Sony PlayStation VR

This is probably the first VR experience for most of you reading this, so here are my thoughts on what to expect: the good, the bad, and ultimately whether it's worth trying VR and Sony. There's a comparison to Oculus and HTC Vive below for those curious as well as a TLDR at the bottom. Pros: - Very easy to put on, works well with glasses and is comfortable on the head even for longer gaming sessions. - Tracks position yourself easily when moving around a relatively large area.- Easy to re-center just by pressing the "options" button so you can get into a nice and comfortable position to play.- Comes with many types of VR demos, games, videos, experiences to try out of the box.- Guaranteed to impress your friends, family and loved ones.- Lets you play regular games and watch movies on a big cinema screen virtual (up to approximately IMAX size). - Allows you to play games privately when someone else wants to use the TV. - Using AMOLED screens means beautiful inky black levels with that fantastic contrast ratio. 'plug and play' - no driver troubleshooting needed Mixed:- Can use theater mode on other devices (Xbox, PC), but you can't easily reposition it without having the dual shock controller which can be a real bummer if you're not already in a comfortable position. - Playstation Move controllers make games more interactive, but there are mixed results with tracking in some games (80-90% of the time it just works time.) - Video apps like VRideo are really cool, but require a good lot of bandwidth to run smoothly at higher resolutions. Unfortunately, no Youtube VR support (yet). - The 3D spatial audio is not currently compatible with wireless headphones, but it's very easy to use a wired pair (and one comes in the box). - There are lots of wires you need to plug in to connect , but they include a very easy to follow instruction manual and a sturdy connecting cable which is quite durable and should last a long time. - Most games work fine with the standard PS4 controller, but the motion controllers really make it more immersive, so you might have to spend if you get the "basic" version. Cons: - Visuals not as sharp as competitors, and frankly lots of aliases/jaggies visible in some games/apps. - YMMV on nausea with more "active" tracks that have lots of direction changes. - Loses track if your camera isn't positioned well. - Wires suck and really limit how far you can move .An unfortunate compromise to achieve the lowest price and lower latency.- Not safe to use with friends who get spooked easily. injured, or worse, a damaged/broken VR headset. - PS VR worlds DO NOT come with the main release - a real bummer. Basically, buy the launch pack if you don't have a PS Camera and/or PS Move controllers yet. Come on Sony, support your fans and run it for everyone. Comparison to Oculus: Oculus has the resolution, but lacks in the areas of position tracking, cost, and widespread support for their $200 controllers. Ultimately, if you want the most faithful as possible, go for the Oculus, or better yet, wait for their recently announced wireless headset. 'Oculus. .But, it's really lacking right now in terms of first and third-party games. This is an area where I think Sony has a lot of room to shine in the VR space. hardware upgrades than the Oculus. Final thoughts: This is definitely a first-gen product, but Sony is off to a good start. The main negatives right now have to do with a lack of power for this extra clean finish. Games like DriveClub VR have some pretty obvious visual compromises, but that's something you don't tend to notice once you start moving. Hopefully the PS4 Pro will help deliver the prowess additional graphics to create cleaner visuals - but even without getting the latest and greatest PS4, you'll be in for a treat. I remember playing a VR game in a mall in the 90s, it was bulky, looked terrible, and I knew at all times that I was standing in a giant piece of plastic in the mall. With the PSVR turned on, you lose track of time, you are literally transported to a different place and truly step into a new world. Upcoming games like Robinson the Journey will give you the chance to explore new worlds as if you were actually there , and that's what makes VR special. You're not just sitting on a couch thinking how beautiful those views look on your TV screen - you can literally step into a spooky house , explore a mysterious jungle, and soar through a vast expanse. How you interact with things is still a work in progress, but the experience is still absolutely one of a kind. Of course, it's better to get better looking games every year that are ultimately always the same experiences (not that I don't like better looking graphics or anything). I'm sure we'll see some really exciting software from Sony because unlike to Oculus (owned by Facebook) and HTC Vive (backed by Valve) they are more directly invested in building great software themselves rather than relying solely on third-party support as they do the hardware and software .If you can afford it, take a chance on Sony, I have a feeling they won't let you down.TLDR: If you want to know what it's like to plug into the Matrix, take on a shark, fly high like Superman, hold your head high with the powers of a god - it's the easiest way to get a taste of it. There are other options, and that's really a gen 1 product - but man is it really cool. to make it a success - so I bet that means much better first-party and third-party games to come over the next year. Are you ready to free your mind? Take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. **UPDATE with PS4 Pro** So I have been using my PSVR with the PS4 Pro since its release, and I still have my original PS4 which is soon to be resold to compare the 2. I tested the following titles: Robinson The Journey, PS VR Worlds, Batman Arkham VR, Eve Valkyrie, VR Playroom, PSVR demo disc, and Until Dawn Rush of Blood. around the edges (aka better anti-aliasing/textures) - PS VR Worlds and Robinson in particular seem to have a bit of extra polish that makes them look more realistic - Games will only continue to improve and take advantage of PS4 Pro, but even for the 1st gen you can see some benefits- Frame rate is locked for gaming but subjectively I felt less motion sickness and like there was less latencyCons- Barely changes the fundamental gameplay, and while visually better, it's really not only a mild to moderate benefit at this time - Can't get HDR currently when connected to VR via breakout box, but 4k works great If you buy a PS4 Pro to get better VR, the Honest answer is you won't notice a day and night difference today with first gen titles however I see relatively greater improvements with games like Robinson that came out post launch and that bodes well for that future titles will benefit from more aggressive anti-aliasing and higher resolution textures. Games like Farpoint are being touted as being more optimized for PS4 Pro hardware and I'm sure Sony's future first-party titles will still bring you more benefits. This is true not only for PSVR games, but for console games in general. Just look at the gap between Uncharted 1 and The Last of Us - both worked on the same hardware, but with experience you had a lot of performance to look for. TLDR on PS4 Pro with PSVR: it's better, but not a big difference yet. Benefits will appear as new titles come will be optimized to take advantage of the extra power.