PlayStation VR Catch-All

Finally took some time this week to check out Ace Combat 7's VR mode and it is really impressive. Being able to look around and visually track enemy aircraft just adds a whole other level to the gameplay. It is rather intense though, at first I got a bit VR sick, but playing a bit each day the queasiness is less each time.

AcidCat wrote:

Finally took some time this week to check out Ace Combat 7's VR mode and it is really impressive. Being able to look around and visually track enemy aircraft just adds a whole other level to the gameplay. It is rather intense though, at first I got a bit VR sick, but playing a bit each day the queasiness is less each time.

This is an issue for real fighter pilots as well. Time allows your body to grow used to the sensation, but there are also some techniques they use to reduce some of the factors of motion sickness that work in VR as well. Basically, when pulling high-G maneuvers, rolls, and loops, find a spot in your vision to fixate at on and allow your head to move to keep that spot in your vision as long as possible. When it starts to leave your vision and neck's range of motion, snap your head to the other side and pick it up again.

Actually, if you watch ballerina's do pirouettes, they do the same exact thing:
IMAGE(https://media.giphy.com/media/kpV4t1vnCeePu/giphy.gif)

Any one try out Everybody's Golf Demo? I'm more curious if your on PS4 Pro, In driving range mode I can barely read the 100 foot marker board, is it clearer or about the same?

It's a little fuzzy on the Pro. But, you know - it's the one between the 50 yard marker and the 150 yard marker.

Overall, though, the graphics are impressively sharp (for PSVR). And playing with a Move controller is way more fun than I expected. I wound up spending almost an hour on the driving range and the "Approach" trainer last night, and my arms were sore when I finished. I'm more of a miniature golf guy, but I can certainly see picking this up when there's a sale.

I've been planning for a while now to sell off my PS4 and PSVR in anticipation of the console generation change, but before I do that, I need to get to some of the PSVR stuff I purchased but didn't have time for. So, this weekend, I finally loaded up Superhot VR which (like a lot of VR stuff!) I had been super excited to check out but just never really found the time to sit down and put a bucket over my head for an hour. I had been really excited for this one based on the feedback I'd heard. I liked the idea of regular Superhot, but it didn't quite click with me, but I thought the VR version would be more appealing. Unfortunately...not so much.

I had a few problems with it. For one, it was just another reminder that the Move controllers and/or the controller tracking in general just isn't that great. The sequence that led to me bailing on this game was one where the most obvious solution began with reaching under a counter in front of me for a gun, but I just couldn't get the tracking to work to grab it. Maybe in a less tightly choreographed game I could've made it work, but where every motion of my arms brings enemies and their bullets closer to me, there's no room for tracking error. This was compounded by the structure of the game. I don't understand why it's grouped in little chunks of scenarios, where if you die on the fourth scene in a sequence you have to replay the first three scenes again. When it's the fourth scene that you're stuck on, running through the first three scenes over and over just to get to your failure point to try to fix that last one can be really frustrating (especially when the imprecision of the controls occasional screws up those scenes you already know how to solve). Finally, the Superhot movement mechanic just doesn't feel that great to me, much in the way the non-VR version of the game doesn't either. There was one scene I played where sometimes an enemy I needed to shoot would step behind a pillar, and so to let him advance past the pillar so I could shoot him, I would have to stand there just sort of wiggling my arms enough to advance time so he would appear where I could hit him and, though I can't put my finger on exactly why, I just kinda hate that. I feel like if there were like a 'fast forward' button I could hit instead I would be bothered less, though I'm not sure why that distinction matters.

I did have a few moments where I had the 'badass simulator' experience I had heard about, where I know that I can shoot the guy in front of me with one hand, grab his gun out of the air with the other, and then simultaneously shoot two other bad guys. But the game's tracking difficulties really amplify some of the structural things I wouldn't love about the game even if it worked perfectly, and I ended up feeling really let down.

I'm feeling pretty down on PSVR overall. I had a lot of fun experiences with it, and I'm glad I've been able to play with it, but I have become convinced it's just not good enough. I've had a handful of VR games that I was excited about and have heard good things about, yet it has been ages since I've convinced myself to actually use it. I'll keep an eye on whatever they do with the PS5, but I'm more inclined to save my pennies for something like a Quest 2 or some other VR device that doesn't even exist yet.

The PSVR i still think is the best bang for your buck even with all the short comings. That being said, I don't think I'll be getting a PSVR 2, unless it is leaps and bounds above the current best VR tech. Right now I am more interested in something like the quest, a wireless rig that can be hooked up to a PC for occasional big stuff.

mrlogical wrote:

I've been planning for a while now to sell off my PS4 and PSVR in anticipation of the console generation change...

Sony's officially stated that the current-gen PSVR will be compatible with PS5, so you don't have to get rid of PSVR if you're staying in the Playstation brand. Just in case you didn't know.

