PS5 Pro is expected late 2024, with the PS6 expected 2028. If Microsoft is to try to keep pace, as someone who doesn’t have either console, it will be interesting to see if they also brand this as a mid-generation refresh or if they stick to their guns they’ve been touting for a while of being “beyond generations”.
I feel Sony exclusive console draw no longer holds a much weight as it used to for PC gamers. In the past I “knew” Sony games would never ever come to the PC, so it was to only way to play them so I got them. Now I just have to wait, and I never buy games at launch either and never bought consoles until the exclusive library could stand on its own without taking into account future releases so I ended up getting consoles mid Gen or end of life anyways. So being first mover on the console never mattered to me.
The thing is I don’t think Sony cares about peeling PC gamers away anymore for exactly the reasons you said; they just release most of their games to PC eventually anyway. But PC gamers and console gamers are not the same market. There are certainly people who play both, but I rarely play PC games anymore because my whole gaming setup is centered around the couch with family now. I simply don’t have time to also park myself in front of a PC and game that way as well, and as far as purpose built PCs that connect to a TV go, well, none of those bring the same features for the same cost the way the PS5 does. Pretty much the only PC gaming I do now is on Steam Deck and those games are chosen for playability on the go. So you’re not really comparing Sony exclusivity to PC at that point, you’re comparing it to Xbox. And between the two Sony wins on exclusives so far this generation.
I just got a fiber optic hdmi cable hooked up to the TV and use a controller if I want to play on the couch. Don’t really see a point as result for my case to get a console specifically just for console gaming.
I get it for people who aren’t going to have a gaming PC to begin with or PC is too far to connect to a TV, but otherwise don’t see the draw to picking up a PS5 anymore. Not offering me anything novel in terms of hardware since already got the couch experience. If it was capable of being a httpc then yeah that’d be neat, but otherwise find it a hard sell to spend money on something that is just for gaming which my PC already does.
For me I guess. PC is just a Xbox, Sony, and to some extent Nintendo all in one now. Just been nice side effect of digital purchases not being as fractured and then locked into console hardware anymore, since pc is something I’m going to keep using anyways and stuff like steam deck is more then sufficient to play them too as you mentioned. I guess just got tired of being locked proprietary hardware over the console generations and losing compatibility and also having to wait for years hoping for remasters to play games at better settings.