PSVR not a revolution, but a step towards the evolution of gaming

Let’s get this out of the way, PSVR works as advertised. The VR headset for PlayStation is a good VR device. PS fans; however, dial back your expectations because again it’s good, but not an amazing wonderful gaming revolution some wanted it to be or were hoping for. But on the flip-side this is not ammo to bash PSVR, because it delivers on the VR goodness, and the headset is without question one of the most comfortable, well designed, and solid VR experiences out there.

The headset itself is almost perfect as is. The design has always looked great, but looks even better in person, it’s shockingly light for its size, and most importantly it’s a very comfortable fit and weight on your head. Throughout several demos not once did I ever feel the need to adjust the headset or feel the weight was becoming annoying. Some people experience “sweaty eyes” around the visor after prolonged sessions with the headset, but I never experience it myself. There’s a 3 step system for getting the headset to fit perfectly snug. There’s a button on the back that stretches the length of the headset to get it over your head. Then there’s a button on top of the face mount that adjusts the VR visor to the most comfortable position on your brow. And finally you can scroll the VR screen closer or farther from your eyes for the best view. I can’t stress how well Sony has done with the PSVR headset design, it’s hands down the best and most comfortable that I’ve tried.

But not every aspect of PSVR has been flawlessly designed. While the headset itself is near perfect, there are some drawbacks that had to be made for the sake of future pricing. The biggest complaint I discovered was the VR screen. The 1080p OLED screen simply isn’t a high enough resolution to completely eliminate pixelation that close to your face. Sony wisely focused the majority of the pixels into the center of the screen where your eyes naturally focus to offer the best possible optics on the 1080p display, and while it works to a good extent it would have been much better had they used the same technique with a higher resolution display, but the PS4 itself doesn’t allow that, and it without question it would raise the price. The good news is that the pixelation is only noticeable during still images where your eyes can truly focus on it, because during gameplay it’s almost unnoticeable as your focus shifts to the game and the task at hand.

Finally there are a couple of side components such as the Headphone / Mic connector, and the VR converter box. The Headphone Connector connecter is a simple 4 button dongle that powers on, mutes the mic, and turn the volume up or down, simply and no need for further explanation. The VR converter is a cute mini PS4 like device that you plug your PSVR headset into. It’s a bit unfortunate that the headset doesn’t have built in surround audio, but again price is the most important aspect here.

As you’ve probably read in the title, PSVR in my opinion isn’t a revolution in gaming (and at this point VR in general). However, it is a step towards a much needed evolution in gaming, and what VR does significantly better than traditional gaming is “Immersion”. PSVR allows you to leave the real world behind and enter the world of gaming like never before, and it’s not an instant dramatic wow moment, but as I began playing more and more I soon found myself tuning out everything going on around me on a packed showroom floor with literally thousands of gamers walking around, and focused only on the game in front of me and the voice of the demonstrator coaching me through the set-up and objective. After that it was simply me and the game, and it’s currently a new level of immersion that can’t be had elsewhere, and for once it feels like something new to be able to look around, duck, tilt, and dodge as you explore worlds you’ve come to know.

One of the things that’s worrying about VR is the potential for motion sickness. Personally I’ve had a couple of bouts with motion sickness in the car and playing games on extremely rare occasions, and I had absolutely no problem with PSVR and motion sickness. As a matter of fact, after watching hundreds of people play as I waited in line I didn’t see a single person suffer from motion sickness. What I did see where people complaining about sweaty eyes, so if you’re a naturally sweaty human being, then you might want to keep a fan on you while playing VR.

During my time at PSX, I got to play RIGS, DriveClub VR, Eve’s Valkyrie, Super Hyper Cube, Megaton Rainfall, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and The Heist. Another good sign for PSVR is that the games already work and control well. Even though I didn’t like every game I played, one thing that can be said is that EVERY game worked just as you’d expect and hoped it would. I didn’t experience any issues like Sony did on stage, and that’s including thousands of other gamers and play-throughs. Not all VR games are good, but all of them worked and I’ll post a quick preview-review of each of the games as well later on.

