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AndroidCentral “Sony no longer cares about the PSVR 2, and neither should you”
- Thread starter ArtHands
- Start date
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Sony bet on VR again assuming it'll just sell itself. It saw PC sets selling millions based on $20 demo games and assumed the typical console gamer itching for VR (more than back when PSVR 1 came out) and doesn't want to buy a decent PC and matching goggles will just splurge on PSVR2 by default.
You can tell they assumed it'll sell itself because there's hardly any Sony first party games or third party unique games to entice gamers who want VR to go the PSVR2 route.
So while PC sets sold millions (didnt some years the PC sets collectively sold 10 million units?), then PSVR2 should be a slam dunk to sell millions per year on its own reselling the same Beat Sabers and Job Sim games as PC because as some theorists believe..... "Well, if they've never played VR on PC, then it's new territory and sales for Beat Saber on PS". The top selling PSVR games are some of the same games that have been around for 5 years. Unless something really magical happens to VR games or goggles become a true lifestyle mandatory gadget like a cellphone where gaming latches on as a secondary use, VR sets will never come close to mainstream. A couple years ago, Facebook even did their own study said 50% of VR set gamers only plays for 6 months before shelving it. Thats incredibly bad. You got a brand new expensive gaming gadget, tons of new games and gameplay, and it lasts 6 months before youre already bored?
You can tell they assumed it'll sell itself because there's hardly any Sony first party games or third party unique games to entice gamers who want VR to go the PSVR2 route.
So while PC sets sold millions (didnt some years the PC sets collectively sold 10 million units?), then PSVR2 should be a slam dunk to sell millions per year on its own reselling the same Beat Sabers and Job Sim games as PC because as some theorists believe..... "Well, if they've never played VR on PC, then it's new territory and sales for Beat Saber on PS". The top selling PSVR games are some of the same games that have been around for 5 years. Unless something really magical happens to VR games or goggles become a true lifestyle mandatory gadget like a cellphone where gaming latches on as a secondary use, VR sets will never come close to mainstream. A couple years ago, Facebook even did their own study said 50% of VR set gamers only plays for 6 months before shelving it. Thats incredibly bad. You got a brand new expensive gaming gadget, tons of new games and gameplay, and it lasts 6 months before youre already bored?
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Muddy
Member
Take the article with a pinch of salt.
AGRacing
Member
I bought every PlayStation system and branded major peripheral out of love for almost 30 years. PSVR2 is the one that pissed me off to the extent that I sold it (and my PS5 due to disinterest in their latest 1st party output). VR2 was and is a gong show for the price they charged customers. They've never just walked away from expensive hardware like this before… and the consequence of doing so is never nothing.
If you're enjoying the thing I’m genuinely happy for you. But for me…. I had to admit that I was disappointed in it and felt ripped off. There’s no honesty in pretending for the sake of brand loyalty here. If they had charged the VR1 price for it I’d have been alright with it. They screwed up.
I still have my Discman and CD Walkman. I still have my older PlayStation consoles. We were a Sony house since I was a kid. I have a 36” Vega CRT in my basement. Sony is a company I grew up loving and don’t want to see fail… but I think they need a splash of cold water here. A light boot in the arse.
This generation might be a huge sales success. For me it’s my least favourite PlayStation by a mile. I’d take PS3 Sony back all day long. That was fun.
If you're enjoying the thing I’m genuinely happy for you. But for me…. I had to admit that I was disappointed in it and felt ripped off. There’s no honesty in pretending for the sake of brand loyalty here. If they had charged the VR1 price for it I’d have been alright with it. They screwed up.
I still have my Discman and CD Walkman. I still have my older PlayStation consoles. We were a Sony house since I was a kid. I have a 36” Vega CRT in my basement. Sony is a company I grew up loving and don’t want to see fail… but I think they need a splash of cold water here. A light boot in the arse.
This generation might be a huge sales success. For me it’s my least favourite PlayStation by a mile. I’d take PS3 Sony back all day long. That was fun.
tmlDan
Member
if they didnt care they wouldnt even show VR games at state of plays, but they do.
