A PC with PS5 Pro Performance Would Cost More, Says Digital Foundry

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16 September, 2024

Gamers Compare PS5 Pro to PC Performance and Pricing

In the wake of the unveiling of the PlayStation 5 Pro‘s basic specs and, in particular, its relatively high price, which will be set at around 800 euros in Europe, gamers have started to calculate what kind of PC they could get for that amount. Their motivation, of course, is to illustrate that Sony is asking too much money for its revamped console, but the actual state of affairs may be a little different after all.

Comparing GPU Capabilities

Putting aside considerations as to whether some of the 800-euro line-ups on offer could handle 4K gaming and ray tracing, one of the editors of the renowned Digital Foundry magazine, Richard Leadbetter, has taken the debate in a completely different direction. Often mentioned graphics cards of a potential PC at the price of the PS5 Pro are, for example, the Radeon RX 6800 or the GeForce RTX 3060, but according to Leadbetter, the equivalent GPU in the PS5 Pro is more likely to be the RTX 4070, which is priced around 600 euros.

Leadbetter’s Perspective on PC Costs

Richard Leadbetter shared his reasoning with IGN’s editors in an interview, ironically following the magazine above’s article about how anyone can build an equivalent PC to the PS5 Pro for the same price. However, the longtime Digital Foundry editor said he thought such a PC would cost much more and started comparing the GPU to the RTX 4070. This is mainly because the PS5 Pro can advance ray tracing and is helped by an upscaler powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. Leadbetter pointed out that no graphics card from AMD – which also provides the PlayStation 5 with its APU – can do this, which is why it’s reaching for an equivalent from rival Nvidia.

The Total Cost of Building a Comparable PC

“I was looking on Amazon yesterday, and the cheapest [of the RTX 4070s] is $540. On top of that, you must get a processor, motherboard, memory, power supply, case, and 2TB SSD, so the cost goes up,” Leadbetter explained. However, he added that it’s fair to highlight the free online gaming or cloud storage you have to pay for on PlayStation. That amount could be deducted from the price of an equally powerful PC to account for the number of months or years that PC would be powerful enough to be used by the gamer.

PS5 Pro’s Target Audience

However, he ended his comments by pointing out that, in his opinion, it is more likely the current owners of the base PS5 who are not in a wrong financial position and want to indulge in gaming in a little more comfort who will be interested in the PS5 Pro. “This is very important to me, and I think these people already have a library of PS4 and PS5 titles. For them to move from the PlayStation ecosystem to the PC ecosystem, they would have to leave behind their entire library, which they could have been accumulating for maybe a decade,” Leadbetter concluded, suggesting that merely “building” a PC equivalent on paper is not yet a reflection of the reality or scenarios that gamers would be dealing with.

Enhanced Games for PlayStation 5 Pro May Not Run at 60fps

Gaming News

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Petko

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13 September, 2024

PlayStation 5 Pro and PlayStation 5 Slim

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

PlayStation’s Chief Architect revealed the PS5 Pro in a recent technology presentation. Thanks to the enhanced performance, games can run at better graphics quality at 60fps. In a nine-minute presentation, Mark Cerny said that the PlayStation 5 Pro can run games at the graphical quality of Quality mode but at the higher frame rate offered by Performance mode on the PS5.

Not All Games Will Run at 60fps

However, this doesn’t mean all games enhanced for PlayStation 5 Pro have to run at 60 fps. While Sony wants developers to create a new graphics mode exclusively for the PS5 Pro that combines higher resolution (4K upscaling) at 60fps with ray tracing effects, there are other scenarios. If developers update with improved resolution and graphics quality, that will be enough for Sony to give such a game the “Enhanced for PS5 Pro” designation.

Certification Process and Requirements

The Verge’s Tom Warren provided more details about the certification process. He recalls his information from April this year and has gradually learned details about the PS5 Pro from his sources. The game will receive the Enhanced sticker even if it only has a higher resolution or if ray tracing is turned on. For example, a game running at a dynamic resolution between 1080p and 1440p at 30fps on the PS5 but upscaled to 1280p to 2160p at 30fps on the PS5 Pro would still get certified.

Resolution vs. Frame Rate

Sony also certifies games that now run at 4K (native 2160p) from the native 1440p resolution. However, if a game on the PS5 Pro only runs at a more stable frame rate, that’s not enough to be labeled Enhanced. A game without a better maximum resolution won’t qualify either. For example, a title with a variable resolution of 1440p to 2160p on the PS5, while on the PS5 Pro, it would be 1800p to 2160p.

Ultra-Boost Mode for Higher Performance

Games that aren’t updated will still benefit from higher performance thanks to Ultra-boost mode. This mode helps VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) modes run at a higher frame rate, and games with variable resolutions can render at a higher resolution. Frame rates may also be more stable in some games, but fixed resolution and frame rate titles won’t see improvements.

Launch Date and Pricing

The PlayStation 5 Pro will be launched on November 7 this year for 800 euros. It will come with a 2TB SSD but without a Blu-ray drive, which will be available separately. The PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro drives are already starting to sell out in foreign stores, and they are currently out of stock at Amazon, Best Buy, and Target. Scalpers have presumably taken advantage of the situation, selling the drives at inflated prices, similar to what happened with the original PS5 launch.

