Oculus on Sony's Rumored VR Headset

Oculus' VP of product discusses Sony's fabled VR headset for the PS4 and how the Rift stands to compete.

[XiSasukeUchiha]

Let the VR battles begin!

[parentoftheyear]

Isn't one for PC and one for Ps system? The best of both worlds I'd you ask me.

[SteamPowered]

So true. Its funny how people dont see this as anything but direct competition. Play it on the Platform that suits you.

[webeblazing]

If it is true I doubt PS vr will be limited to just ps4. I'm sure people will find a way to use it for PC. The the great thing about PC the options. On consoles your limited what the console makers feed you. I'm sure PS vr will be great if its true. Sony has a record for trying their best when it comes to tech.

[starchild]

I have no doubt that VR is going to revolutionize gaming. I've used the Rift on several occasions and having experienced it first hand I think both Sony and Microsoft will eventually be on board the VR train. Once you understand where it is going nobody would want to be left behind.

[ChozenWoan]

Now all we need a Sword Art Online annoucement!!!
=D

[darthv72]

Well this time around it seems like it will actually make its way to the end users. Unlike the sega vr and jag vr prototypes back in the day.

[memots]

The moment Ps Vr is working/supported on PC i am picking one up.

I would love the Oculus rift for Pc but as it most likely won't work on consoles at all i am not too interested,

[ShinMaster]

Oculus Rift might be the pricier more high-end VR device.
While the Sony's headset may be more affordable and geared towards the mid-range.

One is for PC, the other for PS4.

They don't seem to be in direct competition anyway.

[Azzanation]

PC and PS4 best combo? No, 90% of the games on PS4 are on PC why would you want both platforms that play the same Indie games? Except with PC you can play Indie and 3rd Party games at 1080p+ and 60frames+ with no BS.

Best combo is PC and WiiU because you have access to all the Big Nintendo games which Nintendo own the biggest and most popular franchises in gaming, whilst having access to every 3rd party and Indie game on PC. PS4 is a mid range PC with 2 AAA games with low meta scores. If you brought your PS4 for Indies your a fool, PC have been offering a bigger Indie library for years and its free from subscriptions.

[GW212]

I disagree. What if one is materially better than the other? With expensive hardware like this, I want the best possible experience, regardless of platform. The best of both worlds would be the ability to choose your VR headset and be able to use it with any supported game on any platform.

Bad enough we have this console war BS. Let's not hop on the VR headset war train too. I've had enough of it. One day, we'll get back to games and experiences... one day...

[Kidmyst]

I don't thing the Rift will have the affordablility as the morpheus will have. Sony will market it to push it to as many PS4 owners as they can but the Rift will probably be a bit better but then that comes with a higher cost. I'm guessing the Morpheus will be around $200 and the Rift $350 or more.

[Gamer1982]

If Oculus ever comes out on PC.. They just keep revising it after showing it off at events around the world.. Whats the point of showing it off and hyping it then making a new one? Its like Sony making a PS5 then showing it off around the world before announcing PS6 without even releasing the PS5.. Then complaining if MS brought out an actual console to market..

[telekineticmantis]

No need for comp, PC crowd theirs, console players get theirs.

[frostypants]

The more entrants to the market, the better. Remember, we're starting at a completely untapped market here. Competition will increase adoption and drive up sales for everyone.

[_FantasmA_]

We are, VR...Troopers!

[DigitalRaptor]

Humble and realistic. I like this guy.

[Godmars290]

Not saying anything other than, "Hope Sony doesn't ruin it for us". That their focus is VR on PCs.

[Muerte2494]

I like his message though. It's pretty much "Hey, Sony, do it right?" I like that. They are more excited about the furthering of VR as a whole than having a pissing contest. I don't doubt Sony's ability to deliver an experience close to, or better, than the Oculus Rift. Thuway was right by the way guys.

[Omegasyde]

true but for now the products cater to two different markets.

I don't see Oculus rift coming to PS4/Xbox1 anytime soon, but I do see the PS4's VR PC compatible at some point.

If PC get's more headsets, than that means more competition which will result in lower prices for consumers. In the end, gamers win.

[Gamer1982]

Sony arent gonna step on there toes but than again Oculus arent looking like ever releasing the oculus rift.. So they won't ever rival anybody.. The things never been readily available for consumers.

[sorane]

@gamer

"Oculus arent looking like ever releasing the oculus rift"

What kind of nonsense is that. You can go order a Rift right now that has better specs(devkit2 is a monster and for sale right now on the OR website) than the Sony prototype(I stress prototype since it's nowhere near release). Also the Rift already has more games that support it then the ps4 will have for years to come if ever.

http://www.riftenabled.com/...