I know its not doing well but its not like the don't care, its just not financially viable to waste millions on a VR game when Sony devs demand 150k salaries. There are still plenty of games for it, as stated by the article
I know its not doing well but its not like the don't care, its just not financially viable to waste millions on a VR game when Sony devs demand 150k salaries. There are still plenty of games for it, as stated by the article
sncvsrtoip
Member
And ? Village and re4r was founded by Sony, Capcom would never create it without Sony financial support
nial
Gold Member
I was not focusing on that part.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
ShadyAcshuns
Member
Who do you think you are fooling. Those same people bought a PSVR and a Vita, a PSVR2, a Portal and will also buy PS6 and PSVR3. No games required.
diffusionx
Gold Member
you might see some heavy price cuts this year. just make sure to get the pc box too.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Sony “only” having 2 games in development doesn’t seem that shocking? Why would they have more than that?
Puscifer
Member
Even on the PC front when you dig into it it's not worth it. Better to buy a second hand device than that for your money, I don't get it.
IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
The NeoGAF crowd that thinks turning all of Sony’s action games into hybrid VR experiences will make PSVR take off is completely off base IMO. Games not designed for VR specifically play like shit and/or tend to make more people queasy.
Full 3D movement is vomit fuel and “warping” movement type is just so limiting and really doesn’t fit a lot of action games.
Web swinging might be cool in VR though. The best paradigms for VR gaming are experiences where your brain doesnt expect you to be in full control. We are used to driving for instance with our hands on a steaming wheel and moving at high speeds without actually moving ourselves hence why driving games tend to feel perfect in VR.
But in the end strapping a headset on your face is just not something tons of people want to do beyond messing around here or there. That’s why Quest sells quite a bit but it’s not selling a bunch of expensive software.
Full 3D movement is vomit fuel and “warping” movement type is just so limiting and really doesn’t fit a lot of action games.
Web swinging might be cool in VR though. The best paradigms for VR gaming are experiences where your brain doesnt expect you to be in full control. We are used to driving for instance with our hands on a steaming wheel and moving at high speeds without actually moving ourselves hence why driving games tend to feel perfect in VR.
But in the end strapping a headset on your face is just not something tons of people want to do beyond messing around here or there. That’s why Quest sells quite a bit but it’s not selling a bunch of expensive software.
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Dr. Samuel Hayden
Member
Good. It's a fad that nobody cares about.
REDRZA MWS
Member
Pretty sure the majority even here always knew it and called it. It’s a niche product, not one for the masses.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Yup.
Thats human nature. Unless VR gaming is the best thing ever, most gamers wont give a shit about strapping a brick to your face.
Same goes for other stuff. People wear prescription or sunglasses, hats, caps, winter scarves etc.... only when they really need for vision clarity, keep the sun or cold out or cover a bald spot. There's only so many rebels out there who do for sake of fashion. When you dont need it you take it off. But gaming is different as you already got gamepad and m/kb gaming and VR isnt a life changing thing like needing glasses to see. But you can already see a ton of people use contacts or laser eye because they want as little shit on their face even if it's more expensive. Less is more.
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IntentionalPun
Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
More of a niche, one that can’t support AAA gaming and is a huge risk for even smaller funded games.
Synless
Member
I fucking care. It’s fantastic, incredibly immersive and one day will be the
standard.
I read it. You’re exaggerating how often the Quest is mentioned. Aside from the last paragraph, the bulk of the article focuses on PSVR2.
Most articles that called out the dearth of first party content on Xbox in 2022 or the shabby launch exclusives for the Xbox Series in 2020 also mentioned the PS5 as an alternative.
Weird thing to say when third parties are doing way more heavy lifting for the headset than Sony is with first party.
Not sure why your talking about ‘backstabbing’ when Sony’s the one hitting consumers with the lack of BC with PSVR1 and no support for playing regular games in VR like that UEVR mod
I'm certainly not exagerating the quest sales pitch, deals to buy a quest and "we should forget PSVR2 exists" unnecessarily added to an article about Sony's current support of the PSVR2 headset.
That's the articles conclusion.
Why do you wish to argue on this, does my opinion on this article affect you negatively in some way?
Perrott
Member
You're thinking more of independent third-party studios, while in my previous post it was pretty clear that I was referring to the major third-party publishers. Like, why haven't Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, Take-Two, Warner Bros., Bandai Namco or Konami not taken even a single bet on the platform? And they only one that has, Capcom, has only done so because Sony themselves subsidized the development of the Resident Evil VR ports.