PSVR and VR in general are still in their infancy in regards to gaming. There simply aren’t enough games to demo the technology to it’s fullest potential, and while many of the games I played were good, nothing screamed this is why VR is about to take over gaming.

In it’s current state VR is a solid stepping stone, that the most dedicated core PlayStation gamers will want to experience, and fortunately for them PSVR is a “GOOD” experience with the potential to be great if the games are of that quality. It’s not amazing, but if Sony improves the headset in a future revision for PS5 with features such as build in 3D audio headphones, and a 4K OLED screen (wireless is a huge stretch). And give developers time to finalize and focus on what excels and works in VR, then VR will be that evolution gaming needs on next-gen.

For those interested in PSVR for PS4, I advise you to go in optimistic and grounded that this is new technology and games are going to take time to push this technology. If you go in thinking PSVR is potentially the best thing ever, more than likely you’ll be disappointed with the current batch of games available. But if more big games / A - AAA games come out for PSVR, and it’s price well at $299 or less for the bundle (camera + headset), then I can recommend PSVR to you to pick up at your leisure.

The good:
*Unrivaled immersion, the headset isolates you, making it only you and the game.
*Extremely comfortable and well designed
*VR demos all play and control well in their VR niches

The mixed:
*Screen resolution needs to be higher in next iteration
*There are several components and it needs a few other parts to get the full VR experience many of which are sold separately, thus making PSVR a bit causal & wallet unfriendly (PS4, Headset + convertor box, PS Camera, 2 Move controllers, Headphones)

The bad:
*Perfect Calibration is 100% a must, or you will end up with a bad experience (not ideal for letting multiple people test it, especially slow learners).
*Sweaty Eyes. Again I didn’t have this problem, but some people did, so keep good circulation going.
*Motion Sickness. I saw hundreds of people test out PSVR, and no one looked or said anything about motion sickness, but it’s still a possibility, so again, keep good circulation going, because the feel of air / wind can help alleviate the feeling.

The determining factors:
*Still no price, but it has to be $299 or less IMO
*There needs to be a big shift in A - AAA VR exclusives, because currently it’s lacking
*If at all possibly, patch as many games as possible to support VR by running the games at lower settings, that way PS4 owners can have a Day 1 VR library making the headset an easy buy.

Preview-Review:

Headset: A- (The headset is great all around. At this point Sony simply needs to gear up for upgrading features for a PS5 version if PSVR takes off on the PS4. 4k OLED screen and built-in 3D audio).

Games: C+ (PSVR needs a lot more A / AAA quality experiences, we’ve heard of them, but they need to be demoed. Also older games need to be patched, and this score will shoot up.)
http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...

Price: ?? (Still no price, but IMO I can’t justify PSVR to most gamers if it cost $399 or more. After having hands-on time with PSVR and several of it’s “good games”, it’s worth no more than $349, and IMO it should be $299 or less based on the experience)/

Overall VR Experience: B- (This score can go up as well if the A / AAA games start popping up and are good, if older games get patched, and if PSVR is priced well. The headset is great, but the games and the price need to match the quality of the headset. Great VR headset + Great VR games + Great Price = Great PSVR sales. Great VR headset + Mediocre games with a good 1 here and there + $399 price = Mediocre VR sales and several unhappy VR PS fans trying to sell it).

[ApocalypseShadow]

I look at it as going from lines and dots.to 8 and 16 bit pixels.to 3d polygons and shaded,textured polygons.to 3d and motion control.to immersive vr.

It all started somewhere and got better.

Playing a racing game with a controller is fun.playing with a racing wheel is more immersive.

Playing a flying game is fun.playing with a rumble flight stick is more immersive.

Playing a gun game with a controller is fun.playing a gun game with a gun prop is more immersive.

It stands to reason that playing a game is fun.but playing it in VR is more immersive than looking at a TV.how some can't understand something this simple eludes me.

