Aaron Riccio: "Tetris Effect is staggeringly immersive—and also playable in PSVR—but it falls short of justifying its audiovisual ambition as anything more than a novelty, a way to resell one of the oldest video games in the world, now gussied up with high-definition colors and graphical bloom. There’s Tetris, better than ever, in the foreground, but then there’s all these other effects going on in the background—like all those random videos that accompany songs at a cheap karaoke bar. Worse, all the flair that’s been added to the base game lays bare what’s been deliberately and inexplicably left out, like online multiplayer. Mizuguchi has made strong, confident choices with his approach to Tetris, the Zone ability most prominent among them, but he’s done so uncompromisingly. And that’s an effect that’s as likely to leave tetrominos burned into your retinas as it is to simply leave you feeling cold and alone."
Push Square: Goodbye, real world! Many of you will be receiving your headsets right around when you read this, or you may have them already.
There are a lot of PSVR2 launch games to discover! As such, we thought we’d throw together some recommendations if you’re still not sure what to play.
The PSVR2 has an expansive launch line-up, and this should attract all kinds of gamers on the fence about VR gaming. Regardless of what genre of games one is into, there is something to please everybody.
Yes it does and I see there re- releasing an updated creed boxing game with film tie-in characters.
Every good vr needs a good boxing game I feel
It's hugely diverse, especially now GT7 is in the mix from the get-go. Good to see Pavlov too for a COD style shooter to compliment the more strategic Firewall Ultra.
I saw on Virtual Boys earlier that the count for launch games is now at 45, which is amazing. We still have a month to go and I wouldn't mind betting we get a State of Play before then, possibly with a couple more games to be confirmed.
The problem isn’t really the diversity of the launch lineup though.
The reason VR isn’t performing well amongst gamers is the format/medium change. No diverse lineup will fix that and it’s a far bigger obstacle to overcome.
The price will be a sticking point for a lot of folk too given the current economy.
But it’s a vicious cycle… if it isn’t mainstream/performing well enough, it won’t have enough users to attract large developers making huge experiences - similar to what we saw with PSVR1.
"if it isn’t mainstream/performing well enough, it won’t have enough users to attract large developers making huge experiences"
This is where hybrid games come in. GT7, RE8, NMS, all big games, all playable traditionally but with an optional VR mode. Either Sony splashes the cash to make it happen or devs add it on themselves willingly because it's not necessarily a lot of extra work depending on how far they want to take it. Much less risk of the game failing as it will still appeal to flat gamers and more and more content for VR gamers, eventually making it more attractive.
You just highlighted the problem perfectly.
You listed a tiny handful of games. Barely any developers even care enough about the VR market to make hybrid games, nevermind full VR games. Heck Sony themselves barely put any resources on VR.
The biggest and best games of the last generation, none of them are VR - hybrid or otherwise.
A trend which is set to continue this generation.
"You listed a tiny handful of games. Barely any developers even care enough about the VR market to make hybrid games..."
Oh please. I listed AAA titles that will be there 'Day 1'. Plenty of consoles out there would love to have a library this strong on launch day alone. Sony themselves have 2 AAA titles for day 1 and they have Firewall Ultra coming later in 2023, which is their IP.
What is Sony bringing to PS5 this year? Spiderman 2 and TLOU Factions (maybe), yet we aren't pretending the sky is falling there.
"The biggest and best games of the last generation, none of them are VR - hybrid or otherwise."
The reason RE7 was the best game of the last generation was precisely because it was a big game with VR support.
Now with the power of PS5 and foveated rendering combined with eye tracking, it'll be much easier for devs to get their games running on PSVR2, even easier if Sony incentivises them to do so.
Two of the three games you listed aren’t even new… REV is 2 years old, NMS is going on 7 years old.
The fact remains, the biggest and best games of every generation continue to skip on VR.
Look through any of the GOTY awards, or best games of 2022 articles, or metacritic - none of the best games support VR.
“The reason RE7 was the best game of the last generation was precisely because it was a big game with VR support.”
Sorry, what? RE7 was good but no one is seriously claiming it was the best game of last gen… are you claiming RE7 was better than SM? HZD? TLOU2? Lol.
And you summed it up perfectly at the end there - Sony would need to give them financial incentives because the market just isn’t there for 99% of developers to justify adding VR support - and that incentivizing isn’t something Sony is doing at any kind of impactful scale.
"Look through any of the GOTY awards, or best games of 2022 articles, or metacritic - none of the best games support VR."
Astro Bot Rescue: Mission 90
Synth Riders 89
Tetris Effect 89
Beat Saber 86
Resident Evil 7 86
Moss 85
A couple of things to keep in mind:
1) Those are the PS4 scores. Those games still achieved those scores despite the limitations of the PSVR tech.
2) Orchard's doom and gloom VR predictions should be weighed against the fact that he bought a Kinect.
"Two of the three games you listed aren’t even new"
Irrelevant. Bloodborne is from 2015, but nobody wants that on PC right? GTA V came out in 2013, but nobody cared when it came to PC in 2015 right? VR is a transformative experience, I want as many games supported as possible, old and new.
