The PS4 Pro is pointless

Dan Starkey from Geek.com writes:

"Earlier today Sony announced that they’d be updating the PlayStation 4 with some fancy new tech. You’ll now be able to play your games in higher resolution, enable High Dynamic Range for better color accuracy in some scenes and… that’s it. And frankly, we should all be a little frustrated with that."

[Nitrowolf2]

Its already been confirmed to offer better performance to, not just resolution/color bump.

Also, this article is pure flame bait. It goes off to use films as an example and saying they can produce better animations, and then go off to say they could play witcher on high end pc and it would still look bad.

This isn't a PS4 PRO issue they're having, this is a gaming in general thing

[Silly gameAr]

You already inow who the first ones to commet will be, and they are the people who aren't interested in the Pro to begin with. It's pretty funny that they're also the most vocal.

[Nitrowolf2]

Because the media loves hating on Sony, it's been like that for a long time and now they finally have something to hate further more on.

I said it when the leaks came out and then Scorpio was announced. Sony wasn't gonna throw away years of R&D, and building contracts to produce a product of Scorpio level. People are disappointed because they actually thought that they did that. It's not how business works. Sony made a very big statement. It's a current gen PS4 with a performance boost.

It tells you it's not sony intention to compete or their answer to Scorpio with this version of the ps4.

We know the ps4 is underpowered along with Xbox one when it comes to giving us resolution and fps. This is their answer to fix that and standardize it. I mean honestly, how many games on ps4 have had fps issues? There are plenty.

I think this gen of consoles were more so rushed and this is songs way of correcting it to a degree.

[naruga]

Scorpio is damn 14 months away ...until then PS4 (generally all consoles either Pro or og) will have nearly the 60 % percent of the market and a PS5 will probably start causing tremors to Scorpio with its rumors of development ..also imagine 50 million buyers (probably near to 70 that time) to just change their familiarized ecosystem (pS4 ) with a new one (scorpio) in just 4 years-->this isnot happenig no matter if the Scorpio was 3 times more powerful than PS4 pro ....at last Scorpio =PC (thank you alot but i have already pC for games i need the exclusives of a PS or Nintendo console .......so F$%ing No.....PS4 is NOT pointless ..PS4 Pro is a damn solid answer to Scorpio without ditching the millions of fans that trusted the console

[mikeslemonade]

How can you say it's pointless if it's the only way to play Sony exclusives at decent settings.

lol its people who don't know much about video games, that is the only reason why we have this debate.

In the mean time have fun playing xbox one at 720p medium settings while I've been maxing out every game on PC for years. Xbox is still irrelevant since it has zero exclusives.

[PlayableGamez-]

naruga you sound insecure...
You need to join the PC community... Where your choice in hardware starts with you...

[PlayableGamez-]

I thought console gamers despise incremental upgrades?

[FunAndGun]

I know I do, but I'm also not buying a Pro. Not enough benefits for me to even bother.

[neutralgamer1992]

GTX 1080 struggles with 4k at 30fps at times so it's cute that xbox fanboys think 499 will get you native 4k with scorpio

[darthv72]

It's not pointless. I would say it is the PS4 that PS4 holdouts have been waiting for (myself included). It allows existing games to achieve their target performance goals while also upscaling games to 4K and HDR on supported sets. No UHD support (especially from sony who makes UHD players) but they wanted to keep the cost down.

Choices in the 4K arena are the 1tb XB1S w/4K UHD, streaming, upscaling of games and movies for $349 and the PS4Pro with 1tb 4K streaming and upscaling of games and movies for $399. (like for like comparison)

[Neonridr]

or the 500GB Xbox One S for $299 if you don't need all the space.

[darthv72]

True that.

[Rimeskeem]

Yah, except I would like a console with exclusives and awesome graphics.

[Neonridr]

@Rimeskeem - so do you consider NMS an exclusive? Or because it's on PC you don't? Is Street Fighter V an exclusive? Or not again?

Just because an MS game is also on the PC doesn't mean that it's not console exclusive. I mean would it really bother you that someone on PC can play the same game? Or hell, even with you? What's not to like about that. It means the online community grew exponentially.

