PSVR2 - out now!

[Darwock]

The Japanese sign up to pre-order went live today - seems to be a bit different as it would only allow me to register for the Horizon bundle, and it says the results of the lottery won’t be announced until January.

[partious]

Yen being in the toilet not putting you off @Darwock? 75000 has crossed some sort of psychological barrier for me I think. Also I hate product lotteries. I'll wait. 

 

Not surprised they're forcing bundles with a digital game, I think the yen price of the headset still works out significantly lower than Europe etc using the current exchange rate.

Guess the Japanese stock allocation is going to be a joke again if it's straight to lotteries, there can't be many people here willing to bite at that price.

 

[Darwock]

It doesn’t really put me off, it’s steep of course but I had to wait so long for the original PSVR *and* the PS5, that I think my my desire to get a good deal may be in competition with my life expectancy. When I sold my flat back home to build our house here I kept a little pool of funds for this kind of thing.

 

As you say I’m not exactly confident of getting offered one anyway.

[Fused gamer]

My favourite thing was seeing all the scalpers on eBay, so I reported all the listings.

 

seems to have done the trick as you can’t now find any as they’ve removed the search.

[Thor]

This is pretty good vid showing what's coming:

 

 

[AceGrace]

my preorder timed out so I registered my interest again. I suspect Sony will be in touch shortly 🙂

[sofasurfer]

Just had another email offering me to pre-order, even though I have already done so. Hopefully anyone who hasn't pre-ordered yet and wants one can now get onboard.

[Steven]

Wonder when they'll start allocating these to retailers as it can't be the only way they're selling them. I'd imagine quite a few existing pre-orders will be cancelled as we get closer to February when people realise that what's been shown is really all they're getting at launch.

[redael]

2 hours ago, Steven said:

Wonder when they'll start allocating these to retailers as it can't be the only way they're selling them. I'd imagine quite a few existing pre-orders will be cancelled as we get closer to February when people realise that what's been shown is really all they're getting at launch.

 

Was able to bag my pre-order in the early hours of this morning without invite at PS Direct, although I cant be sure that I wasn't whitelisted after missing out in the last round or if it is open to all who sign in.

 

Sony keeping very quiet about this and had only heard a few days back that something was happening on December 6th, maybe its just to fill out the remaining stock left in this allocation.

[AceGrace]

So I caved in and preordered when the 2nd preorder email came through this morning.  😞

 

[Parappa]

Yeah think I will do the same in the morning. 

[AceGrace]

And I've cancelled it.

Had a really good think. I have a PSVR 1 and a Quest 2 both gathering dust.

 

Also watched the video showing games that are coming and nothing stood out.  If an Astrobot was coming that might make me change my mind.

I think I will wait until it gets discounted and pick one up at a later date.

[SMD]

i keep getting emails begging me to preorder this even though i've never shown any interest in one and i never had a psvr

 

guessing the numbers aren't good

[Stanley]

1 hour ago, SMD said:

i keep getting emails begging me to preorder this even though i've never shown any interest in one and i never had a psvr

 

guessing the numbers aren't good

Probably the case, it’s £530 after all and launching not long after Christmas. 
 

I think the VR craze probably peaked for a bit with Quest, I certainly know quite a few families who have those, but the pricing on this coupled with a PS5 puts it firmly in enthusiast territory. 

[Escape]

I don't think the price is too bad for what PSVR2 could be, just that they're asking too much for what feels like Rift era tech, when the PS5's done so well to impress after the PS4's lacklustre hardware. I think we'd call it really good value if it were much smaller and lighter, wireless, and had full BC and SteamVR support.

 

The new resolution's a major improvement, but it's still clunky and wired.

[Thor]

2 hours ago, Escape said:

just that they're asking too much for what feels like Rift era tech

Hmm, this is just not true. Rift era tech doesn't have anywhere the resolution (which you at least mentioned), doesn't have foveated rendering, doesn't have OLED screens, and has a narrower field of view. 

[footle]

6 hours ago, Thor said:

Hmm, this is just not true. Rift era tech doesn't have anywhere the resolution (which you at least mentioned), doesn't have foveated rendering, doesn't have OLED screens, and has a narrower field of view. 

Not quite. The cv1 had pentile OLED screens, but no inside out tracking and optics with god rays - which is a pretty fundamental difference. The short lived rift s had inside out tracking, but an LED screen running at 80hz.

Bit escape clearly wants a quest 3. Sony aren’t going to sell anyone that.

