When you look at the state of the main three video game publishers, you’ll see that they are in entirely different places, both financially and success-wise, and where their futures lie. For example, Microsoft had an “Xbox Partner Preview” yesterday, and the overall reception to the showcase was rather “meh,” especially since much of what they showed would be on other platforms. Nintendo, meanwhile, continues to revel in the success of the Nintendo Switch and is prepping for its next system. As for Sony, it’s in a bit of a middle-ground scenario, which is punctuated by the PS5 Pro, which is available for pre-order now…and isn’t likely to sell out prior to launch.
This was wisely pointed out by TheGamer, who noted that pretty much every major retailer still has them in stock. In fact, the only versions of the PlayStation 5 Pro that are sold out were the ones made for the 30th anniversary of the PlayStation brand. Those sold out quickly because there was a limited supply of them, and then they were immediately put onto eBay for outrageous prices.
Sony has been trying to do a “hard sell” on the PS5 Pro, even bringing in certain developers to talk on places like the PlayStation Blog to state why they “loved the improved system.” Yet, the sticking point for many isn’t just the fact that the “pro system” doesn’t technically feel like much of an improvement but that the price point is $700. PLUS, since the pro version is digital only, if you prefer physical games, you need to be the disc unit to attach to the system, and if you want it to stand up, you need to buy a stand, too.
That means, all told, you can spend over $800 on this system before you even play a game on it. On that front, PlayStation isn’t doing much better, either. They’ve been focusing on big “blockbuster titles” to try and carry the system, but they either aren’t selling as well as they hoped, they’re multiplatform, or they’re just not getting enough made in a good amount of time. As such, the PS5 is a great system; it’s just that you really don’t have much to play on it.
While Sony claims to be trying to fix this issue, they’re also REALLY pushing this new version of its console, which says quite a lot. They’re more focused on hardware than software, even though doing that is what got them into this position in the first place.
