The Sony news and discussion thread

[Alex79]

I pretty much agree with Leon's post on the previous page. I'm really excited to try PSVR if I ever get a chance to, but I won't be buying one and really do think it'll go the way of 3D televisions. I just can't see people sitting in their living rooms wearing the headset once the initial buzz fades. I am looking forward to Turner, Murray and Co. streaming their first play with it on YouTube though, that should be pretty funny!

[gallo_pinto]

They were promoting at E3 and their own event, they didn't show much on stage because, as you might expect, trying to sell VR through a video presentation is problematic since the only real way to really sell the experience is for people to get a hands on. Sony have also been placing pop-up VR booths all around the country recently along with a touring demo bus too, so they are doing their bit to promote it, I guess it's just a harder thing to 'sell' outside of an actual hands on.

That's a fair point and I do empathize with the challenge of selling VR to people on a stage with only a big screen. But it reminds me so much of the Vita in 2013/14. The only mention the system got during E3 would be during a sizzle reel, but there were always booths after the conferences with Vitas showing off new indie games. Playstation leadership kept saying all of the right things about how they were dedicated to the system in spite of the fact that it didn't show up on stage. But the next year would roll around, it still wouldn't get any stage time and meanwhile the games were drying up. Sony talked a good game, but they never put their money where their mouth was with the Vita. Watching their VR rollout strategy, it all feels exactly the same. I guess I need to be convinced they'll act differently this time around.

And just to reiterate, I REALLY hope I'm wrong. PSVR taking off would be a great thing for everyone involved. I'm just not confident that's where we're heading.

[JaySevenZero]

I pretty much agree with Leon's post on the previous page. I'm really excited to try PSVR if I ever get a chance to, but I won't be buying one and really do think it'll go the way of 3D televisions. I just can't see people sitting in their living rooms wearing the headset once the initial buzz fades.

It's possible that I'd agree with you with it being a fad if it was just Sony pushing it, but when Google, Facebook, Valve, Amazon, Microsoft, Neflix along with Sony are all on board then I believe that it's not something that's gonna fade away anytime soon and this is just the beginning of a very interesting time indeed.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

It's interesting looking at things like the Kinect, PSVR, and other add-ons, and the success of the Wii's waggle controls (in terms of commercial success), which is considerably less presice/cutting-edge than other technology. And really the commercial success of the Nintendo Wii and the way Apple popularised touchscreen technology comes down far more good marketing/advertising, seeing a gap in the market, knowing your audience, etc, rather than the technology itself.

The technology with PSVR could be the most fantastic thing ever, and for the sake of developing VR to make it even better and ultimately more affordable as time goes by, I really hope it succeeds. That being said... I don't plan to buy into VR for quite a while. Part of it is the fact that I get motion sickness with first-person games (with few exceptions) as is, and part of it is that I'm just not "sold" on it yet. (I would add price to that, except that I could justify any purchase if it was something I genuinely wanted.)

It's a hard sell, and even from a passionate gamer point of view, it's niche. How you would make the sale to non-gamers is beyond me.

[KSubzero1000]

How you would make the sale to non-gamers is beyond me.

I don't know how to imply this elegantly, so I'll just come out and say it bluntly: Porn. Like many other format before it (DVD, etc...) it'll determine whether or not the technology succeeds. It's not a particularly pretty situation, but I think there is more truth to it than people might admit.

I don't think the success of the Wii was due to its technological advancement per se as much as the way it opened the doors of video gaming for a new audience. And looking back on it, most of the titles in its library which were aimed at its core audience were either perfectly playable with a standard controller or would have required minimal changes to do so. Metroid Prime being the only one I can think of which was arguably made significantly better by its new control options. So while it definitely was a sale success, I don't think it was the quite the "revolution which would change the gaming landscape" it was sold as at the time.

The question I always ask myself in regards to new tech gizmos is "Is this meant to supplant or to work alongside traditional control methods?". And I don't believe in the former, since I don't think anything will ever top the reliability and ease of use of a standard controller. Which is partially why Microsoft had to backtrack on its initial plan for Kinect. A positive example of the latter however, would be the implementation of touchscreens. Nintendo had the right idea to design the DS and 3DS with a touchscreen alongside a traditional interface. Same goes for the DS4. That way, you get the benefit of both.

