PlayStation VR can 'dominate' market at sub-$500 price

HTC Vive's $800 price point is setting the HTC SteamVR headset up for a loss against rivals Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, Wedbush Securities research analyst Michael Pachter has said.

With HTC's announcement that the consumer edition of the Vive will cost $799, Pachter feels the Rift can come out on top, but a sub-$500 offering from Sony would destroy the competition.

[Neonridr]

even if Sony was to price at $449 or $499, sure it's less than the competition, but that is still asking a lot of a console gamer to spend on an accessory they won't use all the time.

PC users, especially at the enthusiant / gaming level, are a little more accustomed to spending a fair bit of money on upgrades or peripherals to get the best experience possible.

[ArchangelMike]

Yeah, Sony have to price PSVR for the console market, and not based on the PC market. bottom line is that PSVE cannotbe more expensive than the cost of a PS4. If the peripheral is more expensive than the console, then consumers will more than likely reject the peripheral.

[Kalebninja]

you get what you pay for if you want it cheap you'll get a cheap piece of hardware and complain about it.

[donthate]

No matter what Sony prices the PS VR, it is going to be too high. Why?

Because it's not like Sony can go $200 or less. So they are reaching minimum the price of a PS4, but likely more.

Console customers don't pay $300-500 for an accessory. That is a whole new platform that requires a whole lot of established content, you know like consoles!

I hope Sony succeeds, because if Sony did fail or did a poor job with it like PS Move/Now, then that sets a precedent and an expectation that is hard to shake off ala Kinect.

I'm hoping for the best, but I think Sony's market is misplaced. If anything, I think the smart phone VR market is going to be catering to the gimmicky cheap crowd instead and whatever else will eventually trickle down to them from the top end market over the next decade.

Also, I think dominate is the wrong term, as there is no way PS VR is dominating. It can be a viable competitor (and that is a maybe), but dominate is just a castle in the sky dream.

[Brotard]

In a sense that's like saying the tv/screen has to be the most expensive part of your home theater or nobody is going to buy the accessories cause anything more expensive has no value.

Hell my reveiver alone is more expensive than my tv. And my speakers are more expensive than that. It's all about value not price. If they can show that these devices have honest to god value people will gobble them up.

I know many many people with headphones at 3/4 the price of their console, custom controllers, gaming chairs etc.

Why did the first Kinect do so well? Why didn't the second one?

The first one was new and had value In a new experience. The second one, nothing changed, equating to no value.

The first wave of vr will do alright I think. It's the second wave that's questionable.

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

You see, people keep repeating that console gamers vs PC enthusiasts thing, I'm not buying it!

First, there's enthusiasts on consoles as well, there's people out there who spent almost a thousand bucks for full Guitar Hero/Rockband sets, people who pay the price of a console for a driving wheel, etc, they exist in all platforms... Secondly, does anyone even knows the size of this said enthusiast market on any platform? Because people keep bringing it up as if all PC gamers were running top of the line rigs and buying tons of pricey accessories, which obviously isn't the case or every company out there would be doing nothing but it...

We have no idea of how many! We know that most PC gamers don't even care to buy a top GPU, who knows how many of that care about VR? Maybe 5% total? Probably pushing it... And we don't know if the percentual keeps the same at each platform. We do know that most big games sell better on consoles but that's only retail, we don't know digital sales which are the most sales on PC, so we can't even make a guess in which platform the average user spend more.

What I'm saying here is that we, the users, have absolutely no grounds for this kind of comparison. We all have to wait and see. Now, if we could stop with this stupid speculation about "enthusiasts" which doesn't really mean anything it would be just dandy. In fact, there's nothing enthusiastic about VR, it basically replaces a monitor/TV set. Guess what, we all use one of those, doesn't matter if you're an "enthusiast" or gaming on a budget, you need a display of some kind and that's exactly what VR is. We should be comparing it's prices to high tec small TVs instead of gaming hardware as a starting point... And even that is obviously not ideal, it's a new market, we really don't have basis for comparisons here.

