With out a doubt PSVR made the biggest impact in the world of VR gaming.
Removing the financial and hardware restraints of a home VR setup. With over 100million PS4's sold the potential customer base is huge and there are already over 5 million PSVR's in circulation.
With the forthcoming PS5 being compatible with the existing PSVR, that number looks set to climb over the next year.
Hardware wise the PSVR is the weakest of the three HMD that I'm reviewing, with a resolution of 1080x960 and utilising only a single screen as opposed to one for each eye in the others.
PSVR is sold in a number of packages but to get the very best out of it you will definitely need the wands and probably the Gun.
It's really easy to setup and relatively unobtrusive to keep in a ready to game state, which immediately puts it ahead of the Vive. The only downside to keeping it setup, is that while the HMD is connected the maximum output to the screen is 1080, regardless of whether the head set is powered on or not. So if you want 4K HDR gaming between VR sessions you will need to swap a few wires about.
Tracking is done via a small camera that should be placed in front of you.
This limits your play area and most PVR games are designed to be played either sat down or in limited space, there is little or no room scale here. The camera wire could have been longer in my opinion, especially when paired with a large TV. The wire is also quite thick, so much so that the bends where the wire has been folded and packed is often enough to shift the camera over a game session
The camera tracks via lights on the wands, HMD, gun and dualshock. It also incorporates a mic which you can still use out of VR for PS4 voice commands as it is persistent and on while the PS4 is on.
(just remember that when you fire up RDR Online first thing in the morning, broadcasting your bodily emissions to the entire map as you make your way through a daily mission)
The plus side to light tracking is its far more cost effective, the downside is that it isn't very good.
Tracking is often lost if a body part comes between camera and light and you need to keep your room fairly dark for accurate tracking. Software goes some way to compensate for this but its still a noticeable issue especially if you've played other VR systems.
Despite its technical limitations PSVR is one of my favourite platforms, the saving grace of this system is its software.
Compared to the other systems, the majority of PSVR titles are quality, there are no real stinkers in the store, Sony's quality control has been really good and its first party releases simply excellent.
Astrobot does a phenomenal job of immersion and is a truly great action, puzzle platformer VR aside. Blood or Truth another exceptional example of what can be accomplished with a relatively inexpensive setup and no room scale.
Its plug and play at its finest, no need to worry about updates, settings, super-sampling, or for the most part, tripping on wires. Simply make sure your peripherals are charged and the cat is out of the way (and the room is dark), then off you go.
Its easy to play online VR with friends and comparatively easier to find random groups due to you all being on a common platform.
So should you buy PSVR?
Yes, if you already own a PS4 its a very cost effective way of getting into VR. You are slightly limited by the specs but the software is, for the most part, incredibly well optimised and easily rivals Vive at a fraction of the cost.
For gamers in China a downside is the cost of the games vs. Steam. But most of the popular titles seem to cycle the sales in the US and HK PSN stores quite regularly so its easy enough to pick up a bargain.
That's it for this blog, in the next part I'll be reviewing the new kid on the block, Oculus Quest
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