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PS5 Pro: $699 Is It Worth it? - The Digital Foundry Take

Cakeboxer

Member
Calm down.

1. We are just having a discussion on a gaming discussion forum. Comparing the prices of two products in a thread that's specifically about pricing of said products.
2. We are all friends here. Having a little bit of fun jabs here and there. It's nothing serious.
1. Yes, that's very good.
2. Ever thought about how annyoing and exhausting this is to read for people who haven't joined the blue or green army?

But Maybe i'm just oversensitive and should avoid threads that attract friends that just want to have some fun.
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
Back on topic.

Value is subjective, and I’m the wrong person to talk about value…when I was building my PC i spent $200 more on my AiO cooler because it displayed nice GIFs (an entirely useless feature In hindsight) and I’m embarrassed about how much time I spent on RGB lighting .

But in this case, we’re only just midway through the gen, and there’s certainly a lot of value in the Pro even at the announced price. We pay even more for GPU upgrades on the PC side.

I have zero desire to hook my PCs up to my TVs, so this will provide a 4070 tier hardware to my living room which have the best displays in my house.

I’ll be buying this, though it’s still a bummer they’re making us buy the disk drive separately.

I’m almost beginning to come round on the 2TB storage. My PS5 seems to have killed my 2TB Samsung 980 Pro (seen lots of complaints online) so perhaps it’s better to have an all-in solution.
 

djjinx2

Member
Sony BroForce is really going all out I see.

Look, Xbox is fucked so why even compare these days?

Fact is there has been mostly negative feedback to the Pro alongside its price point. It's unneeded and overpriced for the market today.

That new LE Xbox is also a stupid idea and overpriced.

Personally I would rather see both companies do a serious price drop on HW and bring real innovation next gen. All feels to safe and stale now
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Sony BroForce is really going all out I see.

Look, Xbox is fucked so why even compare these days?

Fact is there has been mostly negative feedback to the Pro alongside its price point. It's unneeded and overpriced for the market today.

That new LE Xbox is also a stupid idea and overpriced.

Personally I would rather see both companies do a serious price drop on HW and bring real innovation next gen. All feels to safe and stale now
Console prices have gone up in general. This is just a reflection of inflation.

PS5 is $500. Add 1 TB extra storage. It becomes almost $600. Add the additional 'Pro' features, and it becomes $700.

Same goes for Xbox.

Xbox is $500 for 1 TB. Add 1 TB extra storage, and it becomes $600.

In absolute terms, this is a lot of money for sure. No doubt about it. But this is just the new reality of things, especially considering that these companies can still often lose money on selling these consoles. None of these machines are really overpriced.
 

Power Pro

Member
Console prices have gone up in general. This is just a reflection of inflation.

PS5 is $500. Add 1 TB extra storage. It becomes almost $600. Add the additional 'Pro' features, and it becomes $700.

Same goes for Xbox.

Xbox is $500 for 1 TB. Add 1 TB extra storage, and it becomes $600.

In absolute terms, this is a lot of money for sure. No doubt about it. But this is just the new reality of things, especially considering that these companies can still often lose money on selling these consoles. None of these machines are really overpriced.
Inflation, sure, but whatever happened to the cost of technology going down? PS3 launched at $599, but by this point in it's lifecycle, it was down to $299. Sure, they cut out some features like the useless memory card slots, but it was still the same console. SSD storage prices have absolutely gone down since the PS5 launched. I was one of the idiots who spent close to $400 for a 2tb SSD to add to PS5, and you can get one for below half that price now.

Base PS5 should be going down in price when this launches, and this should be coming out at a price closer to $500. I'll even accept $550, but these console prices are getting ridiculous. It's such a joke that Microsoft thinks they can get $599 for that 2TB series X.

They need to start looking at Nintendo as a competitor because if Switch 2 is good enough for most people, then both Sony and Microsoft could be in trouble.
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Inflation, sure, but whatever happened to the cost of technology going down? PS3 launched at $599, but by this point in it's lifecycle, it was down to $299. Sure, they cut out some features like the useless memory card slots, but it was still the same console. SSD storage prices have absolutely gone down since the PS5 launched. I was one of the idiots who spent close to $400 for a 2tb SSD to add to PS5, and you can get one for below half that price now.
Some components got cheaper, sure. But I added the 'cheaper' price here. For example, I only added ~$100 for SSD, not $200.

Overall, I think inflation has recently outpaced the decline in the cost of technology.

Despite not decreasing the price of the PS5 4 years in this console generation, and even increasing the price in certain regions, Sony is still facing hardware losses. This is unprecedented, as Sony has always sold consoles at profits after 1 year of launch date.

CMoBqMT.jpeg
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Sony BroForce is really going all out I see.

Look, Xbox is fucked so why even compare these days?

Fact is there has been mostly negative feedback to the Pro alongside its price point. It's unneeded and overpriced for the market today.

