PlayStation VR

O man where to begin with this bad girl... holy crap!... This is my first VR experience I have ever had and it was amazing! I was able to get this for the normal retail price here on amazon for $399.99 for what it said was a brand new unopened PS VR! I couldn't believe it at first but I just figured amazon got in a new shipment. When I got the headset, I could tell right away by the tape on the box that this had been opened already! My first reaction was nope send it back I don't pay for used items or if I do, for sure gunna get a discount! As I went on, I could see that the headset hadn't been used yet or if it was used, someone packaged it up to near perfect packaging. Anyway....... I'm still not too happy about this but this is not something you deduct a star on for the headset! Its not Sony's fault that amazon sold us a used VR! Some people still don't get that through their heads and rate the headset low. Lastly before I get onto the review of the headset.... The PS VR is awesome for its base $399.99 price tag, but I'm sorry to say it is not worth the $500+ price tags I'm seeing some 3rd party sellers sell these for on the market... that's just rediC..... so please just wait for new stock to be shipped in and you will be all good to go! The set up of the PS VR headset was very easy. I didn't even need to look at the instructions and I had it up and running in a good 5 minutes. First game I bought and played was Eagle Flight VR..... and holy crap.... that was a trip lol... It allows you to fly around PAris as an eagle with pretty smooth flight mechanics with no VR sickness at all. I must say it was a good first VR game I tried and I musta did free flight for a good 30 minutes before I was like omg what time is it? lol. I also just sat in the menu of this game for another 20 minutes bc your sitting up on top of a building like 100feet or more up and you actually feel like you are that high off the ground! I climb rocks of 600ft or more and it really felt like I was up on the cliffs edge! all using virtual reality tech it was crazy! After that I tried all the demos on the demo disk that came with the headset and they were sweet too. They showcased all cool VR demos they have and it also allowed you to see all the new "areas" that VR allows you to play in. It was amazing! I got freaked out by a lizard I won in the PS VR room lol... it jumps out at you when you open the bottle lol.. I musta jumped 3 feet and screamed! people in the house were like wtf?! I also played the RE7 demo and that was awesome too lol... got a lil motion sickness when you had to do the turn view but other then that it was awesome! PS4 Pro: I also want to put out there that I don't think you can have a successful VR experience with the PS VR if you are running the stock PS4 that has a GPU tflop of 1.84..... I'm sorry.... I don't know how Sony makes that GPU powerful enough to run efficient VR and to tell ya the truth I don't think it can. The PS4 Pros updgraded GPU with tflop processing power of 4.20 is needed for sure! The more powerful hardware in the Pro that allows "checkered board rendering" is also needed for sure! this processing technique helps assist the GPU in making high quality renders which is required for 4k resolution, HDR, and 120htz VR games that run at 60fps per eye......... so when people and Sony say u can get by with the stock ps4... yea sure u can... but good luck lol.... overtime as the games get better they will require more GPU processing power. When it is all said and done, the PS VR is an awesome piece of technology that has opened up my gaming eyes to a new world of gaming! Yes, this is tech a beta phase for VR, people who buy the headsets now are tech beta testers lol but that's fine with me I have to have the latest technology anyway. I hope we get a massive push in game development from Sony to continue the success of the PS VR. Like I said before, just wait for the price to go back to $399.99 before you get it! It is well worth it at that price but for $500.00 or more.... no it is not worth it! I have only had this for 3 days, but I will continue to update this as I play more VR games. I am happy with my purchase besides the fact it came in an opened box..... and I would recommend this to any gamer out there who needs to experience VR!!

