• 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.

PlayStation VR will be priced "not to make money from it " - Shuhei Yoshida

80$ games I call it. Fuck you if true.

Most of the VR games look like 15-20 dollar titles, which is a problem because retailers dont like that and Playstation desperately needs retailer help to sell VR. They need demo's set up with people there to help customers who want to try it out.
 
Most of the VR games look like 15-20 dollar titles, which is a problem because retailers dont like that and Playstation desperately needs retailer help to sell VR. They need demo's set up with people there to help customers who want to try it out.

Best Buy will be best for demos, Samsung has been demoing the Gear VR there for awhile now. I was thinking earlier how much a cluster fuck its likely going to be for most gamestops or other game retailers trying to cram in demo kiosks for psvr+oculus+vive, not to mention space for stock in general. Gonna be interesting to see how they handle it.
 

Kathian

Banned
When they say not making money from it this does not mean the cost of the actual hardware but the whole product in general. Which makes sense as their investing in future products in the same field with this.
 

eFKac

Member
Most of the VR games look like 15-20 dollar titles, which is a problem because retailers dont like that and Playstation desperately needs retailer help to sell VR. They need demo's set up with people there to help customers who want to try it out.

Yeah I imagine it may be quite a hurdle. Small amount of retail titles, more space than a normal demo kiosk needed, plus people who would manage the area - getting it on your head, cables, etc.

They need to sort it out though, since seeing it vs experiencing it isn't even close.
 
When they say not making money from it this does not mean the cost of the actual hardware but the whole product in general. Which makes sense as their investing in future products in the same field with this.

They arent making abunch of profit off of the hardware. They of course want to make money off of the games.
 
I imagine VR games are going to be significantly cheaper to make actually. Because of the hardware requirements for framerates, developers actually can't spend so much time packing scenes full of robust assets, and the things that are super important for a good looking image on a traditional set are mostly meaningless in VR.
 
They need to sort it out though, since seeing it vs experiencing it isn't even close.
Exactly, when Nintendo launched the Wii they made sure there were tons of ways to try it out beforehand, and that worked out great for them. VR really needs to be experienced to believe in it, I've seen utter skeptics become believers after a 2 minute demo., and that with the old Oculus DK1.
 

Fat4all

Banned
I expect most VR games to be small downloadable titles for $19-29, with the rare occasional large-scale VR game for $39-$59.
 

Alexlf

Member
I'm less concerned about the hardware price, more-so the software. I'm betting minimum $60, even for the shorter games. Hope I'm wrong though.
 

Stanng243

Member
I'm less concerned about the hardware price, more-so the software. I'm betting minimum $60, even for the shorter games. Hope I'm wrong though.

Aren't some of the games getting released first, and getting a VR patch later? I don't see them pricing excessively for games like that.
 
I'm less concerned about the hardware price, more-so the software. I'm betting minimum $60, even for the shorter games. Hope I'm wrong though.

Nah, they'd be shooting themselves in the foot if they did that with such short experiences+mini game type titles (the majority announced so far). I feel the dk1+dk2 and the indie scene that's been building around those have set a precedent in regards to pricing, there's already about a dozen or so games on Steam made from the ground up for VR and they're almost all priced between $10-30. I just don't see Sony slapping regular game pricing on these unless they're meatier experiences.
 

Alexlf

Member
Aren't some of the games getting released first, and getting a VR patch later? I don't see them pricing excessively for games like that.

Highly unlikely. The first batch of VR games have so far been extremely forgiving in terms of assets.

Ah, I should add I'm in Canada, so around $45 US was my guess. I see them really wanting to make their money back and a relativity low selection of games limiting the amount of money they can make leading to higher prices.

The disparity in Canadian/US prices still feels odd to me.
 
Ah, I should add I'm in Canada, so around $45 US was my guess. I see them really wanting to make their money back and a relativity low selection of games limiting the amount of money they can make leading to higher prices.

The disparity in Canadian/US prices still feels odd to me.

