Yesterday Sony revealed that their highly anticipated Playstation VR system would be out in October for price of $399. This sent ripples through the gaming community as the device makes entry into a virtual reality for more feasible for many gamers compared to the $699 price for Oculus and the $799 price for the HTC Vive. While the system is not going to ship with the developer like their more costly competition, Sony is to be commended for taking what could be the next leap in gaming technology and making it much more feasible for gamers. With over 30 million consoles on the market, Sony kept their word that the new hardware would be “console priced” as it is what the cost of the PS4 was at launch.
I’m old enough to remember a time when there was no such thing as a 3-D graphics accelerator in your computer and how game like Doom 2 and Quake quickly showed the benefits of such devices which in turn increased demand and help lower the price of the units allowing us for the fantastic graphical presentations that are possible with today’s technology. I would love to see VR truly take off and become an integral part of gaming moving forward. Naturally the quality and reliability of the hardware will be a key point as well the necessity for quality games that truly offers the gamers something different. I think back to the Nintendo Wii which had a very enjoyable and innovative motion controller but failed to have developers truly capture the potential for the device. Wii Sports was for me the finest use of the controller and that was the launch title it came with. Many games felt to me like the motion control aspect was simply tacked on for functionality as it did not greatly enhance the gaming experience. I would hate to see such promising technology as VR become limited by developers to simply throw in VR support without designing games to truly take advantage this technology. I liken this to film studios that were so quick to jump on board the new 3-D technology that they ran movies that were never intended to be 3D through a lab conversion process, charge consumers the up charge, and past the movies office 3-D films when the quality was vastly inferior to film shot with the new 3-D cameras. The result of this is that 3D has not move for the way that wanted hoped simply because many studios failed to offer quality 3-D products consumers. Naturally innovators such as James Cameron will likely push the product forward again with the upcoming “Avatar” films the point that consumers need and deserve quality products to keep a technology fresh and relevant should be clear.
Developers apparently are flocking to create titles for Sony and with the extremely attractive price point it will make it much easier for gamers to take the leap into the world of VR gaming. We tried several titles at Pax Prime and I can tell you that all of them will be on my list to get when the technology comes out. I especially am looking forward to playing London Heist and Headmaster which was great fun when I played them as well is seeing the new games that will be coming to market.
As we look forward to E3 this June, Sony will likely have plenty of new things to say about Playstation VR and they’re coming titles. Considering their promotion with Activision for Call of Duty, one can always dream of VR support for this franchise which would truly take things to a new level. , Until then October cannot get here soon enough for fans anxious to enter the new realm of gaming.
