The PlayStation VR2 COULD BE a game-changer! - Would You Buy It?

We had the chance to put on the Sony Playstation VR2 through its paces and it's an impressive piece of hardware.

#Sony #PlaystationVR2 #VR2 #AndroidAuthority #tech #gaming #vrgaming #gamingvr #AR #Horizon #LasVegas #CES #CES2023 #CES2023LasVegas #techtalk #TGIF

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[carlosperez]

It's not "$150 more expensive than the previous generation", it's actually $50. PSVR1 was sold at $500 with the controllers. It was also technically being sold without the controllers at $400, but a more 1to1 comparison would be with the controllers bundled in. Important context especially since one of your main points is how much more expensive it is now.

[Deletistjerk]

Combined hardware cost is $1000. That’s already cheaper than other comparable options.

[Flaggyt]

What's with the price complaints.

They compare prices from a psvr 1 without controllers and the 2 with controllers and 5 years inflation.

This psvr2 is actually cheaper then the 1. People need to get their economics in check and stop repeating each other without thinking for a second.

[Atlink]

Jesus, how many times are we going to beat this price dead horse? The price needs to be looked at comparably - not just as a price. Yes, if you just say "This VR thing is 550 bucks" then sure, it'll sound expensive. But the tech inside, as well as the overall value of what you're getting is substantially cheaper and is still a fantastic price/performance ratio.

I ended up making a chart and given some very average specs for a PC, I budgeted that PC (to handle most modern VR games with little to no issues) at around 1200 bucks. That's just for the PC. Some of the headsets you can get with it will push that cost to over 2000.

Yes, you can do more with a PC, but it's the same with a PS5. It's not JUST a VR machine - it does flat screen games as well.

The Quest 2 is essentially a smartphone strapped to your face and anyone who owns one can tell you the specs aren't anything to write home about. Plus - that can do VR. You can't really use it for anything else (that I'm aware of), like you can a PC or standalone console.

So stop making the pricepoint sound like its terrible. It's not. You need to give that "It costs more than the PS5 - BUT, that cost is actually very fair in the grand scheme of things".

It's reports like this that scare people away from trying VR, and enjoying VR and making the market grow so more development goes into it. Stop making the price sound like the worst thing in the world.

[-Old-School-Gamer]

INTERESTED IN PSVR 2 THEN PLEASE READ THIS.

PSVR 2 is well worth the price and here’s why.

The original PSVR was $400 at launch, which would be $470 today with inflation and that was for the headset only.

You then had to buy the camera and move controllers separately, the camera was a further $50 and the move controllers were a further $100 for a pair, taking the price of the full package to $550.

Therefore; making the price around $635 today when you included inflation, which actually makes PSVR 2 around $85 cheaper than its predecessor.

Plus, when the original PSVR launched, it was pretty weak specs wise when compared to its PC counterparts, whereas the PSVR 2 is genuinely a state of the art headset, with eye tracking, 4k HDR OLED lenses and haptic feedback in the headset, plus the controllers are also state of the art, with haptic feedback, adaptive triggers and finger touch recognition.

PSVR 2’s biggest competition, i.e. the Meta Quest 2 has none of those features and is nowhere near powerful enough to compete with PSVR 2 graphically either and that’s $500 for the 250GB model.

Although Meta have released an upgrade, i.e. the Meta Quest Pro, a headset that definitely comes closer to PSVR 2, that headset costs $1500 alone, which is $400 more than both a PS5 and a PSVR 2 headset combined, $500 more if you go for the PS5 digital edition.

Plus; although there are VR headsets out there available for PC, which are definitely capable of competing with (and even surpassing) PSVR 2, you would need at least $2000-$3000 for a capable enough PC and then another $1200-$1500 for a high-end headset, most of which don’t have the PSVR 2’s tech currently, i.e. headset haptics, eye tracking and foliated rendering; nor do they have controllers with haptic feedback or adaptive triggers.

Therefore; anyone who says PSVR 2 is too expensive, clearly knows very little about the VR market; so if you’re excited about PSVR 2 and are thinking about getting it, don’t let anyone convince you otherwise.

The only downside is the lack of backwards compatibility, because in my opinion the original PSVR has one of the best game libraries around, therefore it’s unfortunate that all those games won’t just carry strait over to PSVR 2. Unfortunately this is due to the huge difference in tracking systems.

The original PSVR used light tracking, which used an external camera to track the players movements, whereas PSVR 2 uses inside-out tracking, where the cameras are actually built into the handset itself, which tends to be much more accurate.