I have been gaming off and on since the original Pong back in the 70's. So I have just a bit of experience. I have a 3D TV, and was one who actually liked some of the 3D Games, and move controllers. I had a big interest in VR, but didn't want to plunk down the cash for PC VR headsets. This just blows traditional 3D gaming out of the water. It was easy to hook up, I only wish the PS4 had a USB port in the back. The included instructions are easy to follow, so I was up and running in a few minutes. The PS4 will detect the headset and give instructions on how to adjust and put on your head. I wear corrective lenses just for reading, or seeing small things close up, and they worked good enough. A little bit of light came in through the sides, but not that distracting since I don't have extremely bright light in the man cave. It is a bummer it's not wireless, maybe next generation? But once I got the demo disc booted up and into the menu I was like blown away. This was 3D gaming! Your instinct is to reach out and try to touch the menu. The first demo I tried was Until Dawn: Rush of Blood - very cool demo, I won't describe the game too much, but it's basically like riding in a cart in a haunted house attraction at an amusement park, it's VERY convincing that you're on a cart, so much so my heart started to race like I was actually on a ride. The next thing I tried was the demo of VR Worlds, again the menu for the game itself was pretty cool, with a spinning globe, themed for each area, and you can interact with it using your PS4 controller. I tried the Ocean Descent demo, standing up, again blown away. So much so that I actually got on my computer and ordered the full version from Amazon since the disc is cheaper here with my Prime discount. The last PS VR demo I tried was the Invasion demo, a cute little demo, doubt I would pay for the game. I will say this game looked a little grainy. Perhaps due to the brighter environment you're in shows the resolution limitations. Finally I fired up Borderlands 2, since that's what my friend and I have been playing, the screen is a simulated 2D screen, not worth playing this way, since to see things like the map clearly you have to actually move your head to bring it into focus. It is seriously cool, I played in short sessions, giving my eyes a break, it will take a little bit to get used to. It did not make me feel motion sick, but your mind truly gets a sensation of moving. I truly hope version 2 in a few years has a higher resolution, and is wireless. I don't think I would want to game 100% of the time in a VR format, but for some wow factor this really has it for me.

Sony's VR headset, for what it was advertised, is actually fairly impressive. Are you getting the most amazing graphics, no not really, but all of the little details and specs that could have seriously detracted from the quality of the experience, such as the frame rate or the head tracking, ran smoothly and caused no ill effects for me. Below are some pros and cons for the headset as a whole. PROS: Price: compared to what competitors such as Oculus and the Vive go for, which start at $500 and $800 respectively, for the core headset to be what it is, is outstanding, and gives Sony a great footing going forward as the technology becomes more sophisticated. Ecosystem: This is a bit strange, but its easy to forget how fulfilling it is to have a unified ecosystem. Rather than have several types of peripherals, cameras, and drivers on a PC which you have to jerry-rig together to get the experience you want, you have in this case a broad base of hardware with the same specs, running from the same camera, using controllers made to work with that hardware the way it was intended to be used. All of this combines together to provide a ubiquitous experience which should only get better with time. Comfort: The unit feels lighter than you might think, fits solidly on your head, and remains in place without much effort. It is veeeery easy to tighten the headset too much (think roller-coaster harness), using the roller wheel in the back of the headset, so that's something you have to watch out for. Ease of Use: It takes roughly 10-15 minutes to get everything set up the way you want it. There are about 4 important wirings that come with the headset to be used, however there is only a single, MAIN, wire that leads to the headset. However, due to the way it connects to the headset, its easy to forget about even this wire, as the immersive experience overwhelms the light touch of the wire against your body. CONS: Fatigue: It can be mentally exhausting to use this technology for extended periods of time. In my case, I've used this headset everyday for the past 4 days, for roughly 3 hours or so each day and after extended use, my neck is fairly sore and stiff. Usually, after each session I have to just sit for a moment and breathe deeply to readjust myself. This is not something you can or even should use all day. Visuals: This is not a visual high-end masterpiece, this is a mass consumer piece which does its job as providing people with an entry-point to VR. Being as close as you are to the screen, there is fairly noticeable pixelation of images and despite being on an OLED screen, I don't really notice a great dynamism of color that I thought I'd see. That's not to say everything looks washed out, just that I thought I'd see some more pop in the colors. Experiences: Probably where the headset, and the tech, suffers the most. There just aren't a great variety of experiences which truly take advantage of the hardware in a way which makes this a must buy. While I am a firm believer in VR, I can easily see how people can just write this off as just another gimmick. Until we see more snippets of good to great experiences using VR, I can see this suffering longer than it has any right to do so. FURTHER REMARKS: I really like how I can use this with my glasses, but I don't feel I'm getting as good of an experience as I could without them. Also, sometimes it is a bit frustrating getting the headset to sit just right to make everything look as good as you can get it too. Even then, sometimes things don't look quite right. However, for those of us ocularly challenged, you may be aware of things like pupil distance. You are able to adjust this eye setting via the PS camera to manually adjust this and make everything a bit clearer for you personally. All in all, if you have done your research on this and know what you are purchasing, this is a fine piece of tech. If you are on the fence right now, I'd hold off until the experiences catch up with the hype to make this worthwhile.

