The PlayStation is taking a half step into the next generation. Sony announced this afternoon at a New York City event that a its new console, the PS4 Pro, will be launching on Nov. 10 and feature a beefed up GPU capable of outputting in native 4K resolution.

The beefed up system will allow those with state of the art televisions to get the most out of their investment, while also catering to the 1080p crowd with enhanced post-processing in a few titles. Most notably, Sony showed off how Epic Games added extra particle effects and “God rays” to Paragon and new tessellation and ambient occlusion on Warner Brother’s Shadows of Mordor.

Sony also showed off previously unseen gameplay from some unreleased titles, including glimpses at Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Mass Effect Andromeda and Horizon Zero Dawn. These were bookmarked by quick scenes from Marvel’s new Spider Man game, Watch Dogs 2 and Days Gone.

Netflix is also releasing a new app for the PS4 that will allow 4k playback on some of its biggest shows, with YouTube soon to follow.

What is probably the most surprising announcement, however, is that all PS4’s will eventually support HDR (high dynamic range) via a firmware patch. This means you can get a taste of what the PS4 Pro is capable of doing, even if your television is not quite there yet. Support for PS4 Pro will also be patched into some of the older games that take advantage of it, with Call of Duty Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered supporting it out of the box.

It is worth noting that Sony opened the presentation by confirming the new, slimmed down design of the PlayStation 4, along with a reduced price of $299 and what seems to be bright new color options. This will be available on Sept. 15.

However, the notable lack of VR games shown off does cast some doubt on launch support for the PS4 VR headset that is actually coming out next month, a few weeks before the PS4 Pro. They did show a small look at Impulse Gear’s Farpoint but the focus of the event was clearly on the upgraded console.

And much like VR itself, it is hard to judge what the PS4 Pro is capable of doing from an online stream. 4k resolution is quickly becoming more affordable, and now the PlayStation 4 Pro gives those who were looking for content something to look forward to. What remains to be seen is whether this upgrade is enough to justify a purchase by those who already have a PlayStation 4.

About The Author

Ivan Favelevic is Blast Magazine's Associate Gaming Editor. He knows he would be a nobody in Westeros and is ok with that. Follow him on Twitter @FlyingBags to hear random thoughts on games plus some soccer and basketball rants.

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