PSVR - Recommended or not?

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

I think Broodblik is talking about the low resolution of the screen inside the headset itself

[TordelBack]

Dagnabbit I will get this straight in my head. Here's what Broodblikbsaid:

The PSVR resolution is limited to 1920 x 1080. So if resolution is important and you have a 4K screen then your games will be down scaled

[emphasis mine]

But you'll never play VR games on your 4K screen, only on the PSVR headset. So they won't be down scaled. They'll be at the intended resolution for the headset hardware, however poor that is. These are different things you can do wiry thr PS4 - play games on a screen, or VR games on a headset. Right? Right? Awwwgh my brain is imploding.

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

Yep you're right about that, I think you can have the PSVR simultaneously output to the headset and TV, so it will be upscaled from <= 1080p on a 4k TV for any audience watching that, but that's not affecting the actual user. 

[The Enigmatic Dr X]

I am so torn. I wants it, but I thinks I might just have FOMO. And I don't want to spunk £180 on a dust gathering lump. (I have comics in my life, and they perform that function quite nicely thank you very much).

But there's some shooty London game out that I fancy, and I really want to pretend I am in the cockpit of a spaceship - I have waited 44 years for that and, godammit, I want to fly an X-Wing.

[GrudgeJohnDeed]

You could always sell it on if it doesnt work out! You'd get most of your money back I'm sure and you'll have been an X-wing pilot

One cool thing to remember also is that PS5 will support PSVR according to Sony. There'll probably be a new headset, but games on original PSVR headsets should be looking better than ever next gen.

[pauljholden]

Resolution is important in VR because you're looking through a lens that magnifies the screen which is right at your eyes, and so, even with 2k/4k screens you can often get a 'screen door' effect, in other words you can see the pixels - and worse you can see the tiny gaps between the pixels - those black areas look like a screen door over the screen. Higher density screens make those gaps disappear (and we're really talking 8k for this)

I get all that, and I've experienced it too (it was definitely noticeable, but to someone whose gaming heyday was facilitated by a 13" B&W portable CRT TV, it was fine), but I'm obviously being characteristically dense and missing something here: why would having a PS4 linked up to a 4K (or 8K) TV have anything to do with the resolution of a VR headset?  Surely it has the titchy (relatively!) Low Res screens it has, and that's that. There's no functional relationship, surely?

In my head I'm hearing "I drive a fast car, and I don't recommend getting a bicycle because it's slower". Aren't they doing two separate things, VR and large flat screen gaming? You're trading resolution for the ability to crane your neck in painful directions while screaming "jayzuzfukkkincryst they're-all-over-me!" while your children stare on aghast. Whether you also own, or do not own, a high-res TV for other gaming seems irrelevant. To me.

But as I say, I get the feeling something is sailing over my head waving as it goes by.  Is this what it is to be old?

Sorry, assumed we were all on the same page, the resolution of the PSVR is the in-head-set resolutio is what I was talking about.

[shaolin_monkey]

I absolutely love my PSVR. I suffer from motion sickness quite a bit in cars, so a couple of the games did take a bit of getting used to. However, I found playing it on a full stomach really helped with that.

Astrobot: Rescue Mission is an absolute revelation in terms of the full 360 degree gaming experience. So inventive, like Marioland on acid with cute robots and sub games and the like. Best of all, that title gives me no motion sickness whatsoever!

Also, if you have Star Wars Battlefront already, you get a free brand new level designed for VR. For my Star Wars buddies this game was absolutely revalatory, and pushed one of them to get the VR headset the very next day.

Skyrim is fab in VR, but it does suffer two things - you get a bit of motion sickness until you get used to it, and also they had to drop the resolution somewhat to get it to run. That’s not surprising when the CPU is essentially drawing two different perspectives (one for each eye) on what is already a resource hog of a game. It’s bloody brilliant when you get past that though!

I also invested in a couple of Move controllers too, just so I could play Beat Sabre. That’s currently the closest you’re going to get to wielding two lightsabers and feeling like a total Jedi in a music rhythm game where you chop at blocks coming at you. Sounds a bit shit, but is amazing fun, hugely addictive, and gives you a great workout!


I personally went for this huge bundle on Argos for £299, which included 5 downloadable games (2mentioned above), as well as all the other kit you need to get started. The games alone are worth about £150+ when bought on their own, so a pretty good deal if you ask me.

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/9219218


Anyway, long story short, amazing gaming experience, and a must-buy in my opinion.

[HdE]

last year, I was given the loan of a PSVR headset and The Persistence and the demo disc for what was supposed to be a week. I lasted two days with it. Turns out I'm one of the tiny percentage of people who absolutely cannot, under any circumstances, on pain of very prolonged discomfort use VR.

A friend very kindly allowed me to use his headset to see if I could get on with it and add PSVR content to my YouTube channel. After minimal use on the first day, I felt quite unwell. After a similar amount of use on teh second, I felt worse, had to lay down for the rest of the evening, and was fighting the urge to be violently sick for a good week after that.

In a way, I'm not too disappointed about my experiencem though, because - and I cannot stress this enough - I really think PSVR is massively over-rated. The technology felt to me like it was already outdated, with the fuzzy, low resolution graphics and cables permanently attached. Having to provide your own decent headphones was kind of aggravating as well.

The kicker for me, though, is that I just can't imagine spending much time playing games on PSVR even if it DIDN'T make me feel like vomming spectacularly. The Persistence - which I'd been told was a killer app for PSVR - was utterly woeful. Uncomfortable to play, extremely fuzzy visuals, and far too prone to dumping me in a position where I'd be killed by something I couldn't even see. Such a shame, as it was really looking like the kind of thing I'd enjoy. Looking over write-ups for other popular PSVR games, a lot of them sound like glorified tech demos.

Alas, I'll never do VR again.

[shaolin_monkey]

No Mans Sky has apparently had a shedload of updates since first release, making it playable and fun apparently.

However, I just found out it is getting full PSVR support in the HUGE update out on the 14th!!

Reinstalling now!!

[repoman]

If you've never dabbled in VR before then this is how it goes.

Month 1:  OH MY GOD IT'S LIKE I'M IN THE GAME.

Month 6:  why are all these games turret shooters and horror games.

Month 12:  I really should turn on my PSVR.

That said, there are some really good experiences.  No one talks about it but Rez Infinite is the best thing on there and is a legit 10/10 game for me. 

You'll need the Move controllers but the Aim gun is entirely optional (although it turns Arizona Sunshine from like a 4 to a 7).

I do kind of recommend PSVR but a couple of years in, I rarely use it.