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The Gamer: There Aren't Enough Reasons To Buy A PlayStation VR2 Right Now

Eddie-Griffin

Eddie-Griffin

Banned
https://www.thegamer.com/psvr2-price-games-exclusive-horizon-half-life-alyx/
It's way too expensive

Nobody is talking about PlayStation VR2. The headset launched a couple of weeks ago with a distinct lack of games and eye-watering price point. Coming in at $550 without a single game packed in, the premium peripheral costs more than the console required to power it. The fluidity and innovation it offers in comparison to its PC counterparts is impressive, so you could argue it’s worth the asking price, but not when we are still sat waiting for a game to define it as a must-own piece of technology. Right now, there is nothing to write home about. That’s a big shame, since the first iteration almost took over the world.

Horizon: Call of the Mountain is a more fully-featured experience than any of us could have expected. It isn’t just an IP-fuelled rollercoaster ride, even if Aloy does appear for a lovely bit of fan service. Firesprite crafted an extensive single-player journey that spans over a dozen hours and requires serious investment from the user. While much of it is spent staring at cliff faces as you precariously avoid falling to your death, its inventive uses of virtual reality more than make up for this predictability. There is ample fun to be found when smashing random environments filled with objects to pieces, or adorning cave walls with lush paintings thanks to the new controllers’ startling accuracy. It’s a great game, although it’s the only one this headset has right now that isn’t a port, update, or something we’ve already done elsewhere.
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Our own Stacey Henley calls out the prohibitive price in her review, and how her experience with the headset was limited to a handful of games that - while impressive - aren’t enough for the average consumer to splurge $600 at the drop of a hat. Even Sony’s messaging leading up to release has been an inconsistent mess. The games intended to show this headset at its best were mostly ports and updates, with Call of the Mountain given a very difficult task of leading the charge despite lukewarm reviews and limited appeal. I don’t know why this launch was pushed ahead with so few games for us to care about.

It isn’t backward compatible either, meaning that the early adopters who likely spent buckets of cash on the previous iteration now have a collection of useless games that can’t be played unless they pay for an upgrade or download additional updates. I understand why it refuses to gel with existing games and how that will open the doors for more advanced experiments later down the line, but I fear those will never come if PSVR 2 can’t conjure up momentum similar to its predecessor in the first place.
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That magic isn’t there anymore, or virtual reality now sits in a place where players have seen what it’s capable of and perhaps have no continued interest in coming along for the ride. Or it’s just really expensive, and the venn diagram of big Horizon fans and those with a spare $600 sitting around is way smaller than Sony thought.

The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR is a cool exclusive, but I know it’s going to be an on-rails shooter with limited runtime and predictable scares, while the glaring omission of a Half-Life: Alyx port after it changed the medium forever back in 2020 still boggles my mind. A lack of reliable PS5 stock, far few big games, and a steep price of entry have turned what should have been a huge launch for PS VR2 into a whimper, and one I hope Sony is willing to evaluate before investing in all the right areas to make a comeback. Unless it has some big hitters waiting in the wings to surprise us, I’m not convinced it can.
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I'm not sure what they mean by "magic" when they say the magic isn't there anymore. I hope they aren't talking about the time everyone was buying cardboard.

While I would like more bigger games for the PSVR, it seems that smaller games are more attractive than the bigger ones so far. Currently Kayak VR is the experience most people were buying in February, along with Pavlov, and Star Wars Edge excluding the CoTM bundle. These were the games that players who got their PSVR 2 in FEB purchased and were the best selling games in Europe and the US.

So it seems PSVR2 doesn't need to have more AAA like Alyx, although it would help. It seems that if the dev puts in effort and justifies the headset with an unmatchable experience, the indie, A, and occasional AA game will be more than enough to sell the heaset.

I've heard and seen people say that Kayak VR is the best VR experience they have ever had, even from VR people who have been using these headsets for years, and for some that's coming off the PC version. They feel the vibrancy and the controls/motion on PSVR2 is superior, and Kayak VR justifies the headset.

Perhaps gaming centric outlets that have been skeptical, have been looking at this wrong. Like the Job Simulator dev said, maybe people shouldn't be asking for devs to treat VR as a console, and instead it's own thing. I mean Kayak VR wouldn't be the game a person on a gaming forum would expect to be THE best selling game for PSVR2, but that is the case for the general audience as shown with Sony's latest release of PSVR2 best sellers.

They love the game, and it's going to be a system seller for PSVR2, and Kayak VR is not a AAA game.
 
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feynoob

feynoob

Banned
Unless you're VR enthusiastic, there is no reason to buy VR.
It's fun in the first 2 weeks, but you soon forget about it.
My sister bought quest 2, and now sitting in the desk on my little brothers room.
There is not enough content that are actually worth it for regular people.
 
