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[ArtHands]

Shuhei Yoshida: "I'm Sorry I Was Wrong" About PS VR2

Former head of PlayStation Studios Shuhei Yoshida is "sorry" for being wrong about PlayStation VR2, though described his work on the original as "the most fun I had".

www.uploadvr.com

On Thursday, Yoshida appeared on the Kinda Funny Gamescast for a two hour interview, his first since retiring from Sony. Near the end of the interview, the host Greg Miller asked Yoshida the direct question: "What happened with PS VR2, Shu?", prompting his "Let's move on" reply.

Shuhei Yoshida:
"PS VR was the most fun I had, personally."

Greg Miller:
"Why?"

Shuhei Yoshida:
"Well, you know, that's another one of collaboration between the game team and hardware team. It was Santa Monica Studios, you know, the God War team in PS3 days, they customized the PS3 God War, and they put PS Move on to the video viewer, and created a headset, you know, a VR headset. And they put me [in the headset]. I was Kratos. That really amazed me. So it led to the idea: the PS4 generation, we can do proper VR. So that idea came from the studio side and the hardware team loved [it] as well. And I was one of the internal leads as an executive lead with the other head and myself leading the project internally, and I got to announce the project at GDC."

Greg Miller:
"I remember that. I still talk about that all the time. Whenever we talk about VR, you coming on the GDC show and talking about 'look, this is, we are at PlayStation 1 again, we are starting from scratch'."

Shuhei Yoshida:
"I'm sorry I was wrong - PS VR2 didn't become PS2."

Greg Miller:
"What happened with PS VR2, Shu?"

Shuhei Yoshida:
"Uh, well.... let's move on."

Shortly after, Miller asked Yoshida what words PlayStation VR2 brought to mind, as he had been asking him about other PlayStation hardware. Here's how Yoshida responded to that:

Shuhei Yoshida:
"Two games. I super, super love, Synapse, and Before Your Eyes. These are two amazing, amazing games I want everyone to try if you have a PS VR2. I remember that especially Before Your Eyes hit you too, right?"

Greg Miller:
"Oh yeah, I was sobbing!"

Shuhei Yoshida:
"Me too. You know, I had tears in my eyes playing games only twice in my life. The first time was Journey, and the second time was Before Your Eyes. It's an amazing, amazing story."

Greg Miller:
"Totally, yeah, 100%."

 

[Skyfox]

The only game I wanted to buy a psvr 2 for (the Alien one) was infected by DEI.

Otherwise I'd be playing it right now and Sony and the alien game publisher would have my nice cash.

 

[Dick Jones]

Before Your Eyes is probably the only game I had tears afterwards. That ending...fuck.

The other one that would have been close was the start of The Last of Us. The death of a child wasn't expected so I was genuinely shocked.

 

[Nankatsu]

Is Shu out for blood?

Without being completely direct, kind of reads that he is trying to expose wounds. Sony's multiple wounds.

First by pointing out the shitty first party approach Sony's been doing, now this.

 

[Mr Moose]

All of these threads are from the same source (Kinda Funny video)?

 

[Zathalus]

PSVR2 is a great headset marred by two issues right now. The price (it sells well when the price is discounted to $399 or lower), and a lot of the great VR games are simply not available for it, unless you hook it up to PC.

 

[Ceadeus]

I wish he gave a legit answer for a legit question. What happened?

I never seen Sony gave up that early before.

 

[Chairman Yang]

It's depressing. The hardware was great but the software support from Sony was far below PSVR1's. If Meta Quest continues to gain steam this might be seen as one of Sony's big blunders.

 

[Three]

It's depressing. The hardware was great but the software support from Sony was far below PSVR1's. If Meta Quest continues to gain steam this might be seen as one of Sony's big blunders.

Meta has been losing billions on its VR department and shuttering studios.

 

[GoldenEye98]

VR will never used for the vast majority of gaming imo. The non-realistic speeds and movement in games make it a non-starter. The "Reality" in Virtual Reality is a bug not a feature.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Should've made a new handheld instead. Suits them right being trend chasing bitches.