[ravinash]

No one would bat an eyelid if a TV cost $500...so why is it then people think that getting a miniaturised screen with high definition that sits less than a inch from your eye and have to run a high fps should be so cheap, I don't understand.
I'm sure that Sony if anyone could produce a low cost product, they would.... but this is the first generation of the consumer product, so it might be a while before it really becomes mainstream.

[UnHoly_One]

It needs to be cheaper than a TV because it is more limited use than a TV.

Your TV can be used for everything, and watched by a whole room full of people at once.

This thing can only be used by 1 person, and only with specific things designed for it.

I realize when you think about the parts inside of it, it is easy to compare it to the cost of a TV, but it's about the value to the customer and what it can be used for.

[3-4-5]

Still a lot of money.

PS4 + PSVR + cost of games.

[Aenea]

Probably a lot less than: a $1000 PC + $800 VR headset + cost of games

[Unspoken]

But not less than an upgraded PC + $600 VR headset + Steam Sales.

[Neonridr]

@Aenea - the ones who preordered a Rift most likely have the specs required or are maybe an upgrade away.

Don't put the entire price of a PC in there because PC users are constantly upgrading their rigs.

I don't think too many early adopters of Rift are going to be casual PC users, these are the enthusiast / gaming level users.

[InTheZoneAC]

the rabbid VR fans, even from the console side, are already saying they're buying VR without even trying it because "new experience" should have no issue paying $500 or these higher prices of $700 and $800.

These consumers will flock to the cheapest unit and that is guaranteed to be PSVR. Sony is already celebrating.

If this VR is anything like they want, they will pay for it no doubt.

[Kleptic]

yes 'they' will...not arguing that...

but 'they' are still a much smaller group than many are willing to admit...

'we' said the same thing about move, about kinect, etc...and 'we' were right...Some nutters bought it day 1, and pretty much the rest of the industry ignored it...MS tried it again even as a pack in...same result...

if sony's is the cheapest, yeah, some people that have already made up their minds will buy it...but that is hardly even a drop in the bucket to even the PS4's fast growing user base...The PS4's buyers have a lot in common with what made the PS2 so successful, and more recently the Wii...there are a lot of people that buy it that are not these maniacal core gamers that buy everything...you can't have it both ways...massively popular ALWAYS involves casuals...and if you can find a casual gamer that is all set to pump another several hundred into a headset you connect to your console before its been even remotely proven...i'll stand corrected...

small hint: if the person even knows about PSVR at this point...they're not casual...

[nitus10]

Before anyone thinks of buying the PSVR headset they should definitely try it for a minimum of 15 minutes and any members of the family and even friends who may get to use it should give it go as well.

I do think that for many PSVR will be an entirely new experience depending on their preferences in games. The PSVR could also double as a private HDTV screen as well. This is why it really is important to give it a good test run.

I do think the best way of looking as PSVR is to consider it a personal HDTV with a refresh rate of 120Hz. Also you have to consider what your HDTV costs as well, if you have a small cheap HDTV then don't bother.

[Christopher]

VR in general will be a niche market item until it is either included in the price of an affordable console or becomes its own console/platform.

[Zoombael]

It's funny how PC gamers always boast how less money they spend in comparison in comparison to console gamers. Now all over sudden they tend to spent more?

Opportunistic much.

Highend and expensive accessories are the exception. Not the rule.

[Unspoken]

Early adopters in the PC market will spend more vs console was the trend. Initial investment for PC can be much lower with upgrades and sales on components. A console owner will have to buy a PS5, as opposed to a PC owner who can simply purchase a graphics card. Overall investment can be cheaper when you add software. Console owners are very sensitive to price changes, except software.

TLDR There is a much broader demographic in PC users than in the console market.

[nitus10]

I have never been a PC gamer preferring console gaming instead, however when I built my PC with the latest Skylake 4 core i7 processor it actually cost more than what I paid for my PS4.

[Neonridr]

software wise that might be true, PC users pay less generally.

I don't know what PC user told you they spend less than $400 on their gaming rig. My video card cost that alone.

[rainslacker]

I honestly think Sony is going to shoot for no more than $400. If they could do it cheaper, or have a nice bundle, and get VR adoption rates as high as possible, they would be better benefitted in the long run than trying to profit now.

