I don't understand the market for a device like this at this cost.
Are there really enough people that would spend this much on a VR system in a closed ecosystem instead of going with one attached to your PC that has access to everything?
I bought the valve index (which is more than this) because I can use it with Steam and any VR games outside of steam. Plus modding.
I feel like Sony should have subsidized the hardware more accounting for the fact that they will get money from every VR game sold for this thing. Otherwise I worry the market for it just won't make sense for developers (which then hurts anyone that bought it).
Also the lack of PSVR1 support would make me seriously question buying this anyways, why invest in a platform if they are just going to make it so you can't play any of your games later (or requires you keep multiple VR's around)
> I don't understand the market for a device like this at this cost.
I am a software engineer and OSS enthusiast, I operate servers and my home automation system, but I gave up on PC gaming years ago. After a long day of fighting distributed systems, I want my gaming rig to just work. That's why I bought the first PSVR: because Sony offers me a system where I don't have to fiddle with drivers and windows updates.
Price is too steep indeed, but it will go down as the production ramps up. PSVR launched at 400€ in 2016, and I bought it at 200€ two years after that.
I would love to go with a console as my main platform, I just always have the feeling that Sony is ripping me off with the cost of games and PS Plus. Do you find it evens out in the long run with the larger upfront cost of a gaming PC?
The hidden cost of a gaming pc is the time you inevitably spend keeping it working. The older I get the more I get annoyed by things that waste what time I have left. I game exclusively on my PS5 and XBox Series X and have no regrets about doing so. Every time I spend a few bucks more than I would on pc I just think about how much time I'm not wasting getting it to work at all. YMMV.
I only play single-player and couch co-op games, so I don't pay for PS Plus. As for the game prices, sales are less massive than on Steam but still frequent. Just create your watchlist on psprices.com.
The only thing I really miss is modding, especially quality-of-life improvement mods.
This seems like half the price of a comparable PCVR setup, including the PS5 to run it. And there's probably still not much crossover between the console crowd and the PC gamer crowd.
Large contingent of people who don't have a PC strong enough to run VR but do have a PS5. Whether the PS5 will get a lively enough VR ecosystem going on it is still a concern though yeah.
I know there is a market for it, I just question if there is enough of a market given the price point they are going for.
I guess that is what I don't understand. Yeah the tech is great but if its too expensive that enough people can't afford it than is there going to be enough people to justify developers to work on it.
I just worry that this is seeing Sony being cocky again like they were with the PS3. Overestimating the market and putting out products that are more expensive with the justification that they are powerful.
What we know from decades of console industry winners and losers is that content and especially exclusive content is everything.
It really doesn't matter if hardware is open or closed. What matters is whether there is fun compelling games.
PS VR has been a success because the quality games have been there, and others have struggled because of their lack of quality games.
We can expect that given Playstation's deep history in games and exclusive in house studios that they will have content for the platform. It's risky to expect the same of any other hardware maker without inhouse studios and decades old industry relationships and partnerships.
Are there really enough people that would spend this much on a VR system in a closed ecosystem instead of going with one attached to your PC that has access to everything?
I bought the valve index (which is more than this) because I can use it with Steam and any VR games outside of steam. Plus modding.
I feel like Sony should have subsidized the hardware more accounting for the fact that they will get money from every VR game sold for this thing. Otherwise I worry the market for it just won't make sense for developers (which then hurts anyone that bought it).
Also the lack of PSVR1 support would make me seriously question buying this anyways, why invest in a platform if they are just going to make it so you can't play any of your games later (or requires you keep multiple VR's around)