Thanks for the impressions!
afaik the PSVR does not use the fresnel lenses, so the fresnel glare shouldn't be present on that HMD.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Demo PlayStation VR at Select Best Buy Stores (Every weekend through December)
- Thread starter Sangetsu-II
- Start date
afaik the PSVR does not use the fresnel lenses, so the fresnel glare shouldn't be present on that HMD.
So I tried Eve in San Diego... The headset is ridiculously comfortable. Sony absolutely nailed the ergonomics. However, as I expected, the graphics are rather terrible. I think devs should keep graphics as simple as possible in this first gen of VR. I'm convinced we need at least 4 or 5x higher resolution for it to be mainstream.
Lone Dragon
Member
Got to try Battlezone and Eve: Valkyrie, today. I've got a Gear VR, so I had an idea of what to expect, but I was still pretty impressed. The build quality of the headset was really solid, and the motion tracking was great. It definitely sold me on getting one. Hoping to get one at launch, but I missed out on the preorder. Wish I could try out the Vive.
Happened to be at a best buy on the list today picking up ESO. Waited about 30 mins inline.
Build quality felt good.
Demo was the Valkyrie one. It was ok. The head movement was cool but it just didnt feel necessary.
The screen inside also wasnt as good as i was expecting.
I have the gear Vr and thought that was a better experience on some apps. But maybe the psvr wasnt adjusted correctly.....
I should have picked the cube game that seemed weird.
Also the rep was kind of a douche. For alot of people there this was their first time with vr and where blown away, when they asked if they could preorder or buy it he laughed and said no its sold out, and good luck. Just seemed counter productive. Also there was a 10 year old kid he turned away because he wasn't 12. Ive never seen someone so devastated.
Overall the experience was 6/10.
I wish they demoed RE7 or a game we could use the other motion controllers.
Build quality felt good.
Demo was the Valkyrie one. It was ok. The head movement was cool but it just didnt feel necessary.
The screen inside also wasnt as good as i was expecting.
I have the gear Vr and thought that was a better experience on some apps. But maybe the psvr wasnt adjusted correctly.....
I should have picked the cube game that seemed weird.
Also the rep was kind of a douche. For alot of people there this was their first time with vr and where blown away, when they asked if they could preorder or buy it he laughed and said no its sold out, and good luck. Just seemed counter productive. Also there was a 10 year old kid he turned away because he wasn't 12. Ive never seen someone so devastated.
Overall the experience was 6/10.
I wish they demoed RE7 or a game we could use the other motion controllers.
meanspartan
Member
Soooo close to tryin it. Was at a best buy in pasadena and they had it there, but the guy said he had to put it away and to come back tomorrow at 10am ugh.
serversurfer
Member
Actually, per Michael Abrash, original Quake at 320x200 is better apparent resolution than a 1000x1000 per eye display. That's because by the time you get the display that close to your eye and focus and magnify the pixels, the pixel density is only one seventh that of your 1080p HDTV. Edit: Modern
It's not really quite that bad if you have it adjusted properly, but it'll be a long, long time before it's "great," as described above. Also, the pixel density is only slightly higher on Rift/Vive, and the sub-pixel density is actually lower than PSVR.ZThis is the best example of how it looked to me. With the PC picture is how it looked on the TV and the xbox is how the game looked in the headsets.
I would like to try this on a high end PC with the Vive.
This, and it was total news to my rep. ><
This too, actually. It seems that if they get in a hurry, some cleaning residue can be left on the lenses, which not only causes blurriness, it can really irritate your eyes by the end of a demo, as I can personally attest.
My rep told me they pulled RIGS because it made a fair number of people ill, and they wanted to stick with the most comfortable experiences they could. Despite that, she said she did have a fair number of people get ill, including one who got sick in Ocean Decsent, which is entirely passive. Remember too that RIGS is designed specifically to appeal to core shooter fans, and these demos are often being given to folks that don't game at all.
Don't judge it based solely on Battlezone, as it's just a (cool) gimmick in that game. The same functionality works better in the VR Worlds lobby, for example. Also, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of tracking problems induced by the setup itself. I sorta got the feeling we were sitting too close to the camera for proper tracking, and indeed, ~90% of our play time here has probably been spent with this icon appearing on the screen.
