Are you as horrified by the PS5 Pro pricing as I am? Just buy a gaming laptop instead, seriously
Nice console games
Judging
by
the
absolute
vitriol
in
the
live
chat
on
YouTube
during
yesterday’s
PS5
Pro
reveal,
I
wasn’t
the
only
one
upset
by
the
price
point
of
Sony’s
latest
and
greatest
console.
$699.99
(£699.99
/
AU$1,999.95)
is
a
lot
to
pay
for
a
games
console,
let’s
be
honest.
Seven
hundred
American
dollaroos
is
just
the
base
price,
too
–
if
you
want
the
full
out-of-the-box
experience
with
a
disk
drive
and
stand,
it’ll
cost
you
$825
(£825
/
AU$1,360).
That
makes
it
the
most
expensive
home
console
ever;
sure,
inflation
plays
a
role
here,
but
even
adjusting
for
that,
the
original
1994
PlayStation
would
cost
you
around
$500
in
today’s
money.
Now,
it
might
just
be
the
seven
zillion
computer
hardware
reviews
I’ve
done
over
the
years
talking
here,
but
surely
we’re
approaching
gaming
PC
pricing
territory
here,
no?
I
generally
say
to
people
building
their
first
entry-level
custom
PC
that
they
should
aim
for
the
$800-$1000
mark.
With
consoles
–
and
games,
and
controllers
–
getting
ever
more
expensive
(and
Microsoft
no
doubt
wondering
if
they
can
feasibly
sell
an
eight-hundred-dollar
Xbox
right
now),
it’s
time
for
us
to
collectively
admit
that
the
home
console
dream
is
dead,
and
we
should
all
be
buying
gaming
systems
that
run
Windows
instead.
Getting
a
PS5
Pro
PC
equivalent
Alright,
I’ll
be
totally
upfront
about
one
thing
here:
you’re
not
going
to
get
anywhere
near
the
same
level
of
gaming
performance
on
a
PC
at
that
price
point.
That’s
just
a
fact:
Sony’s
tight
control
over
the
PlayStation
ecosystem
and
the
PS5
Pro’s
fixed-spec
configuration
makes
it
cheaper
to
mass-produce
a
powerful
console
capable
of
4K
gaming.
I
did
some
quick
research
(read:
online
shopping)
and,
at
the
$825
mark,
the
best
you’re
likely
to
get
without
waiting
for
big
discounts
on
every
individual
component
is
a
desktop
system
with
an
Nvidia
RTX
4060
graphics
card
and
an
Intel
Core
i7
or
AMD
Ryzen
7
processor
–
certainly
a
solid
gaming
PC,
capable
of
playing
virtually
anything
at
1080p
and
some
games
at
1440p
or
even
4K
if
the
game
supports
Nvidia’s
DLSS
3
upscaling
tech.
If
you’d
prefer
something
a
bit
more
portable,
most
of
the
best
gaming
laptops
will,
unfortunately,
cost
you
more
in
most
cases
–
though
to
be
fair,
they
do
include
a
screen,
keyboard,
speakers,
and
so
on.
You’ll
need
a
fairly
beefy
graphics
card
in
your
PC
or
laptop
to
measure
up
against
the
PS5
Pro
in
terms
of
performance.
(Image
credit:
Future)
If
you
actually
wanted
to
build
an
equivalent
system
to
the
PS5
Pro,
you’d
likely
be
looking
at
something
closer
to
the
RTX
4070
or
perhaps
AMD’s
RX
7700
XT
(I’ll
admit
that
this
is
mostly
guesswork,
given
that
we
don’t
know
the
exact
GPU
specs
of
the
PS5
Pro
yet),
along
with
a
fairly
high-end
CPU,
motherboard,
and
RAM
plus
a
2TB
SSD.
Chuck
in
a
copy
of
Windows
11
and
you’re
likely
looking
north
of
$1200
–
and
that’s
assuming
you
don’t
want
an
expensive
case
or
CPU
liquid
cooler.
But
if
you
ask
me,
the
benefits
far
outweigh
this
singular
price-related
downside.
For
starters,
if
you
choose
to
build
a
custom
gaming
PC
(or
buy
a
pre-built
system,
like
the
rather
excellent
budget
HP
Victus
15L)
you’ll
have
the
freedom
to
upgrade
your
gaming
machine
further
down
the
line
–
something
that
simply
isn’t
an
option
for
console
gamers,
beyond
perhaps
swapping
out
the
SSD
to
get
more
storage.