[Germany7]

No, NMS and Street Fighter V are not exclusives, just like Gears of War 4 and Quantum Break are not exclusives as well, it's really simple to understand.

[Death]

So I can play Gears and Quantum Break on the PS4 Pro? They are console exclusives. With PSNow going to PC does that move the exclusive goal post some more? It's getting to the point with some of you guys to be a console exclusive it has to say PlayStation in order to count. Many of the Xbox exclusives are taking advantage of Play Anywhere and getting free copies for Windows 10 when you buy digitally. I will take the ability to play my games on either my console or gaming PC over being restricted to a console any day. How is it a disadvantage being able to play Xbox games on a much more powerful PC again? Keep in mind game saves are available wherever you go and cross play is also happening.

[Neonridr]

@Ratchet8 - You still have to support MS in some way to play their first party games. Be it Windows 10 or Xbox 1. It's all money to them in the end. And the install base grew significantly, considering you can have cross play now too. I think it was a smart move by MS, if you don't agree, then that's your choice of course.

[LordMaim]

@Death: Its only a disadvantage if you consider digital versus physical media a disadvantage. You can't lend or trade in your copy of the game if you purchase a "play anywhere" title, much like the original Xbox One DRM strategy in fact. It incentivizes us to move to PC play, which Microsoft seems to be wanting to push us towards anyhow.

@darthv72: Your like for like comparison leaves out the fact that PS4 Pro is also twice as powerful as the Xbox One S, can render games above 1080p without upscaling, and can improve graphics / framerate at 1080p for existing games.

Don't get me wrong, PS4 Pro and Scorpio are still both bad ideas, but let's get our facts straight and not make this a hill to die on in the console war.

[Angeljuice]

@Neonridr

How is getting a FREE OS (windows 10) giving money to Microsoft?

I always use hacked/improved versions of windows as I don't ever give money to Microsoft, this time I didn't have to.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

http://slickdeals.net/f/908...

XBOX ONE S + extra controller + Gane and 4k movie $299

[Neonridr]

@Angeljuice - I assume you just pirate all your PC games then? Never purchase any legally? Any titles like Gears of War, Forza, etc that you buy from the Windows Store are helping support MS.

[ziggurcat]

"No UHD support (especially from sony who makes UHD players) but they wanted to keep the cost down."

part of me thinks that, apart from the obvious omission to reduce cost, in order to keep all games playable on both the regular, and pro systems they kept the same BR player? I mean I know that a UHD player is more than likely backwards compatible, and you can just pop in a regular BR disc into the UHD drive, but perhaps all of the UHD/HDR stuff (for the games at least) is done via software/game patch, which renders having a UHD drive in the console irrelevant? I have no idea, and I know what I've written is far-fetched, but it *could* be a reason why they omitted that component... not trying to make excuses or anything, just trying to figure out how they could have made such a weird decision.

[ssj27]

There is a huge difference. Xboxone s does upscaling from games that ar enot even 1080p they are 800p / 900 p to 4k good luck with that. And sure it will make their game look better. I think even 4ktv do make games looks better by themselves and their own upscaling. Ps4p does 1800p and upscaling to 2000p or whatever 4k is. It's a huge difference. You and ever exbone fan sounds retarded when they say it's the same. The only thibk sony fails is not making the ps4 slim 4k upscaling friendly. They could have done it but didn't

[darthv72]

upscaling is still upscaling no matter who does it. Native is always going to be better but I dont knock upscaling like the sony crowd did. They just flip flop depending on their mood and the word of the suits.

PS4 vs XB1: upscaling sux, PS4 is native and better. PS4Pro vs XB1S, upscaling is better because sony says so.

[ssj27]

Are you drunk?
You have zero common sense. Who are you, how old are you?

Yes scorpio will look a little better than the ps4p. As the ps4 looks little better than the one.

But the difference will be even less noticeable. Ps4 is almost twice as powerful than the one on the teraflops. The scorpio is like %30 stronger than the pro.

The difference will be there but minimal just like it's in the case of the ps4 and the one or even less noticeable.

You can get that elite experience now with the pro in couple of month's and you have to wait a year to experience it on the xbox. Or get a super high end very expensive pc.

