Recently, Sony announced the PS5 Pro. An updated version – not that anyone needed one – of their current generation console, the PS5. This past Wednesday, game journalists and developers got their hands on it to try it out and see what was so special about this new “Pro” model that just needed to exist, and not only that, but accompanied by a pretty bold price of $799 – nearly $300 more than the base model.

Sony premiered it’s initial reveal earlier this month with a… let’s say questionable, showcase of games running on the new AI assisted graphics of PS5 Pro in comparison to the base model. But since I’m willing to bet that 99% of people watched it on their phones or tablets, we were all left squinting at a paused screen, making sure we had the highest resolution selected on YouTube, scratching our heads thinking “yeah… I guess that looks crisper… Sort of”.

Since no one watched this graphics comparison showcase on an actual 8K monitor, I’m willing to bet most of us had the same thought: cool, I can just settle for the cheaper base version then. Or at least, that was until the hands-on event with press and media outlets, which seems to have marked the line between the skeptics and the believers even harder.

IT’S ALL TECH JARGON

Reviewers, influencers and journalists alike came crawling out of the dungeons over at Sony’s headquarters either preaching the 8K prowess of the PS5 Pro, or lamenting that indeed this is a neat, yet unnecessary generation refresh for the console.

But what was most interesting to me about this whole ordeal wasn’t necessarily the discussion around the topic of “was the PS5 Pro necessary” or if the high price is actually worth it. What surprised me the most was the amount of tech jargon that Sony’s marketing teams and developers mindlessly repeated during the interviews at the event.

In Sony’s showcase video of the PS5 they threw around the comically complex – but expected – names and stats that push the boundaries of technology for gaming. Things like their new AI assisted upscaling system called PlayStation Spectral Super Revolution – PSSR for short – or the Advance Ray Tracing. You know, just tech jargon.

This is the kind of talk that we would usually see during the E3 or the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, with a CEO or tech business man dressed in a sports blazer and fancy new sketchers pointing at a screen as they say “with this new software we’re pushing the boundaries of the industry” or “with the new Temporal Super Resolution, we’re re-inventing gaming”. Which by the way, Temporal Super Resolution is an actual thing that exists. Tech jargon.

Sometimes these types of buzz words or original terms bring a sort of mysticism to what a company like Sony or Apple are doing behind the scenes to create amazing products, so it’s fine when we hear them say it. However, hearing the head developers of studios like Naughty Dog or Guerrilla Games – people who’s main focus is making games, not selling consoles – felt weird.

On IGN’s cover of the event, the developers of previously mentioned studios along with the developers from Insomniac and Avalanche Software -makers of Marvel’s Spider-Man and Hogwarts Legacy respectively- all seemed to say the same very bland and practiced speech: the PS5 Pro is making everything easier and better for them and the PSSR system is a game changer when it comes to making the games look even better.

THE NAME OF THE GAME IS GRAPHICS

When the developers where asked during the event what was the biggest change of the new PS5 Pro for them and their teams and what new things are gonna make working with the PS5 better, every single developer answer the same thing: The graphics will look even better than before thanks to PSSR and the reflections and shadows are going to be even more crisp and accurate.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love good graphics as much as the next guy and playing games at a buttery smooth 60 FPS is nice, but it seemed funny to me that the only good things the developers could say about this new piece of tech was “graphics will be better” when AAA games already have stunning graphics.

If anything, earlier this year, both consumers and developers felt like the power of the PS5 was being barely used to it’s fullest potential, with new games still coming out on last generation consoles and “dragging” down the amazing looking current generation versions.

I remember back when Final Fantasy XVI and Rebirth were about to come out, the main director of the games Hiroshi Takai had this to say on an interview when talking about working on the PS5 hardware:

“We’re only able to do this [complex lighting and effects] thanks to the size of the PS5’s memory. Clive, the protagonist of FFXVI, can unleash a wide range of attacks, and the animations and effects for them can all fit in the memory, too. And the way that the game seamlessly flows between resource-intensive gameplay to equally intensive cutscenes and back again wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the speed of the SSD.”

To me, it makes sense for a game director to shine some light on how the power of a new console is allowing the vision they have for the game, both in regards to narrative and gameplay, to be smooth and with little restraints from a design stand point. Most of all with such a narrative driven game like Final Fantasy. So, when lead developers of Guerrilla Games and Naughty Dog talk about the changes the PS5 Pro bring to the table all they have to say is… The objects in the background look better now?

In case you forgot, The Last of Us: Chapter 2 and Horizon: Forbidden West are already stunningly gorgeous games. I don’t think that having more detail to the fern being crushed by the horse Ellie is riding is going to add to my experience when playing the game.

I’m not saying that the PS5 Pro isn’t providing more power and freedom for developers, but is it really that much of a game changer when some people have openly said that the power of the PS5 base model hasn’t been fully explored? And let’s not even mention the fact that most games will be released on other consoles or PC, so taking the time to make the PS5 Pro super enhanced version might not be worth it for developers.

Therefore, I’m left with a bit of a bitter taste with the interview answers from these developers – who are extremely talented and clearly invested in their projects – repeating the same buzz words shown on the trailer for the PS5 Pro as if it completely changed their lives.

However, this is just my take on the topic as someone who really doesn’t put much weight on graphics or specs, rather the experience that a game provides for me. I sure do love playing games in high resolution with 60 FPS, but I’ll take a very stylized 1080p puzzle adventure running at 30 FPS – looking at you Zelda – over yet another bland hero shooter running at 80 FPS ultra 4K any day.

In the conclusion, it is always cool to see a new piece of hardware come out, opening even more possibilities for developers to explore new ideas with even less limitations. I have no doubt in my mind that studios who have a close partnership with Sony like Insomniac, Naughty Dog or Guerrilla Games will create visually stunning and enticing new games, I just wish it was them really speaking their minds at this sort of events and not their corporate overlords.