That new LE Xbox is also a stupid idea and overpriced.

Personally I would rather see both companies do a serious price drop on HW and bring real innovation next gen. All feels to safe and stale now


The real value comparison for decision making - logically speaking - would be comparing the $449 PS5 Slim Digital to the $699 Pro and determining if there’s $250 worth of incremental updates for you. There’s no point in comparing against the $499 model with a disc drive.

$250 extra buys you more, faster RAM, an additional 1TB storage, hardware accelerated AI upscaling and significant GPU improvements.

I don’t think there’s $250 more hardware in the Pro than the Slim, but pretty much every electronic device we buy has some profit margin built into it, so it’s perfectly fine.

Still, $699 isn’t exactly mass market pricing. This is purely an enthusiast upgrade.
 

akira__

Banned
During the holidays, like you specified?

$399 for the console + $129 for the expansion.

$530.
This is not the W you think it. The market conditions that lead to discounts of that magnitude: low demand + left over stock.

Such discounts can also lead to lower perceived value of the product.
 
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DForce

NaughtyDog Defense Force
Twitter is filled with PC gamers showing off their PC build to beat the PS5 Pro and it's around $800.

Just insane. lol
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
The Xbox 2TB edition vs the Pro price debate in Europe is another story. Converting the price to dollar the Xbox is $720 while the Pro and disc drive comes to $1020.
What does currency conversion matter though? Is it for the elusive U.S. customer importing EU units :)?
 

demigod

Member
Add in the drive for $80 more. You always skip that part. So it's $780. Add the stand to match the standard PS5 and that's another $30 making it $810.

Also for Europeans, the 2TB Series X is 650 Euros. PS5 Pro is 800 + 120 for disc drive = 920. Add in a stand and youre at around 950.

The real comparison isnt even vs Series X. It's vs PS5 digital at $450 US/450 Euro or standard for $500/550 Euro (which has drive and stand), where the PS5 Pro Euro price is almost double PS5's.
You’re a European now?
 

Panajev2001a

GAF's Pleasant Genius
While I love 40fps/120hz modes they do tend to nerf the fidelity compared to true 30 mode, so if they can get 60 with the fidelity or 30 or better it'll be great
It is basically the same fidelity, there is pretty much only a very minor resolution compromise in 99.8% of the cases. Still, not having to choose is better and a better console gamer experience.
 

Three

Member
Inflation, sure, but whatever happened to the cost of technology going down? PS3 launched at $599, but by this point in it's lifecycle, it was down to $299. Sure, they cut out some features like the useless memory card slots, but it was still the same console.
The PS3 was taking a massive $300 loss even at $599. Even more on the $499 20GB version that nobody mentions. They also cut out more than just the memory card slots. They removed BC chips. They removed the slot loading disc drive and SACD. moores law still applied back then too so we were making far bigger strides in chip size reduction and with it heat and material cost reduction. This still resulted in Playstation taking massive losses on the PS3 throughout that whole gen though.
 
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Bojji

Member
While I love 40fps/120hz modes they do tend to nerf the fidelity compared to true 30 mode, so if they can get 60 with the fidelity or 30 or better it'll be great

Based on the video it's the same, just has few fps drops in some places. But this is a PS4 game so it's not surprising...
 

Traxtech

Member
Based on the video it's the same, just has few fps drops in some places. But this is a PS4 game so it's not surprising...
Ratchet and clank and Spiderman have a definite res drop in 40fps mode compared to 30, it's clear as day when you flick between them
 

FireFly

Member
Console prices have gone up in general. This is just a reflection of inflation.

PS5 is $500. Add 1 TB extra storage. It becomes almost $600. Add the additional 'Pro' features, and it becomes $700.

Same goes for Xbox.

Xbox is $500 for 1 TB. Add 1 TB extra storage, and it becomes $600.

In absolute terms, this is a lot of money for sure. No doubt about it. But this is just the new reality of things, especially considering that these companies can still often lose money on selling these consoles. None of these machines are really overpriced.
It depends how you look at it. The extra cost for the larger SSD and bigger APU should be under $100. So it should have been possible to sell for $550 and keep the same margins as the existing Digital Edition. On the other hand making under 30% profit for a Premium Edition isn't crazy when compared to other consumer electronics items.
 

Knot3D

Member
Collective memory is short (and GenZ & young Millennials simply didn't know)
PlayStation 2 EU launched in November 2000 in Europe for roughly 550 Euro's.
Using an inflation calculator, that results into a value north of 920 Euro's today.
 
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It depends how you look at it. The extra cost for the larger SSD and bigger APU should be under $100. So it should have been possible to sell for $550 and keep the same margins as the existing Digital Edition. On the other hand making under 30% profit for a Premium Edition isn't crazy when compared to other consumer electronics items.