Star Wars Outlaws First Big Patch Makes Stealth Easier and Ubisoft Cloud Functional

Star Wars Outlaws

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Petko

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12 September, 2024

Star Wars Outlaws has faced a lot of backlash. The action-adventure game has been criticized by gamers and some Ubisoft investors, who call for significant changes in the French company’s leadership and management. The developers behind Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora are responding to the feedback with their first significant update. So far, a minor patch has been released for Star Wars Outlaws on PC. It focused on improving VRAM consumption. The fresh update, labeled as Title Update 1.1.2, brings news, fixes, and improvements. The main changes will please players who complained in stealth missions at the beginning of the story about the frustrating aftermath of getting caught. The developers talk about fixing and improving some stealth passages, where guards shouldn’t detect you so easily. Unfortunately, they didn’t give details.

Instead, they mention an improved UI and fixes to several main and side missions. Also, character animations were improved, including entirely new animations and specific improvements for PCs and consoles. These include adjusting cut scenes for ultra-wide screens and improving performance/optimization on PC. Then on PS5, a trophy fix. Specifically mentioned is the Old School Cool trophy, which players couldn’t get to unlock the platinum trophy.

Also in other news, Ubisoft’s cloud access is also being made available. If you tried to upload your save position to the Ubisoft Connect cloud in the save or load progress menu before downloading the update, which should have been possible when the game was released, you only got an error. However, it is now possible to select one save and upload it. If you log in with the same Ubisoft account when playing Star Wars Outlaws on another platform, you should be able to download the save and continue playing.

Investors Are Calling for Major Changes at Ubisoft

Gaming News

By

Petko

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11 September, 2024

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Ubisoft is going through some tough times. Last week, the French company’s stock plunged to a ten-year low. Allegedly due to the underperformance of the action-adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, from which more was expected, and a sharp drop in interest in the free-to-play shooter XDefiant. The situation did not improve on Monday, and investors gradually lost patience. A significant minority investor, through the firm AJ Investments, has even called on Ubisoft to make substantial changes. In an open letter, he writes about the mismanagement of the company by Yves Guillemot. The Guillemot family and Tencent are allegedly exploiting shareholders.

Investor Calls for New Leadership and Strategic Shifts

“The management is focused on pleasing investors by delivering better quarterly results rather than a long-term strategy to deliver exceptional experiences for players,” the letter says. The investor has been a long-time shareholder of Activision Blizzard and cannot understand the current management’s focus on releasing a few mediocre games a year that damage Ubisoft’s reputation in the gaming community. Instead, he wants blockbuster games from Ubisoft’s exceptional portfolio of brands. The shareholder is calling for a new CEO and cost-cutting, including optimizing the number of employees (currently over 19,000) to keep Ubisoft competitive. He believes the previously announced strategy (reducing fixed costs by €150 million by 2024 and €200 million by 2025) is insufficient. He even proposes selling some studios to reduce debt.

Future Prospects and Ubisoft’s Response to the Crisis

Last but not least, Ubisoft should consider turning into a private company. Yves Guillemot previously reassured investors that Assassin’s Creed Shadows will be released at the end of this year and should be a blockbuster just like Valhalla. But until then, shareholders have to hold out. I’m surprised the investor didn’t bring up the Skull and Bones debacle. Recall that Ubisoft‘s share price has fallen by over 50% last year. On Monday, it was trading at 13.67 euros. Ubisoft, meanwhile, is trying to lure gamers to XDefiant. So, it offers bonuses to anyone who signs up for the free game. Until Sept. 24, anyone who logs into the game should receive a different daily bonus, including a battle pass, an extra XP pack, or a weapon.

https://twitter.com/PlayXDefiant/status/1832103983324000392

The Fallout Series is Celebrating Success, Winning Two Emmy Awards

Gaming News

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Petko

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10 September, 2024

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

The series adaptation of Fallout confirmed 16 nominations for the TV Emmy Awards in mid-July. It went head-to-head with other series for top honors in categories such as Best Drama Series or Best Actor in a Drama Series, and two nominations eventually turned into awards. But not in categories that might be considered traditional or well-known. As we hinted at in our previous article on the nominations, one of the big favorites was the Shogun series, which broke historical records with the number of awards, leaving Fallout with two awards (via PC Gamer) that need to be explained in more detail.

Music of Fallout: A Unique Tribute

The first award is originally called Outstanding Music Supervision and goes to the person responsible for selecting the licensed music that accompanies the series or a particular episode. In this case, the award was given for the music in the episode The End, which, despite its title, opened the entire series on April 10 of this year. The premiere episode featured music written by composer Ramin Djawadi for the series and several licensed tracks, such as Nat King Cole’s Orange Colored Sky and Johnny Cash’s All Over Again.

Interactive Innovation: Fallout Vault 33 Award

The second prize was awarded to Fallout in the Outstanding Emerging Media Program category, specifically the Fallout Project Award: Vault 33. If you’ve never heard of it, don’t feel weird because it’s an interactive web presentation that—among other things—features some Vault-Tec commercials, the design, and the preparation of which can be seen in a series of flashbacks that constantly intersperse the series. On the website above, you can listen to some of the music tracks or read the biographies of the main characters.