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Sony have just announced the long awaited launch details for PlayStation VR at a dedicated press event at GDC 2016.

The headset will go on sale in October 2016 in a standalone package for a RRP of...

• $399 USD
• €399 EUR
• $549 CAD
• £349 GBP

The package will not include the PlayStation 4 Camera or Move controllers which may be required for certain experiences such as head-tracking and motion controls.

The final technical specifications of the consumer version of the PSVR have also been confirmed and are as follows.

• OLED 5.7" screen
• 1920 x RGB x 1080 (960 x RGB x 1080 per eye)
• 120hz, 90hz refresh rates
• 360 degrees of tracking via 9 LEDs with the PlayStation 4 Camera (sold separately)
• FOV of 100 degrees
• 18ms latency

Although the launch of the virtual reality headset has been delayed until October 2016 (previously slated for Q1) the price is much lower than that of its closest competitors - the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Will you be betting on the future of VR and picking up a PlayStation VR come October? Let us know in the thread below.

Discuss

 

[grossaffe]

There's no such thing as ideal framerate or resolution for your brain because your brain doesn't process vision as frames, it's more akin to a consistent stream. Again, models already drop polycount depending on distance from the camera point, dropping them due to VR mode isn't an issue, you're only losing a level of detail. You're assuming that VR games have to be hyper-realistic - they don't.

You are correct in that our brains do not process vision in frames, but that does not mean that framerate is meaningless. The higher the framerate, the closer the approximation is to the real world's continuous steam. The thing is, when you're watching a TV, you're find with a low framerate because it is just the TV that is refreshing slowly while you're still grounded in the rest of the world around you. In VR, all you have is the picture in front of you, and if the framerate is not buttery-smooth with super-low latency, it causes a dissonance in your brain that breaks immersion and leads to motion sickness. And 1080p resolution still suffers from pixelation and the screen-door effect which also break immersion.

 

[yoyoyo69]

I don't see the need to strap a TV to my eyeballs, I don't get the boner everyone's getting over VR. I would trade every single VR headset tech out there to just get more splitscreen/local multi games - those are synonymous to the console experience to me. Each console this gen supports 4 or more controllers and local multi games can be counted on the fingers of one hand, at least the ones that don't suck.

This man knows his shit

 

[Foxi4]

You are correct in that our brains do not process vision in frames, but that does not mean that framerate is meaningless. The higher the framerate, the closer the approximation is to the real world's continuous steam. The thing is, when you're watching a TV, you're find with a low framerate because it is just the TV that is refreshing slowly while you're still grounded in the rest of the world around you. In VR, all you have is the picture in front of you, and if the framerate is not buttery-smooth with super-low latency, it causes a dissonance in your brain that breaks immersion and leads to motion sickness. And 1080p resolution still suffers from pixelation and the screen-door effect which also break immersion.

Everything you're saying is true, but we're talking about approaching perfection asymptotically - you'll never reach it. That, and as I've said, it's a highly individual matter - some people are fine with 60FPS, others get motion sickness. It was the same with the 3DS - it's not for everyone. As for "breaking immersion", everytime I hear that, it sounds like I'm listening to the whining of a child. When I was a kid, I played pixelated NES games on a 28-inch CRT TV with a mono speaker - guess what, after a while, the "borders" around "the game" blurred and became unimportant, imperceptible. "Immersion" is in the head, not in the tech. I don't associate "immersion" with a hyper-realistic setting that I can't distinguish from reality, I don't have to make-believe and pretend that I'm in the game to be actively engaged in it. If 1080p and 60FPS affects your "immersion", you don't need better tech, you need to grow up. What you're saying essentially translates to enjoying video games "less" due to the technical aspects - that's asinine to me. Again, this is a matter of approach - I don't need a make-believe escapist hyper-realistic fantasy to "immerse" myself in a video game, all I need is a controller and my imagination - at some point the pixels disappear either way, you just don't think about them.

 

[tbb043]

Nice, €399 less in myh pocket in october :/

OH, WAIT!!!

I don't have a PS4 camera, so that's another +/- €60 :/
Now i have to rethink everyting :/

1st plan was:
- Buy Xbox One
(Wife should be OK with this, but prefers not to)

Second plan was
- Buy Sony VR headset
(Wife should be OK with this, but prefers not to)

Thirth Plan
- Buy Sony VR headset
- Buy PS4 Camera
(Wife will protest but in the end she'll be OK with this), but prefers not to

Fourth plan:
- Buy Xbox One
- Buy Sone VR headset
- Buy PS4 Camera
(Wife will not agree and will not allow this)

Fifth Plan:
- Buy nothing of the above and go for a Raspberry Pi WD 1TB HDDKit for €80
(My wifes choice)

Go with your fifth plan.
(happy wife, happy life)

 

[grossaffe]

