Sony's press briefing to confirm the PlayStation 4 Neo was short and sweet, with a handful of games being shown in a way that, honestly, doesn't really play to anyone not in the room. Watching 4K games compressed over YouTube on a 1080 stream must wring some of the magic out of the images in translation. Word from our New York-based contingent is that the games look impressive on proper 4K TVs with HDR support.

The conference opened with news that the slim PlayStation 4, which has already been leaked, torn down, and sold multiple times over in various parts of the world, would be out in all markets by September 15, with a price of $299. Various tidbits, like a lightly redesigned controller and 5Ghz Wi-Fi support seem to be a part of this unit, too. It will become the new "standard" PS4 going forward.

From there, talk moved to the Neo, which is officially known as the PlayStation 4 Pro. The PS4Pro will launch on November 10 for $399. Pre-orders are slowly starting to open up around various retailers, if you're into that sort of thing.

A handful of existing and upcoming games were shown, but most of the upcoming games shown as a part of the "look at all these Ks of resolution" block of info seemed to be largely based around trailers and flyovers--precisely the sort of stuff that gets smoothed out to a clean, stable frame rate, even if said console versions haven't been optimized to actually run that way just yet. So I can't say that it came across as an effective demonstration, as someone who's been sitting in his spare bedroom with a head cold all morning. If anything, it looked like the standard "here it is running on a PC" sort of demonstration that you usually get for multiplatform games at E3. Assuming this was all running on an actual PS4 Pro, that'd be potentially impressive. Certainly it'd be better than the baseline PS4.

Sony wasn't too committal about which older games were to be patched to support the Pro specs, though it did say that over six first-party games and "many" third-party games would get updated to support the Pro-specific features. Of course, any PS4 game will run in a Pro, but the games must be patched to take advantage of the system's additional power, which is right in line with the specs leaked earlier this year.

VR was barely touched upon other than to say that Farpoint would look better in VR on a Pro than it does on a base model PS4. According to the leaked documents that fueled our story earlier this year, developers aren't allowed to build modes or options that are only available to Pro owners, so you won't be likely to see any games that are "exclusive" to the Pro or anything like that, VR or otherwise.

Netflix and YouTube will support 4K/HDR via updated versions of its streaming apps. Ultra HD Blu-Ray support wasn't specifically addressed, and Engadget has confirmed that the Pro won't actually support UHD Blu-Rays. That seems decidedly less than "Pro."

I've fallen in love with an LG TV that supports 4K and HDR, and it runs for around $2500. Assuming CES 2017 drags 4K technology slightly closer to the mainstream in January, 4K TVs could start to approach something resembling affordability, at least for the types of people who occasionally drop that kind of money on a TV. I could see myself going down this route simply due to forward momentum on these technologies, but... I'm probably going to order new PC parts next week, too. I don't know, I think I expected Sony to make a firmer case for why someone would want this upgrade, even if they don't have a fancy professional TV just yet, but it felt like that part of the presentation was missing. Or, you know, maybe you have no business buying a Pro unless you're getting a new TV. At least it ships with 1TB of storage in it?

I'd very much like to see these games running for myself, of course. It's hard to get a feel for how much any of this matters when you aren't seeing it in person.

I'm shocked there was barely a mention of PSVR at this thing. Isn't it arriving next month?

Pretty bad event, and not much of an upgrade. BUT, I'm in the market for a second PS4 and I already own a 4K/HDR TV. So I'm gonna get myself a PS4 Pro.

Two gaps because this is version two.

They've already sold most of their launch day allotment and pairing it up too closely with a more powerful box just leads to confused people thinking they need a "new" PS4 to use VR. I'm not surprised at all that it barely came up.

Yeah this is one of those things that will eventually become the standard, but right now it's hard to parse how much better it looks. Especially when you can also choose to get a really nice new PC to make games look awesome.

Still wonder how Sony is going to try to keep PS4 noob vs PS4 pro multiplayer games fair. If you can see things more clear, you will have an advantage. Will they try to lock multiplayer modes to a lower standard so that PS4 noob players and PS4 pro players have the same experience?

This read like a me-too reactionary move despite them likely having this in the pipe just as long or longer than Microsoft.

Not what I expected from the market leader.

Also during the stream the couch commentary suggested calling the non-Pro PS4 the "PS4 Nub" and I approve of this.

This should have been a Nintendo Direct style announcement, all this flair for a half step was odd.

1TB isn't very pro

$399 is a great price for the Pro, IMO. I may upgrade, even though I don't have a 4K TV yet. I'll wait for the side-by-side comparisons between the current console and the Pro before making any sort of final purchase though. I do have a PSVR pre-ordered, so it is nice knowing that the fidelity on THAT will be upgraded at the very least.

