Virtual reality faces many challenges, but one of the biggest problems that it has to overcome is the sense of isolation that the experience inherently demands. By putting on a headset, you're essentially shutting yourself off from the world – and with the PlayStation 4 built around living room experiences, that sounds somewhat rude.
However, platform holder Sony reckons that it's found a solution, by outputting the action to a television screen, too. "Our teams wanted to create social games not unlike something similar to what Nintendo is doing with the Wii U," said Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida. "One person might be wearing the headset, while another person might be participating, watching on the TV."
It's a decent idea, and it doesn't take long to dream up some ways in which this could be used. The person watching on the TV, for example, may be able to see slightly different things to the headset wearer, and so a game could require constant co-operative communication between the two parties in order to succeed.
The technology and general concepts definitely appear to be in place for Project Morpheus now, but the company's going to have its work cut out coming up with some truly compelling, hardware shifting software. It certainly had some neat tech demos on display at the Game Developers Conference this week, but, at the moment, it's unclear where that killer app is going to come from.
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 11
Huh ? The WiiU is a terrible console so I don't pay much attention to it. I'm lost, I don't understand what he's talking about.
@Dohv He's referring to the asymmetrical nature of some Wii U games. Some titles require one person to use the screen on the gamepad, while other players use the TV. Both are fed different sets of data.
Morpheus could work similarly in that the people watching the TV could see different things to the person wearing the headset.
Sorry Sony that it's not gonna work, VR is absolutely a individual experience, maybe in-game could be co-op, but nothing can match the co-op couch Nintendo offers in theirs console and games.
@ferrers405 I dont know, in a way it could work for some games, i guess it would be ultimately up to the developers to do what they want with it. I think it just depends on what comes out, and how it is utilized. I believe the idea has potential but we will have to wait and see if that potential is fully realized or if its just a flop. Kinda like the whole Project Morpheus as a whole.
Its a VR device but you need quite a few things, which could get pricey depending on where you buy it and the Cost of the headset itself.
Isn't the vr headset coming with 3d sound or w/e.. So who you gonna hear?
Nintendo: Plan --> Develop --> Execute
Sony: Develop --> Plan --> Execute
I've no interest in VR and I'm still sceptical of Project Morpheus being successful....I'm inclined to think it will go more the way of 3D TVs and last as a fad for a while....I'm happy to be proven wrong and see what Sony can do with it and what software is released in support of it tho.
Because i really want to play games in front of people wearing "that"
i dont even want to wear that to play alone, even less with friends
i still have some dignitiy
This is some mixed messaging, we all know that vr will be a solo experience. When people talk about group gaming they are really missing the point. You go to someone's house to meet them, chat, catch up, etc. The games are usually a backdrop of that scenario. Its why wii bowling worked so well. You could stick it on and throw every few minutes while you carried on with drinking games or talked rubbish. Planning a game night usually distorts into a takeaway and watching reruns of father ted, and a quick catch up distorts into take turn gaming on trials. Another example is the broadcasting of 3d footy in pubs. That died literally straight away as the driver is to go to the pub with your mates, the football is just a backdrop. You don't have to see the linesman in 3d, that just pulls you away from your friends.
I'm excited to see what happens with this, i think it will turn out fantastic, there are a lot of good ideas to be had.
The Wii U is great for social gaming, BUT, and this is a big but... It's strongest suit is single player gaming. I know that's contrary to what a lot of non-Nintendo gamers might think, but it's the truth. The only reason social gaming is great on Wii U is because it supplements the excellent single player gaming. Nintendo would never last if it only focused on multiplayer gaming.
So sure, I think that's a good idea, provided it supplements single player gaming, like the Wii U does.p
In any case, if the games on VR are even HALF as good as the games on Wii U, Morpheus could be a great success. After all, it's the games that make the console, and the only reason Wii U is so great is because of the games. So that's the million dollar question: will the VR games be any good? Time will tell.
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