20 years ago, 12 year old me would dream about tech like this hitting our living rooms. What a time to be alive! It's here and it's real! I've been looking forward to Sony's PSVR ever since they announced it years ago as Project Morpheus. I hadn't tried any other sets except for the cheap cardboard versions and even with those I was impressed with where we were at with this technology. It took another week for my unit to get to me because I am stationed overseas, so through the last week I've only been reading reviews and most of them are pretty accurate from what I've played so far. Finally here are my thoughts on it. In my review I'm going to touch on build/design, set-up, graphics, tracking, games, motion-sickness, and fun factor. Build/Design As most reviews have pointed out this is the most attractive headset of the bunch. It looks good, feels good, and is comfortable as hell. The way they designed it even allows you to wear it with glasses on. It's also actually a lot lighter than I thought it would be. I like how it secures to your head by a halo type band that stretches and goes around the top of your head which can be tightened by a little wheel on the back. The biggest piece that covers the eyes can then slide back and forth. This helps when I need to quickly see outside the VR world to find controllers or see what's physically around me. All I have to do is push a button, slide the view piece back a little and I can see, then slide it back and I'm back in the game. The design is genius. Set-up Setting this thing up wasn't as bad as people made it out to be. The instructions were very simple; almost like Lego instructions. It took me about 10 minutes to install. Calibrating it wasn't an issue as well. It calibrates pretty quick for me every time I play. Just hold the option button to re-center the picture to where you're physically standing. Whenever I'm done playing I just disconnect the main VR cable from the headset, put the headset away and tuck the long main cable away. When I'm ready to play again I just plug the headset back in and go. Pretty simple. Graphics I'll admit resolution is not that great, but for me it was expected. After all the reviews I read my expectations were set low. But after playing it myself it's not THAT BAD. I've seen some people say that it looks like PS2 games, I would say more like PS3 games. Also there are some games that look really good and some games that just look terrible so it depends what you play. In my opinion, the cartoony games hold up really well. Other games that are expected to have a more photorealistic look like Drive Club or Here They Lie suffer much more. Although Until Dawn actually doesn't look that bad at all. There are some cases where text does look blurry. The best fix for this is to adjust the headset around until your eyes hit that sweet spot in the lens where things look their sharpest. It's not going to be tack sharp but it won't be blurry. I don't know why things around the edges of the viewing lenses look super blurry, but just find that sweet spot and you'll be good. Tracking At first tracking worked wonderfully for me. But one night when I was playing it suddenly became awful. The game kept jumping around or shifting slowly. During London Heist, by the end of the car chase level my character was facing completely left even though I was still facing the camera. Don't get me wrong I still believe the tracking works great but that depends on how you have it set up. I thought I was good because at the time I had all my lights off but then I realized I still had this small light on the table behind me switched on and there were two large picture frames hanging on the wall directly behind me which were clearly reflecting the rear lights of the headset off the glass. This was causing a lot of confusion for the PS camera. After I fixed the issue the tracking worked much better. Not perfect but it was competent enough not to ruin my experience. Every once in a while my in game hands might jerk suddenly or disappear if I turned around and blocked the view of the wands. Case in point: 360 shooters like Brookhaven Experiment. Great thing about that game is their solution was to have you press a button to turn your character around so you didn't have to do it IRL. Games/motion sickness/fun factor I think the PSVR started off with a great launch line up. Most of the title so far are short experiences, maybe 1-2 hours at the most. They showcase a lot about what is so awesome about VR. It leaves you wanting more and excited for what is to come in the future of PSVR. I think where VR games work best are cockpit games and games where you mostly stand in one spot. As cool as it is to move around freely it is a little jarring when