 

[Chukhopops]

Tbh PSVR2 was blunder after blunder from the very first announcement, Sony really didn't help it succeed.

I hope Valve releases a new headset soon so Meta at least has a bit of competition in the PCVR space.

 

[Sebastian1295]

Ohh look OP with another negative sony post and the 5th one he's posted in like 2 days. Checking his comment history you can see he's a clear troll with an agenda.

 

[drganon]

Ohh look OP with another negative sony post and the 5th one he's posted in like 2 days. Checking his comment history you can see he's a clear troll with an agenda.

No idea why he hasn't been banned yet. As moose pointed out, he's spamming threads based off the same interview.

 

[reinking]

All of these threads are from the same source (Kinda Funny video)?

 

[PanzerCute]

PSVR2 is the only highlight of this (shitty) gen to me. That does not remove the fact that the price is indeed too high and that Sony does not care enough about it, but I am having a blast with it and have a shit ton of games to play (way more than PSVR)

 

[Kacho]

Doesn't matter how good the tech is. People just don't care about VR.

 

[SkylineRKR]

What happened to PSVR2 is really sad. If i had the support PSVR1 enjoyed, I would've bought it at launch even. It does everything better than PSVR 1 which was a nightmare to hook up esp. with my HDR TV (I went with a splitter) not to mention the fucking camera.

But Sony got the hardware right this time, and then just dropped the ball on it. All they had to do was make it compatible with PSVR1 games, I might've bought it for Wipeout, Astro Bot and Battlezone as well which I all really liked.

 

[adamsapple]

Shu, you gossiping bitch, dish all the dirt out.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I think a lot of commentary on PSVR2 comes from people with no real interest in it, but opine none the less.

The popular refrain is that it doesn't have games, but it actually has 257 games released in just two years.

I think the reason why the PSVR2 didn't gain greater appeal was the price. I think Sony wasn't willing to sell it at a loss like Meta does the Quest. It's a side project rather than a main business function.

That combined with not being wireless and being largely tethered to needing either a PS5 or a PC capable of running it, the marketbase is extremely limited.

We'll see what Sony does with VR moving forward. I think the Quest 3 really provides a clear path for what Sony should be doing with the PSVR2. They should put out a wireless revision and perhaps even a standalone revision.

Personally, I'd buy one if it was cheaper, wireless, and had an Ace Combat game. An Everyone's Golf VR would be a nice addition as well.

 

[TheGodfather07]

It was always gonna be a hard sell when VR needs time for you to adjust so you don't feel like shit while playing. VR itself is mind-blowing though. To literally be in the game itself is some futuristic Sci fi shit. Makes you feel like a kid again and wonder what the future holds.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Ohh look OP with another negative sony post and the 5th one he's posted in like 2 days. Checking his comment history you can see he's a clear troll with an agenda.

He's either a troll or Shuhei Yoshida's Gaf account

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

I love my PS VR 2... But we need different experiences... I am a Gamer with exquisite tastes and I think it is a Great device... But there must be more support.

 

[darthvargi]

VR will never used for the vast majority of gaming imo. The non-realistic speeds and movement in games make it a non-starter. The "Reality" in Virtual Reality is a bug not a feature.

I play plenty of games that move unnaturally fast in VR and I don't have an issue. I've been recently playing a game called Into Black on Q3 and you can move and jump ridiculously fast and high. In fact I prefer that over teleportation for locomotion. To add another example there are VR mods for the original Doom and Quake 3 that move really fast and again I love it
I do get where you're going though. Until you develop VR legs those kind of games are a recipe for headaches and nausea. When I first got into VR at the PSVR 1 launch I bought Rigs which is an awesome mech arena game but man was it a bad first experience. I was amazed but also sick. There was a game in VR Worlds which also was rough for day one VR users if I recall. I stuck with it and overcame motion sickness but many would not.

 

[Chairman Yang]

Meta has been losing billions on its VR department and shuttering studios.

Yes, but Meta's also increasing its revenue and expanding its audience; the Meta Quest 3S was the best-selling console recently, right? VR is viewed as a long-term investment in the company and something that will make money in the long run.