I have no idea what it is, and neither did my rep. It always appears in that location of the screen — so it moves with you as you turn your head — and it appears with sort of a clank sound, which I'm fairly sure is the same sound that plays when it loses sight of a Move wand. However, the information I suspect this thing provides is missing, and I wasn't able to reliably make it (dis)appear. Anyone else seeing this at their sites? I've not seen it in any of the trade show videos…
Yeah, again, how the visor is positioned relative to your eyes can make a massive difference in quality, and my rep was completely unaware of this fact. She said the only technical part of their two-day training was how to plug it in, and they spent most of the training explaining how to set up the banners and other branding, and making sure everything looked just so. /sigh
"Yeah, they really weren't looking to hire technical people for this."
"Oh?"
"Well, no, because they wanted people who were friendly and outgoing."
"Ah."
Sangetsu-II
Member
haha, makes perfect sense.
This also popped up when I tried the heist demo. It just kept making what sounded like the notification sound.
serversurfer
Member
Yeah, I just realized it's the same sound everything else makes. lol
Anyway, I strongly suspect it's a tracking warning of some sort, but I can't figure out what triggers it. I'll go back and play around with it some more, maybe try moving the chair back a bit. We're sitting pretty close, and in Headmaster it sorta felt like the balls were being aimed a couple feet behind where I was sitting Perhaps I should bring a tape measure. lol
That's what I thought it might be, too. Were the move controllers actually working at the site you went to? I think the camera may have been too high where where I went. I don't think the rep set the controllers up right, though. Only one was even working.
serversurfer
Member
Yeah, the wands were working, and seemed to track pretty well overall. Certainly not as fiddly as the DS4 was, at least. I tend to lean forward, with the controller between my knees though, so maybe once I leaned in, I was trigging the "too close" warning. I'll try to get back there tomorrow and see what I can figure out, but I suspect moving the chair back ~50cm is gonna help a lot.
Maybe your guy hadn't done the initial controller sync via USB? Or one just lost pairing somehow? Hard to say, but I'd go through the standard troubleshooting step as much as you can, given the limited functionality of kiosk mode. /shrug
Maybe your guy hadn't done the initial controller sync via USB? Or one just lost pairing somehow? Hard to say, but I'd go through the standard troubleshooting step as much as you can, given the limited functionality of kiosk mode. /shrug
Probably not, he didn't seem to know how to set the controllers up.
DarkLegion
Member
I waoted like 30 mins in line, 9 people were ahead of me.
RedAssedApe
Banned
am i gonna have to buy two move controllers? seems like a majority of games this is going to be recommended if not required?
I tried Eve Valkyrie at the Stockton, California Best Buy, and I ended up with a mixed reaction.
Pros:
-I didn't get a migraine! This is actually a big issue for me. My brother had a Virtual Boy that gave me nasty migraines within minutes of use, and the PSVR didn't leave me with an icepick in my left eye. Success!
-No motion sickness either! I tend to avoid first-person shooters as some tend to give me motion sickness, or migraines. I had some mild discomfort when rolling the ship about its longitudinal axis, but it seemed to fade away quickly.
-The game itself was rather fun, but I had no idea what I was doing, or what the controls did. I would buy a copy of the game as I am a fan of sci-fi, and space shooters.
-The unit itself is quite comfortable, and light. I don't foresee any issues with that.
Cons:
-The television used to display the game to those waiting was busted. You'd think that Sony of all people would be able to have a working TV. The attendant said that he would have a new set the next day.
-The image was of a lower resolution than I expected. I now understand what people are talking about when they mention the screendoor-effect. I suppose that until they are able to get much more pixel-dense displays that it will be an issue. Is it a deal breaker? No, I would get over it quickly. Hell, I still enjoy 8-bit games; I am no graphic whore.