[Thor]

Yeah there are subtle differences across the entire range. PSVR1 had OLED screens too.  But there's a fair bit new in PSVR2 that isn't in the old era of headsets. 

 

@Escape, you are bang on about it being much better value of it also worked with PC. For me, Sony would be fools not to get that sorted. 

[Stanley]

So PSVR2 has new screens with higher resolution, foveated rendering, new controllers with haptic feedback including the headset, only one lead & no camera and of course is more powerful owing to the PS5, so it is doing quite a bit new. 
 

How much is the Quest 3 expected to cost does anyone know? 

[Escape]

15 hours ago, Thor said:

@Escape, you are bang on about it being much better value of it also worked with PC. For me, Sony would be fools not to get that sorted. 

 

Especially when they've been talking about the possibility of more PC ports in future. There might be another third-party driver for SteamVR like iVRy, or encryption might prevent it (as it does PSVR's headphones).

 

If Sony were predicting loads of profit we'd understand their lockdown, but it's sounding like they'd shift a lot more with PC support. And if BC isn't quite ready, they could add a VR mode to GT7 as a showcase at launch.

 

Resolution aside I feel the PSVR was fairly impressive for its time, with a decent FOV and 120Hz before it became standard, but I struggle to see how PSVR2 matches up. It doesn't seem like enough of a jump to me in terms of achieving the mainstream breakthrough that's fast-becoming viable, putting off punters with its still-huge size and cable.

 

BTW, the PSVR only has one cable? I know it's a Y, but what's the difference?

 

Until headsets become smaller and wireless, I think there's a danger of only being able to sell them to the converted, who buy them because that's all there is, and in doing so reinforce the idea there's a limited market, thus completing the ouroboros!

 

I'm sold on VR but waiting for more comfort and convenience, hoping it's not like passive 3D in arriving when the content's gone:

 

 

[Stanley]

The one wire I was referring was instead of the breakout box, camera and all that gubbins. PSVR2 is a lot simpler in that respect. Aside from that and other upgrades you’d expect from much more powerful technology, surely the biggest upgrade here is the controller. The first one was limited to either the DualShock 4 or Move controllers, neither of which were designed for VR, and didn’t come with the headset. 
 

I’m interested to see just what Quest 3 brings to the table, but in terms of power there is no way it will be a match for PS5/PSVR2, and once you’re all setup is it really that big a deal having to connect by wire? The biggest differentiator will be price, but again considering Quest 2 is already £400-£500 and Quest Pro an eye watering £1500, I can’t see it being much cheaper if at all. 

[CheekyMonkey]

Honestly my Quest2 and PSVR1 rarely get used now... But I would say the impact both had on my gaming life was amazing. First time I fired up Batman Arkham VR I was gobsmacked. I even got my wife to have a look - she has absolutely zero interest in gaming but even she was going "whooooaaaahh incredible"...  Then we played Astro Bot and everything went from amazing to 100% absolute awesomeness. I played through Resi 7 in VR and i literally developed some sort of detachment syndrome I almost thought I was there in that house.  I played through Half life Alyx via virtual desktop on the Quest2 and that was even better.

 

Its expensive yes no doubt, but quite honestly I would pay this and more to experience that level of amazement again - and somehow,  I think it's going to deliver. 

[boybrown]

1 hour ago, Stanley said:

The one wire I was referring was instead of the breakout box, camera and all that gubbins. PSVR2 is a lot simpler in that respect. Aside from that and other upgrades you’d expect from much more powerful technology, surely the biggest upgrade here is the controller. The first one was limited to either the DualShock 4 or Move controllers, neither of which were designed for VR, and didn’t come with the headset. 
 

I’m interested to see just what Quest 3 brings to the table, but in terms of power there is no way it will be a match for PS5/PSVR2, and once you’re all setup is it really that big a deal having to connect by wire? The biggest differentiator will be price, but again considering Quest 2 is already £400-£500 and Quest Pro an eye watering £1500, I can’t see it being much cheaper if at all. 

Meta have said between 3-500£/$ they expect the Quest 3 to launch around. I think the top end will be the price. 

Ive preordered my PSVR2 but if no other major game announcements come I’ll cancel it. I don’t have a PS5 so that’s a big initial outlay. I have my Quest 2 and Xbox series S and both of those don’t get a lot of attention. I think it’s gonna be a hard slog for Sony. Their forthcoming headset is impressive but as we all know it’s about the software that will support it and currently (for me) it’s lacking that wow factor. 

[Steven]

4 hours ago, boybrown said:

Meta have said between 3-500£/$ they expect the Quest 3 to launch around. I think the top end will be the price. 