Meanwhile,
my
desktop
gaming
rig
has
three
SSDs
in
it…
PC
is
best,
and
I’m
not
sorry
about
that
Being
able
to
upgrade
in
a
piecemeal
manner
can
help
ease
the
burden
of
cost,
too;
it’s
not
uncommon
for
PC
gamers
to
buy
a
new
GPU
or
CPU
and
sell
off
their
existing
one
to
recoup
some
of
the
cost,
and
once
you’ve
got
a
PC,
that’s
it
–
you’ll
never
be
left
behind
in
the
wrong
console
generation
again,
you
can
simply
upgrade
one
part
at
a
time
until
you’ve
got
the
best
gaming
PC
for
you.
If
you
spring
for
a
gaming
laptop
instead,
you
sacrifice
most
of
that
upgradability
but
instead
secure
yourself
portability:
the
ability
to
pack
up
your
gaming
system
and
take
it
with
you
on
the
go
can’t
be
understated.
If
you
want
something
even
more
portable,
the
handheld
space
is
no
longer
confined
to
Nintendo
–
excellent
handheld
gaming
PCs
like
the
Steam
Deck
and
the
Asus
ROG
Ally
X
let
you
take
your
favorite
games
anywhere,
anytime.
I
absolutely
love
my
Asus
ROG
Ally,
and
this
year’s
new
Ally
X
is
even
better.
(Image
credit:
Future)
It’s
also
worth
discussing
the
fact
that
in
this
day
and
age,
everyone
needs
a
computer
anyway
–
why
not
roll
your
work-and-play
machines
into
one
device?
I’ve
seen
folks
decry
gaming
PCs
because
they
prefer
couch
gaming
with
a
controller,
but…
you
can
literally
do
that
with
a
computer.
All
you
need
is
an
HDMI
cable
and
a
gamepad,
and
boom:
you
can
be
gaming
on
Windows
on
your
living
room
TV.
Oh,
and
that
gamepad
is
pretty
much
guaranteed
to
cost
you
less
than
a
DualSense…
It’s
all
about
the
games
Finally,
I’ve
got
to
be
honest
with
you,
folks:
console
exclusives
suck
and
I
hate
them.
I
say
this
as
someone
who
grumpily
forks
out
for
every
new
Nintendo
console
so
I
can
play
Zelda,
Animal
Crossing,
and
Pokemon
with
my
partner.
Yes,
I’m
a
big
grown-up.
With
a
decent
chunk
of
Sony’s
once-exclusive
titles
now
making
their
way
to
PC,
the
‘platform
exclusives’
argument
for
buying
a
PS5
is
weaker
than
ever.
Also,
PC
has
something
the
closed
ecosystems
of
console
gaming
will
never
have:
a
truly
open
indie
dev
landscape,
where
literally
anyone
can
make
their
weird
little
dream
game
and
sell
it
on
itch.io,
where
an
infinite
number
of
titles
await
players,
where
it’s
never
hard
to
find
exactly
what
you
want
to
play.
Add
to
that
the
multitude
of
free-to-play
games
and
free
giveaways
from
the
likes
of
Epic
and
Prime
Gaming,
and
it’s
practically
possible
to
game
forever
on
PC
without
ever
spending
a
penny
on
software
beyond
your
OS.
Want
to
play
the
original
Deus
Ex,
a
game
that
came
out
24
years
ago,
on
your
PS5
Pro?
Absolutely
not,
says
Sony.
(Image
credit:
Future)
Oh,
and
backward
compatibility!
I
remember
buying
a
PS3
back
in
the
day
and
being
immensely
disappointed
that
my
PS2
library
was
now
effectively
unplayable.
Meanwhile,
over
on
PC,
I
can
download
and
play
a
game
from
the
90s
with
zero
problems
–
not
to
mention
the
fact
that
those
games
are
often
insanely
cheap,
thanks
to
the
excellent
discounts
you
can
routinely
find
on
storefronts
Steam
and
GOG.
And
don’t
even
get
me
started
on
paying
a
subscription
to
play
online
–
that
was
the
nail
in
the
coffin
for
console
gaming
for
me,
personally.
Look,
I
didn’t
write
this
article
to
try
and
convince
Sony
fanboys
to
come
over
to
the
light
side
–
perhaps
it’s
more
about
vindicating
myself
for
spending
so
much
money
on
PC
components
over
the
years.
But
I
genuinely,
honestly,
truly
do
maintain
that
PC
is
the
best
platform
for
gaming,
and
always
will
be.
So
if
my
writing
convinces
even
one
person
to
step
into
the
wonderful
world
of
PC
gaming,
I’ll
consider
this
a
job
well
done;
hell,
if
you
decide
to
get
into
PC
gaming
because
of
this
article,
send
a
tweet
or
an
email
my
way
–
it
would
brighten
my
day
no
end.
