Sony VR headset unveiled

[Hells Malice]

It'll be interesting to see what PS4 games will write "extra code" to support this "second screen" (VR headset).
Maybe the Gamepad failed as a second screen whereas this one "might work".

Does it have 3D sound ? Like you can hear something behind you ?
3D sound might be useful in many games.

You don't seem to comprehend what a VR headset actually is, do you? It is the screen. The only screen.

and i'll chock this one up to a piss poor job by the OP not giving any good info, but yeah it supports positional sounds.

Morpheus will use Sony-developed 3D audio technology that recreates positional sound, "such as footsteps climbing up stairs below them, or engine noises of helicopters flying overhead." Sounds will change along with players' head orientation ""creating a highly realistic audio environment within an immersive 360-degree virtual world."

 

[T Link7]

...Failure also means the opposite of success. Just so you know.

I know, it was a not so funny joke. Though I wouldn't really say the GamePad is a failure as much as the Wii U is a failure. But I suppose people will have different opinions regarding that.

 

[osirisjem]

You don't seem to comprehend what a VR headset actually is, do you? It is the screen. The only screen.

Good point.
I was vague.
What I meant was one person might be using the VR screen while another person might be using the regular screen.
I think that would be better described as Iwata's asymmetric gameplay.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Curious to see how this works out. Got to try out the Oculus Rift for a few days and it wasn't exactly all the impressive (though it is just the dev model), and the games that supported it were pretty poor.

It's definitely cool, I just hope this thing isn't a billion dollars. Also, is this wireless or wired? That was one of my biggest complaints with the Oculus Rift, the wiring sort of gets in the way after a while.

Good point.
I was vague.
What I meant was one person might be using the VR screen while another person might be using the regular screen.
I think that would be better described as Iwata's asymmetric gameplay.

I assume it'll work like Remote Play, the image is both displayed on the TV screen (if there's an Output) and on the target device.

 

[osirisjem]

Curious to see how this works out. Got to try out the Oculus Rift for a few days

Cool ! Lucky you. (I'm jealous)
What were the "games" you tested ?

Did the gameplay "work" well ?
What I mean by that is ... for some games the WiiMote feels so natural ... and I love the game. Other times it feels awkward and I wish they did a better job of translating accurately my actions to what happens in the game.

So ... Did the gameplay "work" well ?

 

[chavosaur]

I wonder how disorienting Playing Mirrors Edge 2 would be with this.

 

[GameWinner]

The headset will not be released this year.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Cool ! Lucky you. (I'm jealous)
What were the "games" you tested ?

Did the gameplay "work" well ?
What I mean by that is ... for some games the WiiMote feels so natural ... and I love the game. Other times it feels awkward and I wish they did a better job of translating accurately my actions to what happens in the game.

So ... Did the gameplay "work" well ?

Hardly "lucky". You can buy one for $300. My boss bought one, thought it was shit, and let me dick around with it for a few days before he sold it off.

I tried a bunch of indie stuff, horror games mostly since it seemed to be the only practical use for the OR. That stuff was ok, made jump scares feel more threatening but other than that it was pretty meh. Also tried out BF3, TF2, and Skyrim, all of which had terrible controls compared to keyboard/mouse.

 

[osirisjem]

The headset will not be released this year.

NOooooooooooooooooooo.

I hate product annoucements that are talked about for 6 months ... and then delayed 6 months .... and the annoucement is .... "we are working on it".
I think they are having problems getting it working right.
This delay is bad news for the VR headset.

 

[mightymuffy]

If they released it this year it'd be a rush to get software going for it, which never works in the end. Also a delay until next year might help to bring prices down: looking at the specs we've been given I doubt they could release that for under £200/$250. So, plough what [comparatively] little money they have into rushing it out, with no decent software and a hideous pricepoint = Fail. And Sony can't afford one of those..... Let them take their time lads, we don't want another VB.

 

[DaVince]

And then, Oculus releases this:
http://www.oculusvr.com/dk2/

And a discussion thread: http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/20tg3l/official_devkit_2_announcement_video/

Edit: and more info on the whole deal from the Verge:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/3/19/5524972/oculus-reveals-virtual-reality-development-kit-2-announced

Such timing.
Regarding Oculus and stuff - yeah, it's known that the current gen VR display is inferior. I think they sell dev units partially as a reason to get it tested widely what makes it that way (as well as just providing a dev environment for devs, not to mention funding). The same goes for the DK2 I linked above, I believe - they're not there yet.

But yeah, it's good that Sony won't release it this year. That would be premature.

 

[mrtofu]

deleted

 

[Veho]

I can name a few more things that already "enhances existing games" (isn't that the same tagline for the kinect? Or the wiiu gamepad?). However, it's only when a certain widely hyped game that actually lives up to the hype gets released that it starts to sell.

I don't see how the Kinect enhances pre-existing games (games that weren't designed for it). You can replace control of one of the actions with waving and wiggling but with a VR headset you leave the existing controls in place, the "looking around" bit is an extra.