Regarding VR, I wish I was as optimistic as some of you, because all the buzz surrounding it leaves me completely cold. Even at its best, it seems to me like a one-trick pony that offers an alternative camera control method. That's... it? I have no idea why I would ever pay the hefty price point and deal with the barrier of access for that. And conversely, I have no idea why any developer would want to spend valuable resources developing a "real" game for it when the creative advantage is so minimal. What can it do, that a standard controller cannot? A more intuitive camera is hardly that big of a deal in terms of actual development.

Maybe I'm just a cynical old man, but all I hear is talk about the "potential" of VR left and right. And not: "Here's a deep and layered gameplay system made by Platinum or FROM which was only made possible by VR and is a clear foreboder of things to come."

No, I don't see VR changing the gaming landscape in the long term in any significant way. It just won't be able to compete with the multifunctionality and/or ease of access of controllers, which already exist in every home. With that being said, I do think the technology could have some very interesting applications outside of gaming. I'm thinking of stuff like professional training purposes (pilots, surgeons), virtual tourism market, and of course, porn. But for me as a video game enthusiast, I'm not interested in the slightest.

EDIT: Here's a question for the major enthusiasts among you: Would you mind listing all the concrete advantages that VR has over traditional control methods, and then do the opposite, which is to say list the advantages that traditional control methods have over VR? Just as an interesting comparison.

[Alex79]

It's possible that I'd agree with you with it being a fad if it was just Sony pushing it, but when Google, Facebook, Valve, Amazon, Microsoft, Neflix along with Sony are all on board then I believe that it's not something that's gonna fade away anytime soon and this is just the beginning of a very interesting time indeed.

True, but how many manufacturers and movie studios were pushing 3D? When gaming is becoming more and more socially 'acceptable' I think VR is a massive step backwards (not that I care about that in of itself), and however many companies are trying to flog VR it all comes down to how many people buy it, and I think outside of groups of 'hard-core gamers' I don't think people are going to want to sit and play games with a headset on.

I also think there's a real danger - as the technology improves over the next few years - that we'll see people suffering from all sorts of reality perception issues as they spend more and more time in games like that Better Than Life thing from Red Dwarf years ago. A little far fetched and said with a hint of tongue in cheek but it's possible! I'm not sure the implications of long term use of VR are known by anyone.

Most of this though, to be honest Jay, is sour grapes because I can't afford one.



I hope it's a massive hit and doesn't change gaming forever, but offers another way of playing for those that want it.

[hazeredmist]

Anyone got any tips on finding a 32gb or 64gb memory card for the Vita? They're seemingly impossible to get hold of now

[KSubzero1000]

Looks like amazon still has the 32GB model, at least:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sony-PlayStati ... emory+card

I don't have a PSVita, so I have absolutely no idea if the price is reasonable or not.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

You can get a 32gb card on Amazon for £65. Or there are both sizes on eBay but looks like you'll still be paying not far off that for a 32gb and closer to £90 for a 64gb.

Mental really, but they must be in pretty short supply!

I've always stuck with a 16gb and on the rare occasion it fills I just delete something. With cloud storage for your game saves if you're a PS+ subscriber that's preferable to paying those prices in my book!

[hazeredmist]

Cheers, aye the eBay prices seem an absolute nonsense, It's literally more than the cost of a Vita itself. Shame. I've got 16 but don't want to delete anything, there's always the fear PSN will take games offline!

[Alex79]

You can download them to your PS3 to store, or transfer them from your Vita to PC if you're worried about that happening.

That's my main concern with digital downloads really. If I find an old Atari 2600 and a load of games, provided it's still working I can play those games now almost 40 years later. Will the PSN still be around in 40 years? Who knows. Maybe, maybe not.