Marvel14

Marvel14

Banned
Eddie-Griffin said:
https://www.thegamer.com/psvr2-price-games-exclusive-horizon-half-life-alyx/




I'm not sure what they mean by "magic" when they say the magic isn't there anymore. I hope they aren't talking about the time everyone was buying cardboard.

While I would like more bigger games for the PSVR, it seems that smaller games are more attractive than the bigger ones so far. Currently Kayak VR is the experience most people were buying in February, along with Pavlov, and Star Wars Edge excluding the CoTM bundle. These were the games that players who got their PSVR 2 in FEB purchased and were the best selling games in Europe and the US.

So it seems PSVR2 doesn't need to have more AAA like Alyx, although it would help. It seems that if the dev puts in effort and justifies the headset with an unmatchable experience, the indie, A, and occasional AA game will be more than enough to sell the heaset.

I've heard and seen people say that Kayak VR is the best VR experience they have ever had, even from VR people who have been using these headsets for years, and for some that's coming off the PC version. They feel the vibrancy and the controls/motion on PSVR2 is superior, and Kayak VR justifies the headset.

Perhaps gaming centric outlets that have been skeptical, have been looking at this wrong. Like the Job Simulator dev said, maybe people shouldn't be asking for devs to treat VR as a console, and instead it's own thing. I mean Kayak VR wouldn't be the game a person on a gaming forum would expect to be THE best selling game for PSVR2, but that is the case for the general audience as shown with Sony's latest release of PSVR2 best sellers.

They love the game, and it's going to be a system seller for PSVR2, and Kayak VR is not a AAA game.
Click to expand...
I dont know how you can read that article and conclude the answer is A and AA but not AAA games.

What's needed are system sellers. Experiences people are itching for that make them want to splash the cash. This means varied mustplay experiences to make the investment worthwhile. So a combo of A, AA and AAA games that can deliver that experience diversity. Not "anything but AAA"
 
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Eddie-Griffin

Eddie-Griffin

Banned
Marvel14 said:
I dont know how you can read that article and conclude the answer is A and AA but not AAA games.
Click to expand...

I didn't. I was referencing the PSVR2 top selling games for February thread to point out the article repeating the narrative that PSVR2 "needs" AAA games may not be necessary given the lists Sony released.

People are buying Kayak VR with their PSVR2 and Pavlov. If CoTM wasn't bundled I actually wonder how much it would have sold because it is 3rd on the list despite that bundle for US and UK. That's one of the few AAA games on PSVR2 now, but you see games like Kayak, Pavlov, Job Simulator and others hit those charts.

I believe it may be possible, that while helpful AAA may not be the answer, but dev effort to justify the headset with an experience. Look at the insane praise of the experience that people has with Kayak VR.
 
Neff

Neff

Member
Of all the PS5 owners I know IRL, not one of them is interested in buying a PSVR2.

I don't know if it shows up in friend lists but I haven't seen any of them playing it either.

I don't sense any of the intrigue or anticipation that PSVR had, even though PSVR2 is clearly a better product.
 
diffusionx

diffusionx

Gold Member
I am not interested in it, but if say GT7 is your favorite game, then yes there is a reason to get it.

The thing with PSVR2, and VR in general, is that it’s a whole new platform. Sony basically just launched another console and now needs to market and support it, like they did with PSP and PS2/3 simultaneously. But like all platforms, different people have different standards so some will be happy with it now, some want more, some will never be interested.
 
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S

Satansblade

Banned
Liljagare said:
What a load of bullshit.

"Nobody is talking about PlayStation VR2."

Loads of people are.. another bs article, wth is going on?

"Our own Stacey Henley calls out the prohibitive price in her review"

Maybe Stacey should get a new job.

*edit: horsesheit.
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nobody outside of the hardcore gaming community is talking about VR, and even then it's a tiny minority. You're extremely upset about her accurately reporting on the situation. This isn't some major success story, it's a good headset with low uptake.
 
FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Gold Member
Sony needs to start showcasing VR modes of major pancake games. That's the way VR really starts to take off. You can't expect a market to grow if all you're putting out is repetitive VR experiences, and short games. We need more Skyrims and Resident Evils. Sony should be insisting that first person games released on the Ps5 have a VR mode at least. CoD VR is something they really could do with getting made.
 
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F

Flabagast

Member
I agree with the article.

Half Life Alyx would be the pretty big reason imho.

I don't understand Valve & Sony strategies here, the VR gaming market is very small and could falter at any moment, in this condition you cannot afford to focus on defending your own little part of land that could disappear with the rest of it. It is way too small a market to have so many players with close and restrictive ecosystems, and I dont see a "winner takes all" happening here. It's either "We all make it together" or "Everybody dies".
 
