As someone who initially criticized the lack of UHD in the PS4 Slim, I am coming around to its lack of inclusion in the new half-gen versions of Sony's consoles. My change of heart came about after realizing that Sony's incredibly horrible marketing of the PS4 Pro had skewed my judgement, and after taking a realistic look at the console market going forward. Let's look at that market for the new consoles.
Microsoft
- $299: Microsoft Xbox One S Halo Collection Bundle - 500 GB
- $349: Xbox One S - Madden NFL 17 Bundle - 1 TB
- $399: Microsoft Xbox One S - 2 TB
- $449: Xbox One S - Gears of War 4 Limited Edition Bundle - 2 TB
Sony
- $299: PlayStation 4 Slim - 500 GB
- $399: PlayStation 4 Pro - 1 TB
Now clear your mind padawan. You must unlearn what you've learned. Just look at where the PlayStation 4 Pro is actually marketed. At $399 the PS4 Pro is in direct competition with the Microsoft Xbox One S - 2 TB. That is a competition that it wins so easily that our minds refuse to believe it. Instead we conjure some mythical other higher category where it must exists so that we can view it as merely mortal instead of the insanely dominant competitor that it is. The reality is that in any other console generation, the PS4 Pro would just be a PS4 with a bigger hard drive and a new paint job. Sony made it so much better than that, and somehow that improvement suddenly becomes a bad thing. Really GAF? Really?
The fact is that Microsoft has a problem. With the PS4 Pro, it currently has absolutely nothing to compete in the $399+ price category. Yes their consoles have UHD drives, and that would be nice to have, but no one is going give up the much greater graphical abilities of the Pro for it. We already settled this at the start of this gen. People buy consoles FIRST for the games, and only after do they factor in the media capabilities. Microsoft might as well just stop trying to sell any XB1 S over $350, because it ain't happening with the PS4 Pro around.
With that out of the way, let's turn our gaze to the PS4 Slim. Here I will admit that my original concern still has some merit. Its competitor, the XB1 S at $299, does look like a great value for cost conscious consumers with its included UHD Blu Ray drive. I still think Microsoft could make up some ground here because of it. However, those same cost conscious consumers will be the ones least likely to pay extra for UHD Blu Ray disks. Also note that the PS4 Slim will include HDR. That means that games will in no way be penalized for the omission of UHD technology. As far as games go, the PS4 Slim still beats the XB1 S graphically. The PS4 Slim will also be capable of VR which will likely forever be out of the reach of the XB1 S.
In Microsoft's camp at $299 we have the XB1 S. Just remember that even when the XB1 was $50 cheaper, it was losing consistently to the PS4. Now they will be priced the same. A UHD drive could make up the difference, but likely won't because a good number of those cost conscious buyers will have no intention of spending extra to buy UHD Blu Ray disks.
In summary, when you compare the actual competition head-to-head Microsoft loses badly. The PS4 Pro so outclasses the Microsoft Xbox One S - 2 TB that it is laughable, and the PS4 Slim gets to compete on equal ground on price even though the PS4 soundly defeated the XB1 when it was $50 more. The lack of UHD is jarring, but if omitting it helped the Sony consoles compete in price categories where they will clearly dominate, then it was worth it.