To play physical games on the $700 PS5 Pro, you need a $80 disc drive.
PlayStation 5 Pro will be the priciest current system. The $700 tablet has 2 TB of gaming storage and could outperform the PS5. The PS5 Pro lacks a cheap or simple means to play physical game discs. Disk drives needed to play PS5 Pros are selling rapidly and are sometimes sold out before pre-orders begin on Sept. 26.
Amazon and Best Buy listed the PS5 Disc Drive as sold out the day after Sony unveiled the PlayStation 5 Pro. GameStop, Target, Walmart, and PlayStation Direct still sell it. Twitter/X gaming bargains spy Wario64 noticed the absence of availability.
For the first several years following introduction, the disc drive may have availability issues like the PlayStation 5. It’s a more costly console, thus demand may be lower. Sony executives indicated there were no supply concerns when it debuted the tiny PS5 in 2023. Since 2020, Sony has sold a PS5 with a digital edition and disc drive, but last year it made the drive modular. The PS5 Pro changes that.
Buying a PS5 Pro Disc Drive Increases Cost.
We don’t have sales data, but hard drives selling swiftly indicate a strong desire for physical media. Although I don’t own many PS5 titles on disc, I often play my PS4 backlog. Sony’s strong $700 console is $780 for me and many others. At those costs, I could save for a cheap gaming laptop or get an Asus ROG Ally X even with 4K at 60 FPS.
The 2 TB SSD is plenty for most game libraries but yet little. M2 SSDs may be added to the PS5 Pro for storage. Once installed, disc games don’t save much storage space. Having a large collection and installing everything at once may need an additional SSD. SSDs are also expensive. A 2TB WD_Black SSD costs $260 MSRP.
Xbox Series S is a download-only system without a disc drive. However, leaked records reveal it outsold the Xbox Series X three to one from 2022. Are disc drives important to players? They should, I say. Backward compatibility (the PS5 Pro should play PS4 games with further advantages owing to “Game Boost”), game preservation, and ownership are all factors.
The PS5 Pro Sets a Dangerous Example for Physical Games Media
Companies want consumers not own paid content. Digital downloads, including PlayStation Store ones, are only licenses to view or play material. Customers have limited recourse if their licenses are withdrawn. Sony’s terms of service restrict how you may retain and use PlayStation Store games.
Even while game CDs just serve as physical DRM to prove you purchased the game lawfully, they have additional uses. I can lend it to friends. I can sell it thereafter. Many games need online services to play, thus having the disc doesn’t guarantee lifetime play. It implies the program within is still readable. Check out what happened to certain classic, online-only Xbox games after Microsoft closed the Xbox 360 Store.
Consoles are one of the few electronic devices that supports physical media. There are so many other faults with the gaming business that removing it would be a tragedy.
CREDIT: Allneeds, GIZMODO
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