Is Sony now expected to cover the entire development budgets of all major third-party efforts? Fuck no, that's as ridiculous and such mentality would allow Rockstar to go "well, we're not going to bother with making Grand Theft Auto VI unless Sony and Microsoft both pay for half of the game's production costs each".
It was also very clear in my post that I used the word 'backstabbing' in the context of describing the lack of meaningful support from major third-party publishers to the PlayStation Vita, i.e. releasing new entries to historically iconic PlayStation and particularly PSP franchises exclusively on the 3DS, among other examples of those companies - most of them Japanese by the way - turn their back on the Vita.
Also, the consumers aren't necessarily entitled to having their PSVR1 games be playable on the PSVR2. It would've been nice, but its hardly a hit from Sony to the consumers when they actually never promised such feature in the first place.
I also find it absurd that you'd bring up the that Unreal Engine VR convertion tool when such janky solution not only could never work perfectly by itself - without developer intervention - but also would feel incredibly out of place in the context of console gaming, which is all about delivering a fine-tuned, frictionless user experience to consumers.
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Romulus
Member
I'd say my psvr2 has been worth more to me than non VR ps5 games. Still waiting on those to see a next gen jump. SSD or none of that bullshit panned out.
So while VR isn't thriving in terms of a multitude of games etc, damn sure felt like the only way to justify owning a ps5.
hinch7
Member
Learned my lesson spending money on accessories during the PS3 era that they aren't supported well. From the move, to VR. Supplimetary devices from Sony PS are just bound to be abandoned. Cool pet projects but not essential.
I have bought a couple VR headsets which are fairly cool, but quickly got over it and I'd rather not deal with being tethered to a large pair of goofy goggles just to play some games. Quest is far better in that it can be used on its own and on PC out of box and can be had for fairly cheap. Like you said on the used market mk2s are going for pennies.
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KimDongHwan
Member
I bought it for GT7 and for the upcoming PC support, but yeah, library is almost non-existent right now.
ZoukGalaxy
Member
PC compatibility is coming and games are regularly out on PSVR2, even physically, so, NO, fuck this article and the "journalist" trying to make the situation worst than it is
Goalus
Member
I think he was talking about PSVR2, not VR in general.
Clear
CliffyB's Cock Holster
Oh come on. Headsets are different with different API's, tracking and display characteristics. The actual hardware running the games is different. Meta isn't distributing on Playstation and vice versa.
And no its not the future, because the future is about commodity and according to Google only 5.1m headsets have been sold in the last 5 years.
That's a very small market to be subdivided into different vendors with different interfaces etc. etc.
Its not a proven market, and when you're looking at an install-base that small, with relatively slow growth, its not one anyone is going to see immediate profit off especially if the sunken cost on the software is high.
PS. ET was a disaster because Atari massively over-estimated demand and manufactured far too many carts that were then sold SOR to retailers. Triggering a sudden loss of confidence in the market and contributing to the 1983 crash.
I'm not entirely sure why you chose to introduce that into the discussion, but it is relevant insofar as its instructive of what happens when you get a high profile failure that is then used in a way that is presented as emblematic of why a sector as a whole is too unstable or flash-in-the-pan to be seriously invested in. Which in turn proves Sony being judicious with their level of first-party investment is probably a good idea.
coffinbirth
Member
Sony always tries twice, and if it fails the second time, they will just walk away. As Phillip Weston Harbaugh Spender III would say: "I have to run a business here."
PSP -> PS Vita ->
PSVR -> PSVR2 ->
PSP -> PS Vita ->PlayStation Portal
PSVR -> PSVR2 -> R-Zone
I'm sorry, I had to.
sigmaZ
Member
I've said it before and I'll say it again. The only long term viable casual gaming experience on VR are 3rd person games made for VR (ala Moss) and being able to play current gen games on a virtual screen. In principle, VR games are fun and exciting, but just like the Wii U, all the gimmicks quickly get tired and you'd rather focus on something more immediate.
xrnzaaas
Member
With Vita at least they've tried and it also got some really nice first party titles. PSVR2 looks pretty much dead a little over a year after release. Sony isn't announcing any new games, it's not trying to secure good third party titles like Meta and they didn't even rush to offer PC support.Sony always tries twice, and if it fails the second time, they will just walk away. As Phillip Weston Harbaugh Spender III would say: "I have to run a business here."