Yeah sure seems looks like it's never gonna be released.....

[OrangePowerz]

Let's see if VR turns out to be more then a short lived overhyped trend.

[Godmars290]

An overhyped trend from over twenty years ago you mean.

[papashango]

An overhyped trend on/as a console sure.

Still VR tech on consoles imo is still a generation too soon. Hardware limitations will be it's achilles heel. Whereas PC technology has reached a point where Rift developers don't have to worry so much about it.

[Godmars290]

And most consumers wont likely be able to afford a high end PC to run the best VR rig. As many and more wont have the knowledge to maintain it.

[frostypants]

@papashango...current mainstream PCs can barely keep up with a PS4. You can bet that OR devs want their product to work on those, if they plan on making money anytime soon. I don't see them releasing a product that only works well on uber rigs, which is what you're describing.

[AgentSmithPS4]

@papashango

GTA V, the last of us, etc looked great on old gen, of course VR can look good on the PS4. Price is the only thing I'm worried about.

It won't be the best of course because you have to pay more to get more, but consoles are "good enough".

[FlyingFoxy]

@frostypants

You sure? Even the budget (fairly cheap) R9 270x graphics card keeps up with the PS4..

[AgentSmithPS4]

Maybe you'd like a time machine so you could go back to when the world was flat?

People fail all the time but someone will eventually do VR right and then only a stubborn fool wouldn't like it.

[WeAreLegion]

They aren't competing. Both companies want to move the industry forward with this technology.

[Bathyj]

A rising tide lifts all boats.

[Ju]

I'd think with a big player like Sony, the tide should be rising quite a bit. More so than Oculus could do on their own.

[Bathyj]

Yeah, thats my point. Some people might want to say its Sony vs Oculus but it reality both companies pushing VR will bring awareness. The VR market would be tiny at the moment, getting more people into it might mean a smaller piece of the pie for Oculus, but the pie itself will be much larger.

Its what Sony did for the games industry itself with the first Playstation by making games cool for adults. Gaming was thought of as just for kids and nerds before that. When Playstation came out suddenly celebrities were endorsing it, PSones were having competitions in nightclubs, (which I won playing Wipeout, YYYEEAAAAHHH!! ;) and the whole market and perception changed forever.

I dont see much overlap here. Sony will be the console version, more mainstream, and Oculus will be more high end PC version, just like we have a console and PC market now, and the whole VR market will grow.

[kingPoS]

-When Playstation came out suddenly celebrities were endorsing it, PSones were having competitions in nightclubs- Heheheh Tekken 3 at the club was pure awesomeness with a kick a$$ sound system.

The 90's were the best!

Gateway MT6706 2008

[diehardmetallicafan]

i reckon sony will announce vr and put just as much effort and backing behind it as the ps4. they can be the first mainstream vr producers for gaming and even home cinema viewing - movies and tv etc

[BitbyDeath]

2 more hours til we find out.

[Ricegum]

What's this you speak of? And where can I watch it?

[GentlemenRUs]

I want to know the same.

EDIT: He's also talking about Sony's GDC session.

[BitbyDeath]

Innovation @ PlayStation

Don't think any filming will be going on but you should be able to read a live blog of the events here -

http://b-ten.com/liveblog-t...

[jnemesh]

Another journalist noted that this is the ONE event of GDC where no filming of any kind is allowed.

[Salooh]

Nvm , you answered it ^^..

[kingduqc]

Sony's console don't have the muscle to move VR to a great experience.

you need 90fps(for strobing) 1600p+, ps4 can barely do 30fps 1080p in most gmaes.

[GarrusVakarian]

Think about what you just said. You really think Sony are just going to plan this for years, spend millions in research and testing....and then at the last minute say "dammit, the PS4 isn't powerful enough to run VR...silly us!"?

Sony's answer to VR is obviously going to be tailored for the PS4 because, as you said, it's not powerful enough to do it in the same way the oculus does it. Sony know what their console is capable of and what is going to be needed in order to make VR work on it.

Now we just wait and see exactly how they are going to make it work.

[kingduqc]

W/e make you sleep at night. The reality of it is that the ps4 got a 7850 inside and it's quite slow compare to modern and upcoming gpus and that just about anyone who tried the 720p Oculus rift will tell you that you need really high resolution, really high refresh rate and low motion blur for it to be a pleasant experience witch the ps4 can't do.

http://www.tomshardware.com...

But I guess the guys working on it are saying bullshit since I get so many disagree.

[jnemesh]

Funny, because the Oculus Rift dev kits are SIGNIFICANTLY less than 1080p, and the general consensus is that it looks great and is very immersive. You, sir, are talking out of your ass.

