Since the beginning of this summer, people have been awaiting the Playstation 5 Pro edition to be revealed. In September of 2024, it was finally revealed! Unfortunately, the response was extremely critical, and the reveal turned out to be a major disappointment.

The PS5 Pro is the brand new console developed by Playstation. Officially announced on Sept. 10, this console presents upgraded features from the original such as a higher GPU, faster frame rates, larger storage, and improved graphical fidelity. Despite these appealing features, the system has been met with strong critical backlash, with most of it being pointed towards some missing features and the expensive price tag.

Let’s get the positive out of the way. The PS5 Pro comes with 67% more compute units and 28% faster memory, allowing for 45% faster rendering. It also offers potential frame rates of up to 120 fps. It also has advanced ray tracing and AI-upscaling for graphics. Basically, the system provides higher resolution along with smoother gameplay compared to the original PS5. So why all the hate? Simple. Everything else.

First off, the reveal for the PS5 Pro was underwhelming to say the least. Instead of using brand new games to showcase the power of the PS5 Pro, they used old games and remasters. These include The Last of Us Remastered, Spider Man 2, Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Horizon Forbidden West, Final Fantasy, and more. Not a single brand new PS5 exclusive game was used for the showcase.

Another thing is that the difference between the original PS5 and the PS5 Pro aren’t really noticeable. In terms of frame rates and gameplay fluidity, the PS5 Pro shows more promise. However, the graphical difference is about the same. There’s not much shown to highlight the difference in visuals.

The main reason this console is getting tons of backlash, however, is because of the price tag. The PS5 Pro costs a whopping $700! That’s a big price tag. In other countries though, it costs between $900 and $1,000! The price is bad enough, but after close inspection of the device, we see no disc drive. That’s right! This new console is strictly digital, meaning you can’t play any physical media on it: game discs, DVDs, etc. The vertical stand is also sold separately. So if you want to play physical games and get a vertical stand, you’ll have to pay an extra $100 dollars, which is absurd!

I feel like the PS5 Pro was made for people that don’t have a PS5 in general. Otherwise, the console almost has no reason to exist. People are already content with the regular PS5 and the PS5 slim. All in all, I feel like Playstation could’ve done a much better job showcasing the new gaming console. Don’t get me wrong. The larger storage, graphical enhancements, and higher frame rates do look promising. However, the lack of a disk drive or vertical stand, combined with the fact that the console starts at $700, drives me away from buying this one.