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TGO

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
This was my thought before the PSVR2 was released and I said I wasn't gonna get one because of that reason.
But I did anyway and my original opinion still stands
 
AJUMP23

AJUMP23

Gold Member
I think VR is niche unfortunately. I would love for it to go mainstream but the best bet of that with the Quest raised their prices.
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
VR as a whole is a niche option to traditional games. It fits well for any gamer that:

- Is willing to spend $500 on an add-on gadget to their existing console or PC
- Has no problem putting a brick on their head
- Enjoys games that mostly fit these features: first person, arm and wrist waving like Wii, indie budget gaming

Steer clear if you dont fit the above.
 
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E

El Pistolero

Banned
Way too expensive...

bIFeXMV.gif
 
Hero_Select

Hero_Select

Member
if it supported PCVR i might have picked one up because my Quest 1 is pretty old now.. but I'll just wait for a better headset from whoever in the future. I don't want to tether my experience to one console so I refuse to spend that much money on one.
 
sncvsrtoip

sncvsrtoip

Member
Eddie-Griffin said:
While I would like more bigger games for the PSVR, it seems that smaller games are more attractive than the bigger ones so far.
Click to expand...
So we excluding Gt7 and Village as they are counted as normal games not vr and which showed in top February downloads (gt7 8th in Europe, Village 12) after previous absense and Horizon which was on 3rd place even tough majority of it was bought in bundle (was cheaper this way) and conclude that players looks for smaller games, seems legit :messenger_grinning_squinting:
 
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StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Aaron Olive said:
VR isn't ready yet, the only killer app is GT7 and not everyone like's racers. Id say by the time PS7 which will be 2037 it will be but right now it's as niche as the Nintendo Virtual boy.
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It'll never match traditional gaming no matter what. Cost, putting a brick on their heads etc...

But for anyone wanting a lot more gamers buying, which can lead to higher quality budget games, the best bet is for VR goggle makers to make them cheap and subsidize it through console/PC rig bundles.

Kind of like Xbox + Kinect, PS + Move, Switch acts as console and handheld, even Neo Geo X acting as similar to Switch.

Instead scaring people off with $500+ add ons, you'd get a shit load more gamers buying into it if a console costs $500, but a VR bundle with the console, quality headset and a free starting VR game costs lets say $600 or $650.

You'd get lots of people ponying up an extra $100-200. But asking for +$500 US is a big gamble. And do any VR sets even include free games? Most of the games are $20. So it's not like the VR maker has to break the bank including $70 games. When the motion fad era was alive, Nintendo, Sony and MS all had bundles with free pack in games.
 
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Aaron Olive

Aaron Olive

Member
StreetsofBeige said:
It'll never match traditional gaming no matter what. Cost, putting a brick on their heads etc...

But for anyone wanting a lot more gamers buying, which can lead to higher quality budget games, the best bet is for VR goggle makers to make them cheap and subsidize it through console/PC rig bundles.

Kind of like Xbox + Kinect, PS + Move, Switch acts as console and handheld, even Neo Geo X acting as similar to Switch.

Instead scaring people off with $500+ add ons, you'd get a shit load more gamers buying into it if a console costs $500, but a VR bundle with the console, quality headset and a free starting VR game costs lets say $600 or $650.

You'd get lots f people ponying up an extra $100-200. But asking for +$500 US is a big gamble. And do any VR sets even include free games? Most of the games are $20. So it's not like the VR maker has to break the bank including $70 games.
Click to expand...
Yes barrier of entry is too high , needs to be $249 not $600 tax included.
anyway can't wait till 2037 to finally get those unreal engine matrix graphics.
 
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StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Aaron Olive said:
Yes barrier of entry is too high , needs to be $249 not $600 tax included.
anyway can't wait till 2037 to finally get those unreal engine matrix graphics.
Click to expand...
Doesnt even make sense.

PSVR2 costs more than a PS5. You're going to get little traction with that strategy. Console gamers are used to low prices. Maybe for core PC gamers, $550 is nothing when their rig is already $2000, but console mindset and spending is different. Look how often gamers bitch and moan if a new console goes up in price $100 for the first time in 15 years.

You go buy a new car for $50,000. You got 3 standard option packages costing an extra $2,000, $4000 and $6000. Maybe someone will upgrade, maybe not. But all within reason of budget.

Imagine if the sales rep said there's a fourth option costing $55,000. If you buy it, the total cost is now $105,000.
 
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Aaron Olive

Aaron Olive

Member
StreetsofBeige said:
Doesnt even make sense.

PSVR2 costs more than a PS5. You're going to get little traction with that strategy. Console gamers are used to low prices. Maybe for core PC gamers, $550 is nothing when their rig is already $2000, but console mindset and spending is different. Look how often gamers bitch and moan if a new console goes up in price $100 for the first time in 15 years.

