I want a PS4 Pro, but do I need a PS4 Pro?

PS4 Neo is officially PS4 Pro, the first ever mid-generation console. Boasting more than twice the performance of the standard PS4, but part of the same ecosystem, the PS4 Pro will play the same games but with enhancements. Those enhancements, according to Sony, come in the form of significantly increased resolution (up to 4k with added HDR support), or additional graphical bells and whistles to games running at 1080p.

From the presentation at last night’s PlayStation Meeting, the impression I got, rightly or wrongly, was that the PS4 Pro is designed primarily for 4k TV owners, and to drill down even further, 4k HDR TV owners. I have no plans to buy a 4k TV, so do I really need a PS4 Pro? My tech-loving gaming-obsessed brain says yes, but my sensibly run bank account says no. I’m not sure who is going to win this battle, but I’m guessing it isn’t going to be common sense.

Despite the PlayStation Meeting itself coming across like a business presentation held in the lobby of the Overlook Hotel (Cerny and House presumably using their dead-behind-the-eyes approach to warn the crowd about the danger), the hardware itself seems to be doing a pretty good job of giving a 4k-quality experience at a reasonable price point (£349). While a technique called Checkerboard Rendering is going to be used to get that 4k resolution in a lot of cases, 4k gaming of any sort is simply not possible at that price elsewhere.

Yet I’m not keen to enter the 4k market. If money was no object (or at least a smaller object), sure, I’d be down Rumbelows right now. But a good TV would set me back about £800, and I’d rather use that extra money to play more games. At the moment I don’t look at games on my TV and recoil in horror. Sure, some look a little rough, but gaming on a 1080p display is generally excellent. And with that argument, surely I’m better off just sticking with my current PS4? How much better will my games look on PS4 Pro when connected to a normal 1080p HDTV, without 4k and HDR?

This is the key question I need Sony to answer before November 10. And unlike 4k and HDR, it’s very easy to show how different PS4 Pro games will look on existing 1080p displays. During the conference we saw Paragon running with improved detail and effects, and Rise of the Tomb Raider will include an all-singing, all-dancing 1080p mode or a high frame rate 1080p mode. This is great. This is what I want. This kind of information needs to be communicated for all games.

My concern is that upping the resolution will be relatively straightforward compared to adding graphical enhancements, so down the road the improvements made for 1080p users will be minimal as devs focus on standard PS4 output and making sure the ‘4k’ mode works well. I’m doing the maths, and if I sell my PS4 for what, £150(?) I’d be left with £200 to pay for what might end up being some slightly better image quality and more solid frame rates. Is that enough?

Who am I kidding? I’ve already mentally written out the eBay listing for my current PS4 (“One careful, slightly famous owner”) and I’m wondering if I really need to eat food every day or travel to work? If I work from home for an entire month, BOOM, money problem is sorted! It’s going to take a lot for me to cancel my pre-order (although on a side note, I’m definitely cancelling my PS VR pre-order now). I’d still like Sony to go into more detail on what enhancements us 1080p owners will be getting. Even if it’s just to make me feel a bit better for the money I’m almost definitely going to spend regardless.

PS4 Pro launches November 10 priced £349.99. Pre-order the PS4 Pro now from Amazon(?)