How PlayStation VR Unsold Me

Jason says, "About a month ago, I tried a PlayStation VR demo for myself. Having dabbled in VR here and there (including that almost-meme thing known as the “Virtual Boy”), here are my impressions and how I became rather unsold."

[ArchangelMike]

What! You didn't know until now that you would need the playstation camera to use PSVR? Dude where've you been all this time?

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Still has a valid point though. The camera should come with the PSVR.

[BLow]

True, but if I'm going to spend $400 plus tax on something, I usually do some research on it. But that's just me.

Plus, a lot of people already have cameras so buying VR with another one is a waste.

[Roronoa0411]

It does come with the camera in the bundle... it would be stupid to put a camera in every box because the people that already have one would be buying another one.

[freshslicepizza]

they have a $499 bundle but it doesn't have the same marketing power as telling everyone psvr is $399 though.

vr looks incredibly cool but the technology still has a ways to go it seems.

[rainslacker]

Options are good. I keep hearing that being said a lot lately in relation to a lot of things going on, so I'd imagine people like options. I have a camera(impulse buy on launch day), and a few move controllers(nephew was into wonderbook on PS3), so I'm all set personally.

[Cindy-rella]

I had an amazing experience with psvr and i cant wait to buy it first day. It was proper immersive

[ShinMaster]

There's a bundle.
Many people already have the camera, that's why they're not bundled by default.

I actually played with the PSVR and I didn't experience the issues he mentioned and/or other people have speculated on.

[ziggurcat]

@TXI

There will be a bundle that includes the camera...

And why should people who already have the camera be forced into a second one?

[nveenio]

I have a camera and two move controllers. I am thrilled that the base package doesn't force me to buy another camera.

[ITPython]

They have the bundle which includes the camera.

[Xx_Pistol_xX]

It gives consumers choice. I already have a camera and welcome the cheaper package that comes without it.

[_-EDMIX-_]

No it shouldn't.

I own a PlayStation camera and I don't believe I should be paying for another camera packaged inside of the PlayStation VR , they merely just got to have several options for those who don't already own the camera why the hell would you be against options?

Mind you I'm pretty positive there is packages that have the camera included as an option!

[amiga-man]

Just waiting for my preorder, without camera or Move controllers because I already had them, I would have been pretty annoyed if I had been forced me to buy them again.

[freshslicepizza]

odd how many have the camera when there isn't much suppoprt for it. i have two move controllers though for my ps3 which will work if i get psvr and a ps4.

i think what some people are questioning is the marketing spin sony has done by saying it;s only $399. while that may be true for some if you already have the camera and controllers it is not for everyone. but as i said, it's much better for marketing to say psvr is only $399.

[amiga-man]

Moldy it is £349 for me, just as Sony said.

[rainslacker]

@moldy

Why odd? It sold quite well at launch and still sells pretty well today, and has been a pretty popular peripheral. That whole streaming thing is pretty popular on PS4. Not really my thing, but a lot of people seem to use it. I only brought the camera on impulse myself, never used it to stream, but have had some fun with playroom. Until I found out it was needed for PSVR, I felt kind of silly for buying it since I never really used it.

Not sure where Move itself is at in terms of acceptance, but you can get those pretty cheap, or even cheaper 2nd hand.

[sammarshall102]

A lot of people will probably find this out at the store

[bondsmx]

I believe there is also a bundle, that has everything.
Psvr, camera and move. Right?
I think it's an extra hundo if I remember correctly.

[Majin-vegeta]

@Bonds yes that is the one that costs $499

[rainslacker]

I'd imagine it'll tell you that right on the box. I'd also imagine a person spending $400 on a peripheral will likely either know already, or will be told by the sales clerk. If someone is getting it for little Jimmy, and doesn't care to research their $400 christmas present, well....then little jimmy is a spoiled brat and likely will be very disappointed on christmas day..

[TwoForce]

I'm think I'm going to buy PSVR.