It's a gamble to hope for high adoption at a high price because it probably won't happen and they'll lose more from the losses incurred from R&D. It's a gamble to have high adoption at a low price while taking a loss hoping to return it later, and it's a game. I think Sony cares more about adoption right now than turning a large profit on the idea, so they'll probably take the latter gamble, but I doubt they're going to take huge losses on the hardware, and it's possible they will opt for the long game and just sell to the enthusiast gamer now.

So many unknowns. Can't wait for E3.:)

[magiciandude]

IMO, PSVR will not dominate the market. Sony has to show more actual support for the PSVR than they did for their past gadgets if they want to stay relevant in the VR market, let alone dominating it. The PS Vita, PS Vita TV, PS Move, PS Mobile (service), PSP Go, PS 3D Display (shoddy TV), PS Eye Toy, and PS Eye flopped. With this kind of track record, I have no confidence that PS VR will stay in the market longer than 2 years. I really, REALLY want Sony to do well with VR though because I want to get one of these, but no way I will if it's destined to go the same direction as the Sony flops mentioned above.

[tee_bag242]

I see this working if it's compatible with the PS5. It's alot to invest if it's going to be useless down the road. Occulus and Vive are very expensive, but they have future compatibility going for them.

[DragonDDark]

For sony to Dominate, the price should be $300-$400 imo.

$500 might be good too though.

[Thatguy-310]

I think 500$ will be too much. The headset alone should be 300$-350$ with a bundle that includes the camera and a move control coming around 430$-450$.

[Next_gen_2015]

Its gonna flop harder than PS now XD

[Relientk77]

Sony needs to have the cheapest VR headset on the market. Still looking at that $300-400 sweet spot

[FreeSpeech69]

Would love a 1080P Headset too bad it will be ps4 only.

[badz149]

You think no modder in the world is gonna make a custom driver for it to work on PC once it's released? This is 2016 somebody will make it work!

[FreeSpeech69]

It's kind of like the Wiimote though, even to this day there isn't an easy to use driver to make it work on PC. You have to install like a software interrupter and hardly works on 64 bit systems due to Driver Signing.

[bamillington]

200 quid i might consider..

[Psychotica]

how about 200 squid?

[TheColbertinator]

@Psychotica

You squidding me?

[Fez]

I'd definitely consider at £300, maybe more, since most new high end gadgets go for around that price. All depends if the experience is good enough in terms of quality and content though.

I'd say £300 is the sweet spot between losing money and getting early adopters.

[SouljAx360]

So wait.. PSVR gonna work on PC too? That doesn't make any sense to me. I'm pretty sure it won't, though I haven't looked into the subject that much.
I say that because if you don't have a PS4 you aren't going to buy one just for VR. That would be 300+ for PS4 on top of the headset's price too which will put it at about the same price as the other headsets anyway.

[Ken85]

I mean its the PC. Anything can happen. People have created programs to use PS4 controllers, I don't see why it wouldn't happen for PSVR as well.

[donthate]

The problem is that VR support from devs on PC needs to happen and a hacked PS VR will maybe work, but it isn't the way it was designed for or intended.

I think if anything, a smart phone VR type thing is more likely in the cheap gimmick market than PS VR honestly.

[nitus10]

Can't speak for Microsoft Windows since I only use Linux (Fedora 23) but for retro gaming via a native Linux emulator the DS4 works perfectly with a USB cable and without any additional software. I normally map the "share" and "options" buttons to "select" and "start" respectively.

If the PSVR supports HDMI in (doubt it though) then you most likely could display to it making it a private HDTV. Of course that is assuming your graphics card supports HDMI.

[1nsomniac]

It can dominate the PlayStation market. If it can't be used on PC as well, then it won't be "dominating"

[generic-user-name]

Implying their won't be a VR market
Implying there aren't PC gamers who also own PS4s.

[1nsomniac]

What I meant was, so far all we know is PSVR is PlayStation exclusive for games only so as far as we know. The other devices we already know do more & potentially have a much wider & open market place. I just think claiming anything will dominate something else is to say the other option shouldn't even bother getting involved. When the other option is more adaptable then making that statement is not only annoying but damaging to the actual marketplace that it's trying to be part of.