PSP -> PS Vita ->
PSVR -> PSVR2 ->
AAA Game development is already fraught with risks. Why would they take risks with a niche market? High risk, low reward?
Ubisoft took a risk with Assasins Creed on the Quest. They got burnt.
Ubisoft "disappointed" in 'Assassin's Creed VR' Performance, Future VR Investments on Hold
In Ubisoft’s most recent earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot said he was “disappointed” with the performance of Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR (2023) and that the company will not be increasing investment in VR right now, as it awaits further growth of the medium. As a Quest exclusive, Assassin’s Creed...
www.roadtovr.com
Not exactly encouraging for investments when even Sony starts cutting back.
ChuckeRearmed
Member
diffusionx
Gold Member
This attempt to claim that the failure of PSVR is because of VR instead of Sony's own failings and mistakes is really weird. Was there a hard cap on the PSVR2 upside? Probably, yea. And if that upside wasn't good enough for Sony, then they shouldn't have released the damn device. Simple as. If, as you said, it was a bet for the future, then they should continue to be funding and supporting it to grow the audience, as Meta is doing.
They knew what they were doing. They have all the numbers on PSVR and can analyze how Meta is doing in the market. They chose to release it, then chose not to support it, then chose to basically shut it down ASAP. There is no way you can use this half-assed attempt to sell a VR device as evidence of the overall VR market or lack thereof.
Perrott
Member
Well, then if none of the major publishers see VR game development as a fruitful endeavor, then how can anyone blame Sony for walking away from it once everyone turns their back on them as they did with the Vita? At least you can say that they did their part in trying to create a new business segment, unlike other platform holders that didn't invest into VR at all.AAA Game development is already fraught with risks. Why would they take risks with a niche market? High risk, low reward?
Ubisoft took a risk with Assasins Creed on the Quest. They got burnt.
Ubisoft "disappointed" in 'Assassin's Creed VR' Performance, Future VR Investments on Hold
In Ubisoft’s most recent earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot said he was “disappointed” with the performance of Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR (2023) and that the company will not be increasing investment in VR right now, as it awaits further growth of the medium. As a Quest exclusive, Assassin’s Creed...
Not exactly encouraging for investments when even Sony starts cutting back.
At the end of the day, this is just another vicious cycle of a platform not selling because there aren't huge games and huge games not being made because the platform is not selling.
ResurrectedContrarian
Suffers with mild autism
hack-ability would help, but that goes against their policies
The ability to install custom software on the Quest headsets is amazing, I'm still surprised that FB/Meta has supported this all along. You don't even have to jailbreak -- it's an official feature that you can go into dev mode easily and load any kind of custom apks.
My son and I have been playing Minecraft in full VR together using the excellent latest QuestCraft port, with me playing on our old Q2 and him on the Q3, with our world hosted on a free custom server. It took nothing to set it up, and it's flawless and smooth. This is all thanks to community ports, which are facilitated by the easy installation.
The ability to install custom software on the Quest headsets is amazing, I'm still surprised that FB/Meta has supported this all along. You don't even have to jailbreak -- it's an official feature that you can go into dev mode easily and load any kind of custom apks.
My son and I have been playing Minecraft in full VR together using the excellent latest QuestCraft port, with me playing on our old Q2 and him on the Q3, with our world hosted on a free custom server. It took nothing to set it up, and it's flawless and smooth. This is all thanks to community ports, which are facilitated by the easy installation.
diffusionx
Gold Member
because they're the platform holder, and people generally don't like it when they buy something that doesn't get supported. Ask Sega.
kazuyamishima
Member
Sony should put more effort on a PS Portal upgrade.
AGRacing
Member
I'm one of the people he's referring to and you're claiming don't exist. 100%.
Not all of us are blind fanatics. People don't like being ripped off or perceiving themselves as being taken for granted. I've been "with" Sony since DAY ONE. Today I'm not.
DryvBy
Member
I have a PSVR2 and have hundreds of games on it. But I bought it for the potential of hitting PC which is how coming. Why would I not get a PS6 again? It's cheaper than 2x PC (my kid plays with me) and will play the latest games.