I'm feeling pretty down on PSVR overall. I had a lot of fun experiences with it, and I'm glad I've been able to play with it, but I have become convinced it's just not good enough...

Sony filed a patent for a VR headset that has two cameras in front, one in back, and a camera in the Move controller, so it's very possible that PSVR 2 will have greatly improved tracking with considerably less hassle. Couple that with the frequently-appearing writeups on the next-gen consoles that state both the XBOX Series X and PS5 will be substantial leaps in power over their preceding generations, and I'm very hopeful that PSVR will be big leap forward. Realistically, I can't expect that it will rival, say, an Index and a beefy PC, but I wouldn't be surprised if it's still in the running with its contemporaries at a markedly lower price (for those who already have a PS5).

EverythingsTentative wrote:

The PSVR i still think is the best bang for your buck even with all the short comings.

I think you're dead wrong here - Quest is your best bang for buck, particularly as it doesn't also require a console/PC to do the math.

Yeah, I know I could hang on to the PSVR for use with PS5, but a)at least for now, I'm not planning to buy a PS5 anytime soon and b)given my disappointment with PSVR overall, I'd rather sell mine now and ptu that money towards a PSVR2 or a Quest 2 or whatever other VR solutions are out there in a few years that might work better. I'd rather sell my PSVR while it might have some value.

Jonman wrote:
EverythingsTentative wrote:

The PSVR i still think is the best bang for your buck even with all the short comings.

I think you're dead wrong here - Quest is your best bang for buck, particularly as it doesn't also require a console/PC to do the math.

Yeah I guess if we are taking in the cost of the console or PC then the Quest is the best, but considering we are on a gaming forum I assumed we all had one or the other. Either way, the Quest is on my wish list and nothing else VR related is. As soon as the PC stuff is no longer in beta and works with the racing sims it will probably be a must buy.

The biggest buzzkill for me was the lack of HDR pass-through with the launch PSVR. Granted I am a big boy and should know that buying these things at launch risks these sorts of things. It just seems like such a massive oversight.

Yeah, the HDR-blocking's a pain. I'm too cheap to get rid of my launch PSVR for just that, though, so I'm looking forward to replacing it with a PSVR 2, and in the mean time I just manually re-jigger some cables every time I use the PSVR.

With the holiday sales they've been running on PSVR, if you already have a PS4, it's definitely a good deal, probably better than the Quest. If you're buying everything you need to do it, then yeah, the Quest is a better deal.

One weird thing about the PSVR's tracking is that camera height seems to really matter, and the best height sometimes varies from game to game. The best height I've found for most games is just about at eye level when standing. Some games, and Superhot might have been one, do better with the camera just above head height. Some, like Moss, seem to want it more at waist level. It's a really annoying limitation.

I agree with you about the repeating scenes and "wiggle your hands to get them to move close enough" thing. I also really hated that throwing was so clunky. The best way to throw winds up being to do a kind of force push move with your hand. Trying to throw naturally just winds up making the thing go somewhere weird. It works, but feels real dumb to throw a shuriken by pushing it at them.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

As soon as the PC stuff is no longer in beta and works with the racing sims it will probably be a must buy.

Dude, I'm right here (and race with you from within cybergoggles on a monthly basis).

RRRE, Project Cars 2 and Assetto Corsa, and ACC all have rock solid VR integration already. Never tried iRacing, but I think that does too.

There isn't a great rally game with solid VR support (though I know some folk have had DR2.0 work OK with Oculus - it's run like sh*t on my rig).

There's a couple B-tier Wipeout-a-likes that work too - Redout and Radial-G, though I've found both to be barfy. And some weird-ass indie racers like Vector 36 that support it too.

Evan E wrote:

Yeah, the HDR-blocking's a pain. I'm too cheap to get rid of my launch PSVR for just that, though, so I'm looking forward to replacing it with a PSVR 2, and in the mean time I just manually re-jigger some cables every time I use the PSVR.

I plan on getting the PSVR 2. I won't be replacing it either. I just know the wire swapping is preventing me from playing VR games that I wanted to ages ago.

I'm late to the party but the PSVR seems to be in a sweet spot where there are a pile of games to play. Having a blast so far and hope Sony keeps at it.

I believe they announced the PSVR 2.

I don't believe they did.

They definitely have not. In fact, they announced prior to the release that PS5 will not be supporting PSVR moving forward, and that you need a special adapter to even use PSVR with PS5. Or at least that's how I understood it.

I know there are rumors that there is a PSVR2 in the works, but that's probably years away

New patent theory article popped up in the last day or two. But definitely no official announcement.

Yeah it's in the weeds but PS5 does have several game performance improvements. Theories on theories online for what the future is but honestly right now with the glut of VR games for PSVR it's kind of a fun time. Enough folks are offloading them I have a huge setup and library for a fraction of the cost.