[Lamboomington]

for the vast majority of gamers, it's not going to be that way.

The PSVR is going to be only for the PS4, and the other two are only for PC. They just don't compete with each other (for the most part)

[Kerppamaister]

I fear PSVR will be too cheap in both price and quality and doom the rest of VR kits in the process.

[AgentSmithPS4]

I fear you haven't bothered to read all the glowing reviews. Spoiler, it's not a cheap piece of crap.

[Kerppamaister]

Good. Then it wont be cheap and it wont doom anything. Everybody wins. Why the hate?

[Ken85]

I predict the price to be 299$. It just feels right.

[AgentSmithPS4]

That's possible for the bare bones version, and I'll say as high as $450 for a huge bundle with a game, move, cam, etc.

Now I need to figure out which headset to get. I don't know if my turtle beach dx12 with dss2 will work at all with it. I hope PSVR gets here before my monitor rots.

[ApocalypseShadow]

PSVR will dominate in the console space because there isn't any competition in that space.Sony is the only known console manufacture releasing a VR headset for consoles.

It's not in competition with the other two because it is not releasing on PC.There isn't any reason for it to be compatible with PC because Sony doesn't release its games on PC.Both platforms can coexist.

As for price,I knew it would end up being Sony,Oculus then Vive.

It's going to be $399-$599-$799.As soon as Oculus announced their price,it was a roadmap to the other two prices. There's no reason for PSVR to be expensive unless Sony wants profit on sales of hardware day one. Nothing in the box tells you it will be around $500.Dr marks states right in this video that there isn't any secret sauce in the breakout box.PS4 is handling it just fine.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

But it's bound to be cheaper because you don't need a controller packed in. PS4 comes with a controller built for VR. It doesn't come with headphones. Almost everybody has headphones for listening to music. The camera sells for less than $60 and as low as $40.PS moves are inexpensive too. The only way it would be expensive is if Sony bundles everything and games included.

But what about those who already have the camera? Those who already have the PS move controllers? We don't need bundles. Just the headset. It will sell well. But for consoles and we should just leave it at that.so those with accessories might even jump into VR even cheaper than $399.

[BABY-JEDI]

Sony won't destroy the competition @ a lower price point. That would be too damaging to the emerging VR market. A lower price point will however bring more users to the emerging VR market. Should Sony provide PC usage for their head set? If so why? If not why?

[GrubsterBeater]

Yeah, because having a cheap product of good quality with a large amount of adopters and potential VR software buyers, and positive word of mouth equates to damaging to the VR market.. /s

[BABY-JEDI]

There is a lot of PC heavy VR games that the PS4 cannot run. That's the point I'm making. It's these (elitist) games that will push the potential of VR further than what will appear on the PS4, & I'm not knocking the PS4 here. They are different markets, different investors, all committed to VR 😉

[Kal-V3]

It's funny how people already doom VR based on the fact that they can't afford it. Plenty of people can even if it was $1000 for any one of the headsets.

It just seems like people would rather dismiss it as "It's DOA" rather than be envious that they aren't the first one out of the gate. It will get cheaper over time and better games will come out later. This kind of adoption takes time.

This isn't like that Apple phone crap where you aren't cool if you aren't the first ones with it. For VR to succeed people have to be on board even if they dont have it (not saying you have to if you aren't, just saying that's how it will succeed) . Try it at a friends or a store kiosk, however you can, THEN form an opinion.

Again, you don't have to be VR shills, but saying it's not going to fly solely based on the price, helps no one.

[Yetter]

If you already own a PS4, move controllers and the PS camera I suppose this is true. I have none of these but I do have a powerful gaming rig so really the rift or vive are going to be more affordable and better value imo

[Yetter]

So now that we know what vive and oculus are priced at, what is Sony waiting for?

[AgentSmithPS4]

They're wheeling and dealing trying to get the price as low as possible and to be able to announce some huge games available at launch to unleash a gamer frenzy online.

