When I first alerted my colleagues to the fact that I'd been playing my PS5 upside down since before launch, responses ranged from horrified to disgusted to baffled to bewildered. Safe to say, there was no positive sentiment reserved for me – not even a consideration of "quirky" or similar. I've since received a PS5 Pro, however, and can now reveal: I'm playing it the right way. I give up; you win.
There are some important caveats to all of this. Firstly, I didn't swap out my old PS5, which I affectionately call Steady Freddy, of my own volition. There was no direct intent to do anything different from what I had been doing. PlayStation PR provided a PS5 Pro to me in order to help produce coverage for games that take advantage of the new hardware. I did note in the email exchange that I would likely also play it the normal way in order to "give it a go," though this went uncommented upon.
Upside down(up)grade
Best PS5 games: The 25 greatest PlayStation 5 games ranked
What I didn't realize at the time is that the PS5 Pro is actually bigger than the regular ole PS5. Or, I should say, its footprint is somehow bigger than the original PS5 in my current entertainment center. All math and officially listed dimensions seem to say that the original PS5 should actually be bigger than the PS5 Pro, but through some manner of digital black magic the PS5 Pro absolutely would not fit in the hole left by my launch model. Even if I'd wanted to play it upside down, I simply could not; there's no space for it.
I've instead been left to play my PS5 Pro vertically, and by using the physical stand it's pretty much impossible to do this the wrong way around. I guess I could probably balance it the opposite way for some amount of time, but I suspect it wouldn't stay that way for long. My normal inclination would be to try it anyway, for the blog, but given how expensive these consoles are, I got as far as removing the cords and stand before thinking better of it.
The second important caveat, and perhaps the one most materially important here, is that while I've upgraded to a PS5 Pro, I do not actually have the PS5 Pro's disc drive add-on. If you somehow were blissfully unaware, the PS5 Pro base model simply doesn't feature a disc drive and is entirely digital. A separate add-on, which costs about $80, can be purchased and essentially bolted onto the side, but I've not actually done this as of yet.
Please insert disconnect
Functionally, this means that there's no real way for a disc to be upside down or otherwise in my PS5 Pro, which seems to have been the big sticking point for most of those left deeply upset by the positioning of my launch model PS5. There's currently no laser or whatever to read the contents of any disc regardless of where it's pointed. Even if my PS5 had given me trouble the way it was situated – which it never did – any associated issues are currently entirely moot.
Maybe this is why I find the actual experience of playing "the right way" to be… underwhelming. I don't know what, exactly, I expected, but it's more or less the exact same experience. The PS5 Pro is a technical upgrade from my previous PS5, and games certainly look and play better, but my overall feeling is this has nothing to do with the way I had my PS5 sat and everything to do with the fact that it's, you know, a PS5 Pro.
Would I return to my old ways, given the opportunity? I don't rightly know. Part of me suspects I would, out of spite if nothing else. Time will tell – and the moment I get the add-on disc drive should bring with it another chance at being wrong.
For someone with more expertise's take on the latest PS5 console, be sure to check out our PS5 Pro review.