[elhebbo16]

Yea but the Dev kit is definitely not the finally product. the consumer version is said to habe a 1440p display.

[starchild]

You guys are both right to a certain degree.

Compelling VR experiences can still be had on the PS4 if they are specifically tailored for VR keeping in mind the limits of the hardware.

On the other hand, we won't be playing games like The Order 1886 or The Witcher 3 in their full glory in VR on the PS4. Those games run at 30fps on the PS4 and there is simply no performance left over.

[Salooh]

It's not like oculus doing 4K , i don't think it need that much power to monitor on that device.

I'm not expert on that stuff though. Just a guess.

[ainsleyharriott]

Both valve and OR said that 4k will be needed for the best experience. Also each scene has to be rendered twice, once for each eye at a different perspective.

[FlyingFoxy]

4k with 3D enabled would be a nightmare to run.

1080p is still the sweet spot with a 1 single high end graphics card, and 1440p is the limit if you want good speeds. 4k runs piss poor on a single high end card, runs ok ish on 2 cards. Now think about 4k needing 2x as much power to run well..

not going to happen unless graphics cards make a huge leap on the next releases. For monitors 1080p is good enough, 1440p is more than good enough.

For the Rift because it's so close to the eyes, and thanks to the backwards tech known as LCD screens (CRT was better) we can see the pixels if looking as close to the screen as the Rift needs. Making it a complete pig to run well if @ 4k.

[Omegasyde]

Kingduqc

How do you know that the headset won't be doing the major lifting?

Oculus is relying mostly on PC's doing the gpu work, but what if Sony does the opposite?

If that is true, then the headset will be expensive but if new tech comes out... then all you need to do is buy a new headset instead of the console.

[Cryptcuzz]

That is a great idea.
In theory it can work, but like you have mentioned as well, price would be a major factor in going that route.

I believe VR is still going to be a niche device, even on the PS4 at first. I hope it will garner a lot of support from devs and consumers.

With that in mind, I hope they add some sort of processing power in the actual headset itself. That way, the VR headset for the PS4 would be able to provide an experience greater than what it normally would be able to if it did not have some sort of processing power in it. Maybe a GPU of sorts, that would at least let us play 1080P games on the PS4. Just thinking out loud here lol.

[Ju]

It's 1920x1080@60Hz interleaved. Guess which game does exactly that.

[TheTowelBoy]

Honestly either way if there's competition and they learn from each other I could literally eyes deep in an open world game within 4 years. That's NOTHING to complain about. Fallout VR anyone?

[OwnageDC650]

Rumble young man rumble!

I hope both the Oculus and Sony VR headset do very well. I would like VR to thrive and continue to grow. It will only improve immersion in games.

[mysteryraz11]

oculus rift sucks sony already owned it with its vr lol

[RytGear]

Couldn't they just stream the 2 different viewpoints to the eyes? Their remote play tech is unbelievable.

[Pillsbury1]

Competition can only innovate and drive the industry forward.

[RPG_Lover]

VR is a myth of immersion. It does not work really.

I love it how this is innovation yet when anyone else does something it is a gimmick.

This really is not innovation when others have tried this 15 years ago.

[Omegasyde]

True. I remember going to malls and playing VR Doom and Quake for 10 per 5 minutes of play.

Now if they can do a VR fighting game with motion, then I am sold.

[LetoAtreides82]

Because technology hasn't improved in those 15 years, right?

[Hicken]

Airplanes are a myth, too. Thousands of years of technology couldn't get us to fly; planes can't and don't actually work.

[NegativeCreepWA]

To start out with I'm going to support the Oculus Rift. These guys are in it for the long run for sure.

[Jovanian]

Sony is going to mess it up. Hes talking about them when he mentions his fears for Occulus. They are going to kill VR by making a crappy product that can't run on the PS4 because its not powerful enough. Thanks for holding back gaming sony.

[Omegasyde]

Yet's Sony's entry will be more affordable thus expanding the demo graphics.

Sorta like how the Wii pushed more casuals into gaming.

[annus]

I love how people have concluded that Sony's VR headset is cheaper and better than the OR even though it hasn't even been confirmed to exist yet.

[Paulie_gualtieri]

It's great that there is two entries into VR.One company can only push so much and try to entice developers.Two companies, especially a giant gaming powerhouse like Sony pushing the tech forward as well is just great all around for VR.

I feel like i'm in a dream right now.I've fantasized of VR games since i was a little kid and it's on the cusp of becoming reality.These are amazing times

[Shad0wRunner]

The Oculus isnt competing with anyone....yet. The dude in the video basically said, and Im paraphrasing "Anything that helps this technology get out and become successful, is good news. If we can get major backers like Sony and Microsoft behind this, it will open the door to new possibilities and pave the road for new experiences."

