Sony: PlayStation VR Pre-Orders Sold “Very Fast”

The Director of PSVR acknowledges the speed of sales

[ShadowKnight]

Just like the PS4

[donthate]

To put in perspective, the Kinect was never sold out and became the fastest selling device.

PS VR didn't immediately sell out like console pre-orders, but eventually marked as sold out after a long time. My guess, it is to drive up demand, and people are snapping it up expecting a profit. I'm expecting these to flood the market come the holiday.

[Goldby]

So 2 minutes with the first batch of amazon isnt immediate, or are you talking about the 2nd batch that sold out in less than a minute?

[SavingPvt_Highon]

Sony already announced that if you didn't preorder the PSVR day 1 you're not guaranteed a headset at launch. There's phase 1 and phase 2 for preorders. There is going to be a huge shortage during the holiday in 2016, and if you wern't apart of day 1 phase 1, you might have trouble getting one.

[donthate]

Goldby:

There were plenty other retailers that have plenty stock of PS VR for weeks afterwards. Amazon is the only one that sold out, and the only one that tried to generate interest by claiming out of stock, then re-stock, mind you.

Also, out of stock means no more pre-orders..... Kinect took pre-orders the entire time as a point of reference. So the stock might be limited, but that just means lowered sale. Oculus Rift have been selling out at Best Buy within minutes too online. People are also lining up outside stores.

[Germany7]

Look at this troll again, he is really concerned about everything on PS, lol.

We are really excited to play amazing exclusives made by Sony Studios on PSVR, if you are so satisfied with your facebook device, stick with the articles for it then.
You should be concerned about Xbox lack of exclusives.

[rainslacker]

Is that why all OR is also selling out or unable to fill pre-orders?

[NotoriousWhiz]

They could pull an Nintendo and only provide a handful to each store at a time, like they did with the Wii

[donthate]

Rain:

Rift/Vive actually has production issues as they are ramping up. Sony delayed PS VR to increase production..... but yeah, making it look like it isn't available certainly helps to sell it more. Something that appears scarce tend to get people excited. Research in marketing has shown that people fear more of loosing something they don't have, as opposed to something they already have.

[Unspoken]

They made a limited quantity to build up hype. Of course there wouldn't be enough to go around on such a product. Now we will see then eBay for triple the price just like Oculus.

That's worrisome for VR as Sony tries to spin this into high demand. Their marketing can be so shady.

[G20WLY]

^@Unspoken, do you have any proof for the drivel you just spouted? Or are we to rely on your immaculate (lmfao!) track record here on N4G? Perhaps provide a link to a credible source? Just a suggestion! ;^|

[Rookie_Monster]

Yup...Lucky I was smart enough to get mine when it was available for Pre order. http://i1376.photobucket.co...

Now I will get it Day One!

[MrSugarholic]

lol, trying so hard to convince ppl.

[Rookie_Monster]

Trying with $400 for PSVR added to my $400 PS4 to convince Prople of what exactly? :o

Please explain.

[GrubsterBeater]

@Sugarholic

Did you see what he did there in his first and then second comment. So sly, but transparent, Rookie...

[Germany7]

He doesn't have any friends, lol.

[Aquietguy]

Lucky you. I'm hoping there's a black Friday deal. I was between this and the NX for a Christmas present for my kids. Nintendo answered that.

[trooper_]

Uh huh....

[GrubsterBeater]

Sure you are, Rookie.

We allll believe you./s

[kenwonobi]

This isn't surprising. It's the most affordable entry into top of the line modern virtual reality. Without any sacrifice to offset the price.

[donthate]

lower resolution? lower frame rate? reprojection?

reduced graphical detail?

That is what I call sacrifice to offset the price on PS VR....

[jb227]

Those are hardware restrictions on the console end, not necessarily device restrictions. From what I understand PSVR has far & away the best and most ergonomic comfortable build and a great set of lenses. Not sure on the resolution of the headset itself, I seem to recall it being a bit lesser than Oculus but only slightly so.

In terms of the unit itself, there aren't many sacrifices made. Sacrifices come down to the power of the PS4 vs. the power of the PC, which has always been the case for consoles across the board since the beginning of gaming, which makes it kind of a given.

[dp277407]

Must be why every one who uses it hates it /s

[Aenea]

Since when does a lower resolution and lower framerate matter to you Xbox fans? :p

Seriously though, the difference between 1200p and 1080p isn't all that big. Frame rate isn't actually because of the PSVR headset, neither is reprojection. Also PSVR can display 120 fps, the Rift can only do 90. PSVR supports reprojection so even games with 45-60 fps can look and feel good...

[dennigo]

@dp277407
lol almost no one hates it, in fact it's very much loved.

