270°

PlayStation VR headset: The verdict - BBC News

Strategy Analytics forecasts that only 3% of Brits will own a VR headset this year and the PlayStation model will account for just 7% of that number. The bulk, it says, will instead own more basic "shells" into which they can slot a smartphone.

BBC Click's Marc Cieslak put the PS VR to the test and had reservations of his own.

ArchangelMike2749d ago

Why does the news media always get some clueless journalist to review and comment on gaming technology and game news? That was just so uninformative I feel like I've been retarded in some way.

The 10th Rider2748d ago

That just reminds me of this horrid review in our local paper for the movie "the Eagle." It complained that the Romans were barbarians, so they couldn't be the good guys, that there was no lead female character, and that they could simply forge another eagle so the lost legion could reform. Basically it was one long review of Roman culture. Bleh.

ArchangelMike2747d ago

Brilliant film, The Eagle. I wasn't expecting much, but ended up really enjoying the twist in the story.

DeeBeers2748d ago

I agree. People shouldn't be allowed to review things. Let us stop this intolerable trend. Only fanboys and robots and sentient machines designed to think like fanboys who were designed by robots may henceforth review consumer technology.

ArchangelMike2747d ago (Edited 2747d ago )

Sure, let any old uninformed talking head do video game reviews. Why not, because the point of a review is not to inform and educate, but just to stand in front of a camera flapping your mouth about a product you have zero interest in, and have no idea about the technology. smh.

2748d ago
Apex132747d ago

What did the journalist say or do that made them clueless or am I missing something because he didn't say it was perfect?

TankCrossing2747d ago

It is relevant to their audience. BBC addresses pretty much the whole British nation, and there are a lot of people out there with maybe a passing interest in VR who will approach it from the same clueless position as this guy.

Mainstream media won't educate people like you or me on anything games related because we're enthusiasts who absorb as much information as we can from enthusiast sources. Articles like this can only provide us some insight on how the mainstream perceive things though, which can be interesting to observe.

Aenea2747d ago

It wasn't that bad actually. Just missing the enthusiasm a bit I suppose and the silly wires stuff. Yes, lots of cables, but it isn't that much! There are only 5 of them I think and it's pretty straight forward and the manual is rather clear and the numbered cables help too.

It just misses something tho, it's not negative, not positive either, it was rather neutral with mentioning some small negatives, the cables and set up mostly and that it isn't perfect yet, still he said it was one of the best VR solutions at the moment. Again, I missed the enthusiasm, what I mean is, is that you can't really say stuff like "the green screen will show what I see" since it's not entirely correct, your experience is in 3d which is fricking awesome, what you see on the flat tv output seems very normal...

rainslacker2747d ago

Well, BBC would be approaching it from the viewpoint of the layman who wouldn't care to have as much detail as us hardcore gamers would, so the "clueless guys" perspective may be relevant.

That being said, it'd be nice if they did at least have enough technical knowledge to describe it properly.

Sadly, this is likely only the beginning of the clueless mainstream media's take on the device. If it becomes a big thing, it'll only get worse. Best example I can make is just how clueless and sensational GG became due to mainstream media's inept and unresearched reporting....which to be fair wasn't helped by some in the gaming press doing their irresponsible reporting....but I digress.

Maybe PSVR will get lucky, and a lot of the layman reports will actually be greatly impressed by it, and random reporters feeling ill from it won't be blown up into huge proportions, and the press will actually warn people in a responsible way that it often goes away soon after you use it a bit never to return, or that some games may be more prone to causing such things, and that people should try it out....along with how to be responsible in controlling your gaming intake until you get used to it.

Somehow though, I don't think that's going to happen, because the media does love it's sensationalism.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 2747d ago
REDGUM2748d ago

There's 64 million people in the UK.
3% = 1.92 million sales in just under 3 months.

That's pretty good in my books!

ballisticvoodoo2748d ago

Excellent point. Of course the media wont' say 1.92 million sales. They'd rather water it down with "only 3%".

