Call me an old timer but I can still vividly remember the time when Sony‘s hubris was on full display during the seventh generation of video game consoles. They were the clear winners of the sixth generation console wars with their PlayStation 2 system and they were all set to unveil their PlayStation 3. Oh, people were initially excited for it. But when their revealed the astronomical sticker price of $599, people weren’t too enthused about it anymore.

Flash forward to just a few days ago, it looks like Sony is repeating their past mistakes. Recently, Sony just revealed the PlayStation 5 Pro, a brand spanking and upgraded version of the PlayStation 5. Once again, people are outraged by the exorbitant asking price of a whopping $699 price point. The only real difference is even the Sony fanboys are disgusted by it.

Now, my take on the entire PlayStation 5 Pro is I get why it’s so expensive. But I also don’t really see the need for a PlayStation 5 Pro.

Before we delve into me both defending and dismissing Sony high asking price for the PlayStation 5 Pro, let’s go talk about what you do get with the system and how it differs from the original PlayStation 5. I feel it’s only fair because everyone is just too darned focused on how expensive it is without really looking as to why Sony deems this to be the correct price.

According to Mark Cerny, the lead architect of everything PlayStation for a while now, one of the things the PlayStation 5 Pro is to give players more graphics fidelity while keeping the games at a more steady 60 frames per second. Essentially, the PlayStation 5 Pro’s graphics processor is beefier than its predecessor. More graphics processing power means it can produce high fidelity graphics while still keeping a rock solid 60 frames per second. Who doesn’t like that?

Mark Cerny also described something called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution that they added to the PlayStation 5 Pro. This is basically AI hardware that’s plugged into the console that will analyze an image and then try to fill in the gaps to make the image at the highest quality resolution as possible. This is still theoretical but, if it works as intended, can really help with older games by enhancing older textures and whatnot. Once again, that’s great, isn’t it?

Now, here’s the thing: all of that increased graphical fidelity comes at a cost… which is why the PlayStation 5 Pro is going to be very expensive. In terms of PC users, this would be like upgrading your graphics card to something that was initially adequate to something more substantial. And if you’ve built PCs in the past, you do know that better graphics cards are much more expensive. They can even be more expensive than the system’s processor unit itself!

Also, despite the high price point, you just know Sony will still be selling the PlayStation 5 Pro at a loss. Historically speaking, the weird nature of the video game console business is that the companies who make the consoles don’t make much of a profit from the sales of each console. They know the money is actually in the games themselves.

Developers and publishers have to play licensing fees just to get their games on whatever is the hottest video game console. And as a console becomes more popular, so comes the need to make more games for that popular system. That equates to more companies paying for more licenses. It’s just the way things have been. So, it may be hard to believe that Sony isn’t going to make much money from the actual sales of the PlayStation 5 Pro because of how expensive it is… but they probably won’t.

While I do get the increased price point, I don’t see the reason why most gamers, even the diehard PlayStation fanboys, would get a PlayStation 5 Pro. For one thing, the games they did show during the presentation are older games. Sure, they showed off how things look sharper and more as a good framerate and all that. But where’s the game that shows off the true power of the PlayStation 5 Pro? Where’s the killer app that will make me want to upgrade my older PlayStation 5 and make me want to go Pro? Without something new to show off why you need to upgrade, I don’t really see many current PlayStation 5 going out to reserve their Pro unit.

Another thing and this is more of a personal one. I still do not own a PlayStation 5 myself. I’ve been holding off just for this occasion when Sony would show off a newer version of the system. Why? Because this would mean a price drop for the older version! I don’t think I’m alone here as everyone loves a good deal and I’m going to assume Sony will drop the price of the original PlayStation 5 in time for the Holiday season to get rid of the old stock while heavily promoting the PlayStation 5 Pro. So, guess which one I’m going to get as a Christmas gift to myself?

Do I think the PlayStation 5 Pro will be deemed a failure because no one will buy it at launch? Once again, I have to think back to the PlayStation 3’s launch and how its high price tag irked everyone. Sony did eventually come to their senses and chipped away at the original price and brought it down substantially. I believe they’ll do the same with the PlayStation 5 Pro in the future. I actually believe there are people salivating at playing their old PlayStation 5 games in a higher resolution but with a rock solid 60 fps. These are the one who’ll be getting the Pro version.

Me? I’m just going the happy with my new PlayStation 5.

What do you think of Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro? Is it worth the hefty price tag? Let me know in the comments section below!