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EDGE: Sony’s VR tech will be revealed at GDC

Dee Dah Dave

Dee Dah Dave

Member
Cool stuff. I'm more inclined to invest my money in the PC realm of VR where there will likely be less limitations and such but this is still interesting. I can't wait to see what they have come up with. Also interested in Microsoft's rumoured Fortaleza glasses although that might be AR not VR.

Interesting times ahead, I'm all for new tech to help shake things up a bit!
 
S

S¡mon

Banned
justsomeguy said:
I can't fathom how any of the current crop of consoles have the power to push VR at an acceptable level. By acceptable I mean a combination of frame rate, resolution and image quality.
Click to expand...
Than you underestimate what the PS4 (and XB1) are capable off.
 
M

Metal B

Member
This properly becomes once again a "We too"-reactions-product from Sony, like the Move, EyeToy, PlayStation 3's Motion-Controller, PlayStation Home, PSP, etc. They all look good on paper, but Sony never creates enough qualitative software to support those products.

Also it isn't hard to make a better product then the Oculus Rift, only trying to target the same low price-point is the challenge. Still i and surely Oculus VR are happy, that more people and companies show interest in virtual reality.
 
Vol5

Vol5

Member
justsomeguy said:
I can't fathom how any of the current crop of consoles have the power to push VR at an acceptable level. By acceptable I mean a combination of frame rate, resolution and image quality.
Click to expand...

Who's to say this is a PS4 only peripheral? It's could easily be compatible with PC as well.
 
J

justsomeguy

Member
S¡mon;104051784 said:
Than you underestimate what the PS4 (and XB1) are capable off.
Click to expand...

Not really. I'm basing off Michael Abrash's presentation which talked about 95 fps being the acceptable level for VR...

Given that both consoles struggle to maintain 60fps at 1080p or even lower resolutions on most current games, you're looking at a HUGE drop in image quality to get an FPS and resolution suitable for VR gaming.

Unless they both have some secret sauce of course...
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
I'm very interested to see how this will be presented, what will be the price, will there be PC compatibility and how low latency will be. General audience was happy with 1080p screen in Crystal Cove, this one will most like be the same.

As for low persistence strobing, if they manage to use just 72Hz [like it was rumored for Crystal Cove], PS4 will have a great shot of reaching that framerate with very nice visuals. Tomb Raider looks great in 1080p, and it reaches 50+ fps on average. Just by turning off TressFX it would come closer to 70fps, and with few more tweaks to enable smooth 3D rendering. More than enough processing power for both indies and Sony 1st party devs.

If this [or E3] is not the best place for Sony to unveil that they are working on new Colony Wars or G-Police, nothing is.
 
P

Phreakuency

Banned
V_Ben said:
This is going to be extremely cool.
Click to expand...

Not really.

It's likely going to be a tacked on feature in games that don't require it (as in, not developed with the tech in mind, kinda like how some film makers think they can just record their movie with a 3d camera and expect it to look good, rather than actually planning each scene with 3d in mind), or games that require it will not be fully fledged titles, simply because it's not worth the development time or money when the game will only reach a small portion of the console user base.

Same happened with the Move. Brilliant, brilliant peripheral but never properly used. (the best use imo was the bocci and archery games in the first sports title).
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
justsomeguy said:
I can't fathom how any of the current crop of consoles have the power to push VR at an acceptable level. By acceptable I mean a combination of frame rate, resolution and image quality.
Click to expand...
What an acceptable level is, is wholly subjective.

The PS4 can handily produce VR with fidelity notably better than any game on last-gen. If a game looks as good as TLoU, it's perfect 60fps and 1080p, and you have the much richer immersion of VR, I think there are a significant amount of people who would find that acceptable.
 
T

TimeEffect

Member
I dont know how Sony can "pressure" developers, but I can't see this thing taking off if third party developers don't get on board.

Sony's first party can only do so much... DriveClub may be a killer app for it. Actually, Gran Turismo and its massive fanbase is perfect for it.

How likely is it that this thing will end up like Move?
 
R

riflen

Member
Canis lupus said:
Bbbuuut PS4 am too slow to do VR, I was told.
Click to expand...

