Sony have ended months of speculation and clarified exactly what the little black box – which its attached to PlayStation VR – does. Was an extra processor? An extra graphics chip, or some other important dohicky? The truth is rather more dull.
“That little box? It’s not like doing all the graphics rendering for VR,” explains Sony Computer Entertainment’s Richard Marks. “That’s not what it does. It’s just a little breakout box. But, because we want the best possible image to be in the headset, all that pre-computation of making everything in the right warped way for the optics of the headset is all done on the PlayStation and that’s shipped over to the headset. So the PlayStation does all that heavy work, gets it all ready for the headset.”
In laymans terms, the box unwarps the PlayStation VR feed so you can watch it on a normal TV screen. It also does some of the 3D audio processing for the headset.
Whilst the news about the box is not very exciting it is important, if it was packed full of extra processors and graphics chips it would have pushed the cost of PlayStation VR through the roof. It’s assumed that Sony will unveil the price and release date at their event on March 15th, so not long to wait.
Source: MRI Tricks
gazzagb
I think I already know the answer to my own question, but with all these different VR headsets, will each of them only be able to work with games made specifically for them? Xbox One is going to support Oculus, and PS4 will obviously be PSVR. But how easy will it be for developers to make their games compatible with both headsets? Because I think that’s going to be a major thing with getting Devs to support it.
Tuffcub
Xbox One doesn’t natively support Oculus – you can’t plug one in. You can stream an Xbox One game to your PC and then in to Oculus, but it’s just going to be like playing with big telly in front of you – no headtracking or anything, it wont make Fallout 4 VR, just big.
Most games for VR are being made on Unreal Engine 4 – that automically supports Oculus, Vive, PSVR etc so any game made on that could come to any of the VR units.
“You’ll be able to [stream Xbox One games] to the Rift on a projection screen on the moon,” was what MS said. It’s just a big screen. MS are pinning their hopes on Hololens, but that wont be out for yonks.
gazzagb
Oh, I’ve got the wrong end of the stick then regarding Xbox VR.
Good to hear about the Unreal support though I was thinking that each game would need to be separately optimised for each headset to get it to work.
Kris Lipscombe
There’s also incredibly easy to use support for VR in Unity, which is basically two of the major development engines accounted for.
MrYd
Easy support in Unreal Engine and Unity might be a good thing or a potentially horrible idea.
If too many people decide “my engine of choice does it, so why not?” and there’s a whole bunch of games with VR support that really shouldn’t have it? It’s going to struggle as it is with the silly prices, but add a bunch of crap games…
Of course, that could be a good thing and help end this whole VR nonsense quicker ;)
Tuffcub
“there’s a whole bunch of games with VR support that really shouldn’t have it” – if only there was a website that would tell you which games are good and which are rubbish by means of some text, perhaps in the form of a “review”.
zb100
@MrYd – totally hearing you on this however Unity is also incredibly exciting as it’s just saved my bacon & enhanced the experience for an exhibition I’m working on. Nonsense it may be, but incredibly creative too! Originally a 2 minute VR set piece in Cinema 4D, the render time was prohibitive (480+ hours) so now the piece has turned into a fully immersive & audio reactive piece playing real-time via Unity, which is extremely exciting and also allows us to make changes up to and past the deadline.
Not sure if I’m allowed to post links here so if not, please can one of the moderators make the necessary changes by deleting this paragraph onwards & please don’t hold it against me. Thank you!
Exhibition, in Edinburgh from this Friday evening onward:
http://www.paradigmelectronicarts.co.uk/
The piece I’m working on with Chris:
http://www.paradigmelectronicarts.co.uk/exhibitors/chris-ward-rhuari-blair-visualiseroom
SamBeThyName
@MrYd – “whole VR nonsense” Still haven’t tried it have you? hehehe – in three months – one serving of humble pie hat to table 9 please!
