When Sony designer Ken Kutaragi first began work on the PlayStation, he had one clear goal: to build a video game console that rivaled the graphical power of workstations costing thousands of dollars. The result was a system that changed the way people play games and how we think about consoles.
Kutaragi’s team created a machine with a centralized GPU that could handle a large amount of video data in parallel and an internal architecture designed to support developer-friendly software. This meant the PS1 was a platform that encouraged creativity and innovation among game developers and allowed players to enjoy a wider selection of titles.
Over the next few years, the PlayStation family would continue to grow. The PS2 added DVD playback to the mix, while the PlayStation 3 (PS3) offered more advanced graphics and a massive library of games. And in 2020, the PlayStation 5 (PS5) was launched, offering more graphical power and faster load times than its predecessors.
The PS5 Pro is all about making big-screen gaming a happier experience. It has a souped-up GPU that promises 4K and 60 frames per second gaming in games that get the Pro treatment, plus a bunch of other fancy graphical extras like ray tracing, which uses real-world lighting to create more realistic images.
But does that make it worth upgrading if you already own a PS5? Probably not. A $700 midcycle upgrade isn’t something most gamers are ready to stomach. And even if you do, you might not need the PS5 Pro’s additional graphical power and fast load times. After all, most games are already running on PCs, and smaller PC gaming handhelds are rediscovering what consoles can be.