The Oculus was designed for the PC and as such, it will be optimized for the PC. Probably at the highest settings. Sony's VR HMV (Head Mounted Visor) was or is being designed for the PS4, and it will be optimized for the PS4...at it's highest settings. Those saying the PS4 cant handle a VR visor, due to limited specs...dont know what they are talking about. The PS4 is ONLY 4 months old! We have no idea where it's limitations are, right now. Noone does. Not even the devs, and they just THINK they have maxed out the PS4...but we know how that goes. We've been hearing that story from devs on the PS3, pretty much everytime a new game comes out, and yet...some dev always finds a way to squeeze more power from the PS3. So they dont really know, how far the PS3 has been maxed out, either. Although, they are at the threshold, no doubt. The PS4 is capable of amazing things, in regard to console gaming. Things we havent even seen yet. We know that some launch games, and early first year games are lacking in frame rate. But as I've always said - That depends on the developer. We've seen developers design games for the PS4 and SOME have hit that 1080p/60FPS benchmark. While others prefer to lower framerate, to maintain that 1080p resolution. Case and point - 1080p/60FPS CAN be done on PS4. It just depends on the developer and how far theyre willing to go, to hit that benchmark. It has absolutely NOTHING to do with the PS4's limitations. Once the developers have had enough experience with the PS4, in time...we will start to see most if not ALL PS4 games hit that benchmark, consistently. But dont think for one second, just because a developer CHOOSES to lower frame rate to maintain 1080p resolutions...that the PS4 is incapable of doing both. One would be stupid, to think that. Especially this early in the game.

I think, under the right circumstances...the PS4 can and will do full 1080p/60FPS with the PS4 VR HMV. But let's be real for a sec - were not gonna see those results right away. Maybe in 3-5 years, if this technology takes off and gets the right support. All theyre doing, right now...is paving the way for the VR era of gaming. For the future.

But for now, we can all dream and imagine, what we can expect to see with this new tech. Imagine, playing the next Elder Scrolls game, Resident Evil, World Of Warcraft, FFXIV, Gran Turismo and so on, with a VR Visor. Total immersion. 360 degree view, all around you. Being able to not just participate and interact with the world around you...but to actually BE in the world, around you. Like it or not, skeptic or not...this is gonna revolutionize the future of gaming.

Now all we need, is a full body suit to go along with the VR visor that would allow us to FEEL the world around us. Deliver force feedback when we get shot, we feel it. When we grab an object, we feel it in our hands. Combine THIS with the VR visor...and before you know it, the next step will be a true Matrix like world, where were all jacked in 24/7.

The potential is there. The technology is there. The motivation is there. Let's sit back and watch the magic happen. ^_-

[Wolfgang187]

sonys headset will not have a full field of vision like the rift which is very important. if it just looks like a big screen tv from 10 feet away, its not really vr and isnt very immersive or convincing. I love sony, but their HMD is $700 overpriced to the VASTLY superior rift.

[Shad0wRunner]

And you know the price...how? o_O

[xtheblackparade]

I haven't heard anyone say this yet, which suprises me, but I don't even want VR. I like playing before a tv screen with my controller. I don't like the PS move or Eye either or any of those extracontrolliculair gimmicks. I'm already retroguy before innovation is even announced.

[Shad0wRunner]

Well, that's fine. There's nothing wrong with that. TV/Controller gaming will be around for quite some time. But at least accept the fact that eventually, it WILL be phased out. Maybe in the next 10-20 years. But at the rate technology is evolving, the way we interact with our media will evolve, with it.

Just sayin...

[xtheblackparade]

I guess so yes. I just hope there will still be a market for screens and controller gaming long after VR is generally embraced. I think it could be...both.

[specialguest]

Sony's VR will use the camera to track the light bar or ball on its headset. Whats superior about this method is that it will have full 3d positional tracking. The first rift dev kit cannot do forward and backwards tracking, but the latest prototype can with the assist of a camera. I came to this conclusion, because theres actually one indie game on the ps3 which can simulate VR by attaching the move with the Sony HMZ. I believe the same concept will be used on Sony's VR headset.

[specialguest]

Before seeing the project morpheus article, looks like I was correct after all. It has 2 light bars on top.

[alti]

good guy.

[SPARTAN3]

John D. Carmack only works for one of these companys. Anyways the PC will have 10x the ammout of vr stuff conpaired to the ps4 with all the free mods and fun little tech demos. Much better than waiting for the new killzone to get its rez cut in half to work on the headset.

[ChristianTheAtheist]

That Nate Mitchell... very mature guy, unlike PR employees from certain other companies.