Playstation 5 [PS5] [Release November 12 2020]

That makes a lot of sense. I was looking at the Wifi6 thing yesterday and thinking it was total overkill but if they want to untether PSVR2, wifi 6 could explain it.

 

I'm a bit disappointed that there's apparently no 60GHz radio in the console though. Anything that requires a breakout box will always make the peripheral more expensive and cumbersome in the living room.

Are you sure? Using just regular Bluetooth could bring huge latency problems on some headsets, but this time around Sony could just let that decision on gamers.
The other problem of regular Bluetooth audio headsets was a lack of voice communication, but that is supposedly now solved with the dualsense having a microphone array for chat.

 

If we are lucky they will integrate it with the camera.

 

Around 5% of the PS4 install base owns a PSVR. Why would you build the cost into the PS5 for that small of a userbase portion, especially with the additional placement restrictions it will impose on the users?

 

Because according to the latest reports Sony made something in the order of $2 billion with the headset and VR games, and they most probably want to increase those 4%.

 

A wireless VR headset just makes it much more accessible to the mainstream.
Easier to pass around during parties and also to lose yourself in whichever game you playing.

The question is if WiFi is up to the task because latency is critical in VR also how much power will a receiver on a headset use? Less than the OLED screens ?

How big/heavy does the battery need to be for a good 4 hour charge?

 

Current wireless solutions use 60GHz which has as no more latency than hdmi cables. AFAIK it's the 60GHz radio units that use the most power, as we know that MEMS, headphones and small OLED screens sip tiny amounts of power nowadays.

The official Vive wireless adapter bundles a 28W.h battery that is good for only 2.5 hours, meaning that 60GHz Intel WiGig radio is probably consuming over 8W.

Sony could be planning to send a compressed lossy signal to the headset through that WiFi AX 5GHz, but I don't think that's the case because they'd need a dedicated WiFi chip for it if the console is connecting to the Internet through WiFi.

 

Probably around the amount your phone uses.
Being heavy is fine, it's the balance of the headset that counts.
PSVR was the heaviest when compared to the VIVE and Occulus, but was the most comfortable due to the balance being much better.

 

There's no space in the BoM for 60 GHz radios for such a minority of the user base, tbh given the varied installation scenarios for a PS5 having the radios in a breakout box where it can be positioned with clear LoS to the user may be a better idea anyway

 

Those can be used outside of VR, though. Help distinguish players and some games use them to indicate various things.

How does building cost into the console rather than the headset help them? The consumer has to assume the cost either way.

 

The first promotes the feature better than the second.

 

Because the majority of consumers who don't buy the headset won't have to pay for it resulting in better street price or fatter margins. The consumer who wants a headset is already setting aside €199 so slapping "Now with wireless" on the side of the box and another €50 on the price won't lose you that many VR customers.

It's clear Sony isn't leaning into VR for this gen from it's glaring absence in the messaging so it doesn't make sense to burden the average PS5 consumer with the costs to support a minority of them. Honestly I kind of agree with them, it's becoming increasingly clear VR is kind of hamstrung anyway by a lack of ideas. How many games are a variation on shooting galleries or escape rooms? The big benefit of wireless for a headset is greater mobility but as Kinect showed few people outside of the US have large open areas to support that. Better to keep VR as a side hustle in case someone finally nails that "must play" defining VR experience.

When it comes to PSVR 2.0 I am far more concerned that we haven't heard much about Sony and new hand controllers. PSVR is far more hamstrung by how bad Move are as controllers than by FoV, resolution, wires or rendering quality imo.

 

It’s difficult to make assumptions regarding 60Hz power requirements. A cursory Google search didn’t reveal what process Intels chipset uses, but their current 10GbE chipset still uses 90nm (!). (NVidias 8nm Orin for example makes a joke out of that, packing three 10 GbE channels into a corner of the chip.)
If Sony decides to use the technology, their volumes makes it likely that they will utilize a new design. Also, they wouldn’t to design for anything other than livingroom distances. I don’t think we need to worry too much about battery life.

 

PSVRv1 was $400€ on launch, and was the cheapest "propper" VR system of that time.

If they go with wireless connectivity, the entire package will be much more expensive. I think they will go with cables for most affordable price, and offer a wireless accessory for those who really want it.

 

Wasn't their latest State of Play almost exclusively dedicated to PSVR? How is their messaging telling us they're not investing in VR?

 

If the wireless technology was good enough, could they just have the console process 1080p streams to the goggles, to minimize processing there?

Would that save enough money or good displays and the controls for a wireless HMD still cost too much?

 

Hitman 3 PSVR was the only PSVR element in the most recent State Of Play apart from glimpses in sizzle reels iirc? I haven't seen Cerny or anyone else talk up what the PS5 design means for PSVR at all, no mention of "and now all existing PSVR titles get AA" or something along those lines. The launch Astro game doesn't even support PSVR as far as I can tell and the press release for the launch window slate of titles only mentions it in the copyright notice (l )

 

They'll talk about VR (and PSVR2) after the PS5 launch. They want to focus on PS5 for now. I can assure you that VR developers (at least some) already have PSVR2 devkits.