Beyond the occasional nausea it's great lol

CptDomano wrote:

They definitely have not. In fact, they announced prior to the release that PS5 will not be supporting PSVR moving forward, and that you need a special adapter to even use PSVR with PS5. Or at least that's how I understood it.

I know there are rumors that there is a PSVR2 in the works, but that's probably years away

As Mark Cerny stated it would be months before the launch of the PS5, the PS5 supports PSVR through backwards compatibility. It requires an adaptor because the PSVR uses a proprietary connection that isn't on the PS5. Sony makes the adaptor available for free; all you have to do is enter your PSVR's serial number (found on the processor unit) on this page, and they'll mail one to you. I actually have two, because the request page unsurprisingly was bombarded with requests the first day it was available.

Because it works through backwards compatibility, PSVR games don't receive any noticeable performance boost on the PS5, but they run just as well as they did on the PS4 Pro. Precisely two PSVR games - DWVR and Robinson: The Journey - don't work on the PS5, because they're on the list of 10 PS4 games that don't run under backwards compatibility. Of the two, only Robinson: The Journey is really a loss. Everything else works perfectly; if it uses a standard controller rather than the Move controllers, you need to use the Dualshock 4 rather than the DualSense, because the DualSense doesn't have the big light bar on the front of the Dualshock 4 that the PSVR camera uses to track the controller.

Sony hasn't officially confirmed that there whether there will or won't be a PSVR 2, but Sony patents keep popping up for an improved PSVR that includes cameras on the headset itself that can track the controller(s), removing the need for a separate camera. The PS5 is a considerably more signficant leap in processing power over the PS4 than the PS4 was over the PS3, though, so it's reasonable to expect that any VR system using the full power of the PS5, rather than being confined to backwards compatibility mode, would offer significant benefits.

It's never been reasonable to expect that they would launch a PSVR successor in the first year or more of the launch of the PS5, because having to buy both a new console and a new VR headset at the same time would discourage most consumers from purchasing; it's far smarter to wait until the PS5 has significantly penetrated the market before you make a new $500-or-so headset available. COVID, however has introduced significant supply chain issues in terms of manufacturing the PS5 and getting it out to consumers, so if anything that anticipated delay has been exacerbated.

The new monkey wrench thrown into PSVR 2 prognostication, in my opinion, is Microsoft's acquisition of new top-notch game studios, including Bethesda, and the automatic inclusion of their games into GamePass. Right now we're not particularly seeing the impact of that, but going forward the value proposition for the GamePass ecosystem is going to be increasingly compelling, and Sony has nothing to compete with that. Microsoft is also beta testing a streaming service that will allow people to stream games in a way that will do away with the need for a console, likely using a simple Chromecast-like streaming stick and likely a Netflix-like subscription library, and Playstation Now is a laughably poor alternative to that. While I previously was confident that we'd see a PSVR 2 about two years after the launch of the PS5, I can definitely see Sony deciding the market landscape has changed, and that they need to focus on competing with GamePass and streaming rather than the incredibly niche market that is console-based VR, especially when they simply can't compete with the rapid advances in PC VR tech and the price drops that have been happening in PC VR hardware.

Thread necro: first official confirmation of PSVR2 -

Playstation Blog: Introducing the next generation of VR on PlayStation

TL, DR: Improved resolution, field of view, tracking, and input. Single-cable connection to PS5. New controller "which will incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller". "Not launching in 2021" is the only information about release date.

As a recent addition to PSVR I am very excited to hear the confirmation. Maybe by the time it comes out I'll have cleared my backlog!

I am hoping they will rethink the controllers. I never found them to be as good as other VR controllers.

Well, the controllers were released six years earlier on the PS3, so they were a generation behind. They did a decent job of giving up control, but where never designed with VR in mind.

I don't see them adding DualSense capabilities to the existing Move controllers. We haven't seen the new controllers, and probably won't for almost a year, but I fully expect they'll be completely new.

The question to me is how good can they make them while still making them affordable to manufacture; I expect Sony's still trying to position the PSVR2 as a "capable but affordable" VR solution, and since the Quest 2 with controllers only costs $299, that's a really tight window they have to squeeze through.

On the other hand, "we won't require you to connect your VR headset with your Facebook account" is already a pretty compelling sales pitch for me.

Guess I'm not buying an old PS4 set for my PS5 after all.

Stele wrote:

Guess I'm not buying an old PS4 set for my PS5 after all.

We just bought one and it's a pretty fun setup if you actually use it. Going for pretty cheap on marketplace right now.

Hot damn! Farpoint is soooo good. And yet not really. It really gets my whole body when aliens are leaping at your face and running around in a alien firefight. The AIM controller is near perfect. I got mine for free so that helps not having a huge investment into it.