If we’re on the verge of a virtual reality revolution, then Sony could be at the forefront of it, judging from early reviews for the PlayStation VR headset due to get its retail release later this month.
As IGN‘s Dan Stapleton points out, the recently-released rival VR headsets the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive both come in expensive bundles, priced respectively at $599.99 and $799.99 and also require gaming PCs that would cost at least $700. A fully-featured PlayStation VR bundle, on the other hand, is just $499.99 – and will attach to a $299.99 PlayStation 4 that many people will already own.
This makes the PlayStation VR, Stapleton continues, “by far the cheapest option for good-quality VR with motion control”. A big reason for the PlayStation VR’s lower price is the comparatively modest specs – but The Verge‘s Adi Robertson notes that “games are quite smooth, with very little juddering or latency”, while “bright, cartoonish games like Job Simulator look very similar on any high-end headset.”
And, with 29 games to be available on the launch day of October 13 and a further 12 titles due ahead of the holidays, the PlayStation VR will be well-supplied with content, WIRED‘s Peter Rubin observes. He concludes that “we can’t know if this thing is going to be a Wii. But we do know what it’s not going to be – and that’s a Virtual Boy.”