Sony reveals VR for PS4

Eurogamer is intimating that the PS4.5 is not a spec improvement, but a manufacturing refinement. PS4 Slim, in other words. If so, this is all gaming press ignorant hype that we've fallen for.

One thing that bugs me about the gaming press is a total lack of technical knowledge. They act as if hardware revisions during normal life cycle are exceptional and unique. They really aren't. Hardware is constantly refined and manufacturing changes constantly. The PS1 alone had something like 20 hardware revisions during its lifetime. The idea that game companies are making the exact same hardware for 10 years is silly. Yet that's what the gaming press is feeding us.

http://gamerant.com/ps4-sales-2016-109/

On a related note to the new PS hardware, Sony now says that they've sold more than 40 million PS4 units thus far. The notion that console gaming is going away any time soon is bonkers.

Sony was able to bring the PlayStation 4 above the 40 million units sold threshold by selling 17.7 million consoles over the last fiscal year. To put into perspective how impressive those numbers are, the Wii U has sold 12 million over its lifetime, and analyst reports put the Xbox One at about 18 million units sold. Basically, the PlayStation 4 sold more in one year than the Wii U has sold in its lifetime, and sold enough in one year to match the Xbox One’s lifetime sales.

The idea that console gaming is going away is not serious.

The idea that console gaming is increasingly stratified and buckling under the weight of its development costs, however, is absolutely a real thing.

"Desides wrote:

The idea that console gaming is going away is not serious.

The idea that console gaming is increasingly stratified and buckling under the weight of its development costs, however, is absolutely a real thing.

I buy that. However, I think that we've seen a few great examples of smaller studious putting out really high quality, and highly succesful games in the last few years too. It can still be done.

Any updates?

I just demoed Oculus Rift at the local Best Buy.......and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

"Fin D wrote:

Any updates?

I just demoed Oculus Rift at the local Best Buy.......and it was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!

I've got a Rift with the Touch controllers, and it is awesome for sure. I really need to set up my new wheel for Project Cars.

"Stitches wrote:

I've got a Rift with the Touch controllers, and it is awesome for sure. I really need to set up my new wheel for Project Cars.

I demoed a game that is set in some city and you throw fireballs and use ice shields. I could seriously play that forever. Are there games where you fight and you have to swing a bunch/weapon etc.? Be super strong? Fly?

"Fin D wrote:

I demoed a game that is set in some city and you throw fireballs and use ice shields. I could seriously play that forever. Are there games where you fight and you have to swing a bunch/weapon etc.? Be super strong? Fly?

Yes...It's called "Weed, Shrooms, and booze!"

"Fin D wrote:

I demoed a game that is set in some city and you throw fireballs and use ice shields. I could seriously play that forever. Are there games where you fight and you have to swing a bunch/weapon etc.? Be super strong? Fly?

Probably, I'm not familiar with every game. I don't know of one offhand though.

"Stitches wrote:

Probably, I'm not familiar with every game. I don't know of one offhand though.

I hate you for not being my personal Rift encyclopedia. You are terribly selfish.:taunt:

"Fin D wrote:

I demoed a game that is set in some city and you throw fireballs and use ice shields. I could seriously play that forever. Are there games where you fight and you have to swing a bunch/weapon etc.? Be super strong? Fly?

There is Skyrim VR now, so that covers the shooting fire, lightning, swords, axes, shields. You also get to shoot bows.

As for Super Strong and Fly? Megaton Rainfall lets you fly around the planet, fighting alien ships by hurling energy attacks at them. Super hero fighting alien invasion in other words.

I just got my hands on a PSVR Skyrim bundle (on sale for $349 this week which is $100 off the regular price), along with the Farpoint game and gun controller. I'm shocked the wife was okay with spending the money on more videogame goodness, but she is interested in trying it out too. I need to set it all up this evening and I'll post some impressions by Sunday.

First impressions, after about 5-6 hours of VR play? You simply HAVE to try it yourself, no way I can convey the 'WOW!' moments of being IN a virtual world versus watching it on a screen. The demo, 'Kitchen' is a good scare for those into horror games. The undersea cage demo was simply stunning. Farpoint, with the gun controller? That controller adds a HUGE immersion factor to the game and any doubts about spending $80 for the controller/game combo are gone. Watched some VR videos on YouTube, which is more like watching 3D photos or video, but I didn't even know that was a thing on YouTube till I saw the free app on PSN. There are a LOT of free demos on the PSN. Download ALL of them and any VR apps too.

Now, I'd consider myself a bit more prone to motion sickness than most (many shooters give me a mild headache after an hour or more) and I have had some mild headaches after using PSVR. Enough to put me off playing it? No way! I game hoping to have some 'WOW' moments on occasion, and PSVR has delivered again and again. I do try and limit my play time to about an hour, but it is easy to lose track of the time and that hour just flies by. Will I develop a better tolerance for VR the more I play? Time will tell. It also depends a LOT on the game. The demo for 'Here They Lie' where you start out walking through tunnels with a flashlight got to me within five minutes. I find the smooth walking in Farpoint to be just fine, until I approach and look over a cliff edge and then it hits me a bit. The alien spider-things make me want to find a flamethrower and burn the world down, but that's different issue. :)

The other thing is I need to play in a cool environment or I get sweaty in that headset. I wear glasses (progressive lenses too) and finding that sweet spot for viewing is a pain at times. I also wear the headset a bit loose, worried about scratching the headset lenses, until I get the protective covers that should arrive today from Amazon.