It's not. Good VR needs high frame-rate, low-persistence display and low latency tracking. All possible, it just depends on how interesting your game can be if the frame-rate must be 60fps minimum while rendering two 960x1080 framebuffers, or similar.
The visuals and other aspects will need to be somewhat less detailed than those of standard games. I wonder if it's worth it tbh.

We'll see what Sony have to demo. I'd be surprised if it has the potential of the PC scene, but it's all good for VR in general if they have something viable. I suppose you could possible get remixed PS3 titles remade in VR on PS4 or something.
 
S

SolidSnakex

Member
Metal B said:
This properly becomes once again a "We too"-reactions-product from Sony, like the Move, EyeToy, PlayStation 3's Motion-Controller, PlayStation Home, PSP, etc. They all look good on paper, but Sony never creates enough qualitative software to support those products.

Also it isn't hard to make a better product then the Oculus Rift, only trying to target the same low price-point is the challenge.
Click to expand...

Eyetoy was released in 2003. What exactly was it copying?
 
G

gift of 100 gab

Member
Metal B said:
This properly becomes once again a "We too"-reactions-product from Sony, like the Move, EyeToy, PlayStation 3's Motion-Controller, PlayStation Home, PSP, etc. They all look good on paper, but Sony never creates enough qualitative software to support those products.
Click to expand...

Reaction from what? Oculus? Do you know how long this supposedly-VR from Sony has been in prototype/development?

Metal B said:
Also it isn't hard to make a better product then the Oculus Rift, only trying to target the same low price-point is the challenge.
Click to expand...

This sounds like discrediting all the hard work OR has put in, but what do I know? Perhaps it's easy as fuck to create a good VR solution as long as you have enough money.
 
V

Vilam

Maxis Redwood
If there is one thing that has been strikingly clear in working with multiple dev teams across different studios, it's that everyone is excited about making something for VR. Lots of random people on teams bring in their Oculus Rift kits and work on implementing it in their spare time. This isn't like other recent gimmicks in gaming where it gets relegated to the "B team" so to speak; top people are really excited to be creating ideas around VR. It's yet to be seen how financially viable this all is, but people really want to work on it.
 
T

travisbickle

Member
Metal B said:
This properly becomes once again a "We too"-reactions-product from Sony, like the Move, EyeToy, PlayStation 3's Motion-Controller, PlayStation Home, PSP, etc. They all look good on paper, but Sony never creates enough qualitative software to support those products.
Click to expand...

Who did Sony copy there?
 
K

Kysen

Member
I don't trust Sony to get it right. Just look at the Move/Camera, poorly implemented with lacking software. At least with Occulus I can develop my own projects.
 
N

nbnt

is responsible for the well-being of this island.
Whatever it is, please release it this year. I'm TIRED of waiting for my virtual reality.
SolidSnakex said:
Oculus Rift already shows that VR is a much bigger deal to traditional games than motion controls or voice commands. It really just comes down to how well the PS4 can handle it and which games can Sony manage to secure for it. They'd be foolish to not be pushing hard for Bungie to implement support for Destiny.
Click to expand...
Just the thought of Destiny's world in VR..

i40udd6CPhHvA.gif
 
P

plagiarize

Banned
StuBurns said:
What an acceptable level is, is wholly subjective.

The PS4 can handily produce VR with fidelity notably better than any game on last-gen. If a game looks as good as TLoU, it's perfect 60fps and 1080p, and you have the much richer immersion of VR, I think there are a significant amount of people who would find that acceptable.
Click to expand...

It just needs an appropriate level of gaming support. PC support would be ideal. This is a product I am prepared to buy at the right price, with the right kind of software.
 
J

justsomeguy

Member
StuBurns said:
What an acceptable level is, is wholly subjective.

The PS4 can handily produce VR with fidelity notably better than any game on last-gen. If a game looks as good as TLoU, it's perfect 60fps and 1080p, and you have the much richer immersion of VR, I think there are a significant amount of people who would find that acceptable.
Click to expand...

True, entirely true... although 60fps being good enough is up for debate on the Valve presentation.

