The Sony news and discussion thread

[Stanshall]

Anyone get one then? I panicked and legged it round all the shops after work but no joy. Then took a deep breath.

Then ordered it from Currys. Delivery tomorrow. I'll be at CeX around 3pm Saturday, I reckon. Pumped.

[hazeredmist]

Aye, let's have some thoughts C&R Lawnmower Men!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Anyone get one then?

Yep!

So being totally honest.....WOW

So far after one solid evening of play, it truly has met and exceeded my expectations. The sense of immersion is really quite incredible and elicited reactions both emotional and physical that I've very rarely felt through any other screen-based medium. It's hard to put into words.....

I'd say one thing that really struck me almost immediately is the sense of scale and depth that you just can't replicate through a normal or even 3D screen. Because you are actually 'in' the environment, everything feels the right size. If you're talking to a character in Batman Arkham VR, they are the size of a human being standing in front of you. If you're in the Batcave, it feels MASSIVE like you are actually stood in a giant cavern. This is something 3D could never deliver (and in fact it often went the other way of making things seem small), and it isn't something you can't really appreciate unless you actually experience it for yourself.

Movement has also never felt so real. In the VR Worlds demo there's an experience where you're lowered into the sea in a cage with sea life swimming all around you. It really feels like you're going down despite the fact that you're sat on your sofa. The same is true when you're moving around in Batman. It's absolutely bizarre and completely intoxicating.

It really is hard to describe all this so sorry if it isn't making any sense!

The games I've tried so far are the aforementioned Batman Arkham VR (played straight through in one sitting!), the VR Worlds demo (don't own the whole thing) and a demo of Tumble VR (block stacking game - liked it!).

Batman is fantastic and absolutely worth the price of admission. It's short (90 mins - 2 hours maybe), but is a wonderful experience from start to finish, and I'll absolutely be going back in for another go as once completed a bunch of Riddler trophies are added into the environments for you to track down.

I also have R.I.G.S., the first person mech/arena shooter but I've not tried it yet. Hopefully that'll get tackled this evening if I have time. I also plan on downloading Rez Infinite, probably over the weekend.

The hardware itself feels really nice. The build quality is excellent and to wear it's very comfortable even after extended play. In terms of set-up there are a lot of wires but it didn't take me too long to stick all the right plugs in the right holes and get started. I also got a good picture and felt comfy almost instantly. It was all surprisingly simple really.

The picture quality is actually better than I expected as well after all the talk of it being pretty low res. Personally I think it looks great! Yes it's lower res than the full HD images we're all used to nowadays, but taken on it's own merits it's still pretty darn clear and as it's powered by a PS4 you can still expect some quite beautiful experiences. Batman, for example, is simply stunning in places.

Time will tell whether this all takes off and who knows how I'll feel in the weeks and months to come, but right now I am completely and utterly smitten!

Join the revolution!

[Stanshall]

I've had half an hour now and I concur. Genuinely very pleasantly surprised by this, in terms of quality and comfort. I'd read about people needing to do extra calibration and measuring pupil distance and stuff. I plonked it on my fat head, shoved it up and down a bit and I was away. Compared to the niggling misery of GearVR, this is so straightforward and effective. All the wires seemed a faff when I was setting up but I don't have anything dangling anywhere, they're just on the floor basically.

So, the games. I got straight into Thumper and although there's nothing to look at, as such, it's just an immense feeling being IN that chute, hurtling along and clanging off the edges. It's a genuine first for me. It's not a surprise as such or jaw dropping but it feels like an extra dimension I've not felt elsewhere. It's not just an emotional response, it's a sensibility to surroundings, a feeling of belonging, as Sinclair suggested above.

DriveClub VR is lower res but I was laughing with glee. No vomit, just a mad feeling of speed and looking at some car as you rag past on the outside is just plain weird but so much fun.

Great first impressions, much better than I expected, about as good as I optimistically hoped after my GearVR experience.

[Alex79]

Brian Altano, of IGN, posted some great thoughts on their podcast Facebook page:

BEYOND! So, PSVR has been out in the wild for a few days and I wanted to give you guys my thoughts about it as well as hear yours now that the dust is settled a bit. Here are a few random musings I've had while digging in to this thing for the past three days. I'd love to hear your thoughts, cool (or bad) experiences you've had so far, must-see or play experiences or cool tips and tricks you might have. Here we go!

Warning: long read ahead! Get comfy!

