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PS5 Pro Pricing Discussion Thread

John Wick

Member
Anyone who has followed consoles for a while has probably noticed some cyclical trends in the industry. For example, Nintendo releasing blockbuster consoles one gen followed by far more modest sales the next. Or Sony releasing peripherals and sending them out to die. For whatever reason, these types of patterns seem to reoccur over and over again.

The PS5 Pro announcement in some ways reminded me of the PS3 announcement. And it echoes what we've seen recently with them chasing the GaaS unicorn to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Right now, I think Sony believes that people will buy whatever they put out just because it has the word PlayStation on it. They seem incredibly out of touch with their customer base, sacrificing good ideas and putting out either products that no one asked for or, in the case of the PS5 Pro, a value proposition that's so bad it seems insulting.

The PS5 Pro:
  1. $700+ tax U.S. (our poor European members are getting reamed even worse than that)
  2. $80 extra dollars for a disc drive (with tax, this console is now over $800
  3. Not even a STAND included so you can buy that separately, too
To demonstrate how abysmal this value proposition is, the PS4 Pro, which increased output from 1080p to 4k, was priced at $400, which was the launch price of the original PS4. AND, the PS4 got a price cut.

This is the height of arrogance. Midway through the PS3 generation, Sony seemed to acknowledge their missteps in thinking they were assured people's purchases and made a strong pivot from an arrogant position to a humbler one. From that point on, PlayStation entered a golden age of gaming quality and diversity that lasted through the entire generation of the PS4.

I hope this pro console bombs so it sends them a message. They need to listen to what their customers want, not what they want their customers to want.

Does anyone agree, or do you think I'm being too harsh here?
I don't see the point of this thread?
It has no basis in reality and ignores the context of the real world right now.
This is a luxury product. Therefor your not required to buy it if it's too expensive.
Your going on about the PS4 Pro but you fail to mention that came out when the world wasn't crazy with price increases following a Pandemic like COVID. How come Sony and MS have to increase the price of their consoles???
How come a Mercedes I bought 5-6 years ago brand new that equivalent model is now £22000 more???
Nothing to do with arrogance but market realities. Sony have the PS5 for those who don't wish to pay. I don't see people crying 😭 so much about how Nvidia charge for a 4090 compared to a 4060?
 
I just had a Thread closed.. it hosted this comparison:

TNaIVcY.png


Along with these questions:

Can "high end console gaming" ever be a thing?

Or should every machine within the Console realm be imperatively as affordable as possible to the masses?
Should the option of playing current generation games at 60fps with high resolution and pristine IQ, along with higher settings, remain an unattainable dream for every kind of individual willing to purchase a console, if it traslates into $699?

Apparently, the answer is no.

It’s the internet. Xbox One S is a joke despite being affordable, PS5 Pro is overpriced. You can’t please anyone.

If we had high end GPUs for $99, CPUs for $49, even then they would find some reason to complain.
 
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Dr Cowley

Neo Member
"Let's sell our new console for like 500 and make money back on software, sort of like what Nintendo do"
"Sir, we made concord"
"Fuck.... reckon they'll pay a grand?"
 

Elios83

Member
It has not much to do with arrogance imo, this is just an optional high-end upgrade product for enthusiasts, but with the fact that the era of cheap gaming hardware is done.

The fact that price drops aren't possible on years old devices and actually price increases are becoming common is pretty telling.

And it's not just Sony, the prices of PC GPUs are insane, you buy a high-end smartphone and it costs over 1000$, Microsoft wants to sell a 599$ XSX with a 2TB SSD and it's speculated they're basically going the super expensive gaming PC route with their next box. How cheap are the Steamdecks that people buy? How cheap are Apple products?
Nintendo is selling a Switch Oled at 300€, a product that was outdated in 2017.

You guys should be prepared to console prices shifting in the 500-900$ range in the next few years because that's what is happening.
 
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XXL

Member
For what you're getting in comparison to a comparable PC is not bad at all.

PC has many advantages that consoles don't, but some people don't like playing games on PC and for those people specifically this is a good bank for your buck.

4K 60fps on a PC for current games will be pretty fucking expensive.

Don't fool yourselves.
 
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64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
They're setting themselves up to be beaten by PC gaming.

The 800€ pricepoint is within spitting distance of a good 5700x3d PC, and for that sort of price I'd rather have a multipurpose machine with cheaper games and free online.
5700x3d PC. What's the gpu?
 

tkscz

Member
Not really. That price makes sense considering technology and the cost of silicon right now. We all knew a pro was coming and we know the type of people who will buy it. As for concord, game was in development for eight years, Sony really had a good feeling about the game. don't see that as a product that Sony thought people would buy just because their name was on it, otherwise I feel Astro Bot would've had more marketing than it does.
 

HogIsland

Member
Absolutely.

