the current climate, then what are you even playing games for?! Buy it.
Lizardpudlian
PS: I knew this would happen when GAME sacked off doing trade-ins, but now it’s annoying I can’t trade my PlayStation 5 in for a Pro. Makes the price easier to stomach and I did that with my PlayStation 4 to Pro. Now no one else offers this service!
GC: You could sell the PlayStation 5 on eBay?
Instant upgrade
I see many have reacted quite negatively towards the announcement of the PS5 Pro. I have been using the PlayStation 4 since 2014 and, 10 years on, it’s still working away (albeit making a wheezing noise when on for a while) and so I haven’t had a reason to upgrade to the PlayStation 5. The PS Plus Premium has personally been a game changer for me, as I have access to a large library of games for a small monthly fee. Due to full time parenting and work I only get time in the evenings for an hour or so to play and therefore the PlayStation 4 has sufficed for my gaming needs.
The PS5 Pro has certainly piqued my interest, as my aging PlayStation 4 enters its twilight years. Yes, it is pricey but for me it will be a good entry point into the next generation. The doubling of the SSD and ability to run games in performance and fidelity modes is a plus. The lack of new games also hasn’t put me off, as I still have a large library of titles to play through and so a digital only model would be good enough.
I can understand people’s anger though. If I was already a PlayStation 5 owner, I’d stick with the original model as, realistically, I wouldn’t be getting much more out of the upgraded model.
Zeeshan
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Stopping short
So, it turns out PS5 Pro doesn’t directly transfer PlayStation 5 fidelity modes to performance at all. According to Digital Foundry, the settings remain the same; only PSSR is engaged to enhance image quality. It may not be the same for all games, but this is hugely disappointing. Essentially PS5 Pro is a resolution box with some added ray-tracing.
GC did note Mark Cerny stopped short of stating fidelity modes would be converted to performance modes on the Pro. Now we know why. Digital Foundry have just opened a huge can of worms. You can guarantee the discourse on Twitter is going rage on.
Si
PS: PSSR doesn’t beat DLSS, which will undoubtedly be part of Switch 2 (Nvidia GPU). About that Switch 2 announcement…
Wait till the next one
So, my mind is still bamboozled by Sony’s lunacy and I just can’t find an excuse to accept the PS5 Pro. Personally I think I’d actually be better off purchasing a 4K TV and gaining the capability of playing my base model at that resolution. I have currently a 1080p resolution TV and it’s an LG brand but I’ve found it’s cheaper to upgrade my wall-mounted TV than to upgrade my system.
Only about £250 in comparison to £699. Honestly though, I can see people maybe not wanting to miss out and spending their cash on the newest tech on the market. If they can spend £1,000 on every new iPhone, why would this be any different? I’ve decided to wait for three years, or maybe less than that, for the PlayStation 6. I don’t yearn for a cheaper price. I don’t see the point of crossing my fingers. This is how it is from now on and I absolutely will purchase it. I’m just not crazy about more for less.
On an unrelated note, Silent Hill 2 remake will be out in a month’s time. I’ll wait for reviews, but I’m leaving my wishes on Bloober and Konami. Maybe that’s a mistake.
Shahzaib Sadiq
Balance of probabilities
There are so many conflicting parts of the ‘will they, won’t they’ question around Nintendo announcing their next console this year that I’m not sure whether we (and even Nintendo) are either over or under thinking it.
The risk of undermining Switch sales at Christmas is one thing, but then would they really want to sell a lot more Switches only to tell those customers a few months later that a replacement, that Nintendo will want to stoke interest in, is on the way?
On one hand, surely everyone that cares about a new one will already know it’s on the way, so why bother pretending otherwise? On the other, Nintendo will be confident they’ll sell out of Switch 2s throughout the launch window regardless and upsetting those who are less in the know a few weeks after they buy a Switch wouldn’t matter much to them.
For software sales, they won’t want to risk people avoiding their late-2024 games by announcing a Switch 2, which is possibly a bigger concern than selling even more Switches. But that might need to be balanced against people not knowing whether the new console everyone already knows about is backwards compatible. If people are unsure, but they know they’re interested in the new one, they might hold off buying more Switch games till that’s confirmed.
On balance, if they say next month what the console is, and that it’ll be able to play all the games they’re currently releasing, that might be better for them than keeping quiet. Ultimately though, I think they’re in a strong enough position where it doesn’t matter too much either way, as long as they’re sitting on some good launch games and the general hardware concept and price aren’t outrageous.
Panda
Non-exclusive exclusive
I will never understand why Sony decided to start releasing its games on PC. If they’re so short of money that the relatively small difference that would make is enough to push them into doing it, then they might as well pack it in now.
Making it so that you don’t have to have a console to play console exclusives is the dumbest idea ever. You can see what it’s done to Xbox and there’s no way back for them now. Why Sony would want to copy that, instead of doubling down on what they’ve always done, I do not know.
Mendal
Partial breakthrough
So it looks like Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a success with most critics. In my own opinion, I am a little surprised how successful the Warhammer 40K third person games are but then again, why not? I have not played them yet, despite liking the tabletop world, but with the second Space Marine game seeming to improve on the first then who knows.
I would not feel justified in buying the game, only because it’s not a breakthrough game and as I get older I definitely want a certain type of enjoyment factor where the bar is set ever higher.
If the combat was a better and more addictive challenge then maybe. But with GC and other reviewers and watching Twitch I am not feeling it yet. Saying that, it’s not anywhere near the worst either! Above average possibly. The graphical design though, is amazing and a panoramic screenshot is needed at so many different locations.
The visceral and bloodthirsty action is presented in some of best vistas on console and PC. I would probably just get it for that alone and a seven out of 10 is a great score really. Just need the combat to match the graphical prowess.
Other than that, an excellent review and maybe something to consider if at a reduced price. But it’s great to see respect is being made developing the classic tabletop games and I’m definitely interested to see where it will go in the future.
Alucard
Inbox also-rans
I can now officially say I have no idea when the Switch 2 is going to be announced or released. I actually find that kind of exciting.
Lambo
I think we can just assume a GTA 6 delay based on the fact that Rockstar has never managed to release anything without a major delay. I’d say that was the very obvious reason why there hasn’t been a second trailer yet. Can’t announce a release date if you don’t know what it is.
Focus
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