With the flatscreen videogames feeling ever more stagnant, is VR becoming the leader in modern gaming innovation?
Playstation Blog writes: "Players will have access to buy and play Steam’s expansive library of thousands of VR games, including fan favorites like Half-Life: Alyx, Fallout 4 VR, and War Thunder."
Yeah, with none of the headset's standout features. No HDR, no eye tracking, no headset feedback, no adaptive triggers, and no haptics. Don't get me wrong, it's still a quality headset with good lenses and screens, but without those features it is not a no-brainer for PCVR, it falls more into the "it's fine" category and you get better value elsewhere with the PICO 4 and Quest 3.
Still, if you already have a PSVR2 and a gaming PC, this is a huge extra value for not that much extra money. And if you have a PS5 and a PC, this might be worth it for you as well. And hopefully someone can mod the extra features to it in the future, then it will be back at the no-brainer category for PCVR.
Perhaps the Sony PCVR releases will have those features? I mean not every PCVR game has them because the other headsets dont support them. We can assume them making the headset work on PC will also bring along some of their VR titles that will include the things you mentioned.
Their statement doesn't leave room for them supporting those features in the future.
"PS VR2 was designed from the ground up specifically for PS5 – so you’ll notice that some key features, like HDR, headset feedback, eye tracking, adaptive triggers, and haptic feedback (other than rumble), are not available when playing on PC."
I think one of the Vive headsets supports eye tracking so I'd think SteamVR has an API for that at least. Hopefully they'll add in support for the other stuff over time
Which they should develop as part of fully supporting the platform. Or, at the very least, work with the currently available OpenXR extensions to fill the gap.
"if you already have a PSVR2 and a gaming PC, this is a huge extra value for not that much extra money." this is my situation, and I think it's great. Even if I won't get all the headset's features for the PC VR games, I'll now have access to 2 of the 3 main VR platforms for just the cost of the adapter.
This is sad to here. One step forward and 2 steps back. If PSVR isn't doing well on playstation, why do they believe they will find more success on the PC with even more competition over there after crippling the headset.
You bring up valid points although I think it's likely PSVR2 would surpass Quest 3 eventually. Some of these features (like haptics and HDR) could be patched in by modders.
I'd get this for my Mac if the emulation scene supports it well enough.
Why would the PSVR2 surpass the Quest3, even if all features were available? The Quest 3 is standalone and can play PC VR, whereas the PSVR2 headset requires a PS5 (or now a PC) to function. The Quest 3 operates wirelessly, while the PSVR2 appears to need multiple ports on the back of the PC. The Quest 3 requires minimal calibration and settings to operate, whereas the PSVR2 likely needs calibration on a PC or just for the controller to be recognized. Most importantly, Quest 3 controllers are available for purchase.
@Pete
I'm comparing only as a device to get PCVR content here as this is what I was directly responding to. As such the PSVR2 has HDR, headset rumble, wider FOV, better haptics plus resistive triggers, and much darker blacks. Quest 3 has wireless (with a significant reduction in quality) and sharper image quality at the peripheral edges of the display.
For immersive gaming PSVR2 is much better. As for eye tracking it might never be a factor for PCVR but if it was; the quality of visuals would boost a lot more yet. IMO the PSVR2 is a better way to play VR games even with only a few of these advantages being ported to PC. If they are all available it's no contest.
To be fair the lenses are often criticised, Fresnel is no longer consider a viable lens option. If I had a gaming PC and was into VR I wouldn't buy a semi proprietary headset that has mostly been designed or the PS5.
I don't like the disadvantages of fresnel lenses, but I like the advantages of it producing a much brighter result, allowing HDR to work without resorting to ultra high cost micro LED like the Vision Pro solution or using LCD to get the image bright enough. If you use LCD screens there are major disadvantages. So all in all the PSVR2 still has its major advantages on PC if the HDR works well.
$59.99 for freaking adapter? I'll wait for a better and cheaper third party adapter. This is why Sony products fail. They charge way too much.
lol the nest of wires adapter is back with loads of missing features, The headset is already DOA for PC.
It's disappointing to anticipate PCVR integration with PSVR2, only to realize it's a tough situation for those who don't own the device.
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The PlayStation VR 2 deal is one of many great PlayStation discounts available until June 12. That said, if you're interested in PSVR 2 but still need to upgrade your console, the are also deals on the PS5 Slim and PS5 Slim digital edition during the PlayStation Days of Play sale.
Sorry but PSVR2 is dead and double dead at any sale price. It was dead before it launched as the "premium" VR scene lost all the AAA developers and now it is all indie mobile phone crap quality software.
But no one is buying enough of the games to generate the required profit for game publishers. :-(
I mean to my eyes regular gaming just has evolutions left. Everything boils down to what we already have a primitive version of; ai, physics, raytracing. For VR we have just scraped the surface, we are at pong level right now. We only have head and hand tracking mainstream so far.
AR is more likely to be the future main tech but VR will always have a place in the home. Idk if it will ever be possible, but a full body VR experience where you can walk without moving is the end game for me. Perhaps full dive isnt just a fantasy, but even I can't go THAT far.
VR is great. It's more immersive than any flat game can be. But, we don't need to trash flat games to uplift VR games. Article says flat gaming has hit a dead end. But there's always more to improve there as well as VR gaming.
I was just as jaded by how nothing seems improve in gaming. The same fighting games, the same red barrels, the same stupid AI. I was almost done after playing for over 40 years of gaming. Then I got VR. VR made me feel like a kid again. Everything was new. I wanted to try all types of VR games. Found many great titles.
But, it reinvigorated my love of gaming too. Games like Ghost of Tsushima took gaming for me to the next level beyond great games like Onimusha. Or reflux 5 getting a great Spider-Man game story and all. Horizon went way beyond what Guerilla Games did with Killzone. Retro games became that much more fun again. Arcade and old school console games.
But VR does have a long way to go. It'll be years before we get to the point where modern gaming is now. But the journey is just as fun until we get there. Can't wait to see the more advanced VR games with more physics, AI, objects on-screen, etc. Just like what's happening in flat gaming.
Can't wait for VR to hit that Ghost of Tsushima and Spider-Man moment in VR. VR is innovative. But flat gaming can still surprise us. Even peripherals like Dual Sense brought unexpected surprises. Even though 3D sound does have its impressive origins in VR that PS5 and Xbox series enjoy now.
I've definitely lost a lot of interest in traditional gaming since I started playing on PSVR1 and PSVR2. Big names like Spiderman 2 pull me back of course and I'll probably never give it up entirely, but since playing Firewall Zero Hour I find it difficult to enjoy 'flat' FPS games and online games in general. Playing online in VR makes you feel like you're actually hanging out with people, for me anyway.
The problem with VR, or PSVR2 at least so far, is that Sony aren't fully committing. They'll buy Nixxes to port games to PC but why haven't they got a dedicated team to make VR updates for their games? If Capcom can bring RE7/8/4 to PSVR, why can't Sony bring Uncharted/TLOU/GoW? There's a modder on PC called PreyDog who makes VR mods for PC games single handedly, why can't Sony manage this? They also need to be doing everything in their power to get GTA V/RDR2/GTA VI running on PSVR2. Any of those would move headsets.
Can we really call it innovative when VR has been around longer than in the last decade? It's been improved, hardware always is. But I think, for games at least, and really anything with software being what drives the hardware, that innovation must be done within the software itself. The VITA had a lot of neat features that went mostly ignored later in its life. The DS4 touch pad and speaker were underutilized, I don't think I've played a single Nintendo made game that uses the touch screen for anything unique in any of their games. Hardware becomes a gimmick if devs don't wanna use it.