 

[Ozriel]

Ohh look OP with another negative sony post and the 5th one he's posted in like 2 days. Checking his comment history you can see he's a clear troll with an agenda.

No idea why he hasn't been banned yet. As moose pointed out, he's spamming threads based off the same interview.

But the entire thread in the OP is posted verbatim from an article in UploadVR. No editorials from OP. His previous thread was based off a different article.

So yes, you might feel he's seeking out negative stories to post…but that's not bannable here.

 

[Ozriel]

Meta has been losing billions on its VR department and shuttering studios.

Losing billions on their Metaverse aspirations. Not really fair to pin that on the Quest.

The hardware itself is probably breaking even now they're selling the Quest 3 at a higher price, and introduced a lower priced Quest 3S.

They've closed studios, but are still financing exclusive content like the recent Batman game that's winning VR GOTY awards. Looks like they're still investing in content, while avoiding the overhead of running studios.

 

[Unknown?]

Should've made a new handheld instead. Suits them right being trend chasing bitches.

Nah VR > handheld.

Also Vita was trend chasing at the time and going handheld now would be chasing trends with all of these handhelds being released.

 

[consoul]

Shu feels bad that a technology he's very passionate about and has been championing for years isn't doing as well as he'd like.

He's not sorry that PSVR2 exists. In context, he's clearly saying he's sorry that PSVR2 was not a runaway success like PS2 was.

 

[GHG]

Now imagine they had rediverted all that GAAS money in to developing games for VR.

Because that's what it will require for VR to go to the next level in terms of adoption, a company to take risks and really invest in games for the platform.

 

[StereoVsn]

Meta has been losing billions on its VR department and shuttering studios.

And Zuck can afford to burn $billions on Quest a year. Sony can't do that.

 

[Negotiator]

It was always DOA @ 599 (I've been saying this since the price was announced).

Too bad blind VR fanboys didn't understand it... hell, I remember people saying it would be "cheaper" due to lack of external unit (compared to PSVR1).

And before you say anything, I bought it last year for 399 (the price it should have been from the get-go).

I don't expect PSVR3 for PS6. No reason at all. It would sell even less than XBOX.

We'll be lucky if they plan to support PSVR2 on PS6, even if it's just for PS5 BC.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

My son loved Synapse. Never played it but it seemed very cool.

.

 

[DeepEnigma]

It's fantastic and worth every penny for GT7 alone. Can't say it enough.

And there's tons of amazing 3rd party games that I'm still not close to chipping away at.

 

[trikster40]

The only game I wanted to buy a psvr 2 for (the Alien one) was infected by DEI.

Otherwise I'd be playing it right now and Sony and the alien game publisher would have my nice cash.

Infected by DEI? I've played it quite a bit and haven't seen anything. What things are you reading about?

 

[Unknown?]

It was always DOA @ 599 (I've been saying this since the price was announced).

Too bad blind VR fanboys didn't understand it... hell, I remember people saying it would be "cheaper" due to lack of external unit (compared to PSVR1).

And before you say anything, I bought it last year for 399 (the price it should have been from the get-go).

I don't expect PSVR3 for PS6. No reason at all. It would sell even less than XBOX.

We'll be lucky if they plan to support PSVR2 on PS6, even if it's just for PS5 BC.

On the other hand, $549 is cheaper than the first. PSVR1 was $399 with no controllers. That was $99 more making it $499. Then it also required a $60 camera which it didn't have at first either, making it $459.

 

[Negotiator]

On the other hand, $549 is cheaper than the first. PSVR1 was $399 with no controllers. That was $99 more making it $499. Then it also required a $60 camera which it didn't have at first either, making it $459.

It wasn't cheaper for me, because I already had the PS Move controllers from the PS3 era and the PS4 camera.

I bought PSVR1 day 1, but not PSVR2.

Friends kept asking me if they should buy PSVR2 and I told them to avoid it until a price drop.

You realize Sony lost sales that way, right?