[ABizzel1]

IMO the Immersion is the selling point of VR. There's nothing like it once you put on the headset, and you alienate yourself from the world and just enter the game. It's not apparent at first, because we're so use to doing it mentally when gaming, but VR literally takes you away from it all and it's just you and the game, and a huge win for Sony would be to simply let you play all games on the headset even if they aren't VR just for the added immersion.

VR will live, breathe, and succeed based on its features, games and media support, and its price. Sony needs to definitely look at more features like streaming any game, games need more AAA presence, and the price has to be $299 or less, and VR will snowball into a hit for PS4, and become a staple for PS5.

[Batnut00]

How was RIGS? That's probably one of the VR games I wanted to play the most, especially considering the talent behind it with Guerilla Cambridge.

[ABizzel1]

It was good, it would be much better IMO with a 6 player free for all mode, where everyone is trying to kill one another, and make it to the goal. Pure fun VR chaos.

But what was there in the 3 v 3 matches was good. It plays well, controls well, and the VR is good. I had an issue during my session because the demonstrator didn't set my configuration up properly, but even then I still had fun with it.

It takes a minute to get use to it, but after a few sessions you'll feel at home aiming with your head, and dual wielding / firing at enemies.

[DarXyde]

I wish you Robinson: The Journey would've been there for you to test. Your preview is well aligned with expectations I've set out for PSVR. Good to know. Great blog, mate.

[ABizzel1]

Robinson is one of the games I really want to play, because it seems like it's one of the "real games" for PSVR, and that's what it needs to sell to the masses of core PS4 owners.

RIGS, DriveClub VR, Eve’s Valkyrie, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and The Heist are cool games, but they're not quite that WOW game that makes VR a must have. Collectively with more titles on par with their quality they make a strong case for VR, but those 5 alone don't quite push it.

Super Hyper Cube is one of the other many indie style games VR has, and they're cool, good, niche experiences, but as much as we should promote indie games that's not really what we spend $300+ on these consoles for, (likely $600+ when including VR).

Megaton Rainfall was the only game I didn't like, and it wasn't bad, it was just completely mediocre in every way.

If they can patch any current game that run in 1080p @ 60fps with a VR mode, that would help get PSVR off to an amazing start (Sony really needs to get publishers on board with this).

Next there needs to be a AAA launch title and more throughout the year and IMO No Man's Sky and Robinson the Journey are the prime candidates for that.

Finally price.

I see PSVR being a success, because the headset is already there. They just need the games and the price to match it.

Thanks for the read.

[Jurat]

Very insightful blog; thanks for sharing.

I do actually think some VR experiences are revolutionary, although I can't vouch for PSVR at this point.

Out of curisority, do you own - or have you tried - any other VR headsets to compare to PSVR?

I bought an Oculus Rift DK2 earlier this year to play Elite Dangerous. I have to say it still has the ability to give me goosebumps at the level of immersion I can achieve (granted I have a HOTAS flight controller, surround sound system and a tactile transducer built into my gaming chair so i can literally 'feel' the game as well as see/hear in 360 degrees) I think the key is tricking all the senses to achieve the appropriate level of immersion.

[ABizzel1]

I tried Oculus DK2 as well, but there weren't many demos out during the time I tried it.

And as you said the trick is tricking all sense to achieve the level of immersion to allow VR to be a revolution. The problem is that means a lot of add-ons and instantly becomes too expensive for the majority of console gamers when you add surround, gaming chairs / suits, and dedicated controllers (steering wheels, flight controllers, etc...).

When you have all of that then yeah the immersion is unrivaled, but for most gamers it's simply going to be the headset.

I think VR is definitely going to be the selling point of PS5.

[Jurat]

I agree; PSVR will no doubt be a more accessible platform for gamers who don't want to spend money hand over fist building sim rigs. No doubt Sony has plenty more tricks up their sleeve to wow consumers when the device eventually launches.

[Dannycr]

I used both at E32015.

To me the main differences are the following:

Graphics: Oculus is better.
Immersion: PSVR worked better due to the inclusion of the PS Move.

I hope to player the Oculus with the Move like controller at E32016.