Sony wasn't arrogant when they launched the phat PS3. they were incompetent. They were overconfident in their technical prowess, but failed to achieve what they wante and costs exploded. They co-designed a completely new CPU that was supposed to become the future of computing, Cell CPU wasn't good enough to power graphics too so they were forced to add a Nvidia GPU to their design. The only way to achieve PS2 compatibility was to add the actual PS2 CPU/GPU chips to the PS3 mainboard,

And then there was their decision to make Blu-ray the dominant HD video format by way of the PS3. Blu-ray wasn't really ready for prime time, but the Blu-ray consortium had to put it out in order to combat the competing HD-DVD standard. Blu-Ray tech was so new that the PS3 was one of the first hw-devices with a Blu-Ray player and certainly the most affordable player. The Blu-Ray spec would go through multiple revisions before the specs were finalized with Blu-Ray 2.0.

All those decisions drove up the price of the PS3. Even though the PS3 was extremely expensive when it launched, it was sold below costs and generated a $3.3 billion loss for Sony. It forced Sony to release the PS3 four months late in Europe - and we got a Phat PS3 with only partial hw-compatibility instead of full. Just imagine launching a console and then releasing a substantial different version a few months later in order to cut costs.

The early PS3 was an over-engineered product that was still beta tested (Blu-Ray, UI, OS feature set) but had to pushed out the door no matter the financial costs to the company, because otherwise Sony would lose two battlegrounds: the console war with MS and the video format war with HD-DVD. That wasn't arrogant Sony, it was desperate, incompetent Sony.

The PS3 cost a pretty penny, but it also had a rich feature set compared to its direct competitor.

- free online vs Xbox Gold subscription
- Blu-Ray vs DVD
- PS3 controller with builtin battery vs Xbox controller with separate Play & Charge kit
- builtin WiFi vs separate proprietary wifi adapter
- upgradable HD vs separate proprietary hard disk add-on
- USB support vs separate proprietary memory unit
- HDMI output vs analog video outputs

It was expensive but you got a whole lotta tech for that $600. The PS5 Pro is quite a different proposition, it's Sony trying to make a buck at the expense of its most hardcore fanbase who always want the latest and greatest.
all facts as far as i'm concerned. and the ps3 still ended in a pretty good place because each hardware revision made a big difference. both for customers and for profitability.

The PS4 was basically perfect, but it was a very safe design, and playstation studios became a bit safe with self-consciously big budget, "prestige tv" type games. This is in comparison to PS2 and PS3 where there was a lot more variation in styles, production scales, and regions of teams represented. During the PS4 generation, Playstation practically stopped making online games, apparently leaving the field open for 3rd party partnerships.

PS5 is trying to re-run the PS4 playbook, just with the PROFIT knob dialed up and the GAMES knob dialed down. Plus the live service emphasis.
 
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jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
LOL Sony got absolutely raked over the coals for their PS3 pricing. Many people thought it was the sole reason they lost that generation to Microsoft.
 

Filben

Member
It's 800 EUR here in Germany, which is 880 USD. Not sure how much the average joe earns in the US, but in my federal state those 800 EUR is 40% of the average monthly net salary (after tax and social insurance contributions). Not sure how Italians, Spaniards, Portuguese, etc. think about this "regional" pricing.

The launch PS5 (disc) had the same USD price as EUR, which was 500USD/EUR. I don't know why they thought it's okay to charge 100EUR/180USD more here now.

At the end of the day it's an enthusiast's hardware and Nvidia proved that people are willing to spend huge amounts of money on hardwar (if provided with no other option than to not spend).
 
When you have graphic cards that cost over 1000 dollars ALONE i really don't see how a console that is aimed at the most enthusiastic crowd costing 700 dollars is "arrogant".

Also, hot take...calling Sony in 2006 "arrogant" when they released a console for 600 dollars that costed them 900 dollars to manufacture wasn't arrogant. It was just stupid for them.
 

Hari Seldon

Member
I don't even care about the price, it is the fact that it basically adds no value and now I have to attach a dongle if I want it as a drop-in upgrade to my disk PS5. I was already done with console gaming after this gen. There is only so many 3rd person open world action games one can play in a lifetime.
 

Bond007

Member
699 is not unreasonable for the hardware.

What's unreasonable:
- psn price jacked up from 60/yr to 80/yr
- controller costs jacked up from 60 on PS4 to 75 now
- releasing new hardware when you never fulfilled the promise of the current hardware
- locking users into your proprietary digital store with digital-only


Bingo for me on all except the games.
I'm satisfied with what they have done and leveraged with 3rd party this year. Thats also contingent on alot of announcements coming soon; cause if First party took a year- then i absolutely expect a strong 2025.
The Pro has been announced and all the cards are on the table before the holidays. Its time to see what all the heavy hitting devs got up their sleeves.

Digital only is the biggest hit.
 
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Trilobit

Member
So for someone who isn't really knowledgeable about specs, how big will the 45% difference be in reality between PS5 and Pro? What settings will it enable? 4K 60fps?

There's no reason to be price competitive when your only competitor decided to not release a Pro model.

This is what scares me about Microsoft right now. The less competition there is the less innovation and effort we'll see from others.
 

