Yesterday morning Sony confirmed the long-rumored Playstation 5 Pro iteration of their ninth generation of console hardware. In addition to a slightly altered design, the console would come boxed with the pre-installed Astro’s Playroom and a 2TB hard drive. It was also revealed that the console would feature advanced internal hardware for greater emphasis on graphical and performance fidelity and AI-upscaling among other perks. One of the main issues with the PS5 Pro is that there aren’t many games that would make these enhancements feel necessary. The base launch and slim versions of the PS5 play the current library of games both first and third party just fine at 4K/30FPS and even full 60FPS in most cases and costs nearly half that of the Pro which is the other problem.

Running at a retail price of $700 that’s a hefty as hell caveat on your wallet when you consider the great lack of rhyme or reason in the difference between the Pro and current PS5 consoles. Not to mention the price of Playstation Plus for online play and you’ll also have to fork over nearly another $100 for the optional disc drive if you want to use disc versions of your games and media which retails for $80. There is a bit of a breather if you trade in your original PS5 at Gamestop or any other gaming retailers that allow such an option, but that’s still upward the cost of the original PS5 making the Pro mostly more meaningful for first-time buyers with us going into the sixth year of the console’s lifespan. 

With a lack of real impressive need for it the PS5 Pro feels just as optional as the Xbox One X did when it was announced. No game presently needs the graphical or performance upgrades the former provides. If it’s your first barrier of entry into the current generation of consoles I suppose it’d be much more worthwhile not citing you own a TV that supports 4K and/or HDR video output. Otherwise, if you’re willing to trade in your current PS5 for a nice discount that works too I guess. The PS5 Pro launches at retailers on November 7, 2024, with no word on pre-orders as of now.