It was a pain, putting the whole PSVR headset together (cables, the extra graphics box, charging the move and gun controller). A one time pain though, for the most part. I wasn't sure I needed to spend $35 to $50 for one of those docking/charging stations, but I will probably order one soon. It will mean re-arranging the shelf and moving things around again though. Also, I did not like how the camera just hung on the top of the TV, so I installed a shelf on the wall behind the TV and put the camera on that.

TLDR version: Convince a friend to buy a PSVR and set it up. Go over and play it and then decide if it's something you need in your life. At the very least, every gamer should try it at some point.

If you have the PC for it, a Rift with touch controllers is only $350 right now. A hell of a deal imo.

"Stitches wrote:

If you have the PC for it, a Rift with touch controllers is only $350 right now. A hell of a deal imo.

Unless you are a serious PC gamer, you probably don't have a machine capable of running VR hardware. If you do though, yeah, you have some nice options for VR. For mass adoption, you need to hit the right combination of price and features. Even then, VR gaming simply isn't for everyone. But the closest thing on the market right nowis the PS4 and a PSVR bundle.

The wife finally got to try out the PSVR yesterday. She has much less of an issue with motion sickness and no movement gave her problems, but she did comment on 'adjusting' after taking off the headset after an hour of playing. She went back to it after a 15 minute break.

She loved the underwater cage demo, got a kick out of Farpoint with the gun controller. Didn't want to try the 'Kitchen' demo though. Finally got around to Skyrim, and she was 'Wow!' from the opening scene in the wagon. She thought it was the best VR experience yet. She played Skyrim a lot on the Xbox 360, so she was returning to a familiar world -but with a very different perspective. She commented that the graphics were not that great, but then she was staring at a mushroom and saying, "That is so cool." so she is now a fan of VR.

I've got my brother-in-law and maybe a friend or two coming over later today, so I'll see how they react to VR. It is fun to watch as people look around and have those 'Wow' moments.

"Deus ex dolphin wrote:

Unless you are a serious PC gamer, you probably don't have a machine capable of running VR hardware. If you do though, yeah, you have some nice options for VR. For mass adoption, you need to hit the right combination of price and features. Even then, VR gaming simply isn't for everyone. But the closest thing on the market right nowis the PS4 and a PSVR bundle.

The wife finally got to try out the PSVR yesterday. She has much less of an issue with motion sickness and no movement gave her problems, but she did comment on 'adjusting' after taking off the headset after an hour of playing. She went back to it after a 15 minute break.

She loved the underwater cage demo, got a kick out of Farpoint with the gun controller. Didn't want to try the 'Kitchen' demo though. Finally got around to Skyrim, and she was 'Wow!' from the opening scene in the wagon. She thought it was the best VR experience yet. She played Skyrim a lot on the Xbox 360, so she was returning to a familiar world -but with a very different perspective. She commented that the graphics were not that great, but then she was staring at a mushroom and saying, "That is so cool." so she is now a fan of VR.

I've got my brother-in-law and maybe a friend or two coming over later today, so I'll see how they react to VR. It is fun to watch as people look around and have those 'Wow' moments.

That may have been true at release (even then I'd disagree), but the specs needed aren't that high any longer considering where video cards are now.

A GTX 960, an i3-6100, and 8GB of ram is all that is needed. That's like what, $300 worth of video card and cpu when not on sale?

The cost I saw a year or so back when talking about a rig VR capable was in the $1000 to $1500 range. Plus the cost of the VR headset and controllers. A quick Google search tells me I'd spend about $400 for the hardware you mentioned, but no doubt cheaper on sale. Very competitive compared to buying a PS4 Pro.

The console is in the living room though and even if I upgraded our tower PC for VR, it sets in our extra bedroom where I have my space for working from home. Not enough room to really move around with a headset, unless you were very careful, and PSVR allows others to watch on the TV as someone plays. That makes VR much less of a solo experience, as you can see what the person is reacting to.

I had my brother-in-law and a friend over to play some PSVR over the weekend and they thought it was pretty cool. I've got my 'demo plan' down to starting with the Ocean Descent, then the Kitchen, then some Farpoint with the Aim controller, and the Spider-Man movie VR demo that uses the Move controllers. Finish with starting a new Skyrim save and playing the opening wagon scene.

After an hour or so, both needed a quick break from VR, but came away impressed with the experience. I see VR as a nice option, a supplement to normal gaming, but I can't imagine buying a console that was JUST about VR gaming.

Having said that, I'd commit horrific acts of violence to get a VR version of No Man's Sky and/or Horizon Zero Dawn (that would require the PS4 Pro or even a PS5 I guess). Also, a VR football game? Oh man, that would be crazy. Can you imagine staring into the dead eyes of Billicheat as he stood on the sidelines?