You go buy a new car for $50,000. You got 3 standard option packages costing an extra $2,000, $4000 and $6000. Maybe someone will upgrade, maybe not. But all within reason of budget.

Imagine if the sales rep said there's a fourth option costing $55,000. If you buy it, the total cost is now $105,000.
Click to expand...
yeah Sony having market lead has made them to believe that they're Apple, charging $700 for computer wheels and $1000 for a monitor stand.
 
LavitzSlambert

LavitzSlambert

Member
As someone who loves my PSVR, 2 makes no compelling argument to why I should own one. VR just isn’t affordable for most people, and is lacking a killer app. Every argument about price is “but the hardware is great for the price” when people simply see it as “$550 and no must-play PSVR2 exclusive”.


If PSVR2 launched with HL: Alyx, a new Astro Bot, and a Wii Sports type demo pack-in it might be a different conversation. But as it stands now it’s just extremely low value.
 
Sakura

Sakura

Member
Sony isn't agressive enough with VR for it to take off (imo). It could have the most amazing games, but a device that costs more than the console itself isn't going to sell gangbusters.

If they really want to have high adoption it needs to be great tech (no fresnel lenses for example), and sold at a significant loss so it is affordable and attractive to the average consumer. Unfortunately console manufacters aren't interested in that strategy anymore.
 
Fredrik

Fredrik

Member
VR or not, everybody goes through a honeymoon phase and buy a bunch of games they would normally skip around launch. That’s what you’re seeing regarding A and indie game sales. Doesn’t mean AAA system sellers isn’t needed. Check back in 2 months and it’ll be a different scenario.
 
nightmare-slain

nightmare-slain

Member
Expensive and not many worthwhile games. GT7 and that Horizon game is about it. Once you are done with them then it sits gathering dust until your friends/family are around or you start wondering how much money you can get back for it on eBay.

Gaming on any VR headset sucks. It's not worth the money. Headsets over the next couple years will be aimed more towards the "metaverse" and the biggest selling point will be the Augmented Reality aspect of it. Apple and Facebook want headsets to be smartphone replacements.

Maybe in 10 years or so we'll have meaningful gaming experiences on headsets. Gaming on headsets today is like playing Snake on a Nokia 3310 compared to gaming on smartphones today.
 
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mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
feynoob said:
Unless you're VR enthusiastic, there is no reason to buy VR.
It's fun in the first 2 weeks, but you soon forget about it.
My sister bought quest 2, and now sitting in the desk on my little brothers room.
There is not enough content that are actually worth it for regular people.
Click to expand...

Do you realize how insane the bolded statement is? Like......

- Unless you like burgers, there's no reason to eat at In-N-Out Burger
- Unless you like chicken, there's no reason to eat at Canes
- Unless you like Apple products, there's no reason to buy an iPhone
- Unless you like basketball, there's no reason buy season tickets to see the NY Knicks
- Unless you're a shoe enthusiast, there's no reason to buy one pair of Jordans every month.
 
mckmas8808

mckmas8808

Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
Satansblade said:
nobody outside of the hardcore gaming community is talking about VR, and even then it's a tiny minority. You're extremely upset about her accurately reporting on the situation. This isn't some major success story, it's a good headset with low uptake.
Click to expand...

None of us know what the uptake is yet. No reason to lie.
 
feynoob

feynoob

Banned
mckmas8808 said:
Do you realize how insane the bolded statement is? Like......

- Unless you like burgers, there's no reason to eat at In-N-Out Burger
- Unless you like chicken, there's no reason to eat at Canes
- Unless you like Apple products, there's no reason to buy an iPhone
- Unless you like basketball, there's no reason buy season tickets to see the NY Knicks
- Unless you're a shoe enthusiast, there's no reason to buy one pair of Jordans every month.
Click to expand...
There is something called hype and popularity.
People buy things that they aren't interested sometimes.
 
C

crackajack

Member
mckmas8808 said:
Do you realize how insane the bolded statement is? Like......

- Unless you like burgers, there's no reason to eat at In-N-Out Burger
- Unless you like chicken, there's no reason to eat at Canes
- Unless you like Apple products, there's no reason to buy an iPhone
- Unless you like basketball, there's no reason buy season tickets to see the NY Knicks
- Unless you're a shoe enthusiast, there's no reason to buy one pair of Jordans every month.
Click to expand...
Even among gamers it is an enthusiast device. So only your last analogy is actually sort of the same statement...
 
RagnarokIV

RagnarokIV

Member
It's too expensive for mainstream, making it an enthusiast device. And unless it's a relatively quick success, Sony will kill it (Move, VR1, Vita, PSTV).
They came out guns blazing with the Vita too - Killzone, Uncharted - console experience on a handheld - no compromises etc.
If it's still getting big first party support in 3 years, I'll get one.
 
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