If this doesn't have 4k blu-ray support I can't imagine buying one.

I don't really have a problem with the market positioning. I expected this to be $600. With this price Sony stands a fair chance of this just being the "normal PS4" and thus them getting $400 from an "ordinary person" getting into PS4 at this stage. This could produce noticeably more revenue than positioning the slim as the "ordinary" one and having an "Elite". So it's a clear message and it's a reasonable one even if it isn't what I expected.

I kind of have a problem with them not really saying too much about it and saying nothing about PS VR. I also would find it odd if it didn't have a "4K Blu-ray drive" especially since I don't think there is such a thing. It's the decoder that makes the difference and so unless Sony couldn't get a high bitrate decoder into this box I can't see why it couldn't play 4K Blu-rays.

That having been said I have no plans to ever play 4K Blu-rays, 4K will be streaming for me.

I'd like to see the DS4 changes to have dished sticks, because it's hard to hold the current stick toward you for any length of time (think of Nathan Drake, Crash Bandicoot or Clank in one of their "run toward you" scenes).

I can see buying this if you don't already own a PS4 but as someone who has one I don't see enough benefits to making the switch.

I love the triple layer design of the Pro. It's very silly.

I'm not buying the Pro because it's so frigging UGLY!

I'm gonna sell my PS4 and upgrade my PC and buy a Vive or OR instead.

No 4k uhd bluray support. Real bummer.

https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/07/ps4-pro-uhd-blu-ray/

"I don't know, I think I expected Sony to make a firmer case for why someone would want this upgrade, even if they don't have a fancy professional TV just yet, but it felt like that part of the presentation was missing."

They did have a section for people with normal tvs, they pretty much said they're going to be expecting developers to make two separate upgrade patch thingies for people with the ps4 pro, one if it detects you have a 4k tv and one if you don't. Then they showed a few games on a 1080 tv and talked about graphics settings that were upgraded. (though on the stream I couldn't tell that much a difference)

So, idk I felt they were pretty clear on that even though it'll vary a lot game to game.

Holy crap no UHD blu-ray support is unforgivable for a flagship product. That would at least be some reason for this to exist.

No UHD blu-ray is a honest deal breaker for me. The internet isn't good enough for uncompressed video that you get from a disk. My 1080p blu-rays look only marginally worse than my 4k Netflix streaming.

Saying that my PS4 is dying so my decision might be forced prematurely.

The only game that might make me want to buy a PS4 Pro (or any PS4 at all for that matter), is Horizon. (And Death Stranding way way out there in the future; but there are rumours that'll also get a PC release at some point. And if that's true and the release gap isn't as big as a year, I'd get it on PC).

Other than that I have no immediate desire to get an console, unless the NX turns out to me amazing (and Zelda does look really fun).

Haven't watched the stream but sounds like I would agree with most people. I have a 2 tb hard drive in my current ps4 so the promise of more space doesn't grab me at all. The one thing that would've pulled me in is if it could stream and play 4K movies on my tv( an albeit cheaper 4K tv but 4K nonetheless) as well as games of course. The possible lack of that is somewhat shocking and I'm definitely not looking to trade in my ps4 for a pro unless there is a uhd compatible drive in there.

Funny how the leaks of the console design were unanimously thought of as being fakes, then ended up being true.

I don't understand the complaints about no 4k Blu Ray? Isn't physical media basically dead right now anyway?

They've price-matched the One-S with the PS4 Slim. Presumably they've wound up manufacturing the original units early. Its one of these things where the leaks and rumours got out the door ahead of them so they needed to announce this and get it done. I'll ride out my OG PS4 til the PS5 comes along.

Prices for TVs are all over the shop in the UK. £500-£1500. Christ. There's an 88" one for £17,000.

Well Digital Foundry will have there work cut out for them come November. I look forward to the comparison videos.

According to jeff netflix will stream 4k etc. I already have that built into my tv though.

Just glad I don't have to upgrade from my current PS4. Doesn't feel like I'm missing out on anything.

3 blades = obligatory tired half life 3 confirmed meme

Don't care about 4k but if the games run better, that's cool.

@matthewgm: usually I agree, but you need pretty good internet to stream 4K constantly. A lot of people still only have 5mb-15mb internet out here in BC, Canada.

With all this talk of HDR, it's really just marketing speak for 10-bit colour, right?

Did they really have to make it look like that? Was the standard model not weird enough?

Did they mention what was redesigned on the controller?

This is about where I stand on it.

Fairly pointless if you have a PS4 and don't have a 4K TV.

Considering I probably won't be getting a 4K tv until 2018 this thing could pass me by completely.