StueyDuck

Member
Nintendo. Making a console, releasing good games. Selling like crazy
Nintendo should have released that console 3 years ago already. They are releasing b-tier games, promoting an abundance of shite "cozy" games/farm games and mostly remasters and their eshop is an absolute mess. Let's not also mention how extremely litigious they are and how they treat anything in the most archaic way possible. We can't even stream their old soundtracks on Spotify

Just because Nintendo aren't as public facing or as criticized as others doesn't mean they are doing something great.

Put the console wars aside because without doing that we are never going to get the better environment we deserve
 

John Wick

Member
Look no further than this forum. There is a segment of gamers who will pay anything for sony and thinks sony can do no wrong. Supporting this greed is dooming the future of gaming.

Also calling people poor or saying the disc drive is dated anyway is just insane, chill out with that. Everyone has different reasons for the way they do things, just because you play digital doesnt mean everyone else does
The product price reflects the market and component realities. It's quite simple Sony have a product for people who don't want to fork out for the Pro. It's called PS5.
You should stop buying food and drinks due to the greed of those manufacturing the food.
 

RCX

Member
Might be fair but without a unit cost breakdown we can't say. My initial reaction as someone in euroland is that it's not a price I'd be willing to pay.

Outside of that, the fact that they're launching their new console without a big new game to show it off seems like a mistake.
 
Let’s get the elephant out of the room first

Here’s how much inflation has happened since 2020 when Sony launched the PS5 at $399.99
K5lpFQO.jpeg



And here’s what the equivalent of $699.99 would be in 2020
2psPvQk.jpeg


Sony launching the PS5 Pro for $699 in 2024 would be like launching a PS5 Digital Edition (with more storage mind you) in 2020 for $575.97

We’re talking about a console, which has the same CPU and RAM as the 4-year-old PS5, coming out FOUR YEARS LATER for $176 more dollars (2020 dollars).

Not to mention, the PS5 Pro is a significantly smaller hardware leap from the PS5 than the PS4 Pro was from PS4 - and as we all know both of those consoles launched for the same $399.99 - and yes, the PS4 Pro had double the storage as the launch PS4 (1TB up from 500GB)

I don’t want to hear about a chip shortage. That was primarily a 2020-2023 issue and has mostly been resolved by now. Most other tech/computer products have similar starting prices for their 2024 models that the 2020 models had.

iPhone 12 (2020 dollars) - $799.99
iPhone 16 (2020 dollars) - $658.25
iPhone 12 Pro (2020 dollars) - $999.99
iPhone 16 Pro (2020 dollars) - $822.82

I understand that those devices are higher-margin devices than consoles, but inflation applies to everyone - and Apple, just like every other tech company, has managed to keep prices broadly the same as they were 4 years ago (cheaper actually) when they could have easily taken advantage of “inflation” for even higher profits.

This console should have been $599.99 MAX given the fact that it comes with a 2TB SSD. $599.99 in 2020 dollars would have been $493.69, a bit more than what the PS5 DE launched at, which accounts for a higher amount of storage on the Pro.

To reiterate:

PS5 DE (2020 dollars) - $399.99
PS5 Pro DE (2020 dollars) - $575.97
PS5 Physical (2020 dollars) - $499.99
PS5 Pro Physical (2020 dollars) - $641.79

The PS5 Pro at $699 is simply a product of the lack of competition in the console market from Xbox, along with a decent dose of corporate greed from Sony.

There is no other explanation. None.
 
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Ebrietas

Member
You're not wrong. Everything is more expensive now. Especially PC gaming. It's hilarious how people keep pushing that as an alternative.

Still I think a cheaper Pro with 1TB for $599 would have been a better deal and certainly much better for optics. Or $650 with the blu ray drive included. Not sure how many people were clamoring for a bigger built in SSD.
 
For what you're getting in comparison to a comparable PC is not bad at all.

PC has many advantages that consoles don't, but some people don't like playing games on PC and for those people specifically this is a good bank for your buck.

4K 60fps on a PC for current games will be pretty fucking expensive.

Don't fool yourselves.
Agree in comparison to PC, but i already have a PS5 so that's hard pill to swallow, also i don't think we'll get 4K 60fps on PS5 Pro.
 

Xtib81

Member
Considering what's inside the box, I tend to disagree. I'd have no problem spending 800-900-1000€ for a console provided it's a monster. Unfortunately, it's not the case here : same SSD speed, same CPU, slightly better GPU, what the heck costs 800€ here !?
 
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SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
When you have graphic cards that cost over 1000 dollars ALONE i really don't see how a console that is aimed at the most enthusiastic crowd costing 700 dollars is "arrogant".

Also, hot take...calling Sony in 2006 "arrogant" when they released a console for 600 dollars that costed them 900 dollars to manufacture wasn't arrogant. It was just stupid for them.
Lets not reinvent history. Sony was indeed arrogant back in those days.

EdsK3pzWsAA60Nm.png
 
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