I think this is pretty great news for people interested in VR. There's enough fragmentation as it is, having a VR headset you can use on PC and Console sounds great.
I think this is pretty great news for people interested in VR. There's enough fragmentation as it is, having a VR headset you can use on PC and Console sounds great.
I mean, as an Oculus CV1 and Valve Index owner, I hope this brings PS exclusive VR stuff to PC. But this sounds like a great way to convince my relatives to pick up one!
I mean, as an Oculus CV1 and Valve Index owner, I hope this brings PS exclusive VR stuff to PC.
But this sounds like a great way to convince my relatives to pick up one!
I would assume that is one of the incentives for Sony to do this. They said they want to have more of their games on PC, so being able to bring PSVR2 games and sell more of both the games and...
I would assume that is one of the incentives for Sony to do this. They said they want to have more of their games on PC, so being able to bring PSVR2 games and sell more of both the games and headset makes a lot of sense.
Hopefully this helps Sony remember they have a VR headset so they bother making games for it.
I forsee that someday, maybe not this generation or the next, Sony just backs out of the hardware market and just does certifications for OEM gaming builds, perhaps with low/medium/high standards....
I forsee that someday, maybe not this generation or the next, Sony just backs out of the hardware market and just does certifications for OEM gaming builds, perhaps with low/medium/high standards.
I'd see them continuing what makes them genuinely unique: A stable OS, a controller, and a storefront.
The main reason for this is that it would allow them to sidestep a lot of the supply chain problems, as well as the ever-shrinking margins on getting high-end hardware at a reasonable price. Lets them get at what they really care about: high margins on game sales.
It worked well enough for Sega to go software-only for a good many years.
I hope not; Sony’s never gotten my money, but I vowed many years ago to purchase the PS9 (watch the amazing PS2 commercial.) Seriously, my friend and I were just talking about it, probably a...
I hope not; Sony’s never gotten my money, but I vowed many years ago to purchase the PS9 (watch the amazing PS2 commercial.) Seriously, my friend and I were just talking about it, probably a release around 2054.
This might happen if the beefy-GPU APUs found in the past couple gens of home consoles become more generally available, otherwise, the absolutely terrible price to performance ratio of current...
This might happen if the beefy-GPU APUs found in the past couple gens of home consoles become more generally available, otherwise, the absolutely terrible price to performance ratio of current discrete GPUs is going make this impractical. Nobody is going to pay PC prices for what’s essentially a PC that can’t play PC games, as discrete GPU prices would necessitate. Much of the value proposition of current consoles lies in their (relative to PCs) low cost of entry.
That's interesting. I can only really see that happening when console gaming dies. Sony's gaming division is too profitable to willingly give up the hardware side. But kids don't care about...
That's interesting. I can only really see that happening when console gaming dies. Sony's gaming division is too profitable to willingly give up the hardware side. But kids don't care about consoles outside of maybe the Switch.
I think it's more likely that Sony eventually makes a console that is basically the Sony Switch. A portable console with a touchscreen.
They had one, a pretty good one at that, and it flopped. Given the way trends have gone in mobile, I'd think they'd just move their store onto existing phones, provide a reasonable peripheral, and...
Given the way trends have gone in mobile, I'd think they'd just move their store onto existing phones, provide a reasonable peripheral, and not have to convince people to buy and carry another device.
The PSP and the Vita were fantastic devices but suffered from the time period where software and hardware was having that awkward teenage growing up period, which made the entire thing just not...
The PSP and the Vita were fantastic devices but suffered from the time period where software and hardware was having that awkward teenage growing up period, which made the entire thing just not mesh well. The Vita especially was ahead of its time with the backside touch panel being both novel and really useful. It's a shame they never pushed that any further.
Might’ve just been ahead of its time, seeing the runaway success of the Switch and recent surge of gaming handhelds ranging from cheap ARM-based emulator boxes to full-featured PCs. Or perhaps it...
Might’ve just been ahead of its time, seeing the runaway success of the Switch and recent surge of gaming handhelds ranging from cheap ARM-based emulator boxes to full-featured PCs. Or perhaps it just targeted the wrong segment of gamers, considering how Nintendo had no problems in this space at all in the same timeframe.