your brain perceives you walking around and your legs aren't moving. It's definitely a recipe for mild to severe motion sickness. I never got it much but when it came to those kind of games where you move freely I can slightly feel it in which case I'd quit the game before it sets in completely. Most people say the best thing is to start slow until you get your "VR Legs" meaning you become used to it and motion sickness doesn't happen anymore. One thing I found that helped when playing the Drive Club Demo (notorious for getting people sick) was when I would make turns I would look into the turn, kinda like how I would in real life sometimes. Drive Club was actually pretty cool despite the crappy graphics, it was like driving a car in the sense that I could see my opponents in the mirrors or I could look over my shoulder and check to see if anyone was in my blind spot. So far from what I've played the PSVR is FUN. Games that seem simple and I normally wouldn't like are a blast in VR such as Thumper, Danger Ball (which is basically a VR pong set in a Tron like world), and Job Simulator. I think where VR is really going to shine are in its horror games. It's a crazy experience having the horror in your face. Games like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood and Brookhaven Experiment are such a rush and while they wouldn't scare me on a TV screen, being in the world itself through VR is a whole different level of scares. I can't wait for Resident Evil 7. HAVING MOTOIN CONTROLLERS IS A MUST!! It's way more immersive when you can actually use your VR hands like you would in real life grabbing things, throwing things, shooting guns, shining a flash light here and there, etc. In London Heist, shooting guns feels almost as good as real life. I could aim my weapon, close one eye and focus on the iron sights, and hit a target dead on just like IRL. The following games are the ones I've played so far listed from favorite to least favorite: 1. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood 2. Arkham VR 3. London Heist 4. Job Simulator 5. Brookhaven Experiment 6. Thumper 7. Danger Ball 8. Wasn't a fan of Scavenger's Odyssey or VR Luge. I unplugged from them quickly because they seemed like they would get me motion sick. PSVR shows the mainstream consumer that VR is legit, although in its infancy, the tech is here and will be the future of gaming. This is not a fad, not a gimmick ladies and gents, VR is finally here! *The video I posted shows the exact moment when I knew that this purchase was well worth it. Entering the Batcave as Batman was a jaw dropping experience that you have to try to believe! *Quick word on cinema mode. It's like being in an IMAX movie theater when you have the screen size adjusted to it's largest setting. Hulu is also awesome in VR as well. The app takes you and puts you in a virtual living room (much nicer than my own)with a great view of a city and a giant (maybe 20ft) television screen in front of you that you can watch all your shows/movies on. It includes VR videos as well but the quality sucks. Hopefully they will have VR/360 videos soon with better resolution. *11/16/2016 PS4 Pro Update: Since aquiring my new PS4 Pro last night I've only been able to play a few games in the little time Ive had so far. I don't have a 4K TV yet and I mainly got it for PSVR (also I pretty much got a 1 for 1 swap deal with my PS4 for the PS4 Pro!). I've only been able to play London Heist, Batman Arkham, Until Dawn, and a little bit of Here They Lie. From what I'm seeing the games that weren't patched don't have much of a difference at all. Batman still looks the same (but still amazing) and Here They Lie still looks awful. London Heists improvements are a little subtle but you FEEL it. I can't explain it but it just feels better. With Until Dawn: Rush of Blood it looks like textures are improved and shadows/lighting is much better. I remember when I first played it I thought man the lighting is great but it's a shame they didn't have any shadow effects at all. Now everything I shine a flashlight on, from hanging pig carcasses to wire fences, casts a beautiful shadow across the background. I'm excited to receive Robinson in the mail in a few days and hoping I can afford to upgrade to a 4K HDR TV in the future. In the mean time I feel complete in my PSVR setup now smile emoticon:). Update Feb 2017: Just finished Resident Evil 7's 13 hour campaign and HOLY @$## was it amazing in PSVR! It's the first triple AAA title for the VR and first one of this length. Did not get sick at all as they programmed the VR mechanics perfectly. This title alone makes PSVR worth it. I'm working on a review right now for RE7 but this was probably the best gaming experience I've ever had.