Valkron12748d ago

Don't mind me watering it down a bit, but they said PSVR would account for 7%.
7% of 1.92 million is 134,400.
It's not bad, just not a huge seller.
And down votes for math starts..........NOW!

Rimeskeem2748d ago

@Valkron1

Also, there have been around 3 million PS4s sold in Britain as of March (couldn't find any other info). If we take the 134,000 and divide 3,000,000 (3,000,000/134,000) = 22(ish). So 1 of every 22 PS4 owners in Britain will own PSVR.

G20WLY2747d ago

^You guys are all absolutely right. Media wish to downplay with the same stats that show a promising start. retain isn't a huge market, so 134,400 is a great number as a portion of 3 million and all expected within the before end of 2016!

What does surprise me - and I can't help doubting a little - is the 7% of VR sales going to PSVR. If they're talking about the next 3 months, I don't believe it - it's obviously going to sell tonnes more than Rift or Vive and, outside buying Cardboard to see what the fuss is about, I can't see droves buying the cheap stuff like Samsung Gear. You're either up for VR or you're curious.

If they mean 7% of the WHOLE year, however, I can see that being reasonable, as only 3 months remain and that would be inline with the negative picture the media like to opt towards for headlines. What would be fairer, would be to look at what portion of VR will go to PSVR for the remainder of 2016.

rainslacker2747d ago (Edited 2747d ago )

I wouldn't take the numbers as gospel right now. It's a predictive number for how many people will own some sort of VR device, not an actual sell through on what's been sold.

Assuming the numbers are right though, one can say 134K based on people's math, but 150K would likely be a more logical number, since Sony is likely to only ship that many to the UK this year....or maybe 200K. Apparently retailers won't be getting restocked after the initial allotment until November, so shortages of the device are likely already happening.

Overall 134-150K isn't a terrible number for the UK. It's new tech, hasn't been advertised that heavily yet, and will have limited supply. So long as it keeps growing, and drives interest then it's probably going to be considered successful.

Using the same maths, we could say that these same analyst are predicting that smart phone VR is going to be in the 1.5+ million range if we make some assumption on OR/Vive sell through, which kind of defies logic since smart phone users aren't prone to buying auxiliary peripherals that don't involve the listening of music or using their smart phone in ways that aren't related to gaming.

but realistically, if VR can manage to capture 3% of a market so quickly, it means good things for VR going forward, so long as people's perceptions of it aren't turned off by their experience with whatever means they decide to partake in the technology. For instance, if one got Google Cardboard, it may make the experience less than compelling if they don't really research the games(which many may not because they're more casual), so that may form their position on VR for another decade until the tech gets another go around or the VR of now takes off to a point people decide to give it another go.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2747d ago
s45gr322747d ago

What was the verdict of PS VR because the article hid it away

G20WLY2747d ago

They love it like the rest of Earth!

Jayszen2747d ago

This journalist clearly is not a gamer and is prone to over-dramatisation such as with his crack about "wiring a building" or something like that. Yes, there is a fair amount of cabling but Sony has made it so easy to attach the PSVR to your console that even a child can do it so clearly this journalist is not as smart as a child. Of course wiring in this day and age of wireless hardware is inconvenient but the PSVR is part of the FIRST generation of VR hardware and as the industry matures, the hardware will get better and I am sure we are not too far away from a wireless headset. All three major brands of PSVR, the Rift and the Vive are encumbered with wiring.

No mention of what games are available for PSVR and why it represents the best chance of VR succeeding, Just a look at a couple of games and not even the best of them which are Driveclub VR, Rigs or Eve Valkyrie as well as a brace of other smaller games.

BBC should do better!

andibandit2747d ago (Edited 2747d ago )

BBC's audience arent really characterized as gamers, they are problably regular people who would problably have the same impression, as the guy doing the review had.