Either way a new Sony standalone handheld would be interesting, especially if it comes with support for PS4 games, which should be reasonably doable with hardware similar to the Deck’s APU and Z1 Extreme.
I've been very interested in getting into the VR space, but have been unwilling to buy a Facebook product. I said when they released that if they added PC support for the VR2 I'd order it that...
I've been very interested in getting into the VR space, but have been unwilling to buy a Facebook product. I said when they released that if they added PC support for the VR2 I'd order it that day. I'm excited that it looks like it will happen sooner than later. Can't wait to finally take the plunge once they add it.
If they maintain its current price point and add SteamVR compatibility, it’d be a somewhat compelling option for those who don’t care for PC VR playing second fiddle to the onboard functionality...
If they maintain its current price point and add SteamVR compatibility, it’d be a somewhat compelling option for those who don’t care for PC VR playing second fiddle to the onboard functionality (as is the case with the Quests), with the other dedicated PC VR options costing much more.
Do you think you can expand on this comment a bit more? Would PSVR2 be a subpar experience on PC compared to the index or something? I've never really tried VR yet so just looking for more info.
Do you think you can expand on this comment a bit more? Would PSVR2 be a subpar experience on PC compared to the index or something? I've never really tried VR yet so just looking for more info.
Basically, there’s two main categories of VR headset right now: standalone and tethered. Standalone headsets are those like the Quest 2/3/Pro, which have an Android smartphone and a battery...
Basically, there’s two main categories of VR headset right now: standalone and tethered.
Standalone headsets are those like the Quest 2/3/Pro, which have an Android smartphone and a battery integrated so they can operate without being driven by a PC.
Tethered are those like the Index and Bigscreen Beyond, which can’t do anything on their own and must be driven by a PC.
While standalone headsets can act as PC headsets, this comes at a cost; where tethered headsets work more like a monitor and take a direct DisplayPort connection, standalone running in PC mode requires a level of indirection — even if you hook them up to a PC with a cable, they can’t take a display connection and instead must be fed a video stream. Encoding the video to send to the headset degrades quality and adds latency.
In theory, the PSVR2 ought to be a pretty good PCVR experience because it’s got decent specs and is tethered, taking a direct DisplayPort connection via USB alt mode (the same tech that makes USB-C monitors work). If this turns out to be true, it could be a good budget-conscious alternative to the other tethered headsets which all cost more, especially since it does inside-out tracking and doesn’t need lighthouse trackers like the Index and Beyond do.
We won’t know if it actually provides a good PCVR experience until we’ve seen it in action, though.
I can corroborate what you're saying. I'd like to add that a wireless headset that is otherwise dependant on a PC could exist; it's just that nobody has made one yet. The closest would probably be...
I can corroborate what you're saying. I'd like to add that a wireless headset that is otherwise dependant on a PC could exist; it's just that nobody has made one yet. The closest would probably be the Vive with a wireless adapter.
Instead of being a standalone Android headset with a underpowered Snapdragon SoC, such a device would have just the electronics for receiving and decoding a video stream and sending inputs back to the PC. My hope is that the Valve Deckard ends up being something in this class. All the benefits of wireless, with the power of a PC behind it.
I think this is pretty great news for people interested in VR. There's enough fragmentation as it is, having a VR headset you can use on PC and Console sounds great.
I mean, as an Oculus CV1 and Valve Index owner, I hope this brings PS exclusive VR stuff to PC.
But this sounds like a great way to convince my relatives to pick up one!
I would assume that is one of the incentives for Sony to do this. They said they want to have more of their games on PC, so being able to bring PSVR2 games and sell more of both the games and headset makes a lot of sense.
Hopefully this helps Sony remember they have a VR headset so they bother making games for it.
I forsee that someday, maybe not this generation or the next, Sony just backs out of the hardware market and just does certifications for OEM gaming builds, perhaps with low/medium/high standards.
I'd see them continuing what makes them genuinely unique: A stable OS, a controller, and a storefront.
The main reason for this is that it would allow them to sidestep a lot of the supply chain problems, as well as the ever-shrinking margins on getting high-end hardware at a reasonable price. Lets them get at what they really care about: high margins on game sales.
It worked well enough for Sega to go software-only for a good many years.