This is probably the first VR experience for most of you reading this, so here are my thoughts on what to expect: the good, the bad, and ultimately whether it's worth giving VR and Sony a shot. There's a comparison to Oculus and HTC Vive below for those who are curious as well as a TLDR at the bottom. Pros: - Very easy to put on, works well with glasses and is comfortable on the head even for longer gaming sessions. - Tracks position easily when moving around a reasonably large area. - Easy to re-center with just the touch of the 'options' button so you can get in a nice comfy position to play. - Comes with a lot of different types of VR demos, games, videos, experiences to try out of the box. - Guaranteed to impress friends, family, and significant others. - Lets you play regular games and watch movies on a big virtual theater screen (up to about IMAX size). - Lets you play games privately when someone else wants to use the TV. - Using AMOLED screens means nice inky black levels with that fantastic contrast ratio. - Unlike buying that higher resolution display, this actually feels like you got something new and special. - Really is just 'plug and play' - no driver troubleshooting needed Mixed: - Can use the cinematic mode on other devices (Xbox, PC), but you can't easily re-position it without having the dual-shock controller which can be a real bummer if you're not in a comfortable position already. - The playstation move controllers make games feel more interactive, but there are mixed results with tracking in certain games (80-90% of the time it works all the time.) - Video applications like VRideo are really cool, but require a good deal of bandwidth to run fluidly at higher resolutions. Sadly no Youtube VR support (yet). - 3D spatial audio not currently compatible with wireless headsets, but it's very easy to use a wired pair (and one comes in the box). - There are a lot of wires you need to plug in to get connected, but they include a very easy to follow instruction manual and a beefy connection cable that is quite durable and should last a long time. - Most games work great with the standard PS4 controller, but the move controllers really do make it more immersive so you should spend up if you get the 'core' version. Cons: - Visuals not as sharp as competitors, and frankly plenty of visible aliasing/jaggies in certain games/applications. - YMMV on nausea with more 'active' titles that have lots of change in direction. - Loses track of you if your camera isn't positioned well. - Wires suck and really limit how far you can move around. An unfortunate compromise to hit the lower pricepoint and reduce the latency. - Not safe to use with friends who get scared easily. Seriously, don't let 'jumpy' people play while standing or else you may end up with a hurt friend, or worse a damaged/broken VR headset. - PS VR worlds DOES NOT come with the core version - a real bummer. Basically, buy the launch bundle if you don't have a PS Camera and/or PS Move controllers already. Come on Sony, support your fans and throw it in for everyone. Comparison to Oculus: Oculus has the resolution, but lacks in the areas of positional tracking, cost, and widespread support for their $200 controllers. Ultimately if you want the highest visual fidelity seated VR experience go for the Oculus, or better yet wait for their recently announced wireless headset. For those who just want to have fun in VR and don't want to deal with drivers, PC hardware upgrades skip the Oculus. Comparison to HTC Vive: HTC Vive has superior spatial tracking, and frankly is probably the highest quality experience in VR today. But, its really lacking right now in terms of first and third party games. This is an area where I think Sony has a lot of room to shine in the VR space. Same issues with driver updates and hardware upgrades as the Oculus. Final thoughts: This is very much a first generation product, but Sony is off to a great start. The main negatives right now have to do with a lack of horsepower for that extra clean finish. Games like DriveClub VR have some pretty obvious visual compromises, but