PSVR2: Next-Gen Boogaloo

[Neon Ignition]

It would be interesting to see how much that would shift. At this point, you wonder how many people out there want to play Alyx who haven't, who can afford to spend the money on PSVR2.

I'd wager Alyx would be one of those games where the vast, vast majority of PSVR2 owners would buy it but it wouldn't move the needle much in shifting hardware units.

[Cassius_Smoke]

The PSVR2 caters for 2 types

1. Those who love VR and have the cash
2. Those who want to try it and have the cash

EVERYONE else won't buy it because its £550. Meaning developers and publishers will need to think long and hard about releasing games for it, which is like the PSP/Vita all over again. Its niche when it needed to be mainstream. That price has killed it before its out the gate.
You think large amounts of people in Germany will buy this when they are paying 4 times more than the rest of europe for energy? Nope. Now multiply that across the globe.

£550 might be reasonable given the tech inside, but its wholly unreasonable to the average gamers wallet.

[wakka]

They should have patches for most easily adapted games ready as well to address the b/c issue. Horizon is pretty much the only game making use of the updated tech so the likes of Wipeout etc should be easy additions. Resolution aside, if you're eager to play VR on PS5, picking up a PSVR1 makes a better financial and software supported option given most of the launch games are coming to that device too. A harsh position given I'd imagine the largest market of interest for PSVR2 is the existing PSVR1 user base.

I agree. As a prospective buyer who didn't own a VR1, I'd feel a lot more reassured if they at least promised upgraded versions of the obvious greatest hits from VR1.

I've wanted to play Astrobot, Wipeout Omega, Tetris Effect, Rez, and a few other bits, for years now. But I've hung on for upgraded hardware. I'm a little frustrated that none of these games have upgraded VR2 ports announced. It seems like a really obvious way to fill out the library.

[Asura]

I agree. As a prospective buyer who didn't own a VR1, I'd feel a lot more reassured if they at least promised upgraded versions of the obvious greatest hits from VR1.

I've wanted to play Astrobot, Wipeout Omega, Tetris Effect, Rez, and a few other bits, for years now. But I've hung on for upgraded hardware. I'm a little frustrated that none of these games have upgraded VR2 ports announced. It seems like a really obvious way to fill out the library.

All of those will, though. You can definitely expect titles like Tetris Effect which exist on practically every VR platform, and Astrobot/Wipeout are too celebrated to not feature.

VR's too small a segment. This was actually a really big boost for the PSVR as so many developers ported their games as they really have to be available everywhere that anyone can use a headset. It's a bit like how many game developers released games on the ill-fated Blackberry smartphone OS; the ports were relatively straightforward; it's as close to "free money" as you get within the software space.

[Lebowski]

The PSVR2 caters for 2 types

1. Those who love VR and have the cash
2. Those who want to try it and have the cash

EVERYONE else won't buy it because its £550. Meaning developers and publishers will need to think long and hard about releasing games for it, which is like the PSP/Vita all over again. Its niche when it needed to be mainstream. That price has killed it before its out the gate.
You think large amounts of people in Germany will buy this when they are paying 4 times more than the rest of europe for energy? Nope. Now multiply that across the globe.

£550 might be reasonable given the tech inside, but its wholly unreasonable to the average gamers wallet.

its really east to port over to most VR platforms thanks to how open development for vr is, it's why a headset like the windows mixed reality which sold nothing is still supported on steam, i even got the vive and occulus stores working with my WMR headset via some hobbyist software that fakes the launcher into thinking your using a different headset.

So far things like pistol whip and beat-sabre are getting free updates to psvr2 and no doubt most other games will follow, psvr had a few nice sony exclusives titles but that wasn't what made the system great all the third party and pc stuff filled out its library, i cant see developers shunning this when its going to have bigger install bases than things like wmr.

[MartyG]

I think it's a pretty fair price for the technology in the headset and the fact it comes with the controllers but I can't help but think it is a major hard sell for most consumers who are just curious about VR because the software just isn't really there.

It's bang on where I expected it to be given the tech in it and controllers and that it's about £50 more than the total investment in PSVR1 required.

And there are plenty of pockets deep enough for this when things like the RTX 4090 are flying off the shelves at £1600+. If they'd have launched it lower, there'd be nowhere for Sony to go on price drops after the early adopters have bought theirs at whatever price they launched at.

Anyone thinking this was going to be £300 was dreaming quite frankly.

[Lebowski]

It's bang on where I expected it to be given the tech in it and controllers and that it's about £50 more than the total investment in PSVR1 required.