Well this is going to sound crazy, but making games with higher framerates is probably a lot cheaper than making them at 30 for example. Developers tend to try to take advantage of the extra frame time by filling / utilizing it, more characters on scene, more A.I. opponents, denser locations, more robust lighting engines, etc etc etc.

Paired with the fact that nearly every middleware engine is compatible with VR now, making games in general has never been more approachable.

Plus you also have to consider, when making a non-vr game. It's important for the scene to appear interesting. So devs will put in more explosions, more elaborate set pieces, and things of that nature. VR will make the more minute things far more interesting. People will spend more time looking at what's around them, and the speed of most games is going to be less spastic.
 

Alexlf

Member
Well this is going to sound crazy, but making games with higher framerates is probably a lot cheaper than making them at 30 for example. Developers tend to try to take advantage of the extra frame time by filling / utilizing it, more characters on scene, more A.I. opponents, denser locations, more robust lighting engines, etc etc etc.

Paired with the fact that nearly every middleware engine is compatible with VR now, making games in general has never been more approachable.

Plus you also have to consider, when making a non-vr game. It's important for the scene to appear interesting. So devs will put in more explosions, more elaborate set pieces, and things of that nature. VR will make the more minute things far more interesting. People will spend more time looking at what's around them, and the speed of most games is going to be less spastic.

I absolutely understand it might be cheaper to produce, my question is the amount Sony will pump up the price to cover development costs in addition to "buffer" they'll likely want to have in case they only sell a few copies and it doesn't take off. (Not that I'm saying it won't take off, but they need to plan for the scenario as a business).
 

cakefoo

Member
Ah, I should add I'm in Canada, so around $45 US was my guess. I see them really wanting to make their money back and a relativity low selection of games limiting the amount of money they can make leading to higher prices.

The disparity in Canadian/US prices still feels odd to me.
I think VR games will be priced fairly. Did PS3 games cost more than 360 games at launch when Sony was losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold? No. Longterm public perception is more important to Sony than short-term gains.
 

Alexlf

Member
I think VR games will be priced fairly. Did PS3 games cost more than 360 games at launch when Sony was losing hundreds of dollars on every console sold? No. Longterm public perception is more important to Sony than short-term gains.

The difference there is that there's no standard price for VR games yet, where as publishers basicly decided the price of the gen before it even happened. I agree that perception is very important, but I'd be very surprised if Sony did sell them for <$30 as they are already selling the device at cost and need to make money somehow to keep shareholders etc happy.

More than willing (and wanting) to eat my words though lol.
 

Shoeless

Member
I expect we'll actually see a pretty broad range of prices on VR games right out of the gate. There seems to be an understanding (at least with the current tech) that shorter experiences may be better, especially for games with a lot of motion in them. There's also the learning curve on this so I think AAA "full length" VR games that go on for 8 hours or more will be the exception in the beginning, rather than the rule.

I think most of the VR games will more of the party game/demo variety, things that you can quickly try in a few minutes, rather than commit to hour+ long play continuous play sessions. So we're likely to see pricing appropriate to that.
 
I don't expect the prices to be different from non VR games. GT Sport will support VR, but why would someone without a PSVR set pay more for it? I think people are really underestimating Sony's approach here, I'm pretty sure they are going in with the same 'marathon, not a sprint' mentality as they did with the PS4 itself. If the PSVR experience is compelling people will be buying more games, even if just for the novelty of it.
 
Arrogant Sony will make a return?
Naughty Dog greed will be out of control again?
Will you hit giant enemy crabs for massive damage again?
Who knows
 

BriGuy

Member
I'm tempted to pick one of these up sight-unseen. I've been chasing another Mario 64 moment for almost 20 years now. I want to be blown away again :(
 
I'm tempted to pick one of these up sight-unseen. I've been chasing another Mario 64 moment for almost 20 years now. I want to be blown away again :(

They haven't officially commented if Dreams is going to support VR just for the sculpting or the whole game, but I have a feeling Dreams in VR is going to be that Mario 64 moment for me.
 