The IQ is a real kicker though. If you look at the pasting some games get for having a lower IQ, will "but it's on VR" be a good enough excuse for those who demand the very best? (My gut feeling is yes in many cases it will be)... It'll be tough to bring out a game with an optional VR mode though, because you'll either have to have a (relative to non-VR games) crap IQ on the TV mode, or suffer a massive change in IQ between TV mode and VR mode in order to keep VR frame rate up.
 
R

Rainy Dog

Member
Busty said:
I'm not a 'VR guy' at all but I just don't see the point in this at all beyond Sony's 'we did this because we could' mentality.

I'm assuming that this VR headset will be expensive (more expensive than the PS4 itself?) and likely only appeal to a small section of the console's audience. It seems strange for Sony to be willing to potentially fragment the PS4's audience so soon into the console's life.

I'm open to being proven wrong but given that I haven't seen anything but it still rings a little 'off' to me.
Click to expand...

Gotta say I'm with you on this Busty. I'm keeping an open mind but the "there’s little software to speak of currently" quote makes me even more skeptical about the whole thing. Also kind of concerned that it's probably tieing up some of the studio's from creating regular games.

I expect the tech will be amazing but as always it's all about the games and experiences. At least Move could be shoehorned into plenty of games, I don't think VR stuff can be really.

Still, quite willing to be proven wrong and blown away and cost is no concern to me personally.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
justsomeguy said:
True, entirely true... although 60fps being good enough is up for debate on the Valve presentation.
Click to expand...
No, if it's good enough for 'presence' is the question, and it's actually just dependent on the person. Some people will experience it at 60, much more experience it at 95. Regardless of if the person experiences presence, VR is an immensely rich and immersive experience that people will enjoy.
 
J

justsomeguy

Member
StuBurns said:
No, if it's good enough for 'presence' is the question, and it's actually just dependent on the person. Some people will experience it at 60, much more experience it at 95. Regardless of if the person experiences presence, VR is an immensely rich and immersive experience that people will enjoy.
Click to expand...

Don't get me wrong I am all in favour of VR, I'll be building myself a PC just to cope with TW3 and Oculus Rift, I'm just slightly dubious of the power needed to run it.

That said, the TLOU example is a great one, there'd probably be a huge market for "HD VR Remakes" of PS3 games at the very least.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
They would be foolish if they would not support all games in virtual cinema mode, ordinary 2D games that are suspended on a fixed screen in virtual space in front of a player.

That would give their VR headset a ton of more content.
 
S

Seanspeed

Banned
I-hate-u said:
I don't want the first party to divert their attention and efforts into something that may or may not prove to be viable.
Click to expand...
Its certainly viable. Its just a matter of how much support they can get for it and how willing console gamers are going to be to buy the headset, which are two very related things. Would a few first party titles really justify a purchase? For VR and tech enthusiasts, quite possibly, but what about everybody else? Its risky.

I think console VR needs more wide-reaching support. Making games doesn't happen quickly. It'd be great if Sony shows up with a couple incredible games to release along with the VR unit and show 3rd party developers its worth doing, but then what content do buyers see in the meantime?

Anyways, more important that Sony does the hardware right. Even if there's a distinct lack of content for a while, so long as the content that *is* there is mighty impressive, its good for VR in general.
 
C

Cdammen

Member
Cool, just validates what Oculus is doing. Everyone wants a slice of that VR cake. The more players the better, so there's a big chance that somebody will succeed and do VR justice.
 
S

StuBurns

Banned
justsomeguy said:
Don't get me wrong I am all in favour of VR, I'll be building myself a PC just to cope with TW3 and Oculus Rift, I'm just slightly dubious of the power needed to run it.

That said, the TLOU example is a great one, there'd probably be a huge market for "HD VR Remakes" of PS3 games at the very least.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I think it's unfortunate PS4 had to ship when it did, because two years later and it could have had a notably more impressive VR experience, but that's kind of always true with this kind of thing. Certainly if it takes off, PS5 will be a VR beast, but this will effectively be the first meaningful consumer grade VR experience. This is baby steps, but essential ones.
 
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