Sony PlayStation VR2 (PSVR2)

quest 2 goes up to 120hz now (but too underpowered to reach this in complex games)

 

yea but it can use usb to connect to a computer and you can power 120hz that way.

It's werid this was announced again with no price or release date... its not just me right ?

 

Was thinking that. Yes if you compare it to lower-cost last gen VR stuff its impressive. By 2022 or last year high end and onwards standards? Nah the specs are mid-end if you compare it to higher end VR sets, its nice, but it doesnt scream 500 dollars to me.
Its a solid upgrade over PSVR1, its the games/software that matter. Its nice to see Sony being one of the few still believing in virual reality. The best experience so far is HL:Alyx, am sure Sony will put a handfull of AAA vr games this generation. If thats enough to reach more then just a niche market? (5% of total userbase last gen), probably not.

I think power doesnt matter as the rendering device will do that (the PC or other device).

 

Not sure what you mean but I expect a quest 3 this fall at a simlar $300-$500 price point as the quest 2 and i certainly expect it to have similar specs to this psvr 2 headset. If we get a index 2 or a new vive pro or the high end hp headsets I expect them to blow past tehse specs.

We also don't know release date or price so its hard to compare

 

btw funny that valve index was 1000$ with 1440 x 1600 sdr lcd without eye tracking, technology in terms of vr is changing fast

 

since quest 2 sold as much as Xbox Series this year, Xbox must be niche too.

 

That's an interesting way to look at it. They apparently can make Quest 2 stock a lot faster than Xboxes. I can always find a Quest 2 on the shelf at my local scary Walmarts.

 

it's just not niche anymore.

 

Superb specs. The only real let down for me is a lack of built in audio which makes a big dent in the convenience factor for me. FoV could also be wider but it still seems good. Obviously wireless would be a big upgrade too but that was likely always a bit much to ask. Besides that though this looks really great. The eye tracking / foveated rendering, HDR OLED screen and haptic elements sound awesome. I was particularly excited at the description of feeling a cars acceleration through the headset. That alone could be almost game changing.

Upgrading from my current original Occulus Rift to this would be a real generational leap. I can certainly see me picking this up alongside a PS5 unless there is something clearly better (this + wireless would do it) in the PC space around the same time that doesn't cost too much more.

However I do fear for the level of integration with software that features like foveated rendering and haptic feedback could receive on the PC.

 

I'm interested in hearing how a new OLED VR panel is. The Odyssey+ has amazing black and nice colors, but a lot of black smear and maybe some gamma issue that causes the picture to seem to need a gamma boost compared to a LCD (something that I've noticed with my LG OLED TV too). PSVR wasn't allowed to get totally black in any games I tried in order to avoid the smearing. That was very unfortunate but once you see the black smear of another HMD doing complete blackness you can understand why.

I think overall the dark grey mist is worse than black smear though. So bring on more OLED.

 

5% of your user-install base is quite niche. Compared to how many rolls-royce phantoms sold its not niche.

 

VR is not niche anymore.

 

Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda has published a letter in which he expresses hope that NFTs and blockchain technology will become a "major trend" in gaming.

In his letter, Matsuda wrote of a distinction between those who "play to have fun" and those who "play to contribute".

"I realise that some people who 'play to have fun' and who currently form the majority of players have voiced their reservations toward these new trends, and understandably so," he says.

In his view, however, NFTs will incentivise contributions and inspire more user-generated content in games.

"I believe that this will lead to more people devoting themselves to such efforts and to greater possibilities of games growing in exciting ways.​

I'm hoping my future 'gaming' job, the one I do when I get home from the normal job and which will replace the current silly fad of having fun, will pay for my VR headset.

 

To establish a meaningful userbase to fund content that, without which, the platform will die. eg. Price it $1000 because if you want VR on PS5, that's the price you'll have to pay. Hardly any takers, no VR install base, no devs target it, no VR games, no reason for anyone to pay $1000 to get a useless headset.

PSVR was fabulous not because of its tech but because of its pricepoint, and it really did help kickstart VR. At this point, to be fair, the VR market will be cross-platform, so PSVR2 will sit within a range of device options and won't need to rely on the PSVR2 install base to attract content so long as it's large enough for porting to be good business sense. There's also no need to be ultra competitively priced as there's no competition and no need to establish VR. However, it'll still be best for the platform and VRs overall future if the tech isn't price-prohibitive to a large portion of the potential market. Quite possibly though it can price reduce better than the consoles without dedicated silicon, so perhaps launch $400+ or whatever for early adopters with a view to extending the market into the $200 price range over the following 5 years.

What are the big-ticket BOM items? Screen. Tracking sensors? Are significant price reductions realistic?

 

399 leaves it in the same place as the psvr1, niche and locked to a single platform. It needs to compete. 499 for a Ps5 is already a barrier others don't have to deal with. It needs to definitely be priced aggressively.

 

If they are smart this will be $300 or less. Unlike the quest it doesn't have its own arm soc / battery or stuff like that. $400 ps5 + $300 vr wouldn't be a huge price point and as the ps5 decreases in price the total cost will go down. The quest 2 is the most popular vr headset right now with what 10m units sold and the ps5 can easily play any of the software made for the quest and quest 2. So content shouldn't be an issue with a ton of devs just porting over. I think its also safe to assume that the ps5 will be more powerful than the quest 3 or 4 . So content shouldn't be an issue for a long time.

For many people the ps5 + psvr could be the superior way to play in terms of graphical fidelity even if quest 3 has better screens or refresh or what have you. The ps5 + psvr will certainly be cheaper than a comparable or better pc with quest 2/3 . The only thing lacking is a wireless option in the psvr.

It's hard to compare it to new pc headsets since they aren't announced but it seems on the pc side the people buying are willing to pay more for a higher quality headset. The vive pro , index , hp verb or whatever all cost a lot at launch.

I think the psvr is a good bit of kit for the ps5. The ps5 should be able to run it well esp off quest 2 ports and hopefully they struck a good price to feature set. It's hard to say until sony actually prices and releases the headset.

 

most of the quest 2 library are low budget small games, imo it's meaningles content for psvr2 to succeed, sony need to push aaa games for it as re7, hitman 3 and astro weren't enough for psvr1

 

That must mean it's not successful...

 

Just thinking out loud here: low budget small games may actually be the allure of VR gaming which is why quest 2 is doing so well, they are at the heart of it; the true roots of VR gaming. I don't think this is something Sony would want to actively miss out on - these low budget titles will be the meat of VR gaming.

 

but you don't need ps5 + psvr2 combo to play small vr games so hard to compete here with standalone quest2, aaa titles is the way for psvr2