-I never was able to get an optimal fit to my head. I wanted to get the display slightly closer to my eyes, but I was unable to do so. Also, the headset did not block out all light from seeping in as it did not sit flush on my face, especially from the lower edge. Perhaps this was a result of it being hastily placed on my head to get as many people a taste. Or the fact that I have a bit of a melon-head.
-Not Sony's fault, but some random dude wanted to chat with me about games. I find it a bit odd to strike up a conversation with a random person in a store, especially when they obviously are busy. I was looking at merchandise when he started talking to me. I humored him for a bit and chatted, but quickly excused myself, and extricated myself from him.
If I can use the headset with no migraines, or motion sickness then I will try to buy one, and a PS4 some time next year...if I can afford them. I am more than a bit of a poor boy.
Pros:
-I didn't get a migraine! This is actually a big issue for me. My brother had a Virtual Boy that gave me nasty migraines within minutes of use, and the PSVR didn't leave me with an icepick in my left eye. Success!
-No motion sickness either! I tend to avoid first-person shooters as some tend to give me motion sickness, or migraines. I had some mild discomfort when rolling the ship about its longitudinal axis, but it seemed to fade away quickly.
-The game itself was rather fun, but I had no idea what I was doing, or what the controls did. I would buy a copy of the game as I am a fan of sci-fi, and space shooters.
-The unit itself is quite comfortable, and light. I don't foresee any issues with that.
Cons:
-The television used to display the game to those waiting was busted. You'd think that Sony of all people would be able to have a working TV. The attendant said that he would have a new set the next day.
-The image was of a lower resolution than I expected. I now understand what people are talking about when they mention the screendoor-effect. I suppose that until they are able to get much more pixel-dense displays that it will be an issue. Is it a deal breaker? No, I would get over it quickly. Hell, I still enjoy 8-bit games; I am no graphic whore.
-I never was able to get an optimal fit to my head. I wanted to get the display slightly closer to my eyes, but I was unable to do so. Also, the headset did not block out all light from seeping in as it did not sit flush on my face, especially from the lower edge. Perhaps this was a result of it being hastily placed on my head to get as many people a taste. Or the fact that I have a bit of a melon-head.
-Not Sony's fault, but some random dude wanted to chat with me about games. I find it a bit odd to strike up a conversation with a random person in a store, especially when they obviously are busy. I was looking at merchandise when he started talking to me. I humored him for a bit and chatted, but quickly excused myself, and extricated myself from him.
If I can use the headset with no migraines, or motion sickness then I will try to buy one, and a PS4 some time next year...if I can afford them. I am more than a bit of a poor boy.
Sangetsu-II
Member
No, actually its the other way around not many PSVR games use the move controllers most of them just use a DS4 controller. Which is a bummer, cuz having hands in the world makes it more immersive.
BlackBanditSho
Member
This actually breaks my heart.
Before Sony announced their demo launch plan, I had worked out this whole thing where I was going to approach Sony and the retail sales company, Smart Circle, about demoing PSVR in malls, college campuses, Sharper Images, airports, and Best Buys throughout the summer and until launch. My big idea was to staff the the demos with people who were very passionate about VR, and would walk each person through a customized VR experience. I'd even worked out a solution for pre orders and selling through Gamespot!
My wife talked me out of it because I don't know anybody, and there's no way anybody would listen to anything I had to say.
When Sony announced the breadth of their demo station plans, I was excited!
I had such a wonderful experience with the Oculus rep in Best Buy, that I assumed Sony's presentation would be similarly careful and attentive to the customer.
Sounds like this is not the case, and that Sony might be doing more hurt than help.
I really want PSVR to succeed, but it's killing me that I keep reading stories about misinformed reps, poorly maintained Goggles, and games that aren't the best experience for non gamers.
The Oculus rep was SUPER knowledgable about anything I needed to know about VR. The system was clean, the experience well well attended. She made sure that i was wearing them correctly, that they were fastened securely, that I had optimal clarity in visuals, and that I was aware of my spacing in the real world.
Sounds like PSVR is demoing very poorly.