"Look through any of the GOTY awards, or best games of 2022 articles, or metacritic - none of the best games support VR"
22 was a bad year for VR, never claimed otherwise. But I recall Alyx being shortlisted, some would say it was robbed in 2020. PSVR2 is coming in 2023 however.
"RE7 was good but no one is seriously claiming it was the best game of last gen… are you claiming RE7 was better than SM? HZD? TLOU2? Lol."
When experienced in VR? Absolutely. Playing RE7 the first time in VR was on par with playing MGS the first time or GTA 3. Ground breaking, a full sized AAA game in VR, and that was running on a PS4. Sadly not all engines are as optimised as the RE Engine or the PSVR1 would have seen more, no doubt. But luckily, the PSVR2 will have a significant boost in power, making many more AAA titles viable.
"Sony would need to give them financial incentives because the market just isn’t there for 99% of developers to justify adding VR support"
Sony recently revealed in an interview that is was Capcom who approached them for VR support. Capcom officially confirmed nearly 20% of ALL RE7 players (including PC and Xbox) played it on PSVR. That's not bad going for something you claim to be a failure, and further proves hybrid is the way to go.
(Source: https://www.roadtovr.com/la...
"that incentivizing isn’t something Sony is doing at any kind of impactful scale."
This is just something you're making up though isn't it? I mean you don't have access to Sony's release plans do you? For all you know GTA 6 will have day 1 PSVR2 support.
“22 was a bad year for VR, never claimed otherwise.”
Okay… so go do the same exercise for every year since PSVR released.
The biggest and best games are never VR games. If you think otherwise, you’re living in a fantasy land.
GTA5, Fortnite, Apex, COD, SM, HZD, HFW, GoW, Elden Ring - all non VR games. And I can keep going if you want.
“ This is just something you're making up though isn't it”
I just checked DevNet before posting that. There are no widely available incentives for VR developers. Yes, Sony may sign individual deals with certain games - but the much needed wide reaching incentives aren’t there.
Could GTA6 be VR? Maybe but I doubt it. R* loves $$$ and they know the VR user base is tiny, about 4% of PS owners. Not worth their time & effort unless Sony pays them buckets of cash.
The harsh reality is, the vast majority of both developers and gamers, just don’t care about VR.
Orchard,
I often show grace with a lot of your commentary, but this just feels like a cynical and disingenuous critique.
First, I'd like to preface my comment by mentioning that the point of the article is the strength of the lineup diversity, yet your instinct was to dismiss that strength and discuss what you believe is the problem. I find that reframing of the discourse fascinating in itself.
But let's entertain your point about format change. How does that make any sense when Wii and Switch are extremely successful? If anything, the challenge with adoption would be that it is an optional part of the experience. Consoles sell well as an alternative to investing in capable PCs. The approach with PSVR2 feels awfully familiar in this regard. If the tech is there and the software is there, word of mouth and a steady diet of effective advertising will decide what.
Cost in this economy is a factor, however that doesn't seem to stop people from purchasing games, subscriptions, or hardware. Even at $500 in the US, PS5 is doing quite well globally. If people want it, they'll buy it. It's up to Sony to convince people it is worth it. So far, it looks like they are going to hit the ground running.
Now, regarding PSVR1, this is an odd assessment. I've made point before, but Sony is often risk averse if something they've attempted is a proven detriment. This was the case with PS Vita, Wonderbook, and even the PS Move (though you can say we're looking at the next generation iteration in PSVR2). If they are willing to invest in new VR hardware and software, chances are, the returns warranted this. It probably doesn't need to perform as well as you think it does.
Regarding Orchard losing bubbles — posting is, and should always be, a privilege here. Nothing wrong with a different perspective, but I'd suggest a serious review. He's a deliberate troublemaker that generally offers nothing but needless controversy, derails topics, etc. It is a not a simple differing of opinion (plenty of folks here do a very good job of displaying how to do this). A return to the bubble system would ensure he has minimal chances of wreaking havoc.
Now, to the important discussion, PSVR 2 is definitely on track to success. They just need to keep doing what they're doing and it should have little trouble reaching a wider audience than the original!
"Okay… so go do the same exercise for every year since PSVR released."
Again, a complete disregard for everything I've said. PSVR2 is not PSVR1. Pointing to the extremely limited PSVR1, which often couldn't run PCVR games, and applying the same logic to the PSVR2, which has been developed with the PSVR1's limitations in mind, is meaningless. Wii U did bad, therefore Switch will do bad too?
"Yes, Sony may sign individual deals with certain games"
Ok, some progress. And if they do that with the right games, what will be the outcome? Worse or better than PSVR1?
"Maybe but I doubt it. R* loves $$$ and they know the VR user base is tiny, about 4% of PS owners. Not worth their time & effort..."
And do you know how much time and effort it takes? Are you aware there's a single modder out there called Praydog who single-handedly modded VR in RE7/8/2/3 on PC? Not as high quality as Capcom doing it themselves of course, but very passable. Are you aware R* already made L.A Noire Case Files for VR? Why would they do that if only 4% of PS owners could play it?