it's something you don't tend to notice once you start moving. Hopefully the PS4 Pro will help with providing the added graphical prowess to make for cleaner visuals - but even without getting the latest and greatest PS4 you'll be in for a treat. I remember playing a VR game back in a mall in the 90's, it was bulky, looked terrible and I knew at all times I was standing in a giant piece of plastic in the mall. With the PSVR on you lose sense of time, get literally transported to a different place, and truly enter a new world. Upcoming games like Robinson the Journey are going to give you the chance to explore new worlds like you're actually there, and that's what makes VR special. You aren't just sitting on a couch thinking about how gorgeous those vistas are on your TV screen - you get to literally take a step forward into a creepy house, explore a mysterious jungle, and take flight across a wide expanse. The way you interact with things is still a work in progress, but the experience is still absolutely one of a kind. Sure beats just getting nicer looking games every year that are ultimately still the same experiences (not that I dislike nicer graphics or anything). I'm sure we'll see some really exciting software from Sony because unlike Oculus (owned by Facebook) and HTC Vive (backed by Valve) they are more directly invested in making successful software themselves rather than relying only on third party support since they make the hardware and software. If you have the means, take a chance on Sony, I have a feeling they won't let you down. TLDR: If you want to know what it's like to plug in to the Matrix, face off against a shark, fly high above like Superman, stand tall with the powers of a god - this is the easiest way to get a taste of that. There are other options, and this is very much a generation 1 product - but man is it just really cool. Plus Sony is all in on making this a success - so I'm betting that means much better first and third party games coming over the next year. Are you ready to free your mind? Take the red pill and see how deep the rabbit hole goes. **UPDATE with PS4 Pro** So I've been using my PSVR with the PS4 Pro pretty much since it came out, and I still have my original PS4 that is soon going to be resold to compare the 2. I've tested the following titles: Robinson The Journey, PS VR Worlds, Batman Arkham VR, Eve Valkyrie, VR Playroom, PSVR demo disc, and Until Dawn Rush of Blood. Pros (pun unintended) - Overall "cleaner" appearance with less shimmering around the edges (aka better anti-aliasing/textures) - PS VR Worlds and Robinson in particular seem to have a little bit of extra polish that makes them feeling more realistic - Games will only continue to improve and take advantage of PS4 Pro, but even for 1st gen ones you can see some benefit - Frame-rate is locked for games, but subjectively I felt less motion sickness and as though there is less latency Cons - Hardly changes the fundamental gameplay, and though visually better it really is just mild-moderate benefit right now - Cannot get HDR currently when hooked up to VR through the connection box, but 4k does work just fine If you're buying a PS4 Pro to get better VR, the honest answer is you won't notice a night-and-day difference today with the first generation titles. However, I am seeing bigger improvements relatively with games like Robinson that came out after launch and that bodes well for future titles to take advantage of more aggressive anti-aliasing and higher resolution textures. Games like Farpoint are being touted as being more optimized for PS4 Pro hardware and I'm sure future Sony first-party titles will give you even more of a benefit. This is true not just with PSVR games, but console games in general. Just look at the gap between Uncharted 1 and The Last of Us - both were running on the same hardware but with experience you had a lot of performance to be eeked out. TLDR on PS4 Pro w/ PSVR: Looks better, but not a big difference yet. Advantages will be seen as new titles come along that are optimized to take advantage of the extra power.