DivineAssault 2747d ago

Well I dont expect casuals to buy it so that narrows the market.. Still, I think PS4 owners surely are interested..

rainslacker2747d ago (Edited 2747d ago )

I think PSVR is more likely to sell to the casuals than OR or Vive. Not just on price alone, but since Sony will be marketing it as a console. That alone will get people's attention. Samsung has been advertising GearVR pretty heavily, and they've been getting sales because of it. Even Google is doing more marketing for Cardboard, and it's been a popular option....particularly among the casuals. Vive and OR have no casual marketing, and I'd be surprised if you could find anyone outside gamer forums who even know what they are, or could tell you much about them.

I don't think Sony is targeting it at the casuals for now though. But I'd imagine if they're already making a profit on the hardware, that the price could easily reach a mainstream acceptance point within a year or two, at which time, Sony will likely be the most thought of console VR solution since OR and Vive can't compete on price, and Facebook overall is probably going to take a different approach with OR. I also don't think that OR and Vive are even competing with the console VR market right now, although they obviously wouldn't turn away the chance to have their hardware sold there if it's made available like with the Scorpio. But they'll have to have it ready out of the gate, because the longer Sony has the console VR market to themselves, the more they become known for it, and the bigger their support for games will become.

DivineAssault 2747d ago

You have a point.. I still think gamers that are looking for something new instead of better graphics will turn toward it too though.. Thats why i bought it and trust me, dropping $400 wasnt an easy choice..

130°

PC VR On Steam Is Actually Growing, Not Shrinking

It's sometimes claimed that PC VR usage on Steam is shrinking, but here's why that isn't actually true.

Read Full Story >>
uploadvr.com
bunt-custardly12d ago

Good, silence the naysayers who talk bollocks.

Tacoboto12d ago

The context in the article is kinda like the discussion of MAU metrics. Manipulation of figures to get it to say what you want it to.

I.e. "The proportion is shrinking, but there are more players so it's actually not shrinking!"

Crows9012d ago

That's not like mau metrics ....

If there's 20,000 players and only 10% use it and then there's a jump to 40,000 and 10% are using still using it then....there's been an increase because 10% of 40k is higher than 20k.

That's an actual number increase of people using it. That's growth.

Tacoboto12d ago

MAU is used to reference engagement or growth in a game. The conversation is muddied because people want to talk about sales instead of player count. How is this not like that?

Growth can mean and be two different things. Growth of quantity, or growth of proportion. People in finance and accounting will never look at 2% in one instant and look at 2% at a later instant and say "Hey look, growth!" That's a joke, to be frank. The 2% is more than the earlier 2% but that 98% remainder also grew.

Eonjay12d ago

Which is why Sony is putting PSVR 2 on it.

Abnor_Mal12d ago

I wish Sony would have given upgrades to many of their PSVR games for their VR2 system. Unfortunately for me their pcvr movement is not doing me any favors, hopefully there’s some kind of trickle down effect.

Eonjay12d ago

Sony would only be able to Patch its own games. Devs would have to go back and create their own patches. To be frank, whats gonna stop this from happening is money. Are they willing to pay to have a developer create the patch, QA to test...

Abnor_Mal12d ago

@Eonjay totally agree with what you said about third party devs and the cost, Q&A etc, but Sony could have updated Astrobot, The Persistance, Blood and Truth, and Farpoint. Have a few in-house devs work on DriveClub vr, and pay for an update for Rush of Blood and maybe a Shadow of the Colossus VR. I would love to play Borderlands VR on PSVR2.

shinoff218312d ago

Sure Sony mightve been able to help but reality is most of those titles were from 3rd parties.

ApocalypseShadow12d ago (Edited 12d ago )

What he's saying is that Sony should have lead by example. Instead, they haven't done shit bringing them forward and expected 3rd parties to do it themselves in bringing their own games. If Sony's not going to do it, why should they?

It's like when they lead by example in the creation of their games. Or lead by example when they make their hardware.