Sure noting of this matter if you dont have a 4k hdr tv wich i just did a research and the cheapest i saw was 1k for a lg. Or $1.800 for a oled lg which is the one i will go for. Since been wanting a oled since i saw them many years ago but I still feel is way to expensive. Plus i have a nice 1080p tv that works great. Unless i can sale it like for at least $400 to upgrade i wont upgrade

[2pacalypsenow]

3 years have people cried about how weak the Ps4 and Xbox 1 are, and Sony does something about it and now they are pointless? lol

[Mr-Dude]

Because forum warriors.. And "journalists"

[Artemidorus]

The real winner here is a non Playstation 4 owner who has just got themselves a 4KTV

[Goldby]

Specially if its a sony or samsung tv because they come pre-packed with PSNow

[xYLeinen]

You're getting this wrong. Its not a scorpio rival, its a xbox one s rival at best.

This is sony's answer to 4k streaming and gaming. To preserve cost they skipped 4K bluray which I can understand. Im getting one and im excites.

[ssj27]

The ps4p is over 3 times stronger than xboxslim . The next xbox scorpio is like 30% stronger than the ps4pro. Now do the maths. Think before talking. The ps4pro can do 1800p while the slimp does 900p and the scorpio will do over 2000p "4k"

[nevin1]

I'm cool with my 1.84 teraflop PS4.

From what I seen yesterday, the Pro is pointless.

[ssj27]

Its pointless if we don't own a ultra hd 4k tv. So i understand your point. I dont own one and its pointless. But if i had one i will upgrade to the pro. Sure

[hiawa23]

Doesn't seem pointless to me. Some have been whining since jump about the PS4 X1 not being powerful enough. Sony corrects that over the original and some are still whining. Are you kidding me?

[sammarshall102]

They're comparing it to what Scorpio is bringing to the table next year and the One S is a great value too

[MasterCornholio]

Don't forget that developers can improve the framerate and add additional graphical effects.

[PaulFiend]

Whoa, so many hating articles in the PRO direction. I liked it a lot and buy one as soon as I'll be able to. Better graphics and fps? Why not!?

[FunAndGun]

* better graphics and framerate are subject to the discretion of the developers and how much "better" these will be are subject to the discretion of your cognitive ability.

[corroios]

Sorry but if it can run tomb raider at locked 60 frames sony must be crazy. All 1080p games must run at 60 frames. So what is the point of the pro? Fake 4k? No uhd drive for movies, need expensive 4k hdr tv? They should change the name from pro to amateur because that what sony was with this move.

The idea of high end console is good and there is a market,but this is just a half upgrade. The cpu is crap and the gpu is slow and got the same memory, lol. This is will just cut the sales of the slim, nothing more.

More, you got slim launch, psvr launch and pro launch in months. Lol, what a mess.

[Aenea]

So Scorpio is pointless too huh? Will have fake 4k too, will need expensive 4k HDR TV as well and is only a bit more powerful than the PS4 Pro...

[corroios]

It will come more then a year and im not talking abou the scorpio

[Webbyy]

There was no need for ps4 pro...Sony should have just waited and release a true next gen console like MS is doing.

[yeahright2]

So from my point of view, if you're looking to buy a PS4, you can buy the slim, or cough up an extra $100. and for that extra $100, you get 500gb more space, HDR, 4K and an improved VR experience. worth it. Now if I already have a PS4, not so much.

[ShadowKnight]

"House said it would not be possible to add support for UHD discs in a later firmware update, but argued that such support was unnecessary."

4K Blu-ray player support will be here when it's ready.