- I'll come right out and say it: having a comfy, dedicated VR headset in my apartment instead of at an arcade, convention center show floor or even IGN office has been an absolutely surreal experience. Like the first time I owned an iPad or a laptop, VR is some futuristic sci-fi shit that I only ever dreamed of understanding when it popped up as a possibility in decades of movies and TV shows about the future. Like my first iPad, a few years from now we'll look back and laugh at how slow, heavy, clunky and limited it is in retrospect, but right now PSVR is a tremendously impressive piece of kit and a monumental step for the PlayStation brand and Sony in general.

- No other console manufacturer is even close to providing this kind of experience right now and Sony's family of first and third party relations has me stupidly excited for the potential here.

- I genuinely put my first night at home with PSVR up there with the first time I went from NES to 16 bit games, the first time I heard CD quality audio in a PS1 game, the first time I controlled Mario in 3D in Super Mario 64, the first time I went Wii Bowling and the first time I played a game on an HDTV. It's that "new" feeling I've been looking for in games in the last few years. Not that I've had a problem with where the industry is going, but the PS3 and PS4 felt iterative and like "safe" steps forward. PSVR feels like a bold leap.

- I've had a pretty consistent grin or look of awe or fear on my fear as I shuffle through the different experiences available at launch. A genuine, real range of emotion and it's been almost entirely positive.

- The PSVR headset is incredibly well built and very easy to configure within seconds to your desired viewing distance and comfort levels. I'm tried every other VR headset and this one is by far the easiest to "get in" immediately with minimal blurring or discomfort.

- There is no "Super Mario 64" in this launch lineup but there are at least a dozen "Pilotwings." Think of an album that has 12 really cool songs but no chart-topping, take the world by storm lead singles.

- That said, Rez, Super HyperCube, Wayward Sky, Bound, Battle Zone, Batman VR and PlayStation Worlds are seriously fun as fuck, and very much different, varied experiences from one another. PS Worlds and the PSVR demo disc (Sony made a demo disc in 2016!!) have some awesome demos and experiences on them to give you an understanding of what this thing can do and give you a great demo to pass to friends when they come over to see what it's all about.

- My wife hates sharks. HATES them. I personally don't think they're that much of an issue because 99% of our marriage has been spent on land but she totally hates them. She also barely plays 3D or first person games. She's just not in to them. I got her to try the shark cage experience in PSVR Worlds' "Ocean Descent" last night and she was laughing and gawking at the sea life in awe and then shrieking and giggling in horror moments later when the shark starts attacking the cage. She loved it. Then she played Super HyperCube for an hour and wouldn't let me get my PSVR back until she was done. This thing has "Wii Remote" style casual appeal and potential for non-gamers and lapsed gamers. The barrier for entry is higher and more expensive but there's a ton of potential here for people outside of the hardcore gaming sect.

- Speaking of which, most of the experiences on PSVR right now or short and succinct, but many of them are also budget priced. Games like Eve Valkyrie and Drive Club are meatier but I'm actually totally cool with developers taking smaller ideas and making short and sweet, budget priced games out of them. Many games (and films, while we're at it) are too long and bloated these days and while I never want to see the long-form video game go away, I do want to see more short experiences like we're seeing on PSVR. Instead of waiting 5 years for a new Last of Us or Uncharted game, I want a 30 minute long Last of Us PSVR story or a PSVR Uncharted car chase mission. Stuff like Batman VR is exactly what I'm talking about and I can't wait to see more of it. I think it really frees up developers to make short companion pieces to their longer retail games in the same way Pixar puts a short film before their theatrical length animated movies.

- Image quality for PSVR in general is better than I expected it to be and worse than any of us are used to seeing in modern video games. Like the Wii or Wii U, it works best when the game in question has great art direction (Wayward Sky) or is hyper stylish (Rez, Bound) rather than going for true realism (London Heist, RE7) but I've been able to enjoy all of it regardless. It feels like playing an HD game on an SD TV if the SDTV was the size of an IMAX screen that wrapped all around you. This is gen 1 tech and it will get better, but don't expect Uncharted 4 graphics on this version of PSVR any time soon, if ever.

- Cinema Mode has similar image quality but it feels like having a movie theater sized TV in your apartment. I watched a South Park episode on Hulu last night using PSVR and the PSVR Hulu app's different "theme" settings. In one of them, the giant screen was on a beach and I was on a beach chair watching a gigantic South Park episode. In another, I was in a movie theater. Pretty cool stuff. Nothing mindblowing but I like where this is going. If I can watch Star Wars on a projection screen in Luke's House on Tatooine or Empire in the Millenium Falcon in a few years, I'll be really fucking happy. Having custom PSVR theater themes for new movie releases could be awesome. I hope studios are working on that.