[BLow]

Well, obviously, everyone's not going to like VR. This one person won't like it but someone else will. That's with everything in life. If that's the case then everything would sell 1 to 1 with consoles.....but it is good to here both sides of the equation.

[Nodoze]

Just wait until a bunch of people start getting physically sick. Many commented on this from E3, with the Resident Evil title getting the most press for making people ill. That will boomerang a bunch of them right back to the place of purchase.

[Dannycr]

I played that demo and within just a few minutes i got motion sickness, however, that one has been the only PSVR demo causing Motion sickness because it runs at 60fps. The safe zone is 90fps.

All other games I have had no problems whatsoever.

[Lilrizky]

Im keen to know what else you played and impressions

Ive only tried heists and honestly the experience blew my mind away. No preview can prepare you for how immersive it really is or can be

[JackVagina]

the problem with RE7 is not the fps but the control scheme. this is why most VR games have you inside a cockpit or on rails. if your walking in game but sitting irl obviously this is going to cause problems with your brain.

[nitus10]

As for people getting physically sick playing the PSVR.

Have you every looked at the screen when the PS4 or even the PS3 is started? There is a health warning that puts the onus on the player in that if they suffer screen related issues they should not be playing. If you are one of those very few people who do suffer from some for of epilepsy or motion sickness then you should not be playing.

I have always said PSVR or VR in general, is something you should try before you buy.

[HeartlesskizZ]

I really want to try the PSVR but I just don't see me spending that much money on it. It cost more than the actual console 😑

[nitus10]

Look at it this way how much would you be willing to spend on a decent sized HDTV that is has a refresh rate of at least 120Hz and has an OLED screen?

[Dario_DC]

That's my reasoning too. I'll use as a TV and VR gaming

[Mulando]

Well, and how many people can watch at those Screens?

Yes, you might not need a TV but, the TV is already there. Well not a 120Hz Oled 3d-TV but something that works with multiple people.

But, I can understand the price, but really, many buyers will buy it and be mad because they need a camera.

But what really bothered him was the image-quality. PS4 is just not enough. PSVR and PS4 Neo would be the better combination. It might not increase the resolution (because of the screens) but additional AA can do wonders to a 960*1080 resolution.

[thisgamer503]

So I can plug all my devices into it?

[BossBattle]

I don't like how you can see the pixels so clearly.

[thisgamer503]

This is one of the few reasons I'm waiting to jump into VR. I'm glad it's getting a lot of attention though because it'll ensure more R&D for VR and by the 2nd or 3rd gen I think I'll jump in.

[fanboysmackdown]

It's a fad, over and out of business by next Xmas.

[TFJWM]

Is that why Scorp is adding vr support when it comes out next Xmas?

[rainslacker]

Nope. Didn't you hear? After the PSVR dies next Xmas, MS will make it a success by offering it on the Scorpio by enabling 3rd parties to connect to the console, and not care if people use VR or not because "VR is not the future".

[xXSilentXx]

Wat did i just watch Wat a garbage he is saying. Dude you know that you needed the camera so wat is the point of this. And the Resolution of the image is to make it affordable to the public. do you want to pay for a VR classes for min 700 to 900 dollars?

[lobocob]

What a strange thing. He is surrounded by nothing but Microsoft products. I half expected master chief himself to show up

[Kiwi66]

So one xb1 controller sitting next to a ds4 & the nintendo pad and one halo poster between a nintendo & ps game one somehow equates to being surrounded by microsoft products, are you sure as the things he had around him look equal in number

[lastking95]

😑 facepalm

[thisgamer503]

lol what a fanboy. " I half expected master chief himself to show up." Spoken like a true pony. Believe it or not, some people enjoy multiple consoles.

