PS4 Pro releases on Nov. 10, but that news has fallen on deaf ears for many gamers and even the PlayStation faithful. Sony has made its bed with its 4K console, so what can be done to make it truly matter to a wider audience? Here are five ways to make us care!
1) Performance Boosts For All Games On All Resolutions: One of the biggest problems with the PS4 Pro is that it’s too focused on 4K resolution and not actual in-game performance. The vast majority of PS4 games run just shy of native 1080p to accommodate stable 30 fps or 60 fps framerates. Wouldn’t it be awesome if the Pro’s high specs could be used to instantly tear down those barriers? In addition to 4K, what about offering native 1080p/60fps performance for games like Uncharted 4, The Witcher 3 and anything coming next?
In other words, make the new hardware work a lot more like the PCs these premium consoles aspire to be. All games should scale to the hardware and offer multiple settings presets that benefit more than the niche 4K crowd. There are likely development reasons for why this is difficult, but Sony could probably work something out. Its engineers did create an entire 4K upscaling algorithm just for this system after all.
2) A Trade-In Program: As soon as the PS4 Pro became a known quantity, gamers mused about the possibility of Sony offering a dedicated trade-in program for the millions that had already invested in the hardware maker’s vision as far back as 2013. The $400 asking price for PS4 Pro is a little steep in today’s market, but it’d hurt a lot less if you could shave $100 or $150 off that cost by leveraging an older machine.
Retailers like GameStop will always take a used console and trade it up for a new one, but it would have been nice to see something come from Sony because of the good message that would send. It would solidify the hardware maker as a company that rewards brand loyalty in an unprecedented way. It’d be an awesome tactic to get the existing 40 million PS4 users on board very quickly.
3) Pro Perks And Promotions: The PS4 Pro is a product designed for the “professional” tech enthusiast and Sony fanatic. It’s being marketed as a premium product, so it’d be cool if that came with some premium deals, benefits and promotions throughout its lifespan.
What if, for example, one PSN flash sale a month were limited to PS4 Pro owners and it offered truly fantastic Steam Summer Sale levels of savings? What if all future service and repairs for PS4 Pro units was free or heavily discounted? Stuff like that is just enough to make the PS4 Pro feel like an exclusive, desirable product without totally hosing current PS4 players. If there are enough financial perks, people will want to get in on the value.
4) Exclusive Game Features: While it’d be a mistake to make entire PS4 games totally exclusive to the PlayStation 4 Pro, there’s no denying that almost every good console needs a library of exclusive content to profit. Exclusives make people want a specific piece of hardware beyond what they own.
For a half-step console like the Pro, maybe the solution is to offer exclusive game modes or features that possibly take advantage of the system’s spec bump. Split-screen online multiplayer may not be possible on the standard PS4 version of Star Wars Battlefront, for example, but the PS4 Pro might make it happen. Maybe Rocket League gets an exclusive volleyball match type on Pro. Some of that may be limited to what developers can actually do with the augmented chips, but it’s another way of adding value without getting too bold.
5) A Huge PSVR Bundle: It’s no coincidence that the PS4 Pro is launching nearly in tandem with PlayStation VR. On some level, Sony hopes that its most passionate consumers will purchase both products together. No matter the VR package, that’s a pricey endeavor. It’d cost a minimum of $800 without having much to play beyond tech demos.
What might really benefit that premium consumer this holiday season is a PlayStation Pro and PlayStation VR bundle to the tune of $700 or even $600. Both prices suggest a huge loss on each sale, but that can be made up in the future with software. It’s also worth pointing out that the standard PSVR and PS4 skus sell for a profit too. Not only would that position Sony as an even clearer cost winner in the VR arms race, but it’d rope consumers into supporting the Pro too.
PlayStation 4 Pro hits retail on Nov. 10. Check out our lists of five reasons why you should and shouldn’t buy the console!
What do you think of these ideas? Would they make you any more interested in getting a PS4 Pro than you already are? Tell us in the comments section!