- I'd be disingenuous to ignore my fears and worries about the social and anti-social ramifications that something like PSVR could have. Wearing a PSVR with the included surround sound headphones is like being in a deprivation tank. I lost track of time and was almost late for work yesterday morning because I didn't realize how long I was in there. The night before my wife fell asleep next to me while I was playing PSVR and 20 minutes later I reached over to feel if she was still there and she wasn't, but I just assumed she was fine somewhere without taking off the headset. That's... a really fucking weird human response to have? Respect your time inside a VR headset and don't lose track of the world around you. Life is beautiful and the world and the people in it are wonderful and awesome so make sure you don't lose track of that. This is ultimately a really cool toy that lets you visit distant worlds in your eyes and mind, but don't forget to come back home at the end of your trip.

So there it is. Plenty more to talk about and I'll be speaking in great lengths on Beyond and other IGN shows for months, if not years to come about my thoughts on PlayStation's bold new peripheral and direction, so thanks for reading and listening. This is a really cool time to be alive, even if this is just the first step in this potential new way to interact with video games.

Thanks for reading all this and please be sure to let me know how your first few days with PSVR have been. I'm happy to answer any questions or concerns as well.

Let's talk PSVR! Beyond!

I really want to try it!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Agree with the vast majority of what Brian's said there, and certainly the overall tone of excitement and optimism is where I am at right now.

He's certainly got a good point about the launch line-up. It might not have any '10s' or even many '9s' right now, but there's certainly a big pile of pretty compelling games and experiences to get stuck into. There's already far more I want to play in just the initial launch line-up than I have the time or money for right now, and it looks like the second wave of titles is shaping up well. Whether that sustains long terms is of course a big question mark, but props to Sony for pulling together what is one of gaming's more impressive launches certainly in my experience.

[Stanshall]

I'd agree with all that, pretty much to the letter, except for the bit about no empathy for the real world or something. I'm like that when I'm playing anything, or engrossed in anything, never mind VR. If anything, being conscious of wearing a headset is kind of grounding, feels more like an amusement arcade thing than something you will lose yourself in, like Bloodborne or Skyrim or Witcher. Anyway...

Rez Infinite VR is pretty much exactly what you'd imagine Rez would be like in VR, which is great. Area 5 (which I never actually reached way back when!) looks and feels absolutely wonderful. I also think the music is amazing, really uplifting and warm with the samples of California Soul, and the 'mind killer' sample (OK, maybe a bit less uplifting and warm). Area X reminds me of being inside Fantavision (if you ever played that on PS3 - or was it PS2?), which is really pretty. It basically also says to me that devs are only just testing the waters to get the hang of this, and with far far more consumer VR feedback and testing now available than ever in the history of the tech, almost overnight, they should be able to produce some classics on the system.

[ratsoalbion]

VR aside, I am genuinely gobsmacked by the lack of any leaderboards in Rez Infinite.

The $10 XBLA version has these and even the DC and PS2 versions had local high score tables.

Only hope that they can be patched in. It is in essence a score attack game.

[Alex79]

Do we know if the Skyrim re-release will support VR? I can imagine getting totally lost in that world.

[Stanshall]

That'd be the dream game for me but there's no chance. When they bring out the PSVR2 maybe. Something like NMS could be doable, in terms of the graphical style, you'd lose very little, but I expect the PS4 would develop an ulcer in about three seconds.

With Rez and leaderboards, it's pretty odd. I agree. Surely they could patch it in without too much trouble? Might be worth reaching out on Twitter or wherever.

[Alex79]

GAH! Promised my eldest we could finally have a play with the Playroom on PS4. It's difficult to get time to do it what with babies and something always going on, but we had time this afternoon to set up the camera and have a go. Plugged the camera in, downloaded the game - oh. You can't use the PS3 camera. Great.

FFS.

[Suits]

I really want to try this PSVR.

I have absolutely no interest in getting one but I'm certainly excited to try it out.

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Wasn't sure where to stick this post, here or 'Whatcha Been Playing', but given all the VR chat I'll go for here!

I had my first session with RIGS last night, playing for just over an hour. So in contrast to everything else I've tried so far, this is very much a full fat video game in the classic sense.

