PS4

[Rare White Ape]

Good score

[stephenb]

Thought I'd provide a few thoughts of my experience so far with PSVR.

Setup, playspace & tracking:
Setup is dead easy as you'd expect. Just plug the break out box in line with the HDMI out from your PS4 and connect up the USB and power and you're ready to go by plugging in the headset. You don't need your TV on to play in VR.

The camera currently sits atop my TV and after moving the coffee table to one side I have a standing area where I can take 1.5 steps sideways or forward and maintain tracking. The camera being around 6ft/180cm from my starting standing position. Crouch right down or step further to the side and I'll get out of range with the move controllers. Tracking when within the range of the camera is solid. Not had any problems with the headset itself and this tracks just as well as my Rift. The move controllers are fine and get the job done but can get jittery when approaching the limit of your tracked play space.

PSVR playspace.jpg

Comfort, ergonomics & display quality:
Headset is a cinch to put on and much more comfortable than the Rift when wearing glasses due to way the visor hangs in front of you face and adjusts in and out. I have several 1 hour+ sessions under my belt now and other than a little tightness at the back of the headband no ills to report. The move controllers and comfortable to hold in the hand and the main buttons all within easy reach. They seem to have good battery life too as I've charged them once and they are still showing full change in the PS dashboard.

The display used by Sony, while on the surface lower resolution than that of the Rift and Vive, doesn't seem it in practice due to it's use of an RGB stripe sub pixel layout compared to the pentile layout of its competitors. There are pluses and minuses compared to the Rift. On the plus side screen door effect is barely noticeable compared to the Rift and there are no god rays. Colours and blacks are just as good. On the minus side my headset has clearly noticeable mura in low light scenes, such as the interrogation during the London Heist experience, which I've never seen in the Rift and the field of view is a touch smaller.

Games
The best headset in the world counts for nothing if there are no good games to play on it. Thankfully the PS4 seems well stocked in this regard.

Playstation VR Worlds will probably be most peoples first foray. I'm sure you've all seen the experiences on offer from the launch coverage. London Heist is pick of the bunch and there is a full game based on it coming next year It does a great job of showcasing the move controllers and 3D sound field/tracking.

Rush of Blood: Until Dawn (demo). A on rails shooter providing plenty of jump scares. Yes I screamed like a girl at the first one, and the second time through a couple of days later even though I knew it was coming A great one to strap your family and friends into and have a laugh at their expense.

Wipeout: Omega Collection (demo). Wipeout in VR, what more needs to be said. I've read some people saying they get sick very quickly playing this but I had no trouble at all. Most likely as I've had so much time in seated cockpit simulations with my Rift. Will definitely be picking up down the line.

Superhot VR. Spent a couple of hours on this today. This is very cool. It's a stylised shooter where time only moves when you do. Each level features a series of set pieces themed around one setting such as a building site, office, airplane. Your job is to take down all the boogies. This has involved the most movement so far and would definitely benefit from a little larger play space than mine. Think the bullet scene from the Matrix where Neo doges the bullets as time slows down and you get the idea. Requires brains as well as you work out your plan of attack at the start of each set piece.

Astro Bot: Rescue Mission. Thoughts to follow as I've not played it yet. It's a 3D platformer designed to showcase all the clever stuff you can do in VR. Look forward to getting stuck into it.


Overall impressions very positive at this stage.

[Tom Servo]

mura?

[dodint]

If the SDE is better on PSVR than Rift, it must be horrific on the Rift.

[stephenb]

^ Everyone views these things differently. I don't think the SDE is bad on the Rift by any means. Noticeable against a solid background colour if you go looking for it, sure, but most of the time it blends into the background and isn't an issue.


Tom - See here for an explanation on Mura: https://www.reddit.com/r/PSVR/commen...laystation_vr/ On my headset it looks like the random noise pattern. From reading various forums it seems all PSVR headsets suffer with it to greater of lesser extent. Possible mine is at the worse end of the spectrum or that many people just don't see it.

[stephenb]

Finished off the main campaign of Superhot before lunch and got stuck into Astro Bot this afternoon. As I expected it's a very cute platformer in the vain of Lucky's Tale on the Rift although this one has you looking all around you a bit more. Mostly been playing it seated, standing up on occasion to get a better view. The automatic camera is mostly good but there have been a few occasion where I wished for a manual override.

As you progress through the main story you unlock challenges which can be played separately. The two I've done so far have both been speed runs. At various points your virtual dual shock gets upgraded with gadgets, like a winch which opens up new gameplay opportunities. These make good use of the touch pad. Easy to see why the game has garnered such good reviews and I'd defy anyone not to fall in love with the little bots

[Rare White Ape]

In the latest system update we can now use remote play on iOS devices!

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...er-sony-xperia

It’s great. Well, I mean, it works on a technical level. I played GT Sport using touch controls.

I’ll never play GT Sport using touch controls ever again.

[Freude am Fahren]

Well, looks like my PS4 pro just bit it.

I just installed the ESPN app on it and started watching and poof, green screen. Unplugged it, got another HDMI cable, tried booting in 'safe mode' and all I get is this like slightly gray screen (I assume it's 'black' output) that fills like 80% of the screen. Or if I boot it normally, I get the green screen.

It was downloading an update in at the time, I wonder if that killed it.

FUCK.

[SkylineObsession]

Rude.

How old was it, and is/was it under any sort of warranty/guarantee or anything?

In NZ we have the Consumer Guarantees Act which usually protects purchases for a decent length of time.
https://www.consumerprotection.govt....uarantees-act/

[Rare White Ape]

Heckin' milestone.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...oles-worldwide