Many believe - with some justification - that the PS5 Pro is a step too far and that such a console isn't needed. In fact,
we've made the argument ourselves. Looking back at that piece, I warned about higher costs of a Pro console, but also looked at the potential improvements it could bring - all of which have come to pass with PS5 Pro. Microsoft declined the opportunity to follow likewise, but now we have some idea of why Sony has taken a different route and perhaps more of the strategy is now understandable.
Looking at the criticisms of PS5 Pro today, I am reminded of the massive backlash against Nvidia's RTX 20-series products based on the Turing architecture back in 2018. The products were pricey, nobody bought into the AI narrative, ray tracing was derided. And yet today, DLSS upscaling has proven to be one of the most transformative technologies in the PC space - a desired feature for users and coveted by the competition. Ray tracing? With smart technological innovations, an immense level of investment in software like
ReSTIR and strategic partnerships with key game makers, Nvidia brought actual path tracing to triple-A games.
None of this happened overnight and yet Nvidia has now effectively defined the direction of travel for graphics innovation and consoles need to catch up. And that's where PS5 Pro comes in. Sony has taken the smart path here, delivering the custom silicon required where AMD did not seem to have any, while at the same time developing PlayStation Spectral Resolution (PSSR) on the software side. We've now been 'eyes on' with PSSR across a range of games and while there's still work to be done in improving it, it's a big leap beyond existing upscaling solutions. But we shouldn't forget that the machine learning hardware isn't just a fixed function AI upscaling block - it can be used for all manner of tasks. PSSR delivers the biggest bang for the buck, but it's just the beginning.
We are looking at such a big change here that absolutely we should be looking at PlayStation 5 Pro as the console that sets the ball rolling for Sony in an area of crucial importance. I'd even venture to suggest that
PlayStation 6 may even need PlayStation 5 Pro to exist for this evolution to happen. Sony's technology groups need time to develop technologies like PSSR and to ship them and to refine them. Meanwhile, developers need to grow accustomed to these technologies instead of simply focusing on them for their PC games.
A new DF Direct Weekly lands - as usual - today, with the team's thoughts on the recent State of Play, reaction to the …
www.eurogamer.net