Sometimes a rumour seems to appear from all sides at once. Breaking to the surface and barely disappearing before it breaks again, like bubbles in boiling water. It becomes so ubiquitous that it is almost accepted knowledge among those who see the bubbles burst. We forget that it’s not actually real yet.
So it is with Sony and VR gaming hardware. It’s generally accepted, although not confirmed, that Sony is working on getting some kind of VR headset – probably for the PlayStation 4. There have been regular suggestions of Oculus Rift support, not least because of Shuhei Yoshida’s ambiguous tweet almost exactly a year ago:
I say Oculus, you say _ _ _ _?
— Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) January 24, 2013
And now there’s a blog post, ostensibly from an indie developer who has been at Steam’s Dev Days, exploring their new enthusiasm for VR tech and talking to developers about the VR tech they’re working with.
“The devs I spoke to talked about the actual PlayStation vr headset.They described super stardust vr to me and explicitly talked about how it was different than the hmz line.”
Super Stardust seems a fairly obvious candidate for testing VR tech. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous but it was the first PlayStation game to have trophies and the first to go 3D. Being the first with a VR mode would be a nice little continuance of that mini-tradition.
The short blog post goes on to say that Sony has been working on the tech for a long time and are interested in seeing the whole system become a success, rather than simply pushing their own hardware.
It’s not a firm indication. It’s not confirmation. But it’s another interesting bubble breaking to the surface and hopefully that means it won’t be too long before the pot boils over and Sony let’s us all see what we’ve been assuming for so long. VR is an exciting technology that seems to be really capturing the imagination of developers this time around, it’ll be great to see the PlayStation-themed take on it.
Source: Twitter, TheSonicReblog
gazzagb
I really want to know if it’s going to be a proprietary VR headset, or an external one like Oculus that I’ll be able to use with other stuff.
Also, I want to know how it will fit with people like me who wear glasses, the whole headset looks fairly bulky, so hopefully they can slim down the consumer version.
Gaztee
That headset is not bulky! The Atari Jaguar VR headset, now THAT is bulky!
beeje13
I hope they go with Oculus then there won’t be a problem of getting developers on board as its already quite well supported and backed. However, if sony clearly have superior tech (and possibly cheaper with their manufacturing knowledge) then you can’t blame them for pushing their own.
camdaz
I wouldn’t bank on it being cheaper, the oculus is aiming for a retail price of a few hundred quid while Sony’s latest 3D headset is over a grand.
gazzagb
Yeah, it wouldn’t surprise me if the headsets cost near enough the same price as a PS4 when they are released.
Cron_13
I just want GT7 with a VR headset!
RudeAwakening
After watching the youtube video, i am absolutely dying to try out mirrors edge with oculus!
colmshan1990
Wait…
How is a top down twin stick shooter an obvious candidate for VR?
Surely first person games are the obvious candidate?
KeRaSh
Yeah, they must have rewritten the game with a first person view in mind.
I’d say Killzone SF would be a great candidate for a VR mod.
MuggleMind
Gimme Demon Souls in 3D, and then I’ll be happy
NotSmartEnough
I think it’s really unlikely that Sony will use Oculus Rift tech: the OR guys have basically said that consoles aren’t powerful enough for what they’ve got in mind. To me, that says that OR will never be mass market, it’ll just be a PC hobbyist thing.
I’m relying on Sony using their hardware know-how to get decent VR out at a price that the market will tolerate.
double-o-dave
I would’ve thought a driving game would be a good candidate for a first virtual reality release. Maybe that’s why DriveClub’s delayed… But I doubt it!
Kennykazey
I really want to try Oculus so I can be convinced, because now I’m quite “meh” to the whole VR business.
TSBonyman
As much as i love Super Stardust, it’s not the type of game that would make me want to go out and buy a VR headset. First-person view and photo-realism, that’ll make me interested in VR.