Sony announced the PS4 Slim and the PS4 Pro consoles. Microsoft was quick to respond to the announcement with their own take on these new consoles.
The Slim version is very much the same Playstation 4 console that is already in the market. It is 30% slimmer than the original design and is stylish in appearance. The big change is with the Playstation 4 Pro console which according to Sony is the competitor to Microsoft’s Xbox One S and Xbox Scorpio consoles. The latter is scheduled to get launched by the end of 2017.
Responding to their announcement, Microsoft executives came up with a rather strong comment. Their claim is that the Xbox One S console can actually play 4K blurays seamlessly whereas PS4 Slim and the even the Pro can’t play it as it doesn’t have the capability to do so.
In their own words, the company said, “Gamers matter to us the most. The hardware that is about to get launched this year and the one slated for near year are geared towards allowing gamers choices, ways to play any title as they want it. Xbox One S is the only console that you could buy today that plays 4K blurays. The console offers video streaming in 4K quality, supports HDR for both video and gaming making it a great value for money when compared to investing on a 4K bluray player.”
“In 2017 holiday season, we will bring you the Xbox Scorpio a new console in the Xbox family that will be the most powerful device ever created and will deliver true 4K gaming like never before. All accessories and components that you use with the Xbox One console can be used with Scorpio as well. Over 100 exclusive titles are coming to the console and Windows 10 PCs next year which when combined with Xbox Live brings gamers together like never before,” they added.
The console wars have already began and Sony is yet to announce the new Playstation 5 console. While the PS4 Pro is a promising start, the company has announced that they will soon release HDR capability as a software update to the older version of the PS4 console.
Does it mean that going for the Pro doesn’t make much sense? We are not sure why they would launch two new consoles, the Slim and the Pro only to bring a key component to older generation models as well.