My home store didn't get the demo yet, but one of our local ones did, and I wouldn't agree with you thus far on the reception. Here's my thoughts:
GAF perspectives are largely comments from people coming from an enthusiast board that are already more knowledgeable than most, which is what the target market for an Oculus or Vive is anyway. The reception the other store's team has had so far is tremendously positive. People are really excited by the idea of something like this directly accessible with only a PS4. The reps themselves not being technically trained is probably due to the wide scale idea of what they're trying to do with it, get it to be an approachable technology that people are willing to try, rather than the deeper tech stuff.
It's unfortunate that any of the cleanliness stuff cropped up at all though, that's just a matter of individual reps, it seems. The store nearby my home store had a rep thoroughly cleaning the headset each time, so I think that's more selective situations. We seem to be getting really positive responses company wide from what I've seen in our gaming feedback from other supervisors. I think GearVR helped make people interested in this kind of thing, but having something more impressive and seemingly 'real deal' without the fuss of a gaming computer also seems to be appealing to folks.
Now I'll also clarify: That doesn't mean I assume mass adoption in the tens of millions, though that would be incredible. It's still several hundred dollars for a new platform accessory. Not something cheap. But who knows. This is the right way to get this kind of thing out there, is by actually showing it to people. The Deep demo is more convincing for non-gamer folks than most would believe, while EVE Valkyrie and RIGS are gospel for me after PSX last year.
Just my 2 cents. Don't worry so much. Your idea is noble, but also probably way more expensive than they would be willing to invest in for wide scale demonstrations across all of the country.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
It's surely not 'demoing very poorly".
I'm absolutely sure that even with a few critical testers (who probably already know about the whole thing in the first place) the overwhelming majority of them will go away from this very, very impressed. Same with the walk-by audience who just sees this thing at a glance.
This "tour" is such a smart move by Sony, and to put the focus on easyness, friendlyness and probably good-looking presenters instead of more of a technical presentation shows how easy and for-everyone this thing is. Come in, put on the headset, have fun. Even if there will be a small percentage of testers with issues, the fact alone that no minutes are wasted with strapping it on, newly focussing the lenses, having to properly place the thing, explaining the PC requirements in case people are interested (and having to do an optimistic calculation of the price, and the price of the PC you'd need for it).
While technically both Vive and Oculus are superior without a doubt, PSVR will be the VR device that sticks in kids' and parents' heads until christmas this year. It will be affordable and working, and also thanks to this tour, I think it will have a shitton more word of mouth in average households than its competitors. Exposure, price, catalogue and ease of use go a long way, I'd imagine.
Now I wrote way more than intended :/
I'm absolutely sure that even with a few critical testers (who probably already know about the whole thing in the first place) the overwhelming majority of them will go away from this very, very impressed. Same with the walk-by audience who just sees this thing at a glance.
This "tour" is such a smart move by Sony, and to put the focus on easyness, friendlyness and probably good-looking presenters instead of more of a technical presentation shows how easy and for-everyone this thing is. Come in, put on the headset, have fun. Even if there will be a small percentage of testers with issues, the fact alone that no minutes are wasted with strapping it on, newly focussing the lenses, having to properly place the thing, explaining the PC requirements in case people are interested (and having to do an optimistic calculation of the price, and the price of the PC you'd need for it).
While technically both Vive and Oculus are superior without a doubt, PSVR will be the VR device that sticks in kids' and parents' heads until christmas this year. It will be affordable and working, and also thanks to this tour, I think it will have a shitton more word of mouth in average households than its competitors. Exposure, price, catalogue and ease of use go a long way, I'd imagine.
Now I wrote way more than intended :/
Went to my local Best Buy to try it out before I went in to work today, but I got there a bit too late.
Also, don't mean to derail the thread with this story, but I want to hear a few people's opinions on my experience while I was in line. It was a very brief encounter, but here goes:
I arrived at Best Buy around 2:30. I work at 4, so I figured I probably wouldn't be able to try it out. Regardless, I stand in line and see how things go.
There's a group of three Hispanic people directly in front of me, with about ten people ahead of them.
I wait for about 20 minutes, and in that time, two people finish the demo and go about their day.
The rep moves on to the next person, then comes back to the line, and looks around.
He proceeds to ask who the last people who to receive tickets were.
