Shortly after making this thread, a friend mentioned that those headsets sometimes show up in Japanese Retro Shops/on Yahoo Auction and helped me buy one for around $80. The supported games are still pretty cheap as well, most cost $5-15. Only the train conductor game/video disc (Train Simulator Real THE 京浜急行
is around $80-100.
The headset is connected to the control box via one cable. The control box gets video&sound from the PS2 via Composite Cable (via an adapter) and the tracking data is transmitted from the control box to your PS2 via USB. The control box also needs a separate power cable.
The PUD-J5A itself is a lightweight device with “futuristic” design and it gives you a couple of options to adjusted the headset until it sits very comfortably on your head. The headphones sound like a pair of decent over-ear stereo headphones (note: The unit I bought didn’t come with ear-pads, looks like those are gone on most used headsets these days). There’s an official logo for the PUD-J5A and its head tracking functions.
The 2D screens are better than I expected even if colors are a bit washed out. They don’t engulf your whole field of view; I’d compare the experience to looking through a 40-50” 2D TV that’s maybe 1.5m away from you. The on-screen image reacts to the movements of your head which creates a slight sense of depth even without 3D visuals. The resolution is adequate for playing games, but it can be tough to make out smaller Kanji.
Head tracking is not bad for
inside-out only tracking a device from 2002, but you notice a slight lag between head movements and what happens on-screen. I only got tracking problems when I turned my head around more than 180°. Tbh, I expected the experience to be much worse than it actually is. Using the PUD-J5A didn’t give me headaches or make me sick. And you can always reset the tracking via a button on the left side of the headset.
I’ve tried 4 games so far and the set-up is easier than I expected. The headset is automatically recognized by the game and you don’t have to tinker around in the settings at all. Headset support is mentioned on some game boxes, but not with the official PUD-J5A logo. 1-2 pages of game manuals are dedicated to explaining the headset functions.
Out of the 3 flying games I tried, Sidewinder V is clearly my favorite in VR and the cockpit perspective works pretty well even during dog fights. Riding a rollercoaster in VR is the best, even if it’s just in 2D 2002 VR. I’ve also tried the Ayumi Hamasaki concert video to test how FouthView works but haven’t gotten it to work yet. Since FouthView is not a VR exclusive feature, there might be more settings involved.
I think the PUD-J5A must have been a seriously impressive device in 2002. So far, playing around with the headset has been fun, it’s an interesting curio for collectors/VR fans if you can find one cheap. It's been interesting to find out how long Sony has been dabbling in VR before they released their first mainstream VR device this year with the PSVR.