I myself tried both the oculus cv1 and the psvr, and the difference was minimal.
screen on psvr was better, yes resolution is lower but the screen door is way more obvious on oculus. also good luck trying to fit your glasses in oculus, mine were a problem, another fun fact, i playd a 7 minute demo on ps vr and only 4 minutes on oculus. when i got out of the oculus my face was sweaty and the lenses got damp cuz there is no air circulation whatsoever, not so with ps vr.

I cannot speak for VIVE cuz i haven't really tried it yet at least not the consumer version

[donthate]

jb227:

Kenwonobi suggested that there was no sacrifice to offset the price, but we already know at a minimum the headset itself has a lower resolution screen which IS the hardware on the headset not to mention the lenses as well. Those are the most expensive parts of the headset, and is where the sacrifices are going to be made. There also other sacrifices on the console side, but those are immediate sacrifices to the headset to hit a price.

I'm not here to discuss if it is good or not, because the report have been positive, but expectations have also been wisely lowered.

Aenea:

That's just a fanboy argument to point at one group versus another. Reality is that on VR the resolution matter a lot due to the screen door effect and is why Oculus/HTC both went with a higher quality and resolution screen. They don't up the price for no reason.

Reprojection cannot do translational movement, and it is not a solution, but a patch to mitigate (not fix) a deficiency. In fact, it introduces artifacts into the image. A higher frame rate in this case is actually not a benefit, as no games will have 120fps of significance. It's just a number that some fanboys can latch onto and use as an argument with no basis in quality.

[dp277407]

I cant wait to get mine, I had to get the 599 version but I don't mind.

[Aenea]

"That's just a fanboy argument to point at one group versus another."

LOL, indeed, donthate, indeed :p

The thing is though, since the PSVR uses an RGB screen the pixels are less noticeable and the screen door effect is less...

But keep on believing it's way, way worse!

[donthate]

Aenea:

Keep drinking that cool aid. There is a reason why two out of three companies major VR companies went with higher resolution display at a lower refresh rate, at a higher cost.

Whereas the one company telling you theirs is better cost less to manufacture, and sells for a lower price. Does that add up to a sane and sensible person?

If you are not sane, sensible, and a fanatic, you might believe otherwise. I recommend you try them before drinking the cool aid.

[343_Guilty_Spark]

It's not top of the line though

[Aenea]

At least the current PS4 is capable of using a VR headset..........

[Rookie_Monster]

@Aenea
"At least the current PS4 is capable of using a VR headset.........."

So is my steam app and all my steam games able to run on my i5 ultrabook laptop. Doesn't mean it is any good.

But I'll will give it a test with my PS4 and Neo and will post my findings of its performances on both Sony platform later on this year.

[Aenea]

@Rookie
Wow, on the same page you went from PlayStation positive to defending Xbox, nicely done Rookie! A record am sure!

[dp277407]

@rookie sure I haven't tried it but people who have seem to be impressed and very positive. I think we're good.

[Wallstreet37]

I also preordered the bundle as soon as it was available for preorder in amazon, then 10 min later it was gone.

[lawgone]

Hope all these people are planning on getting the Neo since it sounds like the VR will be unpleasant without it.

[Zer0Flinch]

Omg stfu. 1) Neo not even confirmed 2) the quote you're likely pulling from specifically stated "was" hard to play meaning it's a non issue.
People hating because they're either too broke to get one or too lazy to get a pre-order. You're as bad as IGN with their constant rumors and shitty speculation.

[lawgone]

You kids are hilarious. I made a very benign statement and you're getting your panties in a bunch b/c you lub your console so much. Calm down.

[Perjoss]

I really doubt they would put up preorders for the psvr if it didn't run well on the current ps4.

[DashArrivals]

Where in the hell did you hear that? It's completely false and just a flat out LIE.

[Wallstreet37]

Actually tons of previews from professionaks, devs, gamers from gaf all said psvr worked great on vanilla ps4. To the point they thought the box on psvr was adding power and had a cpu lol

Stop spreading lies, nonsense, etc since ppl have already had gaming time with psvr unlike u know other vr solutions :)

[donthate]

Clearly only the idiots though the box added power. If you are a professional developer, you know that isn't possible due to a lot of practicality. Wouldn't take those comments seriously.

That said, yeah people have reported good results with PS VR assuming you have lowered expectations. For instance, even Rift/Vive has screendoor effect. It has been minimized, but it is there. PS VR is worse, but passable and expected due to the lower resolution screen.

[stuna1]

To certain people 1 small developers opinion can nagate the opinion of many big, medium and small developers! Only on N4G.

[Wallstreet37]

Donthate...

Psvr actually handles screen door effect better, in that scenario it has an advantage over rift/vive due to his true rgb set up.