They haven't officially commented if Dreams is going to support VR just for the sculpting or the whole game, but I have a feeling Dreams in VR is going to be that Mario 64 moment for me.

I had a few Mario 64 moments with just the first oculus dk. Sonic Generations using injected driver support and Minecraft in VR were the big ones. Just an incredible feeling that really has the power to instill that same kind of wonder early 3d games like Mario 64 did. This first gen of VR is gonna be so exciting.
 

Crayon

Member
There's no reason to be expecting high software prices. They'll make money by producing and selling more software. Not by jacking up the price. It's been apparent for awhile no that games can make money by offering dlc or hats on the backend. The fear of 80 dollar games, or 60 dollar small scale games, or a 30 dollar minimum for games is unfounded. Honestly it appears to be just grasping at straws. Trying to find a reason for this to fail.
 

blacklotus

Member
Sounds awesome.

It was. But i just opened the premium box of The Order... and... it's actually only the statue of the ultra rare Blacksight endless fight edition...

Just went balistic here. Amazing.


More on topic... after yesterday i find myself craving some more VR experience. Really stoked.
 
It was. But i just opened the premium box of The Order... and... it's actually only the statue of the ultra rare Blacksight endless fight edition...

Just went balistic here. Amazing.


More on topic... after yesterday i find myself craving some more VR experience. Really stoked.

Good to hear. Can you tell a bit more about your PSVR experience, especially about the quality of the screen/image and the amount of presence you experienced?
 

10k

Banned
Whatever its final price is going to be I predict it will be $50 higher than what you all want it to be.
 

DieH@rd

Banned
Just tried this today. Sony took me to the Lisbon Games Week and it's simply amazing.
The amount of fun i had trying a London Heist segment was unbelievable.
Went in thinking "this is just another bad gameplay gimick hardware" and left trying to find ways to explain this next purchase to my wife.


Amazing.



...in the end they took me to the headquarters and gave me a The Order 1886 Premium edition, and a spare boxed Vigilante Edition of Watchdogs, which was given by Ubisoft to them.

Good times.

This impression does not count. You were bribed! :D
 

EvB

Member
Just tried this today. Sony took me to the Lisbon Games Week and it's simply amazing.
The amount of fun i had trying a London Heist segment was unbelievable.
Went in thinking "this is just another bad gameplay gimick hardware" and left trying to find ways to explain this next purchase to my wife.


Amazing.



...in the end they took me to the headquarters and gave me a The Order 1886 Premium edition, and a spare boxed Vigilante Edition of Watchdogs, which was given by Ubisoft to them.

Good times.

Moneyhatted!
 
You are delusional.
only delusional people are those who think Sony will price this higher than the PS4 itself, they know that would be sending it to die

will this be target 30 or locked 60fps
for VR content even 60fps is too low (causes sickness), Sony can sort of get away because of the reprojection to 120fps, but no VR game should target anything less than solid 60 fps (without drops)
 

DavidDesu

Member
I imagine VR games are going to be significantly cheaper to make actually. Because of the hardware requirements for framerates, developers actually can't spend so much time packing scenes full of robust assets, and the things that are super important for a good looking image on a traditional set are mostly meaningless in VR.

I think this is right. I expect extra development costs just from testing different things out will add on a bit at this stage, but yeah it's creating assets in large amounts that cost developers money. Saying that, assets the player will get close up with will need to be more detailed, generally speaking. Swings and roundabouts at this stage I guess but no reason why VR games will be any more expensive, hour for hour than traditional games, and indeed ultimately likely to be cheaper.

I see most of the game pricing rivaling the indie scene. I don't think there's too many VR exclusive games that will warrant a full price tag. Maybe Rigs, though I half expect at least one decent game might come packed in with the headset and it could be Rigs. After all it is a good example of the new types of gaming available in VR, and is of course high quality AND a genuine "game" that could be played for lengths of time rather than 5 minute sequences...
 

cakefoo

Member
will this be target 30 or locked 60fps
Games can target 60, 90 or 120fps.