I don't believe the die size has been revealed yet. But I would say it's definitely more than $100 for the die and ram and ssd upgrades. Is it $250? No...
 

K' Dash

Member

gonna cry tobey maguire GIF


Doesnt it bother you that they will Remake TLOU games an infinite amount of times but they won’t touch Bloodborne with a 10ft pole?

Whats even funnier, the best looking game and best game, exclusive to PS5 is a remake of a PS3 game, a FROM game, but they still won’t look in Bloodbornes general direction.
 
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simpatico

Member
How many first party games are people expecting to get out of this? At this stage in the gen, the next Naughty Dog title basically has to be crossgen (PS5-PS6). You'll get one more out of Santa Monica. Insomniac got the Raven treatment and were turned into a licensed ATM machine. Ghost of Tsushima 2 will be amazing, so that is good. God knows what Bend is doing. I've got a feeling they were GaaSing up and probably canned whatever they had cooking after Redfall died and it was clear that trend is on a downturn. The next Gran Turismo will be cross gen, no doubt. Fairgame$ may or may not see light of day. All the third party stuff will be targeting Xbox Series S. Does anyone have a different view of the potential lineup over the next 3 years for Playstation? I get that its a luxury product, but man the value prop is only there for the very most hardcore or the people who can just buy it without even looking at the account balances.
 

djjinx2

Member
Console prices have gone up in general. This is just a reflection of inflation.

PS5 is $500. Add 1 TB extra storage. It becomes almost $600. Add the additional 'Pro' features, and it becomes $700.

Same goes for Xbox.

Xbox is $500 for 1 TB. Add 1 TB extra storage, and it becomes $600.

In absolute terms, this is a lot of money for sure. No doubt about it. But this is just the new reality of things, especially considering that these companies can still often lose money on selling these consoles. None of these machines are really overpriced.

Sony gaming division makes most of its money from games and it's store.

The consoles themselves have always been loss leaders. Pricing still needs to be in "impulse buy" territory to maximise sales from casual gamers.


Hell I bought a Steam Deck purely because it's so cheap.


Alot of Nintendo Switches will be sold because it's cheap too.

We are in 2024, the PS5 should get a price cut and the Pro should have been cheaper, with a disk drive included.


The fucking Pro enthusiast model has no disk drive..... I'm baffled.
 

Caio

Member
Console prices have gone up in general. This is just a reflection of inflation.

PS5 is $500. Add 1 TB extra storage. It becomes almost $600. Add the additional 'Pro' features, and it becomes $700.

Same goes for Xbox.

Xbox is $500 for 1 TB. Add 1 TB extra storage, and it becomes $600.

In absolute terms, this is a lot of money for sure. No doubt about it. But this is just the new reality of things, especially considering that these companies can still often lose money on selling these consoles. None of these machines are really overpriced.
Hold on, this might be too advanced for some to grasp. Let’s throw in some crayons and finger-paint, shall we? 😉

Jokes aside, PRO isn’t exactly a bargain bin special, but hey, quality has a price, and the economy...
 

Topher

Identifies as young
Doesnt it bother you that they will Remake TLOU games an infinite amount of times but they won’t touch Bloodborne with a 10ft pole?

Whats even funnier, the best looking game and best game, exclusive to PS5 is a remake of a PS3 game, a FROM game, but they still won’t look in Bloodbornes general direction.

Didn't see your edit. All that is fine, but it doesn't make Astro Bot a "tech demo". It is a kick ass game. Your 'whataboutisms' don't change that.
 
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Mister Wolf

Member
It's worth it. Although I would suggest spending more and just getting a good gaming PC. Cheaper games, free online, mods, Reshade, and complete granular customization on how you want the game to run.
 

Fabieter

Member
Ah yes, DF being enthusiastic about tech. John sleeping in the thumbnail and Alex just giggling like a schoolgirl. Just wait until new nVidia GPUs are announced with a 30% price increase since there is no competition. Then they'll actually be excited.

While NVIDIA is certainly overpriced, they need to make a profit on their hardware. Sony, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily have to rely on hardware profits since they can make money through more expensive games and subscriptions on their consoles. If Sony starts aiming for higher profits on hardware too, then it's time for consumers to pay less for other things like games and services.
 

Radical_3d

Member
While NVIDIA is certainly overpriced, they need to make a profit on their hardware. Sony, on the other hand, doesn't necessarily have to rely on hardware profits since they can make money through more expensive games and subscriptions on their consoles. If Sony starts aiming for higher profits on hardware too, then it's time for consumers to pay less for other things like games and services.
Nintendo:
Captain America Lol GIF by mtv
 

reinking

Gold Member
e? Yes.
Nintendo:
Captain America Lol GIF by mtv
I am going to ask because I see stuff like this a lot. What do people want? Do they want the console space to be Nintendo-like with lower specked hardware so console makers can keep costs lower and still make a profit? Or do they want to see the console space push tech?
 
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