TECH – Well, we only have a couple of days left until Sony’s latest (upgraded) console hits the shelves of our stores. So we thought it is time to sit back and collect all the details, and impressions of the new beast. Also, some neat little rumors that have been leaking out from sources close to Sony. Mark Cerny is leading the charge on PS4Pro, but unfortunately, as of yet not much new information has been provided ever since the reveal of the machine. The embargo drops on the 7^th of November and that should finally open the floodgates, until then here is all we know of the PlayStation 4 Pro.

The PlayStation 4 Pro is bolstered by the genius of Mark Cerny, aka the man with the sleepy voice, who envisions the ability to play 4K games not via brute force, but instead of providing an alternative method. This method is checkerboard rendering which is a much less resource intensive way to display pixels on the TV. It will allow the Pro to handle games at 4K in particular cases (aka Indie titles), and near 4K in nearly all mainstream games. Checkerboard rendering should allow for fewer jaggies, cleaner picture, and HDR which is already available on some Xbox games, but we have not seen it as of yet for PS4 games. Initial impressions of the patched games have been stellar, with the press, and critics awed by HDR, and the pixel clarity.

Mark Cerny did a presentation where a True 4K game, and Checkerboarded game and the different between the two was negligible, and could only be noticed if the player was sitting a few inches away from the screen.

The focus on 4K is excellent but unfortunately for those without having a 4K TV (and with HDR) might feel a little left out with this upgrade. Luckily 1080p television owners will also be able to enjoy the wonders of PS4PRO. The developers instead of 4K can create better, and more highly detailed visuals, and denser environments.

Support Incoming?!

Sony has not been too great on the marketing front for the PS4Pro. I gained more information from Neogaf, and other forums, than a lot of the official websites. The mostly has to do with the embargos, but in a hilarious way, a few PS4Pros have appeared in the wild, with some shops breaking street dates. We also had a Sony employee talk about the PS4Pro on a podcast, where he pretty much states that it will blow the hell out of the Xbox One S’s capability of HDR, and upscale ability.

It is a shame how Sony is delaying the much-needed hype machine for PS4Pro; all the while went out of their way to promote PSVR for months. The embargo also does not seem the best idea, and while the floodgates of information should come out tomorrow i.e. the 7^th of November it does seem poorly handled by Sony.

At least recently they have added a list of games that will work out of the box upon launch for PS4Pro’s fancy 4K, or 1080P über mode. Sadly even this list was released a mere three days ago, but at least it is something. Here’s the list of games that will help in some ways use the advantages of the PS4Pro.

• Bound™
• Battlefield 1
• Call Of Duty®: Black Ops 3
• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered
• Deus Ex: Mankind Divided™
• DRIVECLUB™ VR
• EA SPORTS™ FIFA 17
• HELLDIVERS™
• HITMAN™
• Hustle Kings™
• inFAMOUS™ First Light
• inFAMOUS™ Second Son
• Knack™
• Mafia III
• Middle-earth™: Shadow of Mordor™
• NBA 2K17
• Paragon
• Ratchet & Clank™
• RIGS Mechanized Combat League
• Rise Of The Tomb Raider
• Robinson: The Journey
• SMITE
• Super Stardust™ Ultra
• The Elders Scrolls Online®: Tamriel Unlimited™
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® Special Edition
• The Last Of Us™ Remastered
• The Last Of Us™: Left Behind
• THE PLAYROOM VR
• Titanfall 2
• Tumble
• Uncharted 4™: A Thief’s End
• Until Dawn™: Rush of Blood
• VR Worlds
• World Of Tanks
• XCOM 2

That is quite the list, and support for future games will be mandatory from developers, games such as Spiderman or Watch Dogs 2 will have built-in Pro Mode, and will not require a patch.

Older games will run in base mode, which means that unpatched titles will not be able to make use of the Pro’s new power… supposedly? Digital Foundry and even Cerny has hinted that not everything has been revealed for the Pro. Does this mean will get a bit of a power bump for non-patched games? Will this work like the Xbox One S’s extra power? Who knows!

Based on (unofficial) comparisons the games running on PS4Pro do look better. Screenshots showing Titanfall 2, and even Skyrim have been circulating on the internet. Which has made people wanting to upgrade to the Pro? Then there was the Tomb Raider video which showed the advantage, with three different options. At this point, Sony might have just given free reign to developers on what they can do regarding graphical options for the PS4Pro. Hell, NiOh has four options based around 4K, and also the 1080P.

Fan noise and heating of the machine has also been rumored to be excellent. The fan being very low, and according to the employee on the podcast, they played 8 hours of Infinite Warfare, and the machine was not a volcano. While this is only anecdotal evidence, it sounds promising.

Rumor mill, and anticipation

Still, even with the lack of information, the PS4Pro has been killing it in pre-orders. Amazon UK has run out of stock in preparation for the pre-orders. All we can do is wait until the 7^th of November to see the information flood us, and on the 10^th, for those daring to jump into the world of 4K-ish videogaming.

A follow up will be posted on the 7^th of November, when we get more access to the PS4Pro.

-Dante-