They can take a game meant for 1080p and using the same assets render it in 4K at native 4K resolution. Most of those textures will still look quite sharp and fine, many of those textures are already cut from a larger texture which is larger than 1080p in resolution. Unlike an XBOneS which upscales a less than 1080p image to start with, You will really get extra fine detail and deeper depth and visual detail in your FPS games, that's real. Geometry and objects will be 4x sharper for real. What they won't do is use higher resolution textures, surely not what the PC would use. So, 2x the video horsepower 'can' , since it's ALL DEDICATED to just processing pixels and faster processing the same geometry, it can output games at 4K at the same FPS or so it would 1080p. 4K is 4x 1080p (it's 2 across and 2 down... 3840 vs 1920 and 2160 vs 1080, and it's an 8 megapixel screen instead of a 2megapixel screen, so that's 4x). But, where the 18 graphics units WERE processing all the video and geometry etc.. the new 18 units JUST have to make pixels and can finish the same geometry much faster with 2x the units. So, yes, this 'can' push the pixels around, but, it's not going to be PC like 4K. It is better than UPSCALED 4k. The Xbox One S is taking games usually in 720-900p and scaling them 9x or 6x instead of just 4x if games were 1080p native, so, yeah, those games look worse scaled to 4K. The Scorpion will be a fully native 4K system from the stand point of developers.
SONY will have a new machine to follow a year or two after the Scorpio, where they double the on APU (the system on a chip /single chip processor that they use now). power again, and then the system will be as fast as a Scorpio. They might go up to 12 jaguar cores then, or swap in Zen cores by then.
Again, they look like they want to follow the iPad/iPhone model, where the new hardware runs the old games, most of the time faster and better, if not, it can upscale it.

[ninsigma]

It probably would have brought the price up to 499. I get why the XB1s has it because it's componants cost less than the ps4 pro so they could add it in without a stupid cost (PS4 slim doesn't have it because it's PS4 in a smaller body like always). The pro won't be having games on ultra blu ray discs and most people wouldn't care for ultra hd blu rays so adding it in for what would like have been an extra hundred would have meant a lot of lost sales potential. They made the right move and hit the sweet spot.

[DrShoe]

Dan Starkey's existence is pointless!

[yess]

Well i have been waiting to buy a PS4, so this pointless Pro is going to be mine..

[Soap_Z]

Considering the writer thinks The Witcher 3 is a hot garbage...

[kingmushroom]

All these wannabe gaming journalist with their flashy alarming headlines for none other than views seriously. We will see this holiday season how the PS4 pro is received.

[DeeBeers]

I think its a good option for people who dont have a PS4 yet. Or for the core fanbase willing to trade up.

I had a coworker ping me this morning on Skype. Asked me if I was thinking about getting one (knowing I'm a gamer) and I just gave a plain "no". He said to me that since he didnt have a PS4 yet he was thinking about getting the Pro, but also said that for people who already have a PS4 its kind of unnecessary. Always interesting to hear opinions like that which exist outside the online gaming community bubble.

That horizons gameplay footage looks absolutely remarkable tho. I'll be waiting on Scorpio for that sort of next-level visual experience.

[XStation4pio_Pro]

i give up on the internet.... i swear. its the most aggravating experience to read such pointless articles. Heres the deal; we all seem to love a medium that is very tech based. people (even on this site) go to battle about which console or configuration offers the most power or the best graphics or the best frame rate, or the highest resolution. These things are all based on technical capability and because of the constant war going on about what platform has the best experience of any given game, this seems to actually matter.

Sony seems to be aware of this. They are releasing a new machine that is more capable than the standard ps4. This is to satisfy the people that want more power and capability. The games will still continue to run on a standard ps4. If having better performance, new soon to be mainstream features and better resolution aren't important to you then yes - the ps4 pro is pointless. For those of us who want more and wished that the gen8 consoles would have been a bit more powerful out of the initial launch gate or who want better VR experience (yes standard ps4 vr will not be as impressive as regular games on ps4 due to the increased rendering and frame rates needed) and better streaming experiences, its not pointless at all.

[JoeDaniel]

then don't buy it and stop telling everyone it's pointless just because you think it is!

[Ristul]

Sales will be great for Sony this christmas, they have both the slim and Pro ready for the holydays while Scorpio is missing in action for another year. This will cement the PS4 lead this generation. I will be upgrading, so it's not a pointless console to me and many others, just insecure fanboys bickering.

[Aenea]

Basically this article says that animations are bad all around even on the beefiest of PCs and since the PS4 Pro isn't doing photo realistic rendering in real time, let alone that all games do realist animations the PS4 Pro is pointless.

Not sure what this dude expected, but if the highest spec'ed PC out there is not cutting it for him than what did he expect a $400 console to do???

[gangsta_red]

Well it's pointless if you don't have a 4k TV. But if you do and you want the extra boost then go for it.

