Sony justifies the PS5 Pro’s high price with the console’s new tech – “it’s more of a full package that will give that exceptional value to the players”
Sony
has
commented
on
the
PS5
Pro‘s
controversial
cost,
while
also
revealing
that
the
console
was
in
development
before
the
PS5
was
released.
Speaking
in
a
recent
interview
with
IGN,
PlayStation’s
senior
principal
product
manager,
Toshi
Aoki,
confirmed
that
there
were
already
talks
about
the
mid-generation
console
before
the
PS5
launched
in
2020
as
“technologies
evolve
every
year”.
“We
started
discussing
it
before
the
PS5
actually
came
out…because
the
PS5
specs
were
already
locked
in,”
Aoki
said.
“We
were
ready
to
launch
and
everything…”
When
talking
further
about
the
PS5
Pro’s
specs,
Aoki
explained
that
the
console’s
AI
upscaling
technology
–
PlayStation
Spectral
Super
Revolution
(PSSR)
–
wasn’t
available
for
the
PS5
at
the
time
of
its
development.
“I
think
it’s
more
from
the
technological
point
of
view
of…
Even
the
AI
upscaling,
it’s
not
easy…it
takes
time
to
get
there…”
he
said.
“So
as
we
were
trying
to
target
the
best
of
both
worlds…that’s
why
we
invested
in
seeing
the
other
ways
that
we
can
get
games
into
that
space
for
high
fidelity
60
FPS.
“That’s
why
AI
upscaling
was
the
option
that
we
took
and
we
looked
into
and
developed.”
When
the
PS5
Pro
was
officially
announced
earlier
this
month,
the
console’s
$700
price
tag
caused
quite
a
stir.
However,
according
to
Aoki,
the
console’s
many
new
features,
including
its
PSSR
tech,
8K
support,
and
more,
justify
the
price.
“Well,
the
technologies
that
I
just
mentioned
that
we
are
putting
in
to
deliver
new
experiences
for
game
players,
and
also
not
just
the
technological
differences,
but
the
SSD,
the
Wi-Fi
7,
and
the
new
technologies
that
surround
the
gameplay
as
well,”
Aoki
said.
“So
it’s
more
of
a
full
package
that
will
give
that
exceptional
value
to
the
players…
the
most
engaged
players
that
we’re
targeting.”
For
those
who
want
to
stick
to
playing
their
physical
games,
they’ll
need
to
buy
the
optional
disk
drive,
which
will
bring
the
total
asking
price
to
$800.
Aoki
said
that
having
the
separate
disk
drive
as
an
optional
purchase
was
to
give
players
more
choice
and
that
it’s
“more
of
the
balance
of
the
value
proposition
that
we’re
giving”.
“Well,
with
the
PS5
Pro,
we
are
offering
all
these
new
tech
innovations,
and
we
added
the
two
terabyte
SSD,
as
well
as
the
Wi-Fi
7.
We
believe
as
a
full
package
that
it
offers
for
the
most
players,”
he
said.
“For
the
disc
drive,
it
is
an
option
for
players.
Not
all
players
have
discs,
even
though
most
players
may…but
we
have
the
option
for
being
able
to
add
that
for
those
players.
So
I
think
it’s
more
of
the
balance
of
the
value
proposition
that
we’re
giving.”