I pre-ordered the PSVR on Amazon the day it was offered. I wanted to lock one down in case it really was the next thing in console gaming. However, I wanted the security of knowing that I could cancel my pre-order in case too many negative stories started to surface. Field of view, image quality, comfort, refresh rate, and nausea were all concerns that I wanted addressed before I fully committed. Unfortunately, although all the preview and demo reports were mostly positive, those same reports highlighted the major issue with the PSVR...you won't understand what is being said unless you actually experience it for yourself. That's a hard sell. Luckily, I got the chance to try the PSVR out by chance when my local Best Buy had a Sony rep demoing the unit. My son tried Battlezone and I tried Eve: Valkyrie. My son said he enjoyed his experience, but I can only speak for mine (I have purchased Battlezone and do find it challenging and fun). Eve loaded me into a ship in a nondescript hangar bay. A voice was giving me mission details, but I was too busy looking left and right in order to take in my new surroundings to pay attention. I was no longer in Best Buy, I was in the process of piloting a ship, surrounded by launch tube walls. It was awe inspiring. The only comparison I can think of is the look of a child seeing something for the first time, and that feeling they must be having. With time, that feeling fades, but the first time? Wow! My demo didn't play well. I didn't understand the controls, trying to use shoulder buttons instead of the X button to move. I eventually figured it out, but even with the limited hands on time due to user error, I came away impressed. Pre-order confirmed. When I received the PSVR on October 13, I purchased Batman VR, Battlezone, Tumble, Headmaster, Job Simulator, Wayward Sky, Thumper, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and Rez: Infinite. All are excellent experiences. All are fun. The PSVR does a great job of putting you in the game. It's a surreal experience. In Batman, you'll want to look around and take in the scenery...and if you turn around your "hands" will disappear. The tracking system works pretty well, but not if you turn around. There isn't anything to manipulate from behind, so I made it a practice to lower my hands if I was looking behind. In Job Simulator, you don't need to do anything behind you, but it has you reaching all over the place...front, right, left. Make sure you have space cleared. I took mine to China and would reach for something and find myself blocked by the hotel bed in real life (P.S., the PS4 and PSVR are able to handle up to 240, not just the 110 in the U.S.A., so travel friendly!). So, back to my concerns: 1) Field of view 2) Image quality 3) Comfort 4) Refresh rate 5) Nausea 1) The field of view isn't quite as good as Oculus or the Vive, but I never noticed it until the headset was black, waiting to load. When it's black, you can make out the edges. 2) Image quality was relatively good for a console, but the PC alternatives are much better. From my experience, you won't care in game. 3) The PSVR is very comfortable. It's easy to put on, easy to adjust and doesn't have any discomfort or leave facial markings from using. 4) Surprisingly, the PSVR has a better refresh rate than Oculus and Vive, the high end PC offerings. This helps with number 5... 5) Nausea hasn't been an issue with me so far. When I tried Eve, I did a barrel roll and my stomach did flip, but it was a similar feeling to doing a roll on a roller coaster. It wasn't surprising during the action that I felt the way I did, it seemed natural and didn't induce any ill effects. There are a few games that put you at extreme heights, and you will feel like you are at an extreme height. The PSVR launched a little over a week ago. 30 games at launch. 200+ devs working on PSVR games. It's a great buy now, but it'll be better later.

It is the exposure into another world created to make you feel like you are immersed. Games that evoke involuntary bodily movements or actions are when the line between virtual and reality start to blur. What action would you take in the real world starts to cross over into the virtual world. Is it really there?Your movements, your reaction! You know you will be amazed the first time you catch a pen,that doesn't exist, falling off a desk. You duck to avoid hitting your real head in the virtual world, or slip further back into your chair to avoid a virtual knife from cutting you. The better the experience, the deeper the immersion, the lines begin to blur. Playstation VR can give you that type of deep immersion. That is the reason this headset has become so popular. It takes time to dial in the aspects which blur those lines of virtual and reality, but once you become comfortable with the feel of the headset, the integration of the controllers, and the feeling of involuntary motion, the headset really begins to shine. Don't worry about graphics or the technical aspects in comparison with others. This is were you get lost in the apprehension of owning the future of immersion. Nobody wants to spend $1k of dollars, but everyone wants the best experience. Instead of the minutiae of it all, learn how to extract the best performance from the Playstation VR headset and you will be rewarded. Start with a nice desk chair that allows you to turn around. It can make you feel like your in a cockpit of a spaceship or sports car. Make sure the room is dark to avoid outside influences and let the virtual world in. Relax your eyes and face, don't force your vision, rather relax it. Use a small fan to keep you cool and allow that feeling of motion. It is more how far you modify the real world to allow yourself the jump into the virtual world. Playstation VR is one of the most amazing advancements in virtual reality. It is worth the price of admission. As developers learn the technology and how best to apply it, overtime, things will only get better.

