[Archived] Virtual Reality

[Baz]

The launch titles were always going to be a little thin on the ground - devs are having to learn an entirely new way of developing games and experiences. I expect some of the best VR stuff over the next year or so will be extras in normal games, rather than full on VR games.

This is why, for me, having a PS4 Pro isn't a big deal right now. I'd only be getting it for VR, and it will be at least a year before we start getting really good VR games - and possibly even longer before devs are able to tap the full potential of the PS4 Pro. A standard PS4 will run the first and second wave of VR titles just fine, I don't think the PS4 Pro will make much of a difference short-term.

As far as price, considering the Oculus is £500+ and the Vive £700+ I think £350 is pretty reasonable. Especially as both Oculus and Vive have more far more pronounced SDE and God Ray issues which can wreck a VR experience - PSVR has hardly any of the former and absolutely none of the latter.

First-gen new tech is always expensive. The first major North-American/European CD-Rom consoles (Panasonic 3DO & Philips CDi) were £600-£700 at launch. Even the Sega CD was, at launch, around £200. Taking inflation into account that would make the 3DO and CDi even more expensive than the Vive and Rift, and the Sega CD around the same price as PSVR - with the latter being far superior even within the context of modern technology.

With that said, I agree that the Move controllers are now stupidly overpriced. If Sony were smart they would have kept the prices on these down in order to allow people to get the maximum out of the VR experience and create really positive word of mouth. Actually, if they were smart they would have used different tech entirely and infrared beams... but I'm guessing they didn't have the resources to do that concurrently with launching the PSVR.

I'm happy to wait for better VR games to come out and for the current launch titles to drop a little in price. I don't really want to spend £50 on the likes of EVE. I just got Stars Wars Battlefront for £12.50 from Tesco and heard they're adding a free VR DLC to that, which will be cool.

To be honest I didn't expect the initial games to be worldies, but I did expect that some of them would have at least more in content, some of the games last less than an hours gameplay. Not too bothered yet, I expect those in 12 months to be much better though.

I accept that early adopters are paying a premium, but I really think Sony has gone in £100 too much, and should definitely have bundled in the move controllers (they are what 6 or 7 year old tech). If they priced if at £250 its at the top end of a xmas present scale for most households, at £350 its a major purchase, especially if you don't already have a ps4. Sony could really have blown Microsoft away if they had done something like this, even in the US market.

As someone who has shelled out for this, I think it is important to get a large number of people to also buy it, or we may see it becoming a gimmick rather than a fully supported system.

[DE.]

The Move controllers definitely need to come down in price and be bundled in future. I don't have them and won't get them until they drop in price - as a result I'm only experiencing half of what is on offer.

[Guest]

Well, you know what, DE? I love 3D TV and movies. Most people don't. @#/? 'em. VR will wash with me, and I'll somehow obtain it all with the financial and, umm "Mrs" constraints, given time... 1UP

[Husky]

I thought VR was some retro thing from over 25 years ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2CYLlSn1gA

[DE.]

Funnily enough the headsets don't look THAT different from how they were in the 90's. Probably a slight difference in the graphics mind

[old darwen blue]

Anybody suggest a VR headset for an iPhone 6s? I've been recommended the freefly and the merge but I'm new to all of this?

[DE.]

Phone VR is much of the same. Google Cardboard is cheap but I've heard the cardboard gets quite grimy after prolonged use. I'd have a look on Amazon if you want a 'proper' headset for your phone and see what the reviews are like.

[roverandout]

Bought the Samsung V r headset, amazing games for the price £85, the phone does overheat though pretty quickly the headset is a bit flimsy, love the horror games,

[DE.]

Gear VR is a nice entry point. The theatre mode in particular is fantastic, although phone overheating is a bit of an issue on all mobile VR devices. Not much you can do about it really, VR is processor intensive to say the least!

You haven't seen anything until you've played Resident Evil 7 in VR though. Holy @#/?. The first playthrough is absolutely terrifying.

[roverandout]

That won't be available on Samsung V r though will it?

[DE.]

I wouldn't have thought so, but hey, what's a few hundred quid for a nice, shiny PSVR?

[roverandout]

Have to get my hands on one which would be like putting sand into a siv

[DE.]

They are hard to come by at the moment. Apparently Sony are struggling to manufacture the OLED screens inside the headset.

