The PS5 Pro holds the key to the PS6’s success

digitaltrends.com:

When the PlayStation 5 Pro was revealed, the big buzzword to come out of the presentation was PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR). This was PlayStation’s “secret sauce” intended to sell the $700 upgrade to new customers and existing PS5 owners alike. Similar to AI upscaling seen in technology like DLSS, PSSR allows games rendered at a lower resolution to be upscaled using AI to appear more detailed. For the PS5 Pro, this means removing the need to choose between a performance mode that prioritizes frame rate and a resolution mode that sacrifices frame rate for a clearer picture.

PSSR is the first time any kind of AI upscaling has been used on consoles … and will be key in PlayStation’s success for its true next-generation console.

Sidestepping the graphical arms race

With rare exceptions, new game consoles have mainly sold themselves based on providing a graphical leap above its predecessor. This was clear as day going from 8- to 16-bit systems, and perhaps at its peak going from 16-bit to 3D, but has since hit a level of diminishing returns. PS5 games are undeniably better looking than PS4 games of the same scale, but the differences are in the margins.

Despite the gap in graphical fidelity shrinking from generation to generation, the cost to produce them only seems to rise. I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of game development and budget allocation, but I don’t think it would be too outlandish to suggest that squeezing out as much visual detail and fidelity plays a major role in the exorbitant budgets we’re seeing for AAA releases. It takes a lot of talented artists to craft a world as detailed as the ones in games like Horizon Forbidden Westand Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. That also forces developers to do a bit of a balancing act in how far they can push the visuals while still getting adequate performance. As much as the hardcore crowd loves to champion higher frame rates, it is much harder to market a game based on how it feels