I only got my PS4 in 2014 too. The only way I could see me getting one is if games start running like shit which I hope doesn't happen.

That said if I didn't have a PS4 I would probably buy this over a PS4 Slim or Xbox One Slim, so I don't see this being a 'flop'.

We will see what the Scorpio brings! If we are really going into a cycle of iterative upgrades with backwards compat then I could see myself alternating between Sony and Microsoft each time to catch up on exclusives.

So nothing about Vita eh? There were some rumours a new one would be announced here, but that seemed rather far-fetched. (Love mine though.)

edit: looks like it's not even shipped to Canadian retailers anymore. Sad.

So. Ugly.

It's like a super sized burger.

But will this black box fill the yawning void in my soul?

I'm never a big fan of the cynicism that comes with these types of things, but some decisions on Sony's part really rub me the wrong way. Most especially, I'm talking about the lack of UHD Blu-ray reading capability. It just blows my mind that a company with experience in bringing out devices that sell a ton, largely in part due to their media playing capability (DVD for PS2, Blu-ray for PS3), would make such a ridiculous decision. It literally is the thing that might stop me from getting the PS4 Pro. If you're going to sell people on 4K and HDR, don't omit one of the biggest selling points for it.

@jeff said:

That makes sense. I didn't think of it that way and forgot that they sold out their launch day units. I'm so curious as to how the PSVR tech will turn out at its price point, so I've been disappointed by the lack of attention at Sony's E3 press conference and today's presentation.

I thought this briefing was absolute garbage. Like it came out of the 2012-2013 Don Mattrick Xbox Briefing Playbook. Seriously, it all started with Andy House coming out to spout bullshit about how they are changing everything by giving a slight spec bump. Then Mark Cerny came out and spoke beautifully about absolutely nothing, showing us stuff that 95% of the viewers literally could not see, and without giving any actual technical information. Just flowery language to disguise the nothing being said.

This felt more like the Xbone reveal than the PS4 reveal. I want Scrappy, underdog Sony back.

@mrcraggle said:

Not exactly, but bit depth is a part of it. It also covers things like colour gamut, luminance and black level. Like most industry standards, HDR10 and Dolby Vision are mostly just a collection of existing technologies and standards, some of them quite old.

$2500? What the hell? There's plenty decent 4K/HDR TVs on the market for around 500-600. Here's one I googled at random (note: it's not actually 500-600 because it's huge):

https://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-55UH6150-55-Inch-Ultra/dp/B01CHZXLG0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1473282949&sr=8-1&keywords=LG+UHD

Hmm. Part of me wants this because I've enjoyed my PS4 a lot. But the logical part of me is saying to wait until inevitable next revision... the PS4 Pro 2?

I hope they call it something stupid like that.

@plasmathrower said:

I already have the PSVR ordered, I could pretty easly shift on my current ps4 for 200 - 250. For 150 I could see myself getting it in order to make VR better for right now. Then I'll have it ready for whenever I do eventualy upgrade to a 4k tv.

I just finished paying off my student loans a few weeks ago and decided to celebrate by replacing my tv. I wasn't looking at 4k b/c content isn't there but maybe i should look more into it

More powerful machine, great, but HDR only makes sense on a very expensive OLED TV and 4K native rendering is well beyond the Pro capabilities (1440p + upscale to 4K @ 30fps target)

Both Sony and Microsoft seem to be ignoring the on piece of technology that could offer console gamers instantaneous benefits at a fraction of the cost of 4K OLED, and that's variable refresh rate panels within the HDTVs, just like Nvidia and AMD have done with G-Sync/Freesync PC monitors.

I know 4k and HDR is the focal point, but don't forget about the extra juice the PRO supplies for those of us who just have 1080p TVs. There's extra visual effects and stable framerates to be found in games, which I think is more important than resolution.

"The creamy center blade is what gives the PS4 Pro that professional touch."

nope, that's just an extra layer of fat. when you've already sold 40+million units, u tend to get a little lazy. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For the same price as original PS4 it seems appropriate, but doesn't earn the "Pro" name. It's a fairly insignificant step up to support new TV technology. I don't think the console confuses the market at all, as some people are saying. Both consoles play the same games, and can play together. This is no DS/3DS and Wii/Wii U problem.

The PS4 will continue to be successful with both boxes and will continue to widen the gap to Xbox One. Scorpio may be a technical powerhouse (still theoretical and yet to be proven), but when has the higher powered console been the more successful? Maybe more people get into PC gaming because of this, but the idea that anyone feels burned by this reveal confuses me.

Not really a big decision for me, my PS4 crapped out recently and I might as well get the "best" one.