The three people that were in front of me respond and tell him that they were the last to get tickets.
The rep says "Okay" then walks in my direction, goes past me, and stops a few feet away from me and the family who recently joined the line behind me.
He begins explaining that he gave out tickets for the rest of the evening, and anyone past that point wouldn't be able to play. Anyone who wanted to still try could come back earlier on other days.
It took him about 30 seconds or so to explain all of this to us.
Well... I say "us", but he didn't look at me once. The man was literally a few feet away from me, and I was listening intently to what he was saying, but he instead spoke with the family behind me. Afterwards, he quickly returned to his post.
I stood there a minute trying to figure out what could have made this man refrain from wanting to acknowledge my existence. I was wearing black cargo shorts and a Last of Us shirt. All I could turn to was racial bias. :/
I am a black man. The family behind me was all white.
Oh, and the rep was of a darker skin tone, as well. Looked like he could have also been Hispanic.
TL;DR - I went in to Best Buy to try the PSVR. Waited in line for a bit, then got completely ignored by the Sony rep when he came to speak with the people in the back of the line who wouldn't be able to try it out. I assume it was because of me being a black man.
I know this is a very insignificant encounter, and I won't let it deter me from going to try out the PSVR again, but it just made me feel uncomfortable.
I thought about starting a thread about this, but I didn't think it was worth starting new thread for.
Also, don't mean to derail the thread with this story, but I want to hear a few people's opinions on my experience while I was in line. It was a very brief encounter, but here goes:
I arrived at Best Buy around 2:30. I work at 4, so I figured I probably wouldn't be able to try it out. Regardless, I stand in line and see how things go.
There's a group of three Hispanic people directly in front of me, with about ten people ahead of them.
I wait for about 20 minutes, and in that time, two people finish the demo and go about their day.
The rep moves on to the next person, then comes back to the line, and looks around.
He proceeds to ask who the last people who to receive tickets were.
The three people that were in front of me respond and tell him that they were the last to get tickets.
The rep says "Okay" then walks in my direction, goes past me, and stops a few feet away from me and the family who recently joined the line behind me.
He begins explaining that he gave out tickets for the rest of the evening, and anyone past that point wouldn't be able to play. Anyone who wanted to still try could come back earlier on other days.
It took him about 30 seconds or so to explain all of this to us.
Well... I say "us", but he didn't look at me once. The man was literally a few feet away from me, and I was listening intently to what he was saying, but he instead spoke with the family behind me. Afterwards, he quickly returned to his post.
I stood there a minute trying to figure out what could have made this man refrain from wanting to acknowledge my existence. I was wearing black cargo shorts and a Last of Us shirt. All I could turn to was racial bias. :/
I am a black man. The family behind me was all white.
Oh, and the rep was of a darker skin tone, as well. Looked like he could have also been Hispanic.
TL;DR - I went in to Best Buy to try the PSVR. Waited in line for a bit, then got completely ignored by the Sony rep when he came to speak with the people in the back of the line who wouldn't be able to try it out. I assume it was because of me being a black man.
I know this is a very insignificant encounter, and I won't let it deter me from going to try out the PSVR again, but it just made me feel uncomfortable.
I thought about starting a thread about this, but I didn't think it was worth starting new thread for.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
I wasn't there ofc, but just from your explanation could it be that he intentionally made the "cut" behind you and in front of that family, so that you, theoretically, could have played if you'd have stayed? You being a single, interested guy whould wouldn't be hard to fit in in the time slot, and the family being expected to take a loong time?
I mean it kinda sounds like that from how you explained it, but of course I may be completely wrong.
No, the people in front of me had received tickets prior to my arrival. Sorry, I should have included that.
The message that he gave to the family behind me was also intended for me, but I wasn't acknowledged whatsoever during his entire time talking to them.
He went straight from talking to the people in front of me to talking to the family behind me.
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Well then nevermind my theory :/
fastest finger
Member
Here's a diagram showing the range of the camera when tracking the headset and controllers. Sitting too close with the DS4 too low would certainly cause an issue.
