PSVR PlayStation VR 1

I love PlayStation VR, I really do. I’m very proud of how we covered the system on Push Square over the years; I’d like to think we were one of the best sources for virtual reality gaming at its peak. All of the excitement surrounding next-gen PSVR has made me want to dive back in and finish up the dozen or so titles I missed – Paper Beast (free as part of Play At Home)! Marvel’s Iron Man VR! Déraciné! The Room VR! Pistol Whip! – but I just can’t bring myself to hook the headset up.

I feel bad because I know I’m being lazy, but since packing away my PlayStation 4, I’ve had a complicated relationship with PSVR to say the least. I used to have the headset’s breakout box attached all the time, as my previous television was an old 1080p panel; ever since I upgraded to 4K, I’ve left the breakout box disconnected, because I’m unfortunate enough to own the original iteration of the headset which stripped out HDR support.

I recently reconnected everything on my PS5 to test out Hitman 3’s excellent virtual reality mode, and while I realise I’m at risk of sounding hyperbolic, it was a nightmare. I had to dig out my PS Camera and then connect it to the adaptor that’s required for Sony’s next-gen console; I had to sift through three generations of PlayStation USB charging cables to power up my PS Move wands, which Hitman 3 didn’t even use in the end; I had a tangle of cables going from the breakout box into my television and around into my console again – it was mental.

Marvel's Iron Man VR PSVR PlayStation VR 1

I really enjoyed my time playing Hitman 3 with PSVR; I think the game works pretty darn well in virtual reality. But I’m sitting here now, eager to play Marvel’s Iron Man VR – and I just can’t bring myself to do it. If I’m honest with myself, if I take away the exaggeration, I know I’m looking at about ten minutes “hook up” time – it’s nothing really, less time than it’s taken to write this article. But for as much as I want to play the title and know I’ll enjoy it when it’s powered up, I just don’t have enough willpower to see it through.

It’s one of the reasons I’m so excited for next-gen PSVR: Sony’s said that it’ll work with a single cable, and that’s honestly a game changer as far as I’m concerned. I know lots of people wanted wireless, and I truly do get that, but if I could just plug a single cord into the front of my console then I probably wouldn’t be ruminating on PSVR as much as I am; I’d have probably worked through my entire virtual reality backlog already.

I think I’m going to have to set aside a few weeks to play through any remaining PSVR titles in my catalogue before packing it away for good. I feel sad that I can’t just hop into Beat Saber whenever I like, but the setup just isn’t realistic right now. The spaghetti of cables was ridiculous at launch; I look back on it a few years later and I genuinely don’t know how I ever coped with it at all. Sony may be touting tons of new technology with its next-gen headset, but that single cable is the biggest thing for me.


What’s your relationship with PSVR like at this point? Do you still have the headset hooked up? Have you moved on already, or do you use it daily? Enter a different reality in the comments section below.