[ScorpiusX]

The prices of Rift & Vive sound reasonable seeing how gaming is a feature among other things ,now 500 dollars for something that only does gaming seem kind of way to overpriced. Jmo

[ApocalypseShadow]

Why is it only doing gaming?Sony does:

Music
Movies
Games
Experiments with NASA

That means music equalizers in VR. Listen to your music or Sony's music service in VR while receiving visuals.

Watching movies in wide screen. Watching 3D movies. Watching VR experiences like "the walk."most likely make VR deals for watching Netflix.

Sony,2nd and 3rd parties will produce games in VR. Or games not in VR but wide-screen.

Sony will bring things like space themed content in collaboration with NASA or environment content in VR.

It will be more than just *GAMING*

[ScorpiusX]

Where have you heard that it will do all that all they have mentioned is gaming .
Personally the Rift , Vive seem like the better investment to me. Not interested in movies or music or some things from nasa . Am intrested in how far outside the box Rift &Vive will aim for .Jmo

[Wallstreet37]

Castillo.....

Lol if you think all it will do is gaming idk what world you live in. Ps4 and ps3 both push media capabilities as well and you can bet your life psvr will too.

Dont be naive.

[BitbyDeath]

@castillo,

Video and music are expected as part of phase 2, launch will be a gaming focus.

http://vrfocus.com/archives...

They're also working with NASA so people can virtually goto Mars.

[kenwonobi]

Yes this virtual reality market will try to be across all media. Including porn eventually.

[94jdh]

Sony are potentially in danger of being greedy - having such a large Ps4 install base, they need to have high volume of sales. $299 (249 UK pounds) as standalone maximum, or they are going to kill the goose that lays the golden egg. developers aren't going to commit long term if there is a small user base and limited sales.

[jmac53]

Recently using PSVR, it "feels" like a high quality build. I am guessing it's going to be $400 - $450 and Sony is going to take a loss on it.

[Wallstreet37]

Of course Sony will take a loss, we all know thatm it will be anywhere from 350 to 500.

[joeorc]

@jmac53 + 22h ago
"Recently using PSVR, it "feels" like a high quality build. I am guessing it's going to be $400 - $450 and Sony is going to take a loss on it."

I doubt , very much of a loss @ all, now break even, yes I could see that like Don't or very well did with the PSVita. I imagine since its just one oled screen instead of one per eye, sensors, LED's gyro scope, & acceleration sensor & magnameter all are placed in the HMD instead of external. But the break out box is now smaller the size of a handheld now.I am guessing a Arm Cortex design like the PSVita soc. That would allow high performance low watt, low heat small size dissipate heatsinks, also no moving parts internal on the headset, all solid state..will make it most likely cheaper to build.

The big cost was all components needed in it's cost was split up starting last generation with move controllers, and the new camera. The headset itself had the gyro, accelerometer, and magnameter sensors. The unit can operate without the camera, though the camera does indeed provide better tracking for placement tracking, but without that you can still use the system like you would with a Samsung gear VR except its tethered.. Grin, but the main point is Sony knew the price was going to be expensive in the console market with all components. But it would be far cheaper to start the ground work last cycle.

And they did, now the camera & move controllers are cheaper to reproduce.

When they said it would cost the same as a platform, the cost most likely would be as in a Mobile VR, because if you look at Sony's invested resources toward not just remote streaming & contents distribution .

Its the living room PlayStation as your Hub, while streaming tech was connected by Gaikai. Remote play , streaming to smartTV's etc. Sony purged their PC arm & SOE..if you wanted to make low cost high performance low watt usage devices that connect to your center hub .it would be in Sony's case more on a mobile centric hardware wise than much higher costing PC hardware centric designs.

Think about both Vive, OculusRift are made ,designed and platformed to be tied to that of a PC not a console. Sony on the other hand has always made mobile to console hardware for PlayStation's, aside of the eyetoy.

If the leak several weeks ago is correct, the $299.00 price point is very much inline with higher end Mobile VR cost hardware.