Hate to say it, but for PS VR 2, they are lagging big time. GT is nice. But if you're tired of sims, then there's just Horizon. I'd rather have Blood and Truth remastered at that level or a sequel than what they currently released. No chance of that though as they killed London Studios. Another bullshit move they made. About as bad as killing Evolution Studios to keep GT as their only racing game. I like Sony's platform. But I'm not buying their headset if they're not going to put in the effort like they do with flat games.

shinoff218312d ago

Exactly. I almost bought vr2 but it's the games missing. Sure that horizon might be dope but I'd prefer the full horizon, or last of us, Spiderman, something. Pay some 3rd party devs. I was hoping to get that fallout 4 but that's not happening now lol

shinoff218312d ago

Vr is dope. Idk know why people wanna hate. It's definitely a dope next step. Even if it's a sidestep. I really wish more developers would throw down. Imagine a last of us with vr, or a final fantasy game, all kinds of stuff. It would be incredible.

bunt-custardly12d ago

Praydog's FREE UEVR mod is working wonders for the PC VR community.

80°

PSVR2 Firmware Update Shows Early Signs of PC Support via Cable Connection

Recent findings in the latest PSVR2 software update, indicates that PlayStation is already starting to implement support for PC.

Garethvk33d ago

I can finally play Half Life Alyx.

mariopasta33d ago

I can finally watch pron, I mean watch pronouns be pronounced in PC VR games that were previously not available on Playstation.

crazyCoconuts32d ago

be careful not to sprain your... tongue pronouncing those pronouns

Profchaos32d ago

I'm excited for that to plus I can try fallout 4 VR always wanted to play that

crazyCoconuts32d ago

I was lucky and held off on 4 until I played it in VR. It really is pretty awesome - you'll love it.

DaReapa32d ago

The icing on the cake would be if Sony / Valve allow for a Steam Link app much like it is for the Quest 3. Likely wishful thinking, though.

220°

The newly founded 'Flat2VR Studios' aim to make VR modding a serious business

The Flat2VR community is taking the next step and announced a studio that will develop and commercialize licensed VR ports.

Read Full Story >>
mixed-news.com
Profchaos38d ago

This is great news I love virtual reality and my psVR2 however it's clear that the current bespoke way of building VR games is not working. There's some great games that have been released Absol but they are few and far between and if they are native they are clearly lower in budget and scope then at least I would like. It's definitely jarring to.go from high quality games like Spider-Man 2 to the biggest VR releases like Arizona sunshine 2 and see the huge gulp in quality.

This company aims to streamline porting older games into VR and make them feel as VR native as possible.

And to be honest some of my favourite VR experiences have been traditionally flat screen games ported into VR like resident evil 7, 8 4, doom 3 with the aim controller or borderlands 2.

And I'm not saying that there isn't great native VR games to be found I'm saying more traditional games ported over would be very welcome we have decades of amazing games that we all love and VR presents an opportunity to truely bring us into the world.

just_looken38d ago

The floating hands wires climbing/tool sims need to go for sure.

But i want the sword art online vr now that would be awesome

Leeroyw38d ago

I just found my people. Massive vr fan here but I want to live in older more broader era experiences that were made for traditional gaming. But in VR.

just_looken37d ago

@Lee

Rollarcoasters would be something else in vr

aaronlif1035d ago

Yes! I hope they bring Doom 3 to PSVR2. I was happy to see it on PSVR but couldn't help but feel like they should have held off for the PSVR2 for that game. They had to substantially cut the visuals on that. I feel like a psvr2 version would be able to do it better justice. I've asked the company that made the psvr port if there was any plans to make a psvr2 version, they said no but that if they were asked by Sony to do it they would. I also would love to see Star Wars Squadrons get a PSVR2 version.

Profchaos35d ago

Yes squadrons I forgot about that one it was amazing to play online with flat screen gamer friends some of my favourite multiplayer moments

RiseNShine37d ago

Amazing news, there're so many forgotten gems out there, these guys have been consistently porting old games like Return to Wolfenstein, Quake 4, jedi knight, etc. Sounds great that they can earn a living by doing official ports, publishers dust off some old properties, gamers get great games in VR, we all win.

mudakoshaka37d ago

Awesome news! Which popular Steam and Switch game do you think is their first project?