And there are plenty of pockets deep enough for this when things like the RTX 4090 are flying off the shelves at £1600+. If they'd have launched it lower, there'd be nowhere for Sony to go on price drops after the early adopters have bought theirs at whatever price they launched at.

Anyone thinking this was going to be £300 was dreaming quite frankly.

lots of people have been pointing out online that if you factor in inflation its bang on the same price as a psvr1 and a set of move controllers

[Brad]

I feel like anyone willing to spend a grand to play demanding vr I.e. not quest, would just spend 2 grand and do it on pc. Quest has created a divide now. Over £500 for a headset that only works on the current iteration of one console is a big ask.

[fuse]

I feel like anyone willing to spend a grand to play demanding vr I.e. not quest, would just spend 2 grand and do it on pc. Quest has created a divide now. Over £500 for a headset that only works on the current iteration of one console is a big ask.

I could give you many reasons why I don't want a PC for gaming full stop, let alone one in my living room, and I'm plenty interested in PSVR2.

[Lebowski]

I could give you many reasons why I don't want a PC for gaming full stop, let alone one in my living room, and I'm plenty interested in PSVR2.

Yup im firmly in the camp that see that Desktop PC's need a dedicated space (desk chair ect) its not the sort of thing you have in a lounge. With the the trend for RGB most modern pcs feel like theirs a part of a fairground ride too. Where PSVR 2 fits in for me is that its not gonna require you to give it a dedicated space, its one cable the front usb c on the ps5 no break out box no HDMI splitting and you could easily pack it away when not in use.

[QualityChimp]

Another person against going the Oculus route here.

I already have loads of PS4 games I can play on a PS5, plus if I already had a PS5, I wouldn't want to start again with a PC and all the Oculus kit.

Plus there's the whole argument of console Vs. PC where you're probably going to have to update a PC component in the next couple of years, but that's a well-worn argument, but something I would consider before going down that route.

[Asura]

There's something to be said for VR solutions that aren't a project; like everything is taken care of for you. It's like the difference between buying a Raspberry Pi for emulation vs. just buying a Switch and the various classic game collections.

Using VR on PC isn't convenient, compared to turning on a console, even though it's a lot better now than it was ~5-6 years ago.

Personally what got me to move on from the PSVR was that it was quite limiting. It has some great exclusives but much of the fun I've had in VR is with things like VRChat, which I doubt they'll have. Maybe they'll surprise us.

[MartyG]

I'm not sure I'd agree PC VR is inconvenient and you can build a PC that'll be smaller than a PS5 and be able to run VR stuff no problem at all. Doubt it's going to be any less convenient than PSVR2.

I just turn on the Index and Steam recognises that it's there and switches SteamVR on automatically. Then you just point it at a game in the home environment to launch it. Some minor hassle initially setting up the lighthouses, but that's hardly a big deal and is a once-only thing and only because I wanted the superior tracking. If the self-tracking Quest Pro controllers prove themselves, then no doubt we'll see a switch to most of them doing the same.

It's more hassle if I want to use the Quest 2 in PCVR as you have to launch the Oculus App too and switch on the air link, but Index is a single wire and I have it permanently connected (USB + DP).

There are pros and cons to both - it's definitely way easier to get people interested in Quest 2 when you explain that's all they need, Index is graphically superior but both put a grin on the faces of people I introduce it to.

I'd peg PSVR on the same level as PCVR, and now that the GFX card market has collapsed you can easily get a PCVR setup for under a grand. I reckon PSVR2 is going to be good for VR generally, even if we only see a small fraction of PS5 owners investing - a small percentage of a big number is still a big number.

[wakka]

I'm not sure I'd agree PC VR is inconvenient and you can build a PC that'll be smaller than a PS5 and be able to run VR stuff no problem at all. Doubt it's going to be any less convenient than PSVR2.

Apart from the bit where I build a PC from scratch, versus taking a PS5 out of its box and plugging it in?

[Neon Ignition]

The key thing though with PC VR demanding games is... there are hardly any. The Quest 2 has been powerful enough because the visual bar is so low typically, the simple experiences have worked the best and so Quest 2 was a hit because it made the experience more consumer friendly. PSVR was great largely because it was a decent early attempt that managed just enough exclusives. The novelty is gone with VR, Quest 2 pushed via improving it as a consumer entry level simple proposition. I still feel an entry level PSVR1.5 would have been a better option than PSVR2, but hey ho... I had a soft spot for the Vita in the end despite its bad positioning too.