Forrest_01
@SamBeThyName – It’s not really humble pie required here – He thinks it’s nonsense (as do I for that fact) & that won’t change regardless of whether it ends up being successful or not. Success won’t change your opinion on whether you personally feel it’s worthwhile. It’s still gonna be nonsense to us (well me at least, seeing as I can only really speak for myself!).
For me, it’s the same as Playstation eye & same as Move (for a couple of examples off the top of my head). Gimmicky stuff I don’t really have time for.
SamBeThyName
@ Forrest_01 – I have yet to meet someone who has tried current VR (not including cardboard or the old oculus) that doesn’t think its amazing. It’s not like move or eye, its more like when games went from 2D platformers to 3D – as in Tomb Raider, Mario 64 and GTA 3. I’m just poking fun at peeps that are determined its nonsense but I reckon will be blown away ;)
beeje13
Yeah it’s not that hard to develop for the different VR platforms thankfully.
Watch out for exclusive deals and the like though.E.G. I found it strange Adr1ft was delayed from last September to the Oculus Rift launch date and all other previously announced platforms ‘will come later’.
Amphlett
I have a large box of dust stored in the loft which I will apply to my headset 3 months after purchase.
Where did my large box of dust come from? I vacuumed most of it off my old PlayStation Eye cameras (remember them?!) and Move controllers.
Note my cynicism after numerous PlayStation peripherals have succumbed to the lack of Sony support. I will not be buying one of these headsets until at least 12 months after initial release and proof of a good line-up of games for at least the next 24 months.
Starman
Add PSTV to that list. They’re ending production of it in Japan.
JR.
Wonder book…
Avenger
… Vita
TSBonyman
Your cynicism is mirrored by my own dusty peripheral cupboard.
However, i think PSVR has a better chance of sticking around for a bit longer, due to the fact that it’s not going to be the sole player this time so the wider industry interest in VR will help keep it vital in terms of support… assuming it sells well enough in the first place. PSVR price is unknown yet, but it’s looking like you’ll be able to pick up a PS4/PSVR combo for somewhere between the cost of buying just a Rift or just a Vive headset, and with favourable comparisons to the other, more expensive headsets, that could make it an attractive VR entry point beyond even the current PS4 demograph.
Ultimately for me, it’ll come down to comfort of use and the type of experiences being offered. I’ll be more interested in the uniquely VR experiences rather than playing versions of my favourite games in VR. And there will need to be enough of those experiences available when i purchase it, so i too will probably wait a while and see how things unfold.
zb100
The crunching point will be the price.
300 – 400 GBP will hopefully shift.
Any higher & it won’t fly.
TSBonyman
Agreed, price is a definite factor in the uptake but i expect it to be in that £300 to £400 bracket.
zb100
Fingers crossed! If not, I’ll be sticking to Google Cardboard to match my moth-filled wallet.
mclarenrob2
Old news come on TSA!
camdaz
Yeah, I read about what the box does last week, but TSA is normally quick off the mark with news etc so the odd one that’s a bit late can be forgiven.
Tuffcub
There’s just me on the news desk at the moment as Aran is living it up in India for a month, apologies if I’ve missed anything or it’s a bit late.
Starman
Random totally off topic question, does anyone still play killzone mercenary multiplayer?
MuggleMind
When I get the chance, I still play it. The problem is (while others may not agree here), my Vita games catalogue is far too big for the small amount of time I can play. And having recently got Earth Defence Force 2 I am spending all the time I have playing that. I haven’t even started on multiplayer on it yet either.
Starman
I’ll keep a look out for it cheap then. I’ve got a vita on the way from ebay and always enjoyed the killzone multiplayer. I was actually good at it!
Avenger
I don’t play it anymore as I sold the Vita a while back, but Killzone Mercs was one of the best multiplayer shooters I’ve had the pleasure to play. Recommend it 10/10 :)
JustTaylorNow
I can already see it, VR is going to be another gimmick
leeroye
Thats what im thinking to. No way am i dropping a chunk of change on something sony could potentially drop in 12 months time. Got stung with a VITA and the promise of AAA titles, same with move. Never again. Ill let others beta test this stuff from now on.