[gedden7]

lol @ $400 IT WILL FAIL or have moderate success at BEST. VR will not take off until it is $100 or cheaper. Thats not gonna take off for a while. And even then it will be a niche crowd. Not everyone likes VR.

[BitbyDeath]

You gotta be dreaming for $100 or cheaper.
At best it could reach $199 after years of being on the market.

[gedden7]

ALl the people that disliked. When VR comes out @ $400+ let me know how the sales turn out...

[ritchi45]

PSVR could very well become a multi-generation peripheral, having complete compatibility with PS5 (much like Move controllers working on PS4 for example).
Having that sort of longevity might make people see the cost of investment more worth it.

[joeorc]

@ritchi45 + 22h ago
"PSVR could very well become a multi-generation peripheral, having complete compatibility with PS5 (much like Move controllers working on PS4 for example).
Having that sort of longevity might make people see the cost of investment more worth it."

Exactly, the steps DR. Marks took & the other people @ Sony's Magic LAB , show this..they started on VR ground work on the PS3. The Move & how it was designed was designed from the ground up for VR, the problem like it was with the move when it was first started development back in 2000 the components were expensive at the time.

DR. marks touched on this way back in 2004 @ SIGGRAPH . the ground work for When the components could be cheap enough for market adoption was where it was started so had to be ready.
When component prices came down.

With Google, Samsung, valve, HTC, Facebook, Apple & Microsoft, LG..pretty much the freaking entire consumer electronics industry and software development engine's like Unity, unreal, Crytek's cry engine, having AMD,Intel,Nvidia, all on board with VR, now you have NASA, the science & medical field's all on board VR.

Out of the three main console companies, and it seems many are in Question on how prepared Sony is in VR? Not just support or price points?

But the fact is Sony has been making VR headsets since the 90's & people are really that concerned about is if Sony is not really ready for VR?

Vs OculusRift & Vive?
At this point , between all three Sony already has multiplayer VR gaming in Rig's shown off ready in the works to go. What about Vive or OculusRift multiplayer VR gaming? Is there a distinctly premiere VR multiplayer games for their VR headsets like Rigs is for the PlayStation 4 For VR gaming that is exclusive or anything like such?

[Gamist2dot0]

I think it will be $349-$399 because of higher units manufactured; the more they make, the cheaper the cost. I think they'll start with the pre-orders to see how many they need to manufacture; then, determine the number of units for the launch date: high preforders - $349. Low preorders - $399.

[Ark_]

What happend to comments in the line of ... ?

> "If Pachter tells you it will dominate, that's not a good sign - propably he is wrong again."
> "Why is the douchebag still quoted anyway?"
> "I predict that arrogant jerk talks rubbish again."
> "Braineating zombies would defo spare this guy."

... and so on.

[BitbyDeath]

Well he's still wrong, what is it going to dominate exactly?
Nobody else is doing VR in the console market and PC isn't exactly competition since it is a completely different market.

[Pongwater]

A lot of people on N4G seem to read headlines and react without reading anything else.

I didn't even know Pachter said it until I scrolled down and saw your comment.

[TheOpenWorlder]

My only problem with VR guys is this: I just don't see it. I own an Oculus Rift DK2 and a Gear VR. I love my Gear VR for watching movies...but games wise I just don't see this generation of VR in terms of features or even cost alone being WORTH It.

The graphics look rudimentary and not that great in all honesty. I'm not a fan of the current games out, I think playing with a controller is lame while having the headsets on to look around (which is why I love Valve/HTC Hive better) but still it seems like it's so limited. No real strong games development.

Everything looks like a MOBILE game or like a bad version of that I AM BREAD game. I'm not a fan in the slightest of PS VR or even the current video game offerings.

Only one that slightly intrigues me is the shark attack game on Morpheus. And even that seems lame really quickly.

Other games...Job Simulator...that Insomniac 3RD Person game (LOL), a lot of them seem sort of like poor immersion cases.

Would really love if anyone had more thoughts on games like this...dev support for VR hardcore titles. Right now the only one I can see as being awesome with HTC Vive (and not supported btw) is Alien Isolation. But then how do you walk around the real ingame world? You'd need one of those infinite track type systems from Kickstarter for you to really get a sense of walking around.

