The year of virtual reality is already starting to ramp up, and it's a top source of discussion for Sony gaffer Kaz Hirai at CES 2016 this week. But while there's some positivity about the possibilities for the peripheral, some are sceptical that it won't get the kind of support that it needs to succeed. The former PlayStation president had a pre-prepared answer for that.
"I think the fact that we have more than 200 developers signed up to the PlayStation VR programme who are working on probably about 100 or more titles is a testament to the kind of support we're getting from the content creation community, so I think that it'll be a great product – it's coming out later this year," he told the BBC.
Asked why VR is so important to Sony, the self-aware suit stressed that the company just wants to create more engaging experiences for its fans. "We offer a very immersive gameplay experience with the PS4 on flat-screen panels, but taking that into the virtual reality world is going to provide a more immersive gameplay experience," he said.
Hirai concluded that the platform holder will be targeting its install base of 35.9 million gamers to begin with, but that VR has potential outside of games, and it's something that he thinks Sony Pictures Entertainment may be able to leverage moving forwards. The firm's thinking long-term, then – let's just hope that the first wave of support enables it to justify future investment.
[source bbc.co.uk]
Comments 10
"it's coming out later this year."
Somebody mentioned first half of 2016 earlier in the week, but his comment makes me think later than that. If it was going to be out by E3 I think he would phrased it differently, maybe "soon" or "shortly". And if the price is as high as Rift they should probably market it new for the holidays. .
@rjejr Must admit, I thought the same thing.
A list of the type of game's in development is what's needed, has anyone seen any footage of a game with more than one person or one fish in it? I don't think this VR is going to support decent enough game's to keep gamer's intrested. It's all going to be game's like The Vanishing of Ethan Carter and Life is Strange, while that will appeal to some I doubt it will be enough. Is there a list anywhere? I heard that it will run BF4 until I heard that rumour I had 0-10% intrest in VR, if it can run massive MP game's like that this product will have much more chance.
@xMEADx Games like Rigs, Eve Valkyrie and Rez Infinite are among them but people need to be realistic, most of the VR games will be made by Indies and they won't be working with large budgets any so called AAA stuff won't come until it's in the mainstream.
Come on, give us a date and price!
IMO shooters are the key to psvr success - aside from immersion, aiming with your arms could be a competitive advantage the same way a mouse is generally considered to be. (no flames pls, I play shooters on the console but aiming specifically the mouse is better at). If it turns out to be an advantage, the shooter crowd will call it a required accessory and that is a large crowd.
That 100 doesnt impress me. If the bunch of launch games are not good enough to sell this thing, the rest will get canned.
That's like saying we got the biggest open world game everrrrrr!! And then what. Oh and it socks. More details Sony geez.
They really need to focus on giving this actual mainstream exposure rather than just preaching to the same group of internet geeks (us) over and over again. Me and my two very geeky friends have been aware of Oculus Rift since the Kickstarter, meanwhile the average person still hasn't heard of Kickstarter itself, let alone a high-end VR project funded by it.
PSVR is one of those things where I'll bring it up in a conversation like "Did you know that Sony are making a VR headset for the PS4?" and they'll say "What does VR mean?" Or, in the rarer occasion they know what VR means, they'll say "Nope, didn't know that". I'm not just basing this on 3 of my close friends or anything, this is based on a wide variety of people of different ages and backgrounds, on top of friends and family there's also in-laws, friends' parents and wives/girlfriends. My friends themselves cover professions as varied as teachers, policemen, engineers, biochemists, electricians, TV production, a Nandos manager, Starbucks workers, and more.
So yeah, that seems like a problem. Get some TV adverts and TV spots going, Sony. If you have them on chat shows, don't just have the host wearing one and looking like a prat, get the audience involved so TV viewers see a wide variety of people being impressed, not just what they'll assume is a paid-off host. Get demo pods into places like the Bullring in Birmingham and the Trafford Centre in Manchester - and not just inside a GAME shop. Mention these demo pods on the aforementioned TV ads and chat shows. This kind of stuff did wonders for far less impressive technology in the form of the Wii and DS.
Hopefully these games won't be a waste of time in the end i.e they can be played without a VR Head-set on my PS4 to once SONY get bored of VR Yep I am still not bothered about VR(not tried it yet so can't say I don't want it 1 day)
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