It's an arena based first person mech shooter with a full feature set that you'd expect from a traditional game of this type: Single player career mode, online career mode, different types of mechs (standard, heavy, fast etc), multiple arenas, and so on. It's also the first VR game I've played where you have total freedom of movement and 100% control. Move with the left thumbstick, control your direction and aim with head tracking (takes a while to get used to but it's incredibly liberating when you do!). You have cannons on each arm controlled by the triggers, a melee attack, you can dodge left and right, jump, double jump......it's a proper video game!

I've really enjoyed my time with it so far. The tutorial is pretty long and very thorough, introducing mechanics slowly and methodically. This is essential as while in essence there isn't anything here you wouldn't expect to find in a game of this type, they really are teaching you an entirely new way to play and particularly with the movement aspects it takes a while to get your head around. I haven't had any of the nausea that some people seem prone to with games of this type, but I can easily see how you could fall victim to it as you dash and leap around the arenas at high speed, and sometimes at great heights. The whole experience is very fluid, the visuals are really impressive indeed and the level of polish overall makes this feel very much like a big AAA release.

While I didn't get any specific nausea, I certainly felt a little fatigued after a solid hour plus of play. This is intense stuff and it may not be for everyone, but I'm loving it so far, and I have to hand to Guerrilla Cambridge and Sony for showing us right at launch how a fully fleshed out game such as RIGS can work so well in VR.

[Stanshall]

I'd back that up about RIGS, though only played the demo. Unfortunately for me, it made me feel pretty grim, especially double jumping off a high ledge and falling to the ground. Absolutely awful feeling. I'm hoping I'll get my VR legs and will give it another go.

Here's one thing though, I have definitely felt a bit weird over the last couple of days, bit of motion sickness lying in bed last night and that strange derealisation, like a panic attack, but milder. I hadn't played for about six hours prior to this. It was enough for me to conclude last night that I'd return this. I feel OK this morning though and having read up, it's pretty common, and disappears after a week or so...but it does concern me a little bit.

Given that kids under 12 aren't supposed to use it because it can basically rewire their visual-spatial processing, but it's deemed OK for adults with moderate use, I do wonder what the longer term effects of this may be. Not wanting to be dramatic but it's quite unpleasant to have a panic attack from playing a game hours earlier. I haven't had one in a number of years before that, and when I did it was due to some genuine ill health worth panicking about! Anyone else felt a bit weird after this?

I can see everyone desperately rushing to buy this now!

[Stanshall]

Hmm, I'm unfortunately returning this tomorrow for a refund. I felt OK this morning after a pretty rough evening described above but despite being very careful with it today, only playing low intensity stuff with a static camera for short five or ten minute bursts and then good breaks, I've been left feeling very jittery and anxious. It's not even a motion sickness feeling (though I suspect that's what it is at heart), it's a kind of visual wooziness and bit of dizziness, on top of a generalised anxious sweaty feeling. It's fucking horrible, to be honest with you. I've asked around and a number of people have said yes, they've had the dissociation and some mild anxiety which has subsided in the end but I'm not ready to invite this feeling into my life, for what's supposed to be fun, for this amount of money.

I'm definitely glad I've tried it, and I could justify the purchase if it had no negative effects, despite certain compromises and quirks, but I've no interest in an endurance test or panic attack for my troubles. Again, I'm not criticising the kit, just noting that I'm clearly very sensitive to it and it's sadly not for me. I'll give it another good in a year or so no doubt!

[Sinclair Gregstrum]

Really sorry to hear VR's not worked out for you Stanshall. Such a shame, but if you're experiencing those after effects then you're definitely doing the right thing giving it a miss for now.

There's definitely a real mix out there with how people react to it, ranging from more or less completely fine (me, thankfully!), to temporary tummy wobbles as you acclimatise to some games, to obviously the worst possible reactions such as yours which I'm guessing must be pretty rare otherwise I think we'd be hearing about it in a big way.

It's absolutely an experience that won't suit some people as everyone has different tolerances for things whether it's vertigo, claustrophobia, agoraphobia, motion sickness and so on, and the brain-tricking that VR does to make you feel like you're part of these worlds in spite of yourself is going to draw adverse reactions from some.

If people are jumping in, which as someone feeling no ill-effects I'd still wholeheartedly encourage people to do, it's just advisable to ease yourself into it and see how you get on. I also wouldn't try too many different games and experiences right off the bat, as they'll be stimulating you in different ways which I'm sure can't help matters for those more sensitive folk. I've only played a couple of demos, Batman and RIGS across a few relatively short play sessions (a couple of 1 hours and a 2 hour) so haven't been bombarded as those who are flying into 10-plus different demos have.