However; many developers have already stated that they want to bring their original PSVR games across to PSVR 2 (hopefully with enhancements) and most of those developers are offering a free upgrade, to anyone who bought their game on the original PSVR, so I would expect nearly all of the best titles to make their way over to the new headset.

Plus; the tracking system used in PSVR 2 is now the industry standard, therefore I doubt backwards compatibility will ever be a problem again.

I know most people would prefer the headset to be wireless, but in my humble opinion Sony made the right decision going for a single lightweight cable.

Had Sony tried to make it a wireless standalone headset like the Quest 2, we’d have very little chance of getting quality games, because Sony would have to mandate that all games work both standalone and connected, meaning developers would have to prioritise a weak mobile chipset.

The mobile chipset in the Quest 2 the biggest reason VR games have stagnated, because there just isn’t enough power available to make good AAA quality games, Sony know this which is why they’ve gone with a single cable.

They also couldn’t go for a wireless streaming option either, because Sony are a pug and play console company, could you imagine the uproar we’d have, if people bought PSVR 2 home and then found out that they then needed to go out and buy a brand new Wi-Fi 6 router and ensure that they’ve got gigabyte Internet, just to be able to use it.

Plus the headset would’ve needed additional components to manufacture, which would have pushed the price up even further, at least another $100-$200 and people are already complaining about the price.

VR has come a long way since the original PSVR launched and PSVR 2 is not just a generational leap, it’s more like a three or four times generational leap and it’s priced appropriately for where Sony want it to be, a budget entry into AAA, VR gaming, which is currently only available on PC for thousands of dollars.

Plus; Sony have a genuine plan to take VR mainstream this generation, by creating hybrid games and they’ve also made it much easier for other AAA developers to port their existing games into VR.

Therefore; we are much more likely to get many more full length AAA games this generation, because developers can sell their games to both the traditional gamers and VR gamers, for the same single development cost.

[pierzus]

The whole set with ps5 will be like £1000. The price of a PC graphics card lol

[TJRadburn]

@Android Authority. With all due respect, PSVR1 has an OLED screen not an LCD.

[shenmeowzo]

I have never been this excited about anything game related. Absolute scenes on Feb 22nd.

You've fallen for a common mistake.. the price is not actually very high. Its compatible to the first headset at launch.

And the psvr1 was not lcd. It was oled

[ThePlanet]

1050 bucks for a powerful console and a high end headset is insane! And games cost up to 70 Dollars!

To get over this shock I went straight to my $1200 phone to purchase my monthly $110 premium pack for the latest free game.

[burkedaniels]

Sony is not calling the controllers “orbs”; the community is. And the price is extremely reasonable when looking at the PCVR/high-end VR space.

[clovis]

The original wasn't LCD. It was the only full RGB OLED panel available in any consumer headset ever. Even now we still don't have that in headsets. Granted the actual resolution was lower, but the subpixel density was higher and effectively reduced SDE. It was punching way above its price point

[PetrifyingPumpkins]

PSVR2 is cheaper than PSVR1 when you take the camera, controllers and inflation into account.
Also they're called Sense controllers not Orbs. Although they should be called Orbs.

[thesenutz]

$550 is actually cheap for all your getting in a new headset.
I paid that several years ago for modulus rift and this thing blows that away with the new tech it has, and the previous psvr didn't have many features, no fovated rendering, haptic built into the headset and controllers. This thing blows away the last one especially those horrible orb controllers they had with terrible tracking tech.
Most people where thinking this was going to be way more expensive then $550, considering the tech inside this system.

[Muz__]

$550 is actually a great price comparatively. It's expensive yes but not unreasonable at all for what the headset can do. I have mine pre-ordered and I can't wait!

[MsUltraBob]

Can’t wait for the Psvr2 I only played on the first headset but it was a good introduction in vr gaming for me. From what I have seen Psvr2 looks like a huge upgrade it could be a huge boost for vr gaming in general.

[captainpicard]

I don’t think the package that is being sold with the headset is more expensive than the previous generation.

[DeadSnail]

$150 more than psvr1 that had no camera or move controllers with inflation and top quality technology this time round thats a steal.

If I wanted the quest 2 I would be spending more on the 250gb model with the better headstrap, and the quest is one of the cheapest and weakest headsets available.

Think people are just jumping on this expensive bandwagon when you can't get any headset cheaper that's anywhere near close on specs and features

[joelconolly]

Now imagine PS VR suit. Would make it much more immersive.

[rony.]

Already pre-ordered it. Been wanting a VR headset for a while.

[thaidaym]

I know it's expensive but what the hell you only love once and I want a damn VR headset.