[roverandout]

Took the plunge, bought a ps4vr yesterday, so many fickin wires, I bought batman not overly impressed yet, still early days for vr games

[DE.]

The wires aren't that bad once you've got everything set up and tucked away. It's a pretty complex audio-visual set up.

I'd definitely recommend picking up RIGS. I've sunk an incredible amount of hours into it already. It's got a good single player campaign and online is a lot of fun too. There is a demo but it doesn't do the game justice at all. Visually it's one of the best VR games around, too. 

I've heard a lot of good things about Werewolves Within, I don't think it's my time of game but if you're into board games and generally being social it's supposed to be a good laugh. 

It is early days though. Early adopters have to accept that there will be limitations, whether it's the PSVR, Vive or Rift, but I'm pretty confident this will ultimately be the future of gaming. There is no comparable experience. 

[roverandout]

Thanks for the tip, though 70 quid for resident evil?

[DE.]

All of the reviews have been super positive. Would I pay £70 for it? Nope. Wouldn't pay that for any game. RE7 is undoubtedly one of the best games on the platform though. Some incredible graphics for VR, a decent story and if you're into horror I guess this game would be close to perfect. Horror isn't really my thing so I'm happy to wait until the price drops.

[Kamy100]

RE7 is not £70. Argos for example selling it for £44.

[DE.]

It looks like the digital download is only £49.99. £70 did seem like a lot, but I didn't bother checking

Sony have recently confirmed that lack of advertising for PSVR is because they knew demand would massively outstrip supply. It kind of makes sense from their POV. Why spend a shedload of money advertising something that's going to sell out anyway?

[roverandout]

Couple of questions, when the screen goes black, or its in a dark area on the game, i can see what looks like a load of blurry dots on the screen like static. Is that normal? Also do u think its ok to put your processor unit on top of the ps4?

[roverandout]

On Fri Feb 03 2017 at 8:54 AM, Kamy100 said:

RE7 is not £70. Argos for example selling it for £44.

Online store has it at 70 but thats the deluxe edition. Theres no 44 pound option

[DE.]

4 hours ago, roverandout said:

Couple of questions, when the screen goes black, or its in a dark area on the game, i can see what looks like a load of blurry dots on the screen like static. Is that normal? Also do u think its ok to put your processor unit on top of the ps4?

Yes it's normal. It's called Mura Effect and can be reduced if you turn down the brightness. 

It's generally advised to have the processor box and PS4 separate. They both get hot and the processing unit can actually get damaged if it is on or too close to the PS4.

[roverandout]

Ok thanks

[Kamy100]

I tested a PSVR and was very impressed but have held of buying one as I wanted to see what kind of first party support Sony will provide.

At the moment there are no major first party titles announced by Sony for this year. They had a chance to announce something at PlayStation experience in December and VR hardly got a mention. The next big event is in March with the GCC taking place, if Sony do not announce anything then the real worries will start to rise. If Sony do not support this platform with big first party titles then it will die. If Sony treat this like an accessory rather than a platform then it will also die. Third parties will not support it unless the install base is big enough to make software titles profitable.

I have seen Sony do this kind of thing with the PS Vita which they did not support adequately with software and it killed it. Hopefully they don't do the same with PSVR as it genuinely impressive but until they announce some proper software support I will hold onto my money.

[DE.]

Honestly, I already feel like I've got my full money's worth. Even if it ended now, the likes of RIGS, Holoball, Windlands, Pinball FX2 and others are experiences I never thought I'd have inside my own living room. RIGS might be one of my favourite games of all time, it's incredible. PSVR has its flaws but genuine Virtual Reality in your home for £350? That's some effort.

From what I've seen so far, and what I see in general, VR is definitely the future of gaming and will grow to become the future of entertainment. We're in the early stages, but what a time to be experiencing this technology - new, fresh and experimental. I'm thoroughly enjoying it. 

As for PSVR being another Vita, there was an interview with the head of PSUK, in which he stated if anything the PlayStation would potentially become a peripheral for PSVR in the future:

http://uploadvr.com/sony-promises-mainstream-messaging-psvr/

So I have no concerns about Sony supporting it. There is so much going for VR right now that they would be crazy to make it another Vita and destroy consumer confidence in their brand of VR right out of the gate. 

With all that said, it might be worth waiting and seeing how Microsoft tackle VR before committing to anything at this point. Chances are whatever they release will at least match the Pro/PSVR, if not surpass it, and probably be set at a similar price.