PS4 Virtual Reality Headset

[naturalborn103]

Anyone else interested in this? Wonder what the pricing for this will be.

[unclebengi]

Seem's like something they'll have to take a few tries to perfect. I'm curious about the pricing too, but there's no way I'd even consider it before hearing great things about it. The PS Move was a waste of money, so I'm not buying any peripherals until I KNOW they're worth it.

[Sigma]

I'm definitely interested in it, but I'm doubtful that it will be a success. I can't see the mainstream going for it unless it was $50 or something and there's not a chance it'll be that cheap. More like $200-$300 I reckon, but it has to sell enough to make it worthwhile for devs to target it.

As a tech/gaming fan, I'm looking forward to seeing it though. Isn't it being announced officially today?

[Sigma]

It's still a prototype at the moment. It'll work alongside the Playstation camera and Move.

[ThaJim2]

Its being announced as I type. The problem is these are a decade or 2 from being even Kinect level of acceptance. Just look at the market rejection of 3d TVs. They will weigh too much for the foreseeable future and the issues with motion sickness people have with 3d will only be worse with this and effect more people. Then of course is the cost.

Plus I don't think the tech is there for this yet. This is where you want 4k plus resolution and home consoles are not pushing that and I doubt even a Titan Black is pushing that resolution with all the effects going on.

[naturalborn103]

Thajim hating on Sony. What a surprise.

[ThaJim2]

Thajim hating on Sony. What a surprise.

I will copy and paste this for the Xbox One when MS announces there version on Thursday too. Mainstream VR is closer to 20 years from now then it is to 10 years from now no matter who is producing it for what platform.

Two Titan Blacks the most powerful current graphics card which cost a grand each can barely hit 60 FPS in Battlefield 3 in 4K. This is again before you factor in the weight of the glasses. People bitched left and right about the weight of 3d glasses which weigh like 3 ounces and you wear them for an hour and half to 3 hours.

[chapter thrive]

once again. nintendo did it first. hahahahha

[360]

Its being announced as I type. The problem is these are a decade or 2 from being even Kinect level of acceptance. Just look at the market rejection of 3d TVs. They will weigh too much for the foreseeable future and the issues with motion sickness people have with 3d will only be worse with this and effect more people. Then of course is the cost.

Plus I don't think the tech is there for this yet. This is where you want 4k plus resolution and home consoles are not pushing that and I doubt even a Titan Black is pushing that resolution with all the effects going on.

Your speculation isn't based on enough information. Check out the Oculus Rift. Also, VR isn't really comparable to 3D TV. They serve different purposes and have different levels of development.

I must say, Jim, your posts of the last 6 months really present you to be an MS Fanboy. I never would have really pegged you as the type who pledges allegiance to a multi-national that isn't really interested in you, per se. Strange.

[ThaJim2]

once again. nintendo did it first. hahahahha

LOL. I had that piece of shit I got it at electronic boutique with basically every single game and accessory for 45 bucks. Mario Tennis was pretty much the only playable game on the system. And the only way to play the system is to lay down on your back and rest the damn thing on your chest and face because unless you where 3 feet tall it was way to uncomfortable to play it the proper way. I honestly still cant believe they released that commercially.

[ThaJim2]

Its being announced as I type. The problem is these are a decade or 2 from being even Kinect level of acceptance. Just look at the market rejection of 3d TVs. They will weigh too much for the foreseeable future and the issues with motion sickness people have with 3d will only be worse with this and effect more people. Then of course is the cost.

Plus I don't think the tech is there for this yet. This is where you want 4k plus resolution and home consoles are not pushing that and I doubt even a Titan Black is pushing that resolution with all the effects going on.

Your speculation isn't based on enough information. Check out the Oculus Rift. Also, VR isn't really comparable to 3D TV. They serve different purposes and have different levels of development.

I must say, Jim, your posts of the last 6 months really present you to be an MS Fanboy. I never would have really pegged you as the type who pledges allegiance to a multi-national that isn't really interested in you, per se. Strange.

First I am hating on VR as a tech not on any specific company doing it this includes Oculus Rift and will include MS come this Thursday (if the rumors are true).