[mogwaii]

Thing is once i buy mine i cant get a refund unless its faulty and considering you cant demo one anywhere in aus outside of buying a ticket to eb expo well we have to take a leap of faith. I may just spend the money to go to the expo JUST to try psvr a month out and see if i want to save myself $400

[masterfox]

This guy looks like more towards the negative side, it sound it like it was nitpicking, "Oh It needs the camera I don't like it", "I want it for GT Sport still I need a Steering wheel","Oh the games looks darker", he didn't even focus about the game he tested, the main reason why the PSVR exists, in the end I just wasted 5 min of my life hearing him.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Some won't like VR. That's a given. But you can type in YouTube and see dozens of impressions of people trying it, some even detractors who found that it was better than than thought it would be. Some were disappointed that they didn't preorder or that it wasn't vive level. But you're not paying vive level cash.

Some in the thread, and we know who they are, will say Sony should have included the camera which IS in one of the bundles. But I'd bet these same individuals would bash Sony for forcing a camera when others bought one already a long time ago. They're just nitpicking as usual because they got nothing. The company they support won't even try to give them VR. For the current system or the update. They want you to buy a whole new system to play VR leaving potentially 20 million gamers out in the cold.

But you won't see them go after that company. They'd rather bag on the competitor they don't like. And we won't name them. But you can make penicillin with them.

[joeorc]

Motion control not implemented well?
Farpoint, please check it out..because the PlayStation move works quite well with that 1st person PSVR shooter.

https://youtu.be/I3aeMs3s9m...

Add in the PlayStation Move gun and yes it does...

[rainslacker]

Maybe he's not used to motion controls that have some sort of actual physical product to handle. Maybe he thinks it should be something more akin to Fighter Within where you just flail around with no feedback and your moves don't really matter?

PSVR is quite precise. Probably the best console motion controller available to be honest due to that precision. And it has very low overhead on the software side in comparison to the other motion controllers out there.

[TwoForce]

Well, VR is going to be something special in the future for the industry.

[krypt1983]

This guy is more of a gamer then 80% of the people on this site and it is a opinion piece and everybody is all in there feelings lmao ..

[mkis007]

Best Buy psvr demo totally sold me on it..the graphics truly dont matter as much for vr.

[Jayszen]

PSVR, previously known as Project Morpheus has been in the news for over 2 years now and anyone with a modicum of interest in the technology knows that the camera is an essential part and from the outset, Sony has stressed that it is a requisite. Now the fact is that many people already have it and the $399 release is aimed at them with a separate bundle available for those without the camera and Move controllers.

Sounds like someone who is just trying to go against the flow and write something negative about the PSVR.

[rainslacker]

Sony could slap the box with a sticker that takes up half the box saying "You'll need these", and have it pointing to the full bundled PSVR with another sign saying, "GET THIS IF YOU DON"T HAVE THESE", and people would still act like people are ignorant of the fact.

I would imagine at GS or Best Buy...where they're going to have them locked up for an employee to get it for you, they'll also inform their customers to avoid problems. The major websites(amazon, BB, GS, WalMart) already states you need it on their listings.

It's not like it's been a secret at all. Sony isn't trying to pull the wool over anyone's eyes on this. The only other thing they could have done to make it more fluid is to just include the camera with every system sold, and they wanted to, but they wanted to achieve a price point more....and personally, given how the camera, and even PSVR aren't going to be something even half the user base wants, I don't feel they should have had to pay for ubiquitous adoption of the camera.

[2cents]

Had the oculus for just under a week. I notice the pixel grid quite frequently, resolution is great but noticeable.

Now I have the Rift, I could never go down to a lower resolution such as the PSVR. It would be really annoying to step down in fidelity. I already want a higher res so I totally get what this guy is saying.

[kneon]

The screen door effect is obvious on both the Oculus and Vive, but not on the PSVR despite the lower resolution

[2cents]

I've heard many different opinions about that.

All I know is when playing a game like adrift, where you have a crystal sharp hud in the foreground, a pretty good resolution on the play area and then a slightly blurry skybox background, as you move around and see all layers moving against each other with parallax, resolution is EVERYTHING. I can already see the cracks in fidelity.