I hope not; Sony’s never gotten my money, but I vowed many years ago to purchase the PS9 (watch the amazing PS2 commercial.) Seriously, my friend and I were just talking about it, probably a release around 2054.
https://youtu.be/IyPQVsdCuRk?si=caNTnk8pWkLIxVuq
This smells so strong of the original Matrix. Just clearly from the same moment in time. Love it.
This might happen if the beefy-GPU APUs found in the past couple gens of home consoles become more generally available, otherwise, the absolutely terrible price to performance ratio of current discrete GPUs is going make this impractical. Nobody is going to pay PC prices for what’s essentially a PC that can’t play PC games, as discrete GPU prices would necessitate. Much of the value proposition of current consoles lies in their (relative to PCs) low cost of entry.
That's interesting. I can only really see that happening when console gaming dies. Sony's gaming division is too profitable to willingly give up the hardware side. But kids don't care about consoles outside of maybe the Switch.
I think it's more likely that Sony eventually makes a console that is basically the Sony Switch. A portable console with a touchscreen.
They had one, a pretty good one at that, and it flopped.
Given the way trends have gone in mobile, I'd think they'd just move their store onto existing phones, provide a reasonable peripheral, and not have to convince people to buy and carry another device.
They had a couple. I would argue the PSP was better. I don't think Sony knows what to do to keep growing.
The PSP and the Vita were fantastic devices but suffered from the time period where software and hardware was having that awkward teenage growing up period, which made the entire thing just not mesh well. The Vita especially was ahead of its time with the backside touch panel being both novel and really useful. It's a shame they never pushed that any further.
Might’ve just been ahead of its time, seeing the runaway success of the Switch and recent surge of gaming handhelds ranging from cheap ARM-based emulator boxes to full-featured PCs. Or perhaps it just targeted the wrong segment of gamers, considering how Nintendo had no problems in this space at all in the same timeframe.
Either way a new Sony standalone handheld would be interesting, especially if it comes with support for PS4 games, which should be reasonably doable with hardware similar to the Deck’s APU and Z1 Extreme.
I've been very interested in getting into the VR space, but have been unwilling to buy a Facebook product. I said when they released that if they added PC support for the VR2 I'd order it that day. I'm excited that it looks like it will happen sooner than later. Can't wait to finally take the plunge once they add it.
If they maintain its current price point and add SteamVR compatibility, it’d be a somewhat compelling option for those who don’t care for PC VR playing second fiddle to the onboard functionality (as is the case with the Quests), with the other dedicated PC VR options costing much more.
Do you think you can expand on this comment a bit more? Would PSVR2 be a subpar experience on PC compared to the index or something? I've never really tried VR yet so just looking for more info.
Basically, there’s two main categories of VR headset right now: standalone and tethered.
Standalone headsets are those like the Quest 2/3/Pro, which have an Android smartphone and a battery integrated so they can operate without being driven by a PC.
Tethered are those like the Index and Bigscreen Beyond, which can’t do anything on their own and must be driven by a PC.
While standalone headsets can act as PC headsets, this comes at a cost; where tethered headsets work more like a monitor and take a direct DisplayPort connection, standalone running in PC mode requires a level of indirection — even if you hook them up to a PC with a cable, they can’t take a display connection and instead must be fed a video stream. Encoding the video to send to the headset degrades quality and adds latency.
In theory, the PSVR2 ought to be a pretty good PCVR experience because it’s got decent specs and is tethered, taking a direct DisplayPort connection via USB alt mode (the same tech that makes USB-C monitors work). If this turns out to be true, it could be a good budget-conscious alternative to the other tethered headsets which all cost more, especially since it does inside-out tracking and doesn’t need lighthouse trackers like the Index and Beyond do.
We won’t know if it actually provides a good PCVR experience until we’ve seen it in action, though.
I can corroborate what you're saying. I'd like to add that a wireless headset that is otherwise dependant on a PC could exist; it's just that nobody has made one yet. The closest would probably be the Vive with a wireless adapter.
Instead of being a standalone Android headset with a underpowered Snapdragon SoC, such a device would have just the electronics for receiving and decoding a video stream and sending inputs back to the PC. My hope is that the Valve Deckard ends up being something in this class. All the benefits of wireless, with the power of a PC behind it.
Thank goodness for that, might actually have some games then!