[ocelot07]

I completely understand if people who only have a 1080p don't fancy paying out £350 for it. Only to have better graphics and/or FPS. But other people would like better graphics and/or FPS and are willing to buy the PS4 Pro spite not owning a 4K TV.

I my self have a 4K. However if I have an option to play a game at 1080p 60FPS or 4K 30FPS then am going to choose the 1080p 60FPS option.

[ziggurcat]

"Well it's pointless if you don't have a 4k TV."

you don't need a 4K TV in order to reap some of the benefits that PS4 Pro has to offer. they made that pretty clear in their presentation.

[gangsta_red]

But having a 4k TV has more benefits than not owning one which was also made clear in their presentation.

[ziggurcat]

obviously, yes, but you don't need to have a 4K TV to get some of the increased performance benefits, so saying it's pointless without one is wrong.

[gangsta_red]

The increase isn't that major though without the extra benefits of having a 4k TV. Or are you saying that the games on PS4 were noticeably bad that the Pro is now needed?

Seriously Ziggurcat are you going to argue about this too?

[ziggurcat]

not arguing with you, just pointing out that a 4K TV isn't necessary, and saying that there is zero benefit (i.e. "it's pointless") without one is an incorrect statement. just because you think there's no major increase doesn't mean others don't.

and nothing in what i've said implies that I think the current PS4 titles are "bad" or that the PS4 Pro is "needed." there is nothing wrong with people wanting to be able to play their games at a higher resolution (in the cases where games aren't 1080p) with a solid 60fps, and now it's a *option* they have even if they don't have a 4K TV to reap the full benefits of the console.

[C-H-E-F]

Nope, it's not pointless at all. As a few of you may know already since March my PS4 has been "losing" HDMI connection amongst other weird things, last month I called Sony, they said it would be 149.99 for service if they can't fix it they'd replace it... So I said hmm i'll just wait to see if the "NEO" actually comes out this year because it's "pointless" to spend 150 when I can just sell my current ps4 on ebay and spend the difference for the "NEO" for what I thought would be around 500/600 bucks...

NOW FAST FORWARD TO TODAY....

An announcement for the PRO, here I am with a faulty PS4 where I was looking to buy a new one/turn in for service anyways and it comes with extra bells and whistles... guess whose buying this consoling November 10th? Also, I will be buying the VR as well... BTW I already have 2 4k tvs (65" & 75") one Sony the other LG... so you already know i'm more than ready :D...

@author go somewhere and delete your opinions lOl.

[i3eyond the Circle]

Everyone keeps saying the Ps4 pro is double the power of the ps4 but just looking at GPU stats is a flawed perspective.

Marginally the same CPU and RAM creates bottlenecks that won't allow that 4.2tf to shine.

The Scorpio will have almost double the bandwidth, triple the GPU power, and being a different APU a much more efficient CPU.

Theoretically can probably outperform the NEO by 2-3x

[Sweetbrandigirl]

PS4 Pro is that the new name for PS4 Neo ? Well I think that name sucks I'm still gonna call it NEO

[NickAwesome]

Couldn't agree more!

[ludicrous]

I'm willing to bet on the idea that PS4pro was made to allow support for PSVR. The current ps4 will not be able to accommodate more demanding AAA titles, therefore if Sony want contents support from developers, this is a must have device. Sony is really serious about PSVR that I'm certain. Though it would be quite expansive for general consumers to get both, therefore, Sony really have to remove certain hardware/features to minimize the cost as much as possible. It all make sense.

[Altovoltage]

I'm excited for it! already preordered mine :)

[Hoffmann]

This article is dumb..and OBSOLETE

[hafitz]

I already owned a standard PS4, and I game on PC for 4k. Will skip this and wait for PS5.

[t-hall785]

I was really wanting to trade in my ps4 for a pro but after that conference...idk. I think i'll just upgrade the x1 to scorpio instead. No slims either. Guess I'll wait till next year for a new console

[firelogic]

4K, HDR, higher performance, more graphical bells and whistles. Pointless? So all of those visual upgrades are pointless for a visual medium? Ok there. Even without a 4K/HDR capable display, connecting it to a regular 1080p display will yield noticeable dividends. Sharper picture. Super-sampling. Higher performance. More content on screen.