Ive preordered my PSVR2 but if no other major game announcements come I’ll cancel it. I don’t have a PS5 so that’s a big initial outlay. I have my Quest 2 and Xbox series S and both of those don’t get a lot of attention. I think it’s gonna be a hard slog for Sony. Their forthcoming headset is impressive but as we all know it’s about the software that will support it and currently (for me) it’s lacking that wow factor. 

 

It's strange because they must be doing a sequel to Astrobot - even if it's a little way off, I'd have got it out there that it's in development to secure anyone wavering about a pre-order. I'm getting mine because PSVR had a really decent library in the end but Sony should be doing a bit more of the lifting this time round with first party stuff.

[stir fry]

7 hours ago, CheekyMonkey said:

Honestly my Quest2 and PSVR1 rarely get used now... But I would say the impact both had on my gaming life was amazing. First time I fired up Batman Arkham VR I was gobsmacked. I even got my wife to have a look - she has absolutely zero interest in gaming but even she was going "whooooaaaahh incredible"...  Then we played Astro Bot and everything went from amazing to 100% absolute awesomeness. I played through Resi 7 in VR and i literally developed some sort of detachment syndrome I almost thought I was there in that house.  I played through Half life Alyx via virtual desktop on the Quest2 and that was even better.

 

Its expensive yes no doubt, but quite honestly I would pay this and more to experience that level of amazement again - and somehow,  I think it's going to deliver. 

Yeah, in general I'm ok with Quest 2/VR being like 0.05% of my gaming when the quality of the experiences are so novel and cool. In general it's also not something you want to spend much time in, I feel like VR has a weird time dilation effect. An hour of VR might as well be 5 hours seated gaming

 

That said I'm still disappointed in the software choices in VR currently, post Lone Echo II. I really hope that PSVR2 gives a second wind to AAA or even AA VR efforts for a year or so.

 

Speaking of Lone Echo, that section where you're just shuffling baggage around in zero g and fixing outlets was so cool, it's the perfect type of VR game. Lost interest once it got to the later sections

[Thor]

12 minutes ago, stir fry said:

Speaking of Lone Echo, that section where you're just shuffling baggage around in zero g and fixing outlets was so cool, it's the perfect type of VR game. Lost interest once it got to the later sections

Some of the sections were you have to dodge stuff is a but rubbish, I'll admit, but still feel the overall experience is great. Being out in space in zero g was great.

 

edit: I should say I am yet to try Lone Echo II.

[Treble]

The biggest problem is the catch-22 at the heart of it (for consoles, at least): make a dedicated VR game and your audience is quite narrow. The number of 'AAA' VR games is therefore vanishingly small. Make a VR-compatible game and the VR component is most often just a trivial bolt-on. 

Spoiler

Moving away from consoles, the Quest is probably the best way to experience VR. It's not going to push any graphical boundaries but that immediate cable-free accessibility is hard to deny. Plus you can hook it to a decent PC if so inclined. 

 

Second best is a PC headset, which is my wheelhouse. The best game lineup (generally speaking) with Valve having enough 'fuck you' money to have greenlit Half Life: Alyx, plus a community who are dedicated to making just about everything into a VR game. I've been playing the TIE Fighter total conversion project in VR and it's exceptional. The cables are a massive ball ache though, and no mistake, and there are still lots of minor, niggly interface problems that don't stop me playing but are far from mass market friendly. 

 

Tl;Dr I think Sony ran the numbers and feel they'll hit breakeven with PSVR2 tech, whilst looking technologically progressive at the same time. I personally see it as a very poor value proposition right now though, and it's a hard pass until and unless they make it PC compatible and backwards compatible. 

[Qazimod]

Fantavision motherfuckers!  

 

 

Quote

That classic PlayStation2 action puzzle game "Fantavision" is coming back on PlayStation5!

Fantavision, initially released on PlayStation 2, will return in 2023 on PlayStation 5!
Very simple rules, and once you get the hang of it, the game is more addictive than you can imagine!
It's an artistic combination of action, shooting, strategy, and puzzles!

Beautiful graphics with Full HD and 4K output support

First major graphic update in 20 years, with 4K screen for effective presentation of fireworks and night scenes.

Compatible with the new PlayStationVR2!

Experience an immersive experience with a PSVR2 headset and PSVR2 Sense controller.

 

http://www.cosmomachia.co.jp/business/fantavision_e.html

[Parappa]

Well that is me back in! 

[Stanley]

That should be pretty great for VR actually!