PS4 TECHNOHAT REPORTAGE.
So instead of talking mindless drivel about something I know nothing about, now I can talk mindless drivel about something I know a bit about - huzzah!
Two of us popped round to our VR-enabled chum after work today to have a go on his PSVR, we divided Matrix-esque VR immersion between the two of us, with our gracious host acting as our guide through the experiences/games and also providing a posh fizzy orange drink that I think was called Pelligrino and is fancier than anything I would tend to have in the house, and came in a nice can with a foil lid on it.
He is also very good at getting the headset in place properly, providing the earphones once the headset is in place, handing over the pad (which at this point you can't see), and suchlike, which whilst not particularly onerous could be a bit of a faff to start with if it was just you doing it.
I should note that he has a pretty much perfect VR setup, in a dedicated games room, with a nice gaming chair in the centre of the room with decent clearance all round, the camera positioned perfectly on a monitor, and he's done some sensible cable routing so you can kind of spin around a bit and even do some movement on the floor (whilst sat in the chair) without any issue. He's also got a ceiling fan just above the chair to keep you cool as it does get quite hot with the headset on.
As such your mileage may vary if you're in a less optimal scenario.
VR REPORT FIRST THING, THE DEEP:
So we both had a run through this diving experience called 'THE DEEP', it's entirely non-interactive and is designed to be a 'WOW ZOMG' VR introduction piece, you're basically just in a diving cage contraption and descend from the surface of the sea through a couple of 'levels' to what lies at the bottom, there's a well acted voiceover track and plenty of stuff going on.
ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
SHARK ATTACK at the end!
This was very impressive and we both loved it, when the diving cage starts descending you really do feel like you're descending as well, and I just wanted to reach out and touch the control panel of the cage as it felt like it was right there in front of me.
It's a bit weird as you have no appendages so you're sort of like a disembodied soul in the cage, but that didn't spoil things for either of us - the way you can genuinely look around you and track things is quite something.
The surprise bit (spoilered above if you want to see what it is) was kind of expected anyway, but still worked very well, on top of that I did THE DEEP second so had watched it all already on the monitor that mirrors what the VR person sees, but nonetheless had instinctive reactions of recoiling and dodging to what my brain was telling me was happening.
Would you want to go through it more than once? Probably not, but as an introduction to what VR can feel like it worked splendidly. I would give this a very big thumbs-up.
SECOND THING, EVE VALKYRIE:
I didn't have a go on this but I am told it worked well and was pretty effective. It looked fine on the monitor (which does nothing to convey the VR-ness of the experience, as watching and experiencing THE DEEP were two massively different things) and my mate enjoyed it well enough but wasn't really blown away by it, as he got up he said he did feel ever so slightly woozy as well. He also had to leave at this point as he had a badminton match to get to.
The VR-owning chap says he's had a reasonable amount of fun with it, although it's quite limited as a game and the arenas seem very small, and about 30 minutes at a time max is enough.
THIRD THING, SCAVENGER'S ODYSSEY:
I was interested in this one as our host had reported he lasted about 10 minutes before having to give up as he felt like puking, I managed better than that and did the first two chapters, but by the end of that time I was genuinely glad to get the headset off and call it quits as nausea was most definitely setting in.
It was OK to start with but once it started doing the more freaky jumps and inversions a somewhat unpleasant feeling descended on me which only got worse, to the extent that I really didn't want to try anything else once I'd taken the headset off. This nauseous feeling persisted for most of the 25 mile drive home, and I didn't even stop for a drive-through McDonald's in Douglas and that's SERIOUS SHIT as I fucking love McDonald's and eating two cheeseburgers and a large fries is a match made in heaven when you've got an automatic car so only need one hand.
It was a pretty crap game too likes, but I guess that's not the point at this stage of the VR cycle.
OVERALL:
It's impressive tech for sure, however I remain unconvinced that in its current iteration it's going to be a commercial hit. To me it's more like a fun fair than a telly at home, y'know, everyone likes to go to the fun fair once in a while but most of the time you just want to watch telly or read a book or play on a normal computer or mobile device or whatever.
The chap himself says an hour is generally about the limit for wanting to wear the headset, even from a basic comfort perspective (weight, heat, trapped by wires, and you don't just slip the headset on and off, it requires adjusting into place every time as it 'snaps back' when it's taken off), and that's before you get onto the issues of even the 'non woozy inducing' stuff starting to do woozy stuff after a while.
Graphics/framerate/immersion seemed fine to me, you don't have to look too closely to see the graininess, and I believe it uses some sort of 'cheaty 45FPS' to give a 90FPS impression or something, maybe that doesn't help with the nausea aspect - but the technical side of it all I had no complaints with at all.
Don't get me wrong here, it was great fun and I enjoyed having a play with it, and when we've got the board games night next month I'm sure we'll all be rotating out into VR world for a bit, but on the 'visit to the fun fair' basis rather than 'I must buy one of these for myself'.
We all agreed that the tech needs to go totally wireless, be a lot lighter, and generally just be a lot easier to use if it's going to get mainstream traction. Personally I think it's borderline even then but it'd definitely give it a fighting chance.
Excellent entertainment, would try again, but ain't buying one as it is now.
Here is my chum being all ZOMG AMAZEBALLS THE DEEP.
Attachment:
wowvr.JPG