 

[LordOcidax]

VR is only good for two things for a long term usage… Racing simulators and Flight Simulators, if you are not a hardcore fan those, your VR is going to be a dust collector really fast. I like both genrers but i am not considered myself a hardcore fan, i bought the Quest 2 and the PSVR2 and end up using it more for virtual tours on YT, after that i end up selling both. I understood that the VR is not for me, i prefer simple things.

 

[Unknown?]

It wasn't cheaper for me, because I already had the PS Move controllers from the PS3 era and the PS4 camera.

I bought PSVR1 day 1, but not PSVR2.

Friends kept asking me if they should buy PSVR2 and I told them to avoid it until a price drop.

You realize Sony lost sales that way, right?

Same here but we were in the minority. I'm not saying it was worth the high price, just that it was comparable for WAY better hardware. Moves were trash for VR and never should have been used.

I got it on sale for $350 and that is where it was worth it IMO.

 

[M1chl]

Doesn't matter how good the tech is. People just don't care about VR.

I don't think that's true. If there would be games in grade of Alien Isolation VR, Half Life Alyx, I think way more people would be interested.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Idk why anyone would trust Sony to support a secondary platform at this point.

 

[Negotiator]

Same here but we were in the minority. I'm not saying it was worth the high price, just that it was comparable for WAY better hardware. Moves were trash for VR and never should have been used.

I got it on sale for $350 and that is where it was worth it IMO.

If you study the internals of both controller types, you'll find out the PSVR2 controllers cost a lot less... it doesn't matter if they're more accurate. They're very cheap (smaller battery too) compared to PS Move ones.

And I won't even mention it's not possible to buy replacements if they break down (unlike PS Move)... you have to buy a whole new headset. Total dick move.

I would consider buying PSVR2 day 1 only if it had offered PSVR1 BC (this would have been possible if the headset had PSVR1 LEDs for tracking by the PS4 camera). We're talking about $5 more. They cheaped out.

Either way, we can both agree the free market has decided what's the right price for PSVR2.

I don't expect much support for Sony. In fact I expect more support on PC by 3rd party devs (which means less money for Sony/PS store and more money for Steam/Valve). It's their loss, not mine.

I even bought Half Life Alyx on Steam, since I'm tired of waiting for a PS5 release (and I would prefer it there due to haptics & HDR).

 

[poppabk]

Meta has been losing billions on its VR department and shuttering studios.

Not on gaming though I would bet. The metaverse, the virtual office, the face scanning stuff, the next next gen hardware - that's where they have burned billions.

 

[Fafalada]

I would consider buying PSVR2 day 1 only if it had offered PSVR1 BC

Yea this was a major miss for me also. Well that and the fact they refuse to port the best of PSVR back catalogue - leaving some exclusives permanently stuck to the first PSVR (they don't have ports anywhere else either).

(this would have been possible if the headset had PSVR1 LEDs for tracking by the PS4 camera). We're talking about $5 more. They cheaped out.

I am not saying they didn't cheap out - but that also wasn't what stopped it, they never needed to make it work with original camera for BC.

 

[Neff]

1) No backwards compatibility
2) In light of 1, minimum effort spent porting PSVR1's library
3) No actual games I want

 

[CLW]

VR will NEVER become mainstream way to play games

 

[Three]

Not on gaming though I would bet. The metaverse, the virtual office, the face scanning stuff, the next next gen hardware - that's where they have burned billions.

I don't even know what it's losing upwards of $10B on almost every year. They must have racked up $30B+ worth of losses by now. That's an obscene amount of money to be losing. All I know is that if those game studios were making money they wouldn't be getting shuttered so they're likely to blame in part too.

 

[SweetTooth]

Don't apologize Shu. You created one fine piece of kit, it didn't pan out commercially but for us fans it was revolutionary and we had amazing times using it.

Thank you Shu for everything.

 

[Majima Everywhere System]

PSVR2 is good for Gran Turismo 7, unlike Shuhei Yoshida, who is good for nothing.

 

[intheinbetween]

Too expensive, system dependent, wired, non backwards compatible, poor line-up and library, so yep it was pretty much DOA