At its PlayStation Meeting, Sony today announced the long rumoured PlayStation 4 Pro.
The new console supports both 4K video and HDR video output, and will come out on November 10.
Sony does not expect all developers to make use of HDR at launch, but a number of first-party games, including the upcoming zombie survival title Days Gone will support the feature at launch. Moreover, older titles like Uncharted 4 and the Infamous First Son will be updated to support the feature. All told, patches from more than 12 dozen first party are already in production. Sony calls this feature Forward Compatability. Current PlayStation 4s will support HDR by the end of the year via a firmware update.
Mark Cerny, the lead designer behind the console, said consumers won’t need a 4K TV to enjoy see the benefits from the upgraded hardware. Titles like the upcoming For Honor will feature improved graphics and smoother frame rates even while playing on a standard 1080p TV. Similarly, upcoming PlayStation VR titles will feature improved visual fidelity when compared to the existing PlayStation 4 console.
Cerny also said PlayStation 4 Pro is not meant to blur the lines between console generations. To this effect, in an effort to keep things simple for consumers and not divide the PlayStation 4 community, all discs and downloads will support both consoles. Consumers will also be able to play online with one another no matter what PlayStation 4 consoles they own.
On a Canadian note, partway through the keynote EA and Bioware Montreal showed off footage Mass Effect Andromeda, the next generation sequel to the popular Mass Effect series. There wasn’t much in the way of gameplay in the trailer, but the audience did get to see the game’s exploration
On the media front, Neftlix will launch a new PlayStation 4 Pro app. At least in the U.S., the app will launch with more than 600 hours of 4K content. Likewise, Google is developing a new YouTube app which will support 4K video output.
The console will ship with a 1TB harddrive, and will come out on November 10. In Canada, the console will cost $499.
Update: despite its focus on 4K content, the PlayStation 4 Pro will not be able to play Ultra HD Blu-ray disks. In a spec sheet sent to press, Sony says the console will only be able to playback DVD and Blu-ray disks.
MobileSyrup may earn a commission from purchases made via our links, which helps fund the journalism we provide free on our website. These links do not influence our editorial content. Support us here.