"The harsh reality is, the vast majority of both developers and gamers, just don’t care about VR."
If everything you believed about VR was true, why does PSVR2 exist?
Ohhh what a suprise, orchard at it again 👎👎👎
Can't wait for the bubble system, ur gonna be down to 1 comment an article in no time.
I'm getting my downvote practice in early with you.
Hm, I don't know about that, mate.
I probably agree with about one in forty things Orchard says (so...2.5%). While I do think this is a bad take and a bit glib from them, I don't want them to lose their bubbles for having a different perspective. A substantive critique is fine, which I do believe this is. It's just not at all a take I agree with and may be done in bad faith. To their credit, at least from what I observe, they do try to explain themselves well.
Perhaps this is naive, but nah, I wouldn't want Orchard to lose their bubbles.
Mate I'm all for different opinions, I love a good conversation.
Check my comment history it's nothing but essays 😅😅
Orchard on the other is a troll with same motive everytime and total hypocrite.
Just 1 of many examples I can give you is all of last year he kept reminding everyone Sony only had a good year because of delayed titles that fell in 2022 so it didn't really count.
Move forward to 2023 he loves to state Sony has a dry yr even with 4 big exclusives coming and will talk up xbox line up this but conveniently leave that is only a good year because of delayed titles.
He's just trolling, this site would be better off without him and his inflammatory remarks.
For reference I have both and will call bullshit out on both sides.
Flawlessmic,
Fair points, really. I can definitely see where you're coming from. And no need to mention that you own both—I like to assume most people are acting in good faith, unless it's very obviously nonsense. I have a difficult time keeping track of everyone, but you are certainly not a name that raises any red flags. 🙂
As much as I suspect the same thing you suggest, I can at least give orchard done benefit of the doubt because, as much as I see their comments as heavily slanted against PlayStation... They put some apparent effort into their posts, so I do believe, at the very least, they believe what they're saying.
Eh, who knows? Whether it's one bubble or ten, if Orchard says something nonsensical, there will be people who refute any silly comments.
Nah, luckily meta did there whole thing. While metaverse is a pos waste of the time, the quest 2 itself is a very solid device and has pushed it way more mainstream.
Don't know why we need to reintegrate this but take a look at quest 2s line up both connected to a pc and just by itself. And, all of those are gonna be potentially on psvr2 as well.
The lineup is already there! And growing. I'm looking forward to as much competition as possible in this space and regardless of how well meta does on it, it is there main focus and they've sold 14million units without it being an accessory to a console, unlike Sony and as you can see MS just ditched it.
I tried to play Kayak VR today on Steam with quest 2 ………….. I got sick AGAIN. No VRFor me anytime soon.
I can play games as long as their is no moving involved it seems
Not that I've played it yet, but Psvr2 isn't a mobile phone strapped to your head.
Just saying is it possible they offer different experiences?
Sony claim that they've done a lot of work on making VR as comfortable as possible, particularly focusing on people with a tendancy for motion sickness. A number of the hardware changes are supposed to have a positive effect in this regard.
The clarity, refresh rate, ventilation, headset haptics (i honestly can't explain how that one helps, but they claim it does) and in particular the lag/latency between real movement and onscreen movement (I can't remember the technical term, but it's a 100% improvement compared to PSVR, which was already considered pretty good at 16ms delay, PSVR2 is 8ms) will all help to reduce or remove the issue for those with a weak stomach.
He played on Quest2, which already is a modern VR headset with a very similar design, so the difference unfortunately won't be too big.
Some people's bodies just can't deal with VR properly due to the eye/body disconnect.
I think PSVR2 will be worth it..? Maybe? But holy crap, if it could work on PC too, that'd make it a must-buy imo. Too bad Sony is unlikely to ever make drivers, and I heard homebrew is going to be very difficult as well.
I don't think its completely impossible for Sony to release drivers for pc compatibility. After all the psvr2 uses a type C connection like most headsets use. And the fact Sony is pushing into the pc market at lot more now. Perhaps in a year or 2 they "might".
As for Modders, I've only seen posts by 1 modder who say it could be difficult at this time. So again, I'd say give it a year and see what's happening then.
Fortunately, "difficult" ≠ "impossible".
PS3 was also very much a tough nut to crack. Not impossible though. It is a double-edged sword that anything man engineers can also be reverse engineered and manipulated.
From VGC: "Four years ago, Tetsuya Mizuguchi shared a trailer for his next game.
It began with bright colours dancing across a dark background and a voice over speaking enigmatically about a medical study during which participants reported seeing colourful images from a game in their mind, just as they were falling asleep.
As the soothing trance music swelled and the colours became overwhelming, the voice over read the line: “Blocks, they all saw blocks. Falling through space, sometimes rotating or fitting neatly into empty spaces between other blocks. Some participants also reported seeing completed lines disappear.”"
Tetris Effect VR is a mind expanding really cool VR game. What an incredible game, love the VR dolphins.