The major difference here is that Kinect and the Gamepad are input devices, whereas a VR headset is a display. The "enhancement" it brings is way closer to the enhancement color or higher resolutions brought to games. The headtracking is not a control scheme. VR is there parallel to the controls. Replacing the main controls with headtracking would be idiotic. And while I know some developer is bound to make a game for it controlled entirely by vigorous nodding, it's primarily an output device and should be treated as such. Ultimately, all it brings is immersion.

Unfortunately that means the improvements it brings to games are nothing essential, and it would be very very difficult to make a game that absolutely couldn't be played without it. Is there a game that absolutely demands, say, HD resolution? A few might, but the majority play just as well in 720p.

As for that immersion...people aren't going to play it in a bureau chair, so doing a 360 will be done by looking left of your tv (or right) for a time until you're done turning. Moving forward, backward jumping and crawling will also still be by buttons, so the really being "in" the game gets broken just at another spot now.

It's not a holodeck, true, and it doesn't give you complete freedom, but you can't deny it's more immersive than a static unresponsive screen.

 

[Maxternal]

DO WANT

Sometimes it's hard to separate a gaming gimmick from innovation but if this works well it would SOOO be a system seller for me. (Heck, I even owned a Virtual Boy ... but always wished it was something like this)
...

 

[kristianity77]

I think this headset looks decent to be honest. I've never tried anything like this before but would probably stump up for one when released.

To the people on here who are stating the PS4 cannot possible handle 1080p 60fps hardly through one screen as opposed to two thats a ridiculous argument really. There is no stopping (I suppose) games "cutting" back a bit when outputting to these devices. Like say a drop in res (and then an upscale) or maybe just drop a few bits of eye candy here and there in order to achieve desired performance.

 

[Hydrazine]

I think this headset looks decent to be honest. I've never tried anything like this before but would probably stump up for one when released.

To the people on here who are stating the PS4 cannot possible handle 1080p 60fps hardly through one screen as opposed to two thats a ridiculous argument really. There is no stopping (I suppose) games "cutting" back a bit when outputting to these devices. Like say a drop in res (and then an upscale) or maybe just drop a few bits of eye candy here and there in order to achieve desired performance.

"Upscaled"

If it's upscaled, that means its not actually running at 1080p. It'll still be just as pixelated as if it was running at that lower resolution you're upscaling from. Guess what kills immersion a lot? Pixelation. That was the biggest complaint with the first Oculus Dev kit. The PS4 is too weak for good VR. Running in stereo 3D doubles system load.

 

[kristianity77]

"Upscaled"

If it's upscaled, that means its not actually running at 1080p. It'll still be just as pixelated as if it was running at that lower resolution you're upscaling from. Guess what kills immersion a lot? Pixelation. That was the biggest complaint with the first Oculus Dev kit. The PS4 is too weak for good VR. Running in stereo 3D doubles system load.

Well, then I guess by your reckoning then it will be a massive failure and no one will ever buy one. Perhaps you should get on the blower to Sony and advise them of this, save them a shitload of cash

And also, although it could be because I'm tired and missing something, but where does it say this device is 3D?

 

[Hydrazine]

Well, then I guess by your reckoning then it will be a massive failure and no one will ever buy one. Perhaps you should get on the blower to Sony and advise them of this, save them a shitload of cash

Oh, people will still buy it. But be disappointed that all games for it either a) look bad due to reduced resolution and visuals or b) give headaches and motion sick due to sub-60fps.

The best VR right now is Oculus, especially with the new DK2 releasing in July.

 

[kristianity77]

Think I edited before you answered. Where does it state its 3D?

and the Oculus is for PCs is it not and this is for PS4 so how is that relevant?

 

[Foxi4]

"Upscaled"

If it's upscaled, that means its not actually running at 1080p. It'll still be just as pixelated as if it was running at that lower resolution you're upscaling from. Guess what kills immersion a lot? Pixelation. That was the biggest complaint with the first Oculus Dev kit. The PS4 is too weak for good VR. Running in stereo 3D doubles system load.

...that's not how pixels work. At all.

Whatever native resolution you run, 1 pixels always references 1 pixel - 720p isn't any more pixelated than 1080p. What actually changes is the size of pixels, which is a different matter entirely. Since LCD and other similar panels have a fixed amount of physical pixels, scaling algorithms are used to resize the image from a smaller resolution to a larger one, approximating the colours of pixels - this is what causes "pixelation". It's a decrease in quality, but said decrease highly depends on the algorithm utilized to approximate.

The complaints regarding the first Oculus Rift did not concern upscaling of any kind, they concerned the physical size of pixels because the panel was low resolution and the physical pixels were noticable from up-close. Although not ideal, upscaling from 720p to 1080p and displaying on a 1080p panel or something along those lines is better than displaying 720p on a 720p one because the physical size of pixels is smaller.