Should "Pro " consoles have had games incompatible with their base counterparts.

[Bofferbrauer2]

Wman1996 said:

Throughout gaming history, hardware has sometimes had pro/refresh versions with notably different specs.

DSi

New Nintendo 3DS/2DS

PS4 Pro

Xbox One X

PS5 Pro

And then there are other situations like Game Boy Color that had hundreds of its own games and a generational leap in graphics but is considered a refresh by some. But that's not the focus of this thread.

DSi and New 3DS/2DS had some physical games and plenty of digital ones that were incompatible with their base counterparts. 

When we go to home consoles, there is nothing. Anything that plays PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and PS5 Pro can play on the base counterparts. Even Cyberpunk 2077 still plays on a base PS4. However, it warns you that playing on PS4 Pro or higher is recommended. 

Would it make any financial sense to have released titles compatible with PS4 Pro, Xbox One X, and PS5 Pro that can't be played on the base hardware? 

How about going back in time a bit more. Megadrive/Genesis and 32X ring any bells? Even the Sega CD/ Mega CD could count, as it added a faster CPU and enhanced  graphical capabilities.

However, I'm pretty sure the flop of the 32X is also the main reason why home consoles don't lock games to an hardware upgrade, considering how bad it sold. And with modern 3D technologies, it's useless anyway as a "Pro" console just runs the games of the main console better in several potential ways, like higher and more stable frame rates, better graphics, higher resolutions...

Long story short, nope , that's a very bad idea, both in practical and in business sense.