I was in junior high when the Atari home system was introduced and I've owned every PlayStation since they were released. PSVR is as big of a leap forward as the Atari was at its release. A clerk in a Game Stop on Market St. in San Francisco told me last week that they were only getting a couple of these on launch day so I thought this product was going to be on allocation. When I saw in in stock on Amazon, I figured I would grab one and sell it on eBay if it wasn't for me. I'm surprised to see that they are still in stock as I write this a few days later (Oct. 17) so good for you if you are considering buying one - bad for Sony if they were expecting to sell out like an iPhone on release day. I already had a pair of Move Controllers from my PS3 so my barrier to entry was a bit lower. I decided to start out with Playstation VR WORLDS - PlayStation VR [Digital Code ] since it was 5 mini games in one. I played Ocean Dive first and was blown away by the environmentally immersive experience. Your are in a dive cage where you can look all around you, including up and down. You can even put your head between the bars for a different point of view. It had an animated feel to it, but so does every game you play on your TV. It was amazing and within 15 minutes, I knew my VR was not going to be for sale on eBay. Also in VR Worlds is London Heist which illustrates the potential of interactive, first person shooter games. With the Move Controllers, you can hold a pistol in any orientation including aiming down the barrel of a pistol and line up the forward and rear sights in 3D for an accurate shot. You interact with a number of items in the environment and quickly become used to the relationship between your actions on the Move controllers and the objects in the environment, (such as inserting a new magazine into your pistol. In one (of the two) fighting scenes of the story, you're riding in a car. You can open the car door, look behind you, and fire at the opponents coming up behind your car. My favorite game in Worlds was Danger Ball, which is kind of strange because it was the least realistic of the five games and only used my head to control a paddle in 3D pong vs. the computer. While all of the 5 games give the player all around views of the environments, the perceptible depth of the 3D in this game was remarkable. When you look at the gameplay on a TV while someone else is playing, any of the games appear to be totally unremarkable, so don't judge whether or not to purchase the headset by game previews on you computer or even watching someone else play. You need to try it for yourself to understand the experience. Or you can watch the 1997 Michael Douglas - Demi Moore movie Disclosure to get a feel of what a multi-million dollar VR system was imagined to be for about $1000 out of your pocket (PS4 Pro $400, VR Headset $400, Camera $60, Move Controllers $100), plus games. I also purchased Eve: Valkyrie - PlayStation VR [Digital Code ]. I haven't had a chance to play it, but my godson did and said it was good. However, I saw that he went back to London Heist after a while. About the headset itself, the construction is very good, far better than strapping your Samsung phone to your face. It is comfortable for a long period of wear, very adjustable and the weight distribution is good. There are no noticeable points of pressure on your head, and no weight borne by your face below the forehead - just the rubber gaskets around the eyes and nose to keep ambient light out. When you are on menu screens, you can see the pixels, unlike an iPhone Retina screen, but during game play you don't notice them at all. The field of view does not seem constrained although it is a bit less than your peripheral vision would pick up in the real world. However, everybody's vision degrades at the periphery so the value of a few more degrees of visibility would not be that high anyway. The outstanding question I have is, 'what does the future hold for this platform?' I have a first gen PS4. While my PS3 fan always sounded like it was trying to make the unit levitate, I had never heard the PS4 fan breaking a sweat while playing COD or other high resource consuming games. With the VR games, the console fan was going at what seemed to be full speed even though the picture on the TV screen was was way down res'd and the games I was playing were not terribly complex (Ocean Dive is not interactive, Danger Ball is mostly a bunch of polygons, although London Heist has a lot going on from a resource requirements standpoint). That makes me wonder, how far can a gen 1 PS4 go with VR, especially in light of the upcoming release of the PS4 Pro. I have the means to upgrade to the Pro if the value is there so if playing the inevitable release of COD-VR requires it, I'll probably do so.