This is on oculus with a i7 6800k and 980ti and 32gb RAM. I am pleased with the results but I can see how it could easily be better. With that in mind, I would now not go down in resolution as any more blur in a huge scale game like Adrift will really spoil the immersion, however, only if you have tried the oculus or vive would this be an issue.

If PSVR is the only headset you will use then im sure it will be fine. I think of it as watching a film in 1080p, once you have seen it, sub 1080p just doesn't look as good when you know it can be better.

Ala Xbox1 vs. PS4 Res-Wars.

[kneon]

Opinions vary because people's vision varies. For me the screen door is obvious. I use the Rift, Vive and Gear VR all the time in our lab, but have only tried the PSVR 3 or 4 times. I have 2 on order though.

But I've had hundreds of people try VR and not one has ever complained about the screen door effect, they are too busy enjoying the experience.

[2cents]

You hit the nail on the head, key point... Enjoying the experience.

I guess the experience is different when trying it at an event or somewhere not in your own personal setup. I tried vive at Curry's and it was stunning, didn't notice anything. Many of my students have Gear VR and while its fun, it feels gimmicky.

When I got my own oculus setup in my home however, I looked at it with 'new eyes'. Now far more judgemental about it having laid out £530 and I am scrutinising every aspect.
Im looking for problems to understand, accept and ignore.

I find there is a sweet spot to Oculus where I can achieve perfect vision but its hard to maintain when flailing around in VR.

What I do get is looking at the rez scale from GearVR to Vive/Oculus, I have decided that nothing is powerful enough to totally immerse but its really close and Very Enjoyable!

Im already looking forward to round two of VR!
With that said, im off to die some more in Space... :)

[rainslacker]

The Screen door effect isn't a byproduct of the resolution, rather the pixel layout. Sony uses a different pixel layout than the Vive or OR, and the SDE is either non-existent, or barely noticeable by all the 1st hand accounts I've seen. My personal experience with it, while limited so far, I have not noticed any unless I paused a game and really looked for it. I certainly notice it on some content on the OR, which I use much more often at work. I have yet to use the Vive at work though, so can't attest to that.

I suppose if you have extremely great vision, you'd be hard pressed to really notice on the PSVR. Even then, with a moving image, the effect will be lessened due to the way the pixels are laid out.

[2cents]

Hey Rainslacker,

I Hear Ya!
I did mean them as two separate points.
1. Screen door
2. Resolution

Good to hear that point one is taken care of by PSVR.
Point two is really my focus as the pixel grid is not a huge issue but noticeable in certain situations.

I want more pixels! Greedy? Yes, and proud of it!

[Jayszen]

@2cents

You are making the assumption that the screen door effect would be worse on the PSVR even though so many have already stated that in actuality it is worse on the Rift and the Vive. I suggest you try the PSVR first before you decide which is worse. That is only fair.

[2cents]

I did not separate the two points very well.

Im sorry for any misunderstanding, I am not hating on PSVR. I'm personally saying that its not for me due to the lower rez now that i have oculus.

I also stated that I have noticed the screen door on occasions.

These are two separate topics for me. But Rez is king because when I get the sweet spot, then obviously having a higher resolution is going to benefit.

That's all. Im not saying PSVR is bad, but its not the best either.

[Elda]

Don't feel bad I personally never felt the need to buy a PS camera & I also personally feel there's no need for the PSVR at this moment,possibly several years from now if it's a success. Just give me games to play on my hdtv.

[Jburr94]

Craps on PSVR, subtly criticizes GT and enjoys Forza. That'll certainly get the fanboys griping.

[2cents]

Dont forget the Halo 5 Poster right behind him :)

[TheTwelve]

Plenty of my suspicions confirmed. We shall see.

[TheGamingArt]

I'm simply unsold because of the visual quality and _games_... both of which were lacking when I played.

[NerveGearneeded]

PPI problem is well known, according to palmer luckey we need more than 8k per eye!
http://arstechnica.com/gami...