Thoughts people? This is coming from a VR veteran...surprisingly :(

[jmac53]

I have only tried PSVR with RIGS and London Heist and the Samsung Gear with an underwater demo and I can tell you there is a giant difference between the two. The Gear looks like mobile because that's what it is. I can't speak for the Rift or Vive but I feel they are pretty similar to PSVR maybe just higher fidelity. If they make more games like RIGS I can see this taking off.

[TheOpenWorlder]

As I mentioned, I tried Vive/Oculus Rift and the graphics still feel like mobile games. Take a look for yourself. Most look cartoonish.

[NeoGamer232]

The problem of it being significantly cheaper then Vive or Oculus is then the questions start being asked about whether the tech is inferior to them or not.

I'm not saying it would be, but when I see stuff priced $100-300 cheaper then the competition, the first thing I typically ask myself is "why so much cheaper, what is it missing?".

[joeorc]

@NeoGamer232 + 17h ago
"The problem of it being significantly cheaper then Vive or Oculus is then the questions start being asked about whether the tech is inferior to them or not.

I'm not saying it would be, but when I see stuff priced $100-300 cheaper then the competition, the first thing I typically ask myself is "why so much cheaper, what is it missing?".

Better Question is what are developers able to do with the hardware they are given. Ever since this generation started, last generation Sony did not consult developers, on its hardware.

.this generation they do now.

The big point is PC & Console's markets down to engine's, middleware, game theory's & designs, they are not the same as each other when making content. For instance Mobile chipsets many on here for Instance look it as really weak hardware. But the main point is they really most of the time only look at it from the console vs' or PC vs' side. Mobile chipsets now offer anothet side to the Vs' , why..its very simple ...the performance /watt can offer sizable benefits in a console environment now.

Picture this

In 5volts or less , does PC's or Console performance outpace what ARM holdings, Qualcomm, All winner, ect. Do in that voltage or watt range? No because they are not designed for high performance @ the lowest cost in power for the highest compute., under a certain watt or voltage.

The big point is Also is Mobile is, would Sony really need a PC High performance VR HMD or No?

design of these chips at such voltage's now are running high clock rates, with high throughput to do/ top it off the GPU is Also directly on the same die, no south bridge or north bridge off of die to get stepping delays for off Die commands.

The mobile Chips can do 1080P, 720P video @4K has accessible 8GB or ram, has Mobile GPU's like a Mali, or a SGX that can run not just a stripped down version but the very same API version the desktop, tower PC use's or console.

We are talking even Vulkan & DirectX12!

Raw power is not the entire story when it comes to hardware now due to the fact, that other factors can play a very decisive role in the design of a system or component for a system.

[kenwonobi]

I feel the sweet spot is 399. That is reaching a mass market level appeal range. 450 being on the higher side of still being appealing to most consumers.

[kevnb]

Maybe if you could play any game on it, but you cant so $150 is the top price people would pay.

[Pongwater]

They can dominate the VR market at that price maybe, but that price won't cause the gaming masses to jump on board.

[Lonnie18]

If Sony does $300 they will donminate for sure!

[kenmid]

I can't watch VR porn on Playstation, I'm out.....

[Orionsangel]

There has never been a successful accessory for a console ever! Name one. I dare you. I'll wait. The only thing that has remained constant in console gaming in the last 40 years is a console and a controller. Everything else introduced has come and gone. You're next VR!

[joeorc]

@Orionsangel + 2h ago
[There has never been a successful accessory for a console ever! Name one.]

I dare you. I'll wait. The only thing that has remained constant in console gaming in the last 40 years is a console and a controller. Everything else introduced has come and gone. You're next VR!

Rockband, sing star microphones, kinect, playstation Move,eyetoy...

All sold Millions of units, so selling millions of units of something is not a success? Tell that to a record producer or a book publisher.

They sold Million's.. If you can sell a freaking million units of a product let alone multiple millions of said product & at profit. Its a success!

[kevnb]

When it comes out and there isn't anything worthwhile to play on it its just going to fail. Unless the price is around $150 this is doomed.