AltissimaRatio
Banned
Here's a diagram showing the range of the camera when tracking the headset and controllers. Sitting too close with the DS4 too low would certainly cause an issue.
That looks like the best Position for optimal Tracking is 2,80m - 3,0m away...
I doubt that the Length of the Cables allow comfortable Play at this distance. Have we knowledge ob the Cable lenght yet?
It should be fine, the cable length is 5 meters long.
fastest finger
Member
16ft, (or 4.88m) apparently.
http://community.us.playstation.com/t5/Consoles-Peripherals/VR-cables-length/td-p/45697108
AltissimaRatio
Banned
Thanks!
Gold_Loot
Member
This happened a few times at my location as well. The rep (who was pretty great) said it's a reminder notification that the demo is running and no one is using the controller.
You likely seen the symbol during the shark demo, or the Heist demo when nobody is using the ds4 . My rep said he just touches the controller once in a while to tell it someone is there.
Some people are just jerks. Hopefully it wasn't a race thing.
RedAssedApe
Banned
huh interesting. i guess just a coincidence then that all the random media i've seen of people playing psvr demos at various shows have been using move.
Thats pretty crazy. If anything you should be concerned about people getting sub-par experiences when using Gear VR and thinking it will be the same for real headsets, thus getting turned off from the VR concept.
Impressions are really positive so far (way more than I expected), and it is really good that Sony is willing to promote VR on this scale (to retail customers). Hopefully Oculus expands and Vive starts doing the same because more people should be able to experience this.
So far here in Eastern Europe I have seen Oculus on one game show and very few presentations anywhere else, and there was always such a low number of units that it was impossible to even wait in the line. They need to promote way more and in normal retail locations.
Move isnt required, so they are trying to make the package as accessible as possible.
It would be better IMHO that Move was required, but that would inch the price up.
Show up. Sign a sign-in sheet or grab a ticket and wait on the line.
googleplex
Member
I must have some at the right time because I didn't do any of that. I just go in line waited about 15 minutes. The Playstation Rep that helped me was very knowledgeable also. She showed me how to adjust the headset properly and how to find the sweet spot. Since their was no one else in line she let try another demo immediately afterwards. Of course when I came back to the real world there was were about 10 people lined up by then.
I haven't tried it (and won't try cause I'm not u the US) but I still have a pre-ordered scored from Amazon.
I have a question tho: realistically, what upgrades can we expect from running PSVR with the NEO? Can those problems almost everyone is reporting (IQ mostly, no super sampling, input lag on tracking) be solved by the Neo?
Thanks
I have a question tho: realistically, what upgrades can we expect from running PSVR with the NEO? Can those problems almost everyone is reporting (IQ mostly, no super sampling, input lag on tracking) be solved by the Neo?
Thanks
Expect resolutions closer to the display's native. Expect better or more AA, and perhaps slightly improved assets. Maybe it'll allow some games to run at a native 120fps
It can't fix issues that are tied to the headset's hardware limitations obviously, but perhaps those who are put off my the blurry image, will find a NEO mode, to be an acceptable improvement
googleplex
Member
If I had to guess? I would imagine that if a VR experience was running at 60fps and used reprojection to get to 120. The same game would probably run at 90 or 120 natively on Neo with more IQ and effects.
Pocky4Th3Win
Member
The rep is terrible. They are 3Rd party hired by a company called mosaic. The one scheduled fore my store showed up 30 mins late. They also really dont know anything other than howmto run it. We needed to help her plug it in correctly.
Gold_Loot
Member
I think EVE is the better game , but honestly, I had a better time with Baytlezone .. Could be because it was the second demo I tried and was able to relax and simply play it instead of trying to judge the hardware .
For me with vive, objects close up are very clear and compellingly solid and 3D. Way more so than I remember quake. But that rapidly falls off in the mid distance as objects dissolve into a mush of a few pixels. Not helped by the subpixel arrangement either.
googleplex
Member
Battle zone was a blast and gave me a chance to live out my childhood Tron fantasies. But the the Deep(shark) demo gave me the greatest sense of presence. It was Almost frightening how it tricked my Brain. I really wish I got a chance to play Eve though.