[Wallstreet37]

Actually psvr handles screen door effect better than vive/rift due to its true rgb screen set up, so in this instance its an advantage.

As for ppl having positive previews due to going in with low expectaruons that is actually half true. Ppl went in expecting psvr to not be as good as it ended up being with previewers actually in awe of how good it held up to pc and saying that some games were even better than what they saw on the pc vr side. Rigs being one of them and one of the hottest vr games coming out if e3 last year.

The comparison can be compared to how ps3 was way weaker than a mid to high end rig yet consoles pumped out some if the best games last gen and graphical show pieces such as killzone 2, uncharted series, gt, gow3, tlou etc..... Comparing psvr and saying ppl need to go in with low expectations is bs. Yes it will have disadvantages because its fixed hardware but itll also have advantages tht make up for it such as psvr sony ips that will shine. Rigs is already a gd sign of things to come.

[Aenea]

@donthate
What I've heard though from people who used it is that the PSVR is the headset with the least screen door effect. And again, the screen isn't that much lower in resolution...

[amiga-man]

donthate stop talking about stuff you have no idea about, Sony have years of experience in display technology, their diplay is actually much better for VR and their lenses have advantages too.

http://wccftech.com/sony-de...

[nevin1]

"but avoided revealing any numbers of the sales when pressed."

Of course.

[SaveFerris]

Seems like a common tactic in business. For example, when video game hardware sales are low and/or don't compare favourably to your competitors.

[stuna1]

Oh you mean like another console maker!?

[81BX]

Gonna wait to see if its worth the money, also if neo gives it extra juice

[Goldby]

I dont see how the savior of man kind is ablw to give it some more juice, or his hand held device hes kept for way tooo long

[343_Guilty_Spark]

With Scorpio on the horizon I'll probably get Oculus and use it with a PC and the Xbox. But good for PS owners.

[ShadowKnight]

Or you can use the Oculus just for the PC since the PC will always be more powerful and superior than the Scorpio. No need to use it on the Scorpio if you already have a gaming rig. I wonder how much will the Scorpio and Oculus rift cost all together? Maybe $800 to $1000 dollars. PS owners will benefit from Sony first party studio's and exclusive games for PSVR. I Wish Microsoft had more first party studios. Oh well I'll just play their games on my high end pc. You see I can troll too.

[jb227]

"PS owners will benefit from Sony first party studio's and exclusive games for PSVR. I Wish Microsoft had more first party studios"

Too true. Even if MS wanted to create exclusive content for their solution w/ Oculus, they don't have the studios to make it. As far as Oculus software itself, Oculus & Facebook owned studios are actually making content compatible w/ PSVR already, so it seems fairly obvious that Facebook sees a rising tides scenario, where they will support all platforms along w/ their own in order to grow the user base for VR across the board.

MS could likely end up w/ a VR solution, but I don't see any significant exclusives on the horizon for an Xbox VR whereas we are already seeing GT Sport, Golem, Ace Combat, Battlefront VR, etc all exclusive for PSVR. That's also coupled w/ the idea of any other content outside of gaming, Sony has a massive headstart on. When the new Spider-Man film releases, PS4 could be the only place to experience an exclusive VR scenario where you are able to swing through the streets of Manhattan in first person, or one where you can be the new 5th Ghostbuster, or one where you can be the next Bond after Daniel Craig leaves.

Sony just has more content potential than any other VR solution because they have a longer history of multimedia across the board, and to me VR is worth a lot more than just gaming. All of those other areas Sony has entirely locked up.

[Aenea]

The Rift alone is $600 without any special controllers (and in Europe it's actually around €760 due to VAT and import duties while the PSVR costs $400 and €400).

So if the Scorpio only costs $400 it would indeed cost you $1000 (€1160 for me in Europe) to start playing those ehh, Windows ports of VR games...

[stuna1]

Not only that Microsoft is more than likely going to make it where the rift is going to need some sort of overpriced accessory in order for the rift to operate effectively on the Xbox Scorpio.

[danny818]

Very interested to see where VR goes to as a new device and new offerings. Currently not so interested but we'll see. It will have to sell a ton to be able to have full support or it will end up like vita and other of Sonys business ventures that arent console related

[SavingPvt_Highon]

Thats right baby, and I was one of the lucky few. I arrived at Gamestop an hour early on the preorder date just to secure my copy.

[ITPython]

I bearly managed to get a preorder in on the second phase at Amazon. Only a few months to go!

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

They only make it very limited on purpose so that they can get people to be more interested in the product. It's just to increase sales. Business wise it may seem a little dirty but it works.

[DivineAssault]

Good news.. I know i pre ordered it..