Everything you're saying is true, but we're talking about approaching perfection asymptotically - you'll never reach it. That, and as I've said, it's a highly individual matter - some people are fine with 60FPS, others get motion sickness. It was the same with the 3DS - it's not for everyone. As for "breaking immersion", everytime I hear that, it sounds like I'm listening to the whining of a child. When I was a kid, I played pixelated NES games on a 28-inch CRT TV with a mono speaker - guess what, after a while, the "borders" around "the game" blurred and became unimportant, imperceptible. "Immersion" is in the head, not in the tech. I don't associate "immersion" with a hyper-realistic setting that I can't distinguish from reality, I don't have to make-believe and pretend that I'm in the game to be actively engaged in it. If 1080p and 60FPS affects your "immersion", you don't need better tech, you need to grow up. What you're saying essentially translates to enjoying video games "less" due to the technical aspects - that's asinine to me. Again, this is a matter of approach - I don't need a make-believe escapist hyper-realistic fantasy to "immerse" myself in a video game, all I need is a controller and my imagination - at some point the pixels disappear either way, you just don't think about them.

You are speaking like someone who's never tried VR. I think we've butted heads on the topic of graphics enough times for you to know that I'm far from a graphics whore. Virtual Reality is a different beast from general videogaming, though, and has it's own set of constraints.

 

[VMM]

Typical Sony. I knew it there was a catch if their unit was to be the cheapest! They have always done this since the PS1.
"Here, buy this... but you are going to need this and this and this too!"

At least it's better than New 3DS, where the charger is sold separately

 

[XDel]

At least it's better than New 3DS, where the charger is sold separately

Ha ha ha, right on!

I have been reading the hype (after making posts here), and I actually like how Sony is doing this. It is supposed to be a poor man's, entry level VR, that you can add on to as you go. I guess the visual quality is not up to par with the Competition either, but again, if you are on a budget and have a PS4, this might actually be cool... though I want to test it for my self!

 

[DiscostewSM]

At least it's better than New 3DS, where the charger is sold separately

How is that? You can't use your n3DS without a charger, and you can't use PSVR without both the PS4 and the PS4 camera (and supposedly for some games, the PS Move).

 

[Foxi4]

You are speaking like someone who's never tried VR. I think we've butted heads on the topic of graphics enough times for you to know that I'm far from a graphics whore. Virtual Reality is a different beast from general videogaming, though, and has it's own set of constraints.

It's just that I've seen the same speil play out in the early 90'ies and then later in the 2000's with NVidia 3DVision. I get where you're coming from - some people want to experience an "out of this world" VR trip, I just don't happen to be one of them. I don't think VR is going to take over the standard "sit on the couch" style of gaming, it's something else entirely, I agree with you on that point. It actually slightly concerns me when it comes to gaming because it feels like another divider put between gamers. I like to game with a friend sitting beside me, interacting, sipping beers and chilling out - this preference is incompatible with blocking the outside world by wearing a VR headset.

 

[Onepunchbruh]

I would love to buy this but its a waste of time!

 

[FAST6191]

I like to game with a friend sitting beside me, interacting, sipping beers and chilling out - this preference is incompatible with blocking the outside world by wearing a VR headset.

Maybe a transparency filter (or camera if they can get the latency down) similar to volume controls on headphones. Get it right and you also gain AR in your VR setup.
Nobody seems to be heading remotely in that direction though, though I am not sure the tech is quite there either.

 

[Foxi4]

I think 3DVision is closest to what you're discribing since it's essentially a pair of shutter glasses as far as I know - not really VR, but it's immersive 3D without blocking out the outside world. That being said, the very idea of virtual reality entails blocking out actual reality, so the suggestion you have wouldn't really work either way - you don't need tech to see the outside world, you can just take the headset off at any time.

 

[codezer0]

Plus another $600+ for a PS4.5 needed to actually run the thing, since the existing PS4 now can't even output above 1080p to begin with, and both they and Microsoft went the most cynical route possible, leaving them hopelessly behind the curve at handling 4K gaming.

 

[anhminh]

I will wait for review and feedback from user, and a couple month just to make sure there is something that worth my attention release.

Of all thing possible, it could be a failure and Sony will stop support it like that certain handheld.

 

[Viri93]

Those game in the trailers look a bit crappy to me, especially the Apollo mission one.

 

[xile6]

Well bit the bullet.
Preorder the starter kit.
A ton of money but hopefully its all its worth.

I did find out that you can use it to view every game on the ps4 and movies tho

 

[spotanjo3]

I wonder if it will let me look at hentai with this..

Get a real human being! @_@

 

[Deleted-355425]

Get a real human being! @_@

those require to much hard work.

 

[KingVamp]

I tried Gear VR, unfortunately I didn't have that much time, but I enjoyed what I seen. I can see people getting lost even with low end VR. People I know that usually get headache from 3d, did not get headache from this VR. Works with glasses. It really felt like I was there.