Sony have just announced the release date and price for PlayStation and it’s out October and costs £349. “We’re proud of the price point,” said Andrew House during the presentation, making PlayStation VR half the price of the HTC Vive and $200 less than the Oculus Rift.
There is also an updated Media player app so you can view VR photos, and a new cinematic mode that will let you play normal PlayStation 4 games on a massive virtual screen in front of your eyes, and you can view films in that mode as well.
The device has a 5.7-inch OLED screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution, and nine LEDs which are used by the PlayStation camera to track your movement. It has a 120hz refresh rate, a 100 degree field of view, 3D audio, and latency of less than 18ms.
Both the Dualshock and Move controllers can be used in conjunction with PlayStation VR, but you will need to buy a Move (or dig it out from the back of the cupboard) as the controller does not come as part of PSVR. Sony’s official website is now live and does remind you that you will need a PlayStation Camera as well, so add an extra £40 on to the price if you don’t have one.
There will be fifty games available between launch in October and the end of the year, and The Playroom VR will be free to all those who purchase the headset. Sony have also revealed 230 developers or working on games including Avalanche, Ubisoft, Housemarque, Futurlab, Techland, Ninja Theory, Sumo Digital, 2k, Warner Bros, Oddworld, Capcom, Sega, Bossa, Codemasters, Bandai Namco, EA, and Ninja Theory. And Koei Tecmo, Atlus, Square Enix, Devolver Digital, Harmonix, 505 Games, Rebellion, nDreams, LLamasoft, Double Fine, D3, Polytron, Grasshopper Manufacture, Konami, Marevlous, Level 5, Just Add Water, and Milestone. In other words, pretty much everyone you can think of bar Activision.
PlayStation are also partnering with EA and Lucasfilm to make a Star Wars Battlefront VR experience, details of which will be revealed at a later date. Apart from that they did not mention any specific games so I guess the bets are still on for No Man’s Sky VR.
UPDATE: Amazon preorders start at 11am tomorrow, GAME already have their page up.
camdaz
So they’ve missed the 1st/2nd quarter spot then, shame.
lilisdad
Bang on target for the holiday season in US and Christmas for the UK and Europe. Nailed on win for Sony methinks!
ron_mcphatty
Exciting news, just in time for Christmas! £349 is expensive but way more affordable than the other VR hats, hopefully that includes a game or two. Hopefully someone I know can splash out on one so I can have a go.
Avenger
That pretty much sums up the price for me too. Expensive, but more competitive than other headsets. I don’t think I’ll be getting one anytime soon though. I’ll wait to see of it sticks around.
So much for some sort of collaborative realease with no mans sky, but I hope they add VR to the game eventually.
ron_mcphatty
Now TC has added some more info in surprised that the VR hat doesn’t come with a PS camera. Being a few years old I’d’ve Sony could afford to chuck one in, if nothing else to fend off complaints about the extra cost.
ron_mcphatty
STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT VR!!!????!!!! I’ve changed my mind, I don’t need to eat for the rest of the year, I’m preordering!
JustTaylorNow
What I don’t fully understand is the VR a accessory for PS4 or it is its own console but works with PS4?
350 is a bit too steep tbh, £299 maybe, I mean a lot of people got f’d up with the vita, no one is going to let the vita go in this situation, I was a day one buyer & to this day still a fan but with VR I can see a lot of people holding of the buy which then will see the VR become absolute
Tuffcub
No you need a PS4. And a PS Camera.
Erroneus
It’s just not possible to deliver a VR experience at that price point, this is not chap tech.
DividSmythe
£349 that sounds quite interesting. I wouldn’t of bought Ps VR before October anyway because it would be to warm to wear it before then I should imagine. I’ll wait for a while before I make my mind up but I’ll probably add it to my preorders.
DividSmythe
I know it maybe a placeholder but shopto are saying it releases on October 7th. On my preorder it says official date too http://www.shopto.net/video-games/ps4/PS4AC240-playstation-vr
gazzagb
I guess the good thing is that by the time we get to October, we will have been able to see the other launches and gauge how well VR is doing as a whole.
