Sony PlayStation VR PSVR2

I don't think it needs to be perfect for there to be massive demand, but it does need to get a lot better than it currently is. Games where you are stationary (racing simulation, mainly) are better suited to it. Gran Turismo 7 in PSVR2 with a Logitech racing wheel was a ridiculously immersive experience. I played through the whole game in VR and it was one of the best gaming experiences I've had and certainly the most immersive, particularly as a diehard car guy. But racing sims are fairly niche. Outside of racing sims, it's still immersive, but any games with character movement give me immediate motion sickness, the movement is too clunky and disorienting. If they can figure that out at a reasonable price point the demand will be there because the immersion is just night and day against a screen.

You don't think the even simpler answer is that VR is really not a solved problem yet for everyday users? I really enjoy my psvr2, but I'm never going to have that headset on for more than an hour a day every few days. I thought the Quest was a complete game changer for the first month, then put it away never to be used again. It looks like both Apple and Meta have moved the needle on the overall experience, but it seems that there is still a long way to go to get VR to the, perhaps impossible, point where it becomes as ubiquitous as mobile phones. VR remains a non-essential novelty and likely might forever remain such.

It's definitely a bit niche, given the price of the Vision Pro, but I really think Apple needs to invest in first-party "gaming" simulators along with allowing the corresponding hardware support to easily connect to it (likely via a Mac or dock). From my experience with VR, the only thing I've been absolutely and definitively blown away by was sim racing. Before getting a PSVR2 I had played roughly 70 hours of Gran Turismo 7, now I'm at over 500 hours in the five months I've had a PSVR2. I want to buy a PC-compatible headset to get access to better pedals, wheels, and simulators (games) than I can get on the PS5. It's quite easy to sink many thousands of dollars into the experience. I believe the margin requirements are there for Apple (eventually) when considering the potential for professional training solutions. But! Without taking ownership of something , creating some IP (intellectual property) to provide a killer app, and inspire other segments, they're going to be hard pressed to make inroads and get this to scale.

Playing games on PC has been a trigger for me for a long time and gets uncomfortable quickly. I got a PSVR2 headset last year and it's a great way for me to play games and not be in the same mostly static position all day. I can play games on it without any discomfort (other than wearing the headset itself which isn't great if it's a really hot day) and you can switch up sitting/standing which I also like.

I am a huge fan of VR gaming: some of my best gaming experiences ever have been in VR (notably Resident Evil 7 on PSVR1 and RE8 on PSVR2). Even still, I acknowledge putting on a VR headset comes with some notable downsides: those sacrifices are 100% worth it for some games because it enables an incredible experience you can't otherwise have. Sure, you can play a modded version of Half-Life: Alyx without VR, but you're going to have a much worse experience and a lot less fun. Same for RecRoom and plenty of other titles. But for work? I'm 100% willing to put up with a little discomfort for an hour or two if I'm having a great time; I'm less willing to do that for 8 hours a day when my job can be completed in a far more comfortable manner. Comfort no doubt could be improved upon, but even still, I like to see the world with my own eyes. VR is a nice brief escape, and it doesn't have to be a solo activity: playing RecRoom or Zenith with friends is a lot of fun! I even bring my Quest 2 over to my friends' house IRL and play Zenith in the same room with him. But it's not much of an escape if that's what you spend your whole day in. There are many activities that are a ton of fun for short periods of time, but if done all day, are miserable. I enjoy gaming quite a bit, but I dread the idea of being a pro-gamer who Streams on Twitch 10-12 hours a day playing one title to get good: that'd suck all the fun out of the activity for me and I'd much rather just work a more regular job li…

I was very impressed by PSVR2 but I'd be hesitant to "invest" in a PS accessory that costs more [0] than the console and not knowing[1] that it will be compatible with future consoles. [0] Canada, $699 console, $749 PSVR2 [1] https://blog.playstation.com/2023/02/06/playstation-vr2-the-...

Up until recently, I avoided buying a VR headset because of the lack of support for AAA titles, but with the PSVR2 supporting Gran Turismo out of the gate that changed. My kid is able to play games and enjoy herself. And I get to race at night with my friends. For me, it's worth the investment, even if I only find a few games a year that I'll play.

PSVR2 is an excellent headset, I’m not buying PCVR until those headsets are on the level of PSVR2. OLED or micro LED is a must, and foveated rendering is good for performance on pixel dense displays. Plus, inside out tracking instead of extra boxes to mount. The main problem is you can’t use it except on PS5.

For the past 5 years or so, it has gone in spurts for me: no time in VR for months (sometimes even a year or more at a time), then nearly all my gaming time is in VR for a couple months or so. Since the PSVR2's release, when I hang out with one of my friends, I play one of his VR games almost every time I'm there. That undoubtedly won't last forever, but it definitely has the best launch library of any headset so far IMO. Maybe I'm just a really picky gamer, but for any given console generation, there are only a handful of games I truly love, but it's easier to enjoy a fine but not incredible game on a flat screen than it is in VR. A really good VR game makes you forget about everything else and gives you an experience unachievable outside of VR. If you're immersed in a story, a song, or intense gameplay, you forget about any discomfort coming from the headset being on your face. But if you're not enjoying it then you're going to get annoyed a lot faster than you would sitting on the couch looking at a TV. That said, the PSVR 2 is looking to have the best library of VR games yet. Previously, you'd have incredible one-off titles such as Half-Life: Alyx release on Steam but then nothing for months or years, but Sony seems really committed to providing a large number of high-quality AAA experiences on the headset. It also has a ton of great games from smaller studios (most of which were already on Steam or the Quest, but with such big libraries on both of those platforms, they w…

The PSVR2 is pretty decent hardware, with great controllers, but a lackluster game library at the moment. It's bulkier than the Quest 3 but it also has good haptic feedback (in the headset too) so I guess that evens it out.

PSVR2 is only $550 for an amazing headset and people still complain about the price.

The PSVR2 does not have pancake lenses nor persistence problems. It also has fresnel lenses and 120Hz refresh rate. I think there are only a couple headsets with pancake lenses at this point in time. Supposedly the PSVR2 has more advanced fresnel lenses than prior headsets of the same kind as well but I'm not versed enough in the technology to know.

I don't think there is a make or break moment for VR/AR. If it's not now, it can be later. It could be the moment for Meta. There were many popular PDAs before the iPhone that wouldn't have gone away until it was displaced by something more successful. That said, Apple has never been a games company so I'll bet they miss the mark. Sony seems to be doing fine releasing new stuff whenever it's ready. PSVR2 and Gran Turismo with foveated rendering is reported to be the killer app for PSVR2, and I'm thinking about buying all of it to play.