I am not comparing the use case of VR to 3D TV I am comparing the weight of the glasses between the 2. Just because VR does something a little different does not change the damn thing is way to heavy at this point for a mainstream consumer product. I am not even saying these might not fly off the shelf but they will be gathering dust in days because no one wants to sit there for even 30 minutes with something this heavy on the front of their face.

Oculus Rift is still not even a niche of a niche product. They have sold some dev units on kickstarter and that is it. There is yet to be a consumer product.

[Balzac]

i kinda agree with thaJim on this one. granted i haven't tried an occulus yet, and keep hearing great things about it. I can't see casual gaming ever adopting something that makes you move around constantly. Kinect games are fun for parties and shit but when you want to sit down and play games for hours you don't want to be using you whole body or constantly moving your head around.

i think there is a novelty factor with the VR headsets that will subside over time.

[360]

Its being announced as I type. The problem is these are a decade or 2 from being even Kinect level of acceptance. Just look at the market rejection of 3d TVs. They will weigh too much for the foreseeable future and the issues with motion sickness people have with 3d will only be worse with this and effect more people. Then of course is the cost.

Plus I don't think the tech is there for this yet. This is where you want 4k plus resolution and home consoles are not pushing that and I doubt even a Titan Black is pushing that resolution with all the effects going on.

Your speculation isn't based on enough information. Check out the Oculus Rift. Also, VR isn't really comparable to 3D TV. They serve different purposes and have different levels of development.

I must say, Jim, your posts of the last 6 months really present you to be an MS Fanboy. I never would have really pegged you as the type who pledges allegiance to a multi-national that isn't really interested in you, per se. Strange.

First I am hating on VR as a tech not on any specific company doing it this includes Oculus Rift and will include MS come this Thursday (if the rumors are true).

I am not comparing the use case of VR to 3D TV I am comparing the weight of the glasses between the 2. Just because VR does something a little different does not change the damn thing is way to heavy at this point for a mainstream consumer product. I am not even saying these might not fly off the shelf but they will be gathering dust in days because no one wants to sit there for even 30 minutes with something this heavy on the front of their face.

Oculus Rift is still not even a niche of a niche product. They have sold some dev units on kickstarter and that is it. There is yet to be a consumer product.

I suppose we will need to use it. If it's awesome, the weight will only be a problem in the beginning. You'll start to see nerds with disproportionately large neck muscles in comparison to the rest of their bodies. My worry is more about the depth perception. If the eyes react to it properly, then long stretches of gaming on it shouldn't be too adverse.

[Sigma]

I think this faces similar issues to 3D: -

1. There's no way to demonstrate it in advertising.

2. People don't like the idea of wearing stuff like this - that was true with much smaller and lighter 3D glasses.

3. It will make some people nauseous. There were several stories in the mainstream press about that in regards to 3D.

4. Lack of dev support leading to lack of content. Even though Kinect ended up being owned by about 1 in 3 Xbox 360 owners, few devs really went all out in an attempt to make games for it, because they could make a non-Kinect game that targets a bigger audience, especially if it's cross-platform.

5. The price. With 3D you had to own a particular type of TV, so at least VR doesn't have that problem, but given the above 4 issues, it's a hard sell to get people going out and paying £X for it, unless X isn't a high number, but this isn't the sort of thing that's going to sell for £99. It'll be more like £299 or perhaps even more. Sony make a 3D cinema headset that's not dissimilar to this in terms of the tech (in fact, it's less complex) which has 2 1080p OLED screens in it and the current version of that has an RRP of £1,299.

So from a techy/gamer POV, I would love to try one and I think it could be amazing, but from a business POV, I think it's a very risky move and it could easily be the next 3D in terms of the mainstream market pretty much ignoring it.

[ThaJim2]

Put it here Oculus was just bought out by Facebook. This is just weird buyout. I guess the good for the future of VR is that Facebook has deeper pockets but this is not a core area of Facebook and not sure how Facebook will ever monetize it meaning how much they will care long term. Google, MS, EA, Apple, Nintendo, Nvida, AMD, Intel or really just about anyone else would have made more sense. These companies all should have some ip that would help Oculus while I just cant see FB having any IP that will help.


Edit: And the comments are fucking fantastic. I am now pretty sure that approximately 400 percent of the preorders for the new Oculus have been returned and that is just from Verge commenters.