It will certainly be interesting to see how things progress and the techniques developers use to reduce the chances of any unsettling effects. In RIGS, when you get destroyed your pilot ejects from the mech and is fired really high into the air where you then select a respawn point, but you can choose to have that ejection sequence masked and then pick a respawn point from a map, so it's definitely something already being considered carefully.

[ThirdDrawing]

I'm curious about VR but I'm really waiting to see if it's going to be supported long term.

I also am waiting to see if there's going to be a 2.0 upgraded "pro" version released sometime in the next 1-2 years.

I have a sneaking suspicion it will be and I'll wait for that to see if I really want to get it.

[Stanshall]

Thanks for the kind words, Sinclair. I am disappointed but I've also got to take some responsibility, or at least, I'll learn for next time. Even if you're not feeling motion sickness as you may know it, any odd or adverse reactions mean stop, take it off and give it a rest. I had a blast, though, for the most part.

I would say that it's 'one' future of entertainment rather than 'the' future. I felt that all the cables and the technical compromises really felt like being on the verge of something that even Sony aren't anywhere near figuring out yet, which was exciting in its novel crapness. It was like the first time you used a Lightgun on the NES. It worked OK, the game was a bit pants and very limited, and it was never going to replace Super Mario Bros, but it was something truly different. I definitely think I'll look back in even five years and chuckle wistfully at this tech and the generosity we've shown towards this low-res porthole effect.

I've almost no doubt that they'll bring out a revised improvement in a couple of years, once the cost of higher res screens and 4K hardware drops. I suspect they'll also revise the Move controllers, rename and bundle them. I saw enough from this, with Allumette, to see where the movie and game industry could really cross over in a fascinating and novel way. From playing Super Stardust Ultra and the Robot Rescue platformer, I can see how the addition of VR to more traditional genres gives them a real lift. There were enough cute secrets and never-before-seen ideas in Robot Rescue to make me feel it could have been a Nintendo game. It offered more eye-opening surprises in ten minutes than any Mario game since Galaxy 2. I know that's a big call but it did certain stuff I've not seen before in a game, incorporating both motion controls and real life player perspective and position to reveal more about the game world.

To take some inspiration from the Wii version here, imagine playing PES, but being able to cast your eye over the whole pitch by simply looking around. It would completely do away with the map and all that stuff. Imagine using the Move controllers to direct players on the fly to make precise runs and slide inch perfect passes. It would revolutionise the genre overnight and would pretty much neuter many of the AI exploits that players fall back on. If you've got instant control over your back four or front two at any moment, it tears up the established skill set. And as for driving games, the benefits are self-evident.

Hmm, I suppose my conclusion is that pretty much any genre could have some gameplay benefits from VR, but I still don't think it will be the only way we play, because it's just quite full on and isolating. I like playing a game while my wife reads her book or while the cat sits on my lap or with a mate, taking turns. I wouldn't be completely comfortable playing VR with anyone else in the house, to be honest. By the time of the PS5 though, I think it'll be tremendous, no matter what.

Sorry these thoughts are not particularly structured, just a number of different things I've been thinking.

[ThirdDrawing]

So, an Amnesia collection was just announced for PS4

https://twitter.com/playstation/status/ ... 8239555585

Edit - Digital only? BAH.

[Ghost World]

Well I got my first taste of PSVR today with a couple of hours spent playing with my friend Rich over at the True Achievements office and well it was ....... darn impressive!

I've messed around with Oculus Rift a few times at different trade shows and always felt it was just a screen put very close to my eyes and never felt immersed at all, but finally after all these years I get the hype. It was like someone put me inside the TV, which as you might imagine is pretty surreal, and said there you go control the action.

One of my main concerns was what I had heard about nausea but thankfully none of the games affected me that way and I would even say I really liked the feeling of dropping from great heights in Rigs.

I have a few concerns that most of the games feel like tech demos and I fear, like the Kinect before it, it's catalog will be full of small ideas that suit the tech but not much of substance. The controls seem super flaky at present which really can frustrate and the low resolution of the graphics can make some games feel oddly dated, like Drive Club.

One thing I wasn't prepared for was the moment that you take the headset off and find yourself out of the closed VR environment and back into the real world with it's super bright lights and HD graphics. Man it's disorientating!