For 60fps games: The framerate gets converted to 120fps by drawing a fake frame in-between each real frame, doubling the smoothness. The only reason people don't like this on their TVs is because it makes movies look more like live TV, and has noticeable glitches because it has to draw 4 extra frames for every 1 native frame, whereas PSVR only has to draw 1.

Headtracking data will report back at the full 120hz by digitally panning the view every other frame.

Sounds iffy on paper but I've yet to hear a negative impression about the responsiveness and fluidity. :)
 

blacklotus

Member
Good to hear. Can you tell a bit more about your PSVR experience, especially about the quality of the screen/image and the amount of presence you experienced?

The imersion/presence is astounding. The only thing the experience lacked was a higher volume on the headset that was being used. It seemed like you were really inside of the truck and everything was real. The demo we played - London Heist - and the scene that was displayed, is actually made for you to "explore" the whole of the "cockpit" of the truck.

It was simply incredible - for me at least - to reach out to my door, open it, and than just get my head out of the truck and look back. I did that, and actually fired backwards.
Picking up a soda, opening of the dashboard, interacting with the driver, etc. Amazing.

On the other demo, that i didn't try, and it's a shooting section with cover, some guy, after getting a bit tired of crouching, actually tried to lean against a table (in the game...) and almost fell.

Graphics wise, i think it was pretty good. But i'm not a graphics guy, so. A collegue said the experience with benefit of using 8K screen on the glasses - dunno if this is acurate tech wise, but it's what he said. You could notice pixels. Dunno if that's a deal breaker for other people.
It was more than fine for me.

Another collegue, playing the shooting section, almost got out of the stand because the game area was so big. On of the stewards had to stop him. It was hilarious.

The reactions when people dropped the VR were simply amazing, and i have no idea how Sony wasn't videoing all those reactions for social media. Great publicity it would be.

About the bribe/moneyhat: :D Dunno how it is in other countries, but in Portugal, if you work for a strong store and you make a bit of a name for yourself in retail/sales, you stop paying for games...
 
nah they need to put this device into every Wal-Mart and Best Buy in the country and let people try it out walled off from the rest of the store so they don't feel foolish while using it.....

Word of mouth will spread.

As would contagious skin diseases. You just know they won't clean it every time!!
 
It'll be as cheap as all the rest of the ps4 peripherals are,considering.

I mean, they really aren't making any profit out of those either.



LOL.
 
The imersion/presence is astounding. The only thing the experience lacked was a higher volume on the headset that was being used. It seemed like you were really inside of the truck and everything was real. The demo we played - London Heist - and the scene that was displayed, is actually made for you to "explore" the whole of the "cockpit" of the truck.

It was simply incredible - for me at least - to reach out to my door, open it, and than just get my head out of the truck and look back. I did that, and actually fired backwards.
Picking up a soda, opening of the dashboard, interacting with the driver, etc. Amazing.

On the other demo, that i didn't try, and it's a shooting section with cover, some guy, after getting a bit tired of crouching, actually tried to lean against a table (in the game...) and almost fell.

Graphics wise, i think it was pretty good. But i'm not a graphics guy, so. A collegue said the experience with benefit of using 8K screen on the glasses - dunno if this is acurate tech wise, but it's what he said. You could notice pixels. Dunno if that's a deal breaker for other people.
It was more than fine for me.

Another collegue, playing the shooting section, almost got out of the stand because the game area was so big. On of the stewards had to stop him. It was hilarious.

The reactions when people dropped the VR were simply amazing, and i have no idea how Sony wasn't videoing all those reactions for social media. Great publicity it would be.

About the bribe/moneyhat: :D Dunno how it is in other countries, but in Portugal, if you work for a strong store and you make a bit of a name for yourself in retail/sales, you stop paying for games...

Sounds good, can't wait to try PSVR for myself.
 
Top Bottom