[Alex79]

Anyone got any tips on finding a 32gb or 64gb memory card for the Vita? They're seemingly impossible to get hold of now

Have you tried CEX? I bought a used 16GB one quite a bit cheaper than the RRP.

[ColinAlonso]

I'm a day late with the news but Gravity Rush 2 got pushed back to January.

It makes sense since it was coming out the same week as FF15 and a week before The Last Guardian. Sadly for me though that means it comes out a week before Yakuza 0 and just before my work hits the busiest season of the year. I'll get both but Yakuza 0 will have to wait until I finish GR2 and possibly even Persona 5.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Anyone got any tips on finding a 32gb or 64gb memory card for the Vita? They're seemingly impossible to get hold of now

Useless advice: go to Japan!

Advantages: availability of various sized memory cards including 64g; wide range of various game, new and secondhand, at occasionally reasonable prices; but most Importantly, Japan is just amazing and is totally worth the trip anyway.

Disadvantages: much, much more expensive than buying the memory card outright; and it's a bit of overkill really...

All terrible jokes aside, I got my 64g memory card back in April at Bic Camera (maybe Akihabara way? Ikebukuro? I'd have to look that up...), and price wise it cost me @ $117 AUD (roughly £63 at the time), so that may give you a ballpark figure in term of RRP, and what would be an acceptable price with eBay/Amazon etc.

It will not be cheap...


Oh, and last thing (from me anyway) on PSVR: Jim Sterling (thank god for him) made an interesting point about how Sony tends to have a habit of dropping things the moment things don't work out like expected, like the Vita, PSPgo, etc... so that will be a factor too (I totally forgot the PSPgo existed...).

[Alex79]

Has anyone played Aragami? It looks absolutely gorgeous and has had decent reviews. I'm definitely interested.

[hazeredmist]

Anyone got any tips on finding a 32gb or 64gb memory card for the Vita? They're seemingly impossible to get hold of now

Useless advice: go to Japan!

Advantages: availability of various sized memory cards including 64g; wide range of various game, new and secondhand, at occasionally reasonable prices; but most Importantly, Japan is just amazing and is totally worth the trip anyway.

Disadvantages: much, much more expensive than buying the memory card outright; and it's a bit of overkill really...

All terrible jokes aside, I got my 64g memory card back in April at Bic Camera (maybe Akihabara way? Ikebukuro? I'd have to look that up...), and price wise it cost me @ $117 AUD (roughly £63 at the time), so that may give you a ballpark figure in term of RRP, and what would be an acceptable price with eBay/Amazon etc.

It will not be cheap...


Oh, and last thing (from me anyway) on PSVR: Jim Sterling (thank god for him) made an interesting point about how Sony tends to have a habit of dropping things the moment things don't work out like expected, like the Vita, PSPgo, etc... so that will be a factor too (I totally forgot the PSPgo existed...).

Cheers for the advice dude! I'd love to go to Japan actually. One day...

[Alex79]

Probably entirely irrelevant for anyone here, but just in case : https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/get-h ... CE-OTH-APS

(I don't even know what Media Go is. My wild guess is some sort of content delivery system like iTunes, but Sony...!?)

[ColinAlonso]

I think its the way for downloading games to your PSP via PC. Wi-fi connections weren't standard in 2005. Never used it, despite owning a PSP almost from launch.

[Joshihatsumitsu]

Back in yea olden days (ie, a few years ago) I had Media Go on my PC, and you could back up games and save files, etc, and at the time it was pretty handy for managing my PSP collection. From memory I don't remember being able to actually purchase things through the PlayStation store, though it's been a few years.

But that was before I switched from PC to Mac (it's okay for gaming, but that's a topic for a different forum), so it's been a few years since I've used it. Games can still be transferred to the PSP via the PS3 (obviously owning one helps), and technically purchased via the PlayStation store online. Nowadays I have my Vita, and I have a few PSP games on there, so the games and market still technically exist, it's just more difficult.

[Alex79]

Very pleased that Rez Infinite is getting awesome reviews:

http://www.appy-gamer.com/Web/ArticleWe ... urce=drive

Was it ever in doubt? Nah.