ArtHands
Thinks buying more servers can fix a bad patch
Because I have a PSVR2. And I am sure there are other users here who has a PSVR2 too.
Haint
Member
AAA Game development is already fraught with risks. Why would they take risks with a niche market? High risk, low reward?
Ubisoft took a risk with Assasins Creed on the Quest. They got burnt.
Ubisoft "disappointed" in 'Assassin's Creed VR' Performance, Future VR Investments on Hold
In Ubisoft’s most recent earnings call, CEO Yves Guillemot said he was “disappointed” with the performance of Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR (2023) and that the company will not be increasing investment in VR right now, as it awaits further growth of the medium. As a Quest exclusive, Assassin’s Creed...
Not exactly encouraging for investments when even Sony starts cutting back.
Facebook funded Ass Creed in its entirety (it's a Quest exclusive), only affect on Ubisoft was the opportunity cost, but they have so many people and redundancies it wasn't a big loss.
Sony's 2 VR games will probably be canceled by year's end, they couldn't give less of a fuck about this thing.
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bosnianpie
Member
As an old school PS fan I see the PSVR as waste of showcase time. I'm sure it's great fun for a niche market but I think their resources should go towards what they're actually good at.
Osthyvel
Member
I bought psvr 2016 and have played a fairly amount of the games to that headset, and there is a ton of good games. I still love my psvr, but 2 weeks ago, i had the opportunity to buy a psvr2 for 300$ so that was a nobrainer.
And i must say, its like 7 years between the headsets? And man, that really feels, this is something else in therms of tech, and the controllers are absolutely amazing (- battery life)
Games? Well i could upgrade many of my games for free, i love music and rytmgames most so beat sober, pistol whip, synth raiders all with free upgrade.
I did pay for some upgrades to, Gun Club VR, a game i have played a ton on psvr, is so much better on psvr2, everything looks so crisp, and the tracking works 100%, the old version with psvr had much issues there.
A bought a new game and that game start to be my #1 vrgame; Drums Rock, its so f*cking good, i will play that game for hours and hours!!!
I know theres is games like RE4 remake, Village, GT7, i have tried some of these, but for me, vr is not about playing full length games like RE4 Remake in vr, i rather play those games in nonvr, vr for me is more experience and different kind of games, easy to pick up and play and have fun and be sucked into another reality.
So for me, there already is plenty of games to play in vr, i don't play vr that much, maybe 10% of my gaming time, and with all the upcoming games i will have more then plenty.
I am not one of those that are screaming for first party full length games, i want more games like Drums Rock, Gun Club, Superhot VR, Crisis Vrigade etc.
I do admit though that Saints and Sinners is awesome, and that is a bigger game = )
My point is though; Psvr2 is simply amazing and well worth to buy, there is ton of good games and there is many good games upcoming.
And i must say, its like 7 years between the headsets? And man, that really feels, this is something else in therms of tech, and the controllers are absolutely amazing (- battery life)
Games? Well i could upgrade many of my games for free, i love music and rytmgames most so beat sober, pistol whip, synth raiders all with free upgrade.
I did pay for some upgrades to, Gun Club VR, a game i have played a ton on psvr, is so much better on psvr2, everything looks so crisp, and the tracking works 100%, the old version with psvr had much issues there.
A bought a new game and that game start to be my #1 vrgame; Drums Rock, its so f*cking good, i will play that game for hours and hours!!!
I know theres is games like RE4 remake, Village, GT7, i have tried some of these, but for me, vr is not about playing full length games like RE4 Remake in vr, i rather play those games in nonvr, vr for me is more experience and different kind of games, easy to pick up and play and have fun and be sucked into another reality.
So for me, there already is plenty of games to play in vr, i don't play vr that much, maybe 10% of my gaming time, and with all the upcoming games i will have more then plenty.
I am not one of those that are screaming for first party full length games, i want more games like Drums Rock, Gun Club, Superhot VR, Crisis Vrigade etc.
I do admit though that Saints and Sinners is awesome, and that is a bigger game = )
My point is though; Psvr2 is simply amazing and well worth to buy, there is ton of good games and there is many good games upcoming.
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CitizenKratos
Member
Not going to give clicks to android central. Or another psvr2 hit piece.
Can anyone verify that this is actually real news?
Can anyone verify that this is actually real news?