A $700 PlayStation 5 Pro? In this economy? | Kaser Focus

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PlayStation this week revealed the latest console joining its family: The PlayStation 5 Pro, a more powerful version of its current-gen console that boasts the ability to make games look pretty while running at 60 FPS. I don’t want to sound dismissive, but that really was the backbone of its reveal presentation. Tired of having to choose between graphics and performance? Well now you (allegedly, for a certain number of games) won’t have to. And your price of admission? $700. Hang on, let me repeat that: $700.

Most of the reactions I’ve seen to the PS5 Pro — my own included — are unimpressed. That price tag, combined with a not-particularly-compelling incremental uptick in power, would be bad enough. But the PS5 Pro also doesn’t come with a vertical stand or a disc drive. Those must be purchased separately. It feels like a bit of a joke — on whom, I’m not yet sure. I’m confident the console will find its deep-pocketed audience, but I’m a little baffled by the idea that we need a more-powerful PS5 when it seems half of all developers are still releasing their games on PS4.

The rest of the week hasn’t exactly been a picnic either. On Thursday we heard that not only was Microsoft laying off more people in its games division — 650 of them, to be exact — but Annapurna Interactive’s entire staff resigned after parent company Annapurna denied their request to spin off (as I understand the story). It was a grim day all around, and I can only wish better fortune to the people at both companies.

In personal news, I’m still making my way through the late summer releases, including Astro Bot, Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, and Emio: The Smiling Man – Famicom Detective Club. As for new games, I’ve never been particularly a Warhammer fan — I’m a bit of a collector and know that I’ll bankrupt myself if I get too into that particular hobby — but I think I need to try out Space Marine 2. It looks like fun, and I could use a bit of that this week.

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