And the price is a bit more pleasing too, it seems that Sony have finally clicked after the PS4 launch price and not the PS3 launch price!
gazzagb
Also, Euro imports at €399 make it even more impressive at about £315! (depending on taxes + delivery)
camdaz
Us works out as £281.96, but like you say, taxes etc.
Stefan L
Add VAT to £282 and its £338, then round to up to the nearest 50 so it’s a memorable price point and to cater to any variance in the exchange rate so that Sony don’t lose money.
camdaz
Plus the US price doesn’t include tax as it’s added at point of sale. If I remember right it’s not the same rate in each state.
TSBonyman
€399 in Euroland. Now i just need a demo, some reviews, side-by-side comparisons with the other VR platforms, and then wait a bit to guage early adopter feedback. And then, maybe.
wonkey-willy
just doing the maths!
ps4 £299@
ps4 camera £39.99
vr unit £349
£687.99
screw that! just shy of £700 for virtual reality?the games dont even look that good(yet)
camdaz
If you do the maths for Oculus or HTC Vive, a pretty good pc & headset, the PS4 & PSVR looks pretty good value.
Tuffcub
£500 for Ocuclous plus £800 for PC to run it on.
Also you are missing the point, 36 million people already have the PS4 so don’t need to buy that bit :)
camdaz
That’s one of the reasons I’m going for a PSVR, my pc doesn’t meet the specs but it’s not that bad to merit upgrading it. And I ‘ve already got a PS4 and camera.
Avenger
I don’t think it has anything to do with Oculus or Vive, simply that the cheapest edition of VR on the market is nearly £700 (as a whole package). Hardly cheap.
It’s fair to say I’m getting a little tired of all the comparisons to Oculus and Vive. Neither of those sets are unreasonable in price for what you’re getting. They require a ‘decent’ PC to run them, but again, not unreasonable given they are made for PC and the headsets run very high specs.
Tuffcub
No on is denying that Oculus has better specs, but in the end in comes down to money, a lot of PCs won’t run Oculus – I’ve just checked mine which was a top of the range gaming PC (£1200) a few years ago and it’s not up to scratch so would need upgrading.
MrYd
So, do you really need a beard to use it? All the pictures and videos of people using it that popped up this evening have men with beards. And a lady. But she doesn’t have a beard. They rarely do, as far as I can tell. I’m not an expert though.
I only ask because I shaved mine off last week. Do I need to grow it again?
Also, £350?? More than a PS4? While the others cost more, but cost less than the PC you need to use them.
And what’s with all the wires? By the time you’ve worked out where they all go and plugged everything in, the price is going to have dropped to £299. Or less.
Still not seeing anything to convince me it’s worth the money.
Tuffcub
Added a new video that shows no beards using the headset.
zakwhorules
The beard is required for Playstation VR usage for males. The Playstation camera has difficulties detecting the headset when combined with male facial features, an issue that does not occur with females.
Sony will be announcing Playstaion Beard at E3 as part of their Smart wearables range. At launch it will be available in Neon Orange, Aqua Blue, Red and Glacier White, with Gold and Silver coming at a later date
Tuffcub
You win.
JR.
Maybe they were all clean shaven to begin with but like you said, by the time they figured out how to set it up, they had grown a beard.
Also I think maybe they’re trying to appeal to the older gamer who possibly have jobs and can afford to buy into VR.
Rather than a bunch of kids who’s parents will probably refuse at this price.
94jdh
I thought it only had 1 screen not two?
94jdh
Ugh, you’be updated the article whilst posting ! I look daft now.
Tuffcub
Yes sorry, my bad, was writing this and updating it constantly so made a teeny cock up.
94jdh
No problem, thought for a minute we were getting a last minute upgrade like the ram in PS4
tactical20
It’s not wireless?
Tuffcub
Nope, only the Sulon Q for PC headset is wireless, all the others – PSVR, Oculus etc are wired. PSVR is to used sitting down, so it’s not like your going to be tripping over wires walking about.
JR.
Well there goes my VR/Treadmill dream.