It’s not quite the same thing… Mid generation refreshes are, generally, due to changes in technology outside of gaming.
Look at the first mid-gen refresh… The Sega CD and NEC Turbo CD for TurboGrafx (released as a separate machine called the Turbo Duo).
CD technology changed gaming, but the console makers at the time weren’t ready yet for a new generation.
Sega and NEC refreshed the current gen with CD technology, Nintendo explored it with Sony, and abandoned it (as Nintendo is generally always a generation behind), which led directly to the Playstation a few years later.
We saw it again in the Xbox 360/PS3 era. Those machines launched in 2005/2006. A global financial crisis took all the air out of the room and made financing R&D for a next generation impossible just when it needed to start ramping up in 2008/2009.
So what Microsoft and Sony did was pivot to try to enter the casual market that the Wii dominated by releasing Kinect and Move respectively in 2010, when a new console SHOULD have launched but did not.
The next true generation was still 3 years away at that point, but Kinect and Move let them limp along until they got there.
The same thing happened with the Xbox One and PS4, television technology greatly advanced after they launched in 2013 and it became apparent that all these 4K television owners were looking for 4K content.
Nobody was prepared to launch a new console, so we got the Xbox One S without 4K gaming, but with a 4K Blu Ray drive, the PS4 Pro, which had no 4K drive, but kinda, sorta on a good day, could almost do 4K gaming, and the Xbox One X which ran 4K games, 4K movies, and massively upgraded older non-4K games.
For the PS5 Pro? There is nothing demanding the refresh. Sony says they’re doing it because players want better frame rates, but those 3/4 of players choosing performance mode are already showing they don’t care about fidelity.
Moreover, the latest thinking is that for GTA6, the promise of increased frame rate STILL won’t be a reality.
As someone who hasn’t used a console for gaming since uh, the original xbox, is this doesn’t care about fidelity, or is it if you don’t pick the performance mode you get 15fps?
I’m just confused who is spending $700+ for a gaming console if the one that’s $200-300 less seems to be fine?
I’m old and out of touch I guess. (And do all my gaming on a Ally Z1 non-extreme these days which is an absolute potato compared to either of these PS5s and it’s also… fine.)
Well, it’s not out yet, and so far, I’m not $700 impressed. :) But then 30fps and 60fps look the same to me as long as there are no frame drops. Smooth is smooth.
It’s not quite the same thing… Mid generation refreshes are, generally, due to changes in technology outside of gaming.
Look at the first mid-gen refresh… The Sega CD and NEC Turbo CD for TurboGrafx (released as a separate machine called the Turbo Duo).
CD technology changed gaming, but the console makers at the time weren’t ready yet for a new generation.
Sega and NEC refreshed the current gen with CD technology, Nintendo explored it with Sony, and abandoned it (as Nintendo is generally always a generation behind), which led directly to the Playstation a few years later.
We saw it again in the Xbox 360/PS3 era. Those machines launched in 2005/2006. A global financial crisis took all the air out of the room and made financing R&D for a next generation impossible just when it needed to start ramping up in 2008/2009.
So what Microsoft and Sony did was pivot to try to enter the casual market that the Wii dominated by releasing Kinect and Move respectively in 2010, when a new console SHOULD have launched but did not.
The next true generation was still 3 years away at that point, but Kinect and Move let them limp along until they got there.
The same thing happened with the Xbox One and PS4, television technology greatly advanced after they launched in 2013 and it became apparent that all these 4K television owners were looking for 4K content.
Nobody was prepared to launch a new console, so we got the Xbox One S without 4K gaming, but with a 4K Blu Ray drive, the PS4 Pro, which had no 4K drive, but kinda, sorta on a good day, could almost do 4K gaming, and the Xbox One X which ran 4K games, 4K movies, and massively upgraded older non-4K games.
For the PS5 Pro? There is nothing demanding the refresh. Sony says they’re doing it because players want better frame rates, but those 3/4 of players choosing performance mode are already showing they don’t care about fidelity.
Moreover, the latest thinking is that for GTA6, the promise of increased frame rate STILL won’t be a reality.
https://rockstarintel.com/gta-6-60-fps-ps5-pro-struggle/
So what’s the point?
As someone who hasn’t used a console for gaming since uh, the original xbox, is this doesn’t care about fidelity, or is it if you don’t pick the performance mode you get 15fps?
30FPS at 4K or 60FPS at 1080P or 1440P.
In reality, a lot of games aren’t even hitting 4K on the one side or 60FPS on the other.
Either of which seem reasonable enough.
I’m just confused who is spending $700+ for a gaming console if the one that’s $200-300 less seems to be fine?
I’m old and out of touch I guess. (And do all my gaming on a Ally Z1 non-extreme these days which is an absolute potato compared to either of these PS5s and it’s also… fine.)
Well, it’s not out yet, and so far, I’m not $700 impressed. :) But then 30fps and 60fps look the same to me as long as there are no frame drops. Smooth is smooth.
PC master race doesn’t seem to be masters of knowledge
That’s The Black Library’s job