Because Microsoft has made it quite clear with the Xbox One X that they're not planning on giving up the Powerhouse throne any time soon and going into next-gen they're going to make sure to stay on top of that.
Hence why they're making 2 versions one priced lower for an average consumer/casual and another one for a hardcore gamer/I want maximum dick size.
I think MS will
try to be the most powerful, but at the end of the day they don't have complete control over that, especially if there's a price parity and they're launching around the same time.
PS4 Pro was priced at $399 and it was a shit tier console for the price that you pay. Xbox One X at $499 was much more worth it and is capable of quite many feats such as 4K Native RDR 2 and things of that nature. I own both of these consoles and PS4 Pro is nothing more than a better 1080p machine with some exceptions here and there.
The Pro's CB rendering allows it to punch well above its weight class and for the improvement it gives in Sony's exclusives alone it's a worthwhile purchase for me. Outside of that there are plenty of games that benefit from its additional power, even if they're not native 4K:
https://www.gamesradar.com/ps4-pro-confirmed-games-list/
Also worth keeping in mind that although the 1X does play a lot more games in native 4K it does still resort to dynamic resolution in many other games. Here's the One X's list for comparison:
https://www.gamesradar.com/every-xbox-one-x-enhanced-game-4k-hdr-framerates-and-features-explained/
Also worth keeping in mind the Pro provides superior quality experiences across the board over the base PS4 on PSVR. So yeah factor in all of those enhancements over being a "better 1080p machine" for third party and especially for exclusives, the fact that it came out 1 year earlier and $100 less and the improved VR experience and I think it's wrong to call the Pro a shit tier console for the price you pay.
They're getting arrogant again because they're ahead of the race. They're staying super quiet for a long time and most of all they refuse to do cross-platform and come up with bullshit excuses. You all remember the Fortnite cross-platform fiasco, it got to the point where Sony had no choice but to cave in after the massive backlash and quite honestly if they do not open up their platform in the future they will start going down the drain.
This is starting to be the repeat behavior of the PlayStation 3. The only thing that's keeping Sony doing well are their games, but if they refuse to do full on BC and full on cross-platform they will fall apart. Things are changing and its time for them to go with the flow.
Sony's mostly staying quiet because they blew their load early and don't have as many big things to announce to close out this generation. They've still got plenty on their plate for what they have announced though and possibly a couple more things in the oven if rumors are true (but those rumors also state those could either be cross-gen or bumped to next gen). Regardless though, "arrogant" Sony has been supporting 2 platforms in the PS4 and the PSVR quite nicely and has opened up a new mode of communication with fans in State of Play.
The crossplay topic has been done to death at this point. Personally for me it's not that big a deal, but I understand where others are coming from on the subject. Regardless, Sony have begun steps to open up crossplay with their direct competitors. I don't think we'll hear any major news on this front until next gen and they'll keep it in the "beta" stage until then.
On the subject of BC, it's my personal belief that the PS5 will have full BC with the entire previous PS console library if only due to PS Now. My logical deduction on the matter is as follows:
- For PS Now as it stands they have to have PS3 and PS4 hardware in their datacenters to accommodate PS Now users. This means double the hardware for each user and that they have to keep Cell production alive if they want to keep going this route. This is grossly inefficient and they'll want to improve this ASAP
- Enter the PS5. If the PS5 has full BC capability then they can then install that hardware in PS Now datacenters. No need for PS3 or PS4 hardware, just one unified platform to run everything. Think about it, if the PS5 isn't fully BC then that means PS Now datacenters will need to have PS3, PS4 and PS5 hardware for each and every user, which is simply ridiculous. The sheer amount of money they'd save by having a unified platform over having to install 3 generations worth of hardware in datacenters and keep ancient legacy hardware manufacturing alive is more than reason enough for them to push for the hardware to be capable of it
- So now we have a pretty reasonable bit of logic to conclude they will build the PS5 hardware and software to support full BC, hence why I believe the console itself will support it.
There're plenty of reasons to believe the PS5 would have BC beyond PS Now, but I like to trot out that example because it's a step that would save them dump trucks full of money and there's no reason at all they wouldn't want to save money. Most other reasons involve not wanting to upset owners or earning goodwill, and they're valid but performing a relatively simple act that would save tens, if not hundreds of millions of dollars long term? That's the sort of action I would expect any company to take.