Report: Sony to Unveil Its VR Gaming Headset at GDC 2014

[Steven Bogos]

Report: Sony to Unveil Its VR Gaming Headset at GDC 2014

The Tech Radar [http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/sony-set-to-reveal-ps4-virtual-reality-headset-at-gdc-2014-1226620] source claims people will "definitely be impressed" with Sony's VR headset.

The Oculus Rift has been making all sorts of waves in the PC gaming world, so much so that it was only going to be a matter of time before Microsoft and Sony stepped up with their own efforts. It now looks like Sony is just about ready to reveal its own virtual reality challenger, as a source close to Tech Radar [http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/sony-set-to-reveal-ps4-virtual-reality-headset-at-gdc-2014-1226620] claims the Japanese company will unveil a virtual reality gaming headset at this year's Game Developer Conference.

Furthermore, the source, who reportedly spent some hands-on time with Sony's headset, came away quite impressed, stating that "The quality and resolution are really, really good. People will definitely be impressed with what Sony's built".

If "Sony virtual reality headset" sounds familiar to you, its because the headset was rumored to be revealed at last year's Tokyo Games Show, but never materialized.

The source said that "Sony has deliberately taken its time to tweak and polish the headset before revealing it", rather than taking Oculus's approach of releasing the Rift to developers in stages.

Some competition to the Rift, which has really been dominating the VR gaming space, is certainly welcome (whatever gets us to the Holodeck fastest). I Guess we'll just have to wait until May 17, when GDC 2014 kicks off in San Francisco to see if Sony's headset is as good as the Tech Radar source claims it is.

Source: Tech Radar [http://www.techradar.com/news/gaming/sony-set-to-reveal-ps4-virtual-reality-headset-at-gdc-2014-1226620]

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[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

If this turns out to be good, it will definitely make me buy a PS4. This just makes Microsoft look even worse with their shitty little motion sensing camera.

 

[AstaresPanda]

That is surprising, would be good to see, but considering all we have seen the Rift do. And yeh really does make Microsoft look even worse.

 

[Genocidicles]

Glad to see one of the big three working on something actually interesting, instead of shitty motion controls, touchscreens or spy cameras.

 

[Vanbael]

I didn't see this coming. I do have to say that if this works beautifully, I will want a PS4 even more.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

Let's see how PS4 can do 1080p @ 95 frames.

 

[mindfaQ]

I am confident that Oculus Rift will turn out better than this, seems like a lot more competent people are involved in it and ofc PCs have the performance advantage, when we talk about possible games for the experiences.

 

[cerebus23]

Eh more competion is good, push the tech different ways, and never knock sony they got some good minds there, i look forward to seeing both.

 

[MysticSlayer]

Glad to see one of the big three working on something actually interesting, instead of shitty motion controls, touchscreens or spy cameras.

I think motion controls and touchscreens are interesting, but so few companies actually use them as little more than an annoying gimmick. However, there are games that use them very well, so calls to get them removed seem a little premature. Sure, I don't want them to become standard like Nintendo and Microsoft do, but I do think they can add something to certain games if used properly.

OT: Like with the Oculus Rift, I'll wait to try one before completely damning it, but I am rather skeptical that it will add anything of value.

 

[ShakerSilver]

A machine that can barely reach 1080p @ 60 fps is going to support VR now? Yeah, not happening, unless they make it at 480p or something, but that's just vomit-inducing. This will most likely be seen as a short-lived gimmick, just as the Move was, especially with it being made for a closed platform in mind. The reason OR is taking off now is because of how open PCs and the device are in nature. Sony can't provided that openness.

I'm really tired of seeing Sony just try to blatantly copy other companies' ideas and sell them as their own, less-successful version.

 

[Kajin]

What, is the Occulus Rift not good enough for them, so they gotta get into YET ANOTHER completely pointless technological arms race that ultimately won't matter in the long run like what happened with motion controls? Just politely make an arrangement with the makers of the Rift and work out a deal so it's PS4 compatible. Less of a headache. Less money spent. Less disappointment all around when VR comes out and it turns out most developers have no idea how to utilize it properly and churn out a bunch of crappy games that turn people off the whole concept entirely.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I'd be more inclined to buy a Sony VR product than I am to ever buy a bulky over hyped OR device, putting it simply certain over hyped items push me right away from them.

That and I'm sure Sony would give it a certain stylish image for commercial use.

And already good to see doubters ahead in the field.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

I am confident that Oculus Rift will turn out better than this, seems like a lot more competent people are involved in it and ofc PCs have the performance advantage, when we talk about possible games for the experiences.

Exactly, 720p gaming is so last decade. I too will wait and enjoy my glorious 1080p games courtesy of my gaming PC.

 

[WWmelb]

A machine that can barely reach 1080p @ 60 fps is going to support VR now? Yeah, not happening, unless they make it at 480p or something, but that's just vomit-inducing. This will most likely be seen as a short-lived gimmick, just as the Move was, especially with it being made for a closed platform in mind. The reason OR is taking off now is because of how open PCs and the device are in nature. Sony can't provided that openness.

I'm really tired of seeing Sony just try to blatantly copy other companies' ideas and sell them as their own, less-successful version.

To be fair, i'd be most interested in this for PS4 for 3D movies. That would be some serious immersion

 

[Stavros Dimou]

What, is the Occulus Rift not good enough for them, so they gotta get into YET ANOTHER completely pointless technological arms race that ultimately won't matter in the long run like what happened with motion controls? Just politely make an arrangement with the makers of the Rift and work out a deal so it's PS4 compatible. Less of a headache. Less money spent. Less disappointment all around when VR comes out and it turns out most developers have no idea how to utilize it properly and churn out a bunch of crappy games that turn people off the whole concept entirely.

Oculus Rift can't be compaitable with PS4.

It needs screen resolution of 1080p,95fps minimum,and that's for 2 screens which means everything has to be rendered 2 times.

 

[Stavros Dimou]

I'd be more inclined to buy a Sony VR product than I am to ever buy a bulky over hyped OR device, putting it simply certain over hyped items push me right away from them.

That and I'm sure Sony would give it a certain stylish image for commercial use.

And already good to see doubters ahead in the field.

The "bulky thing" you saw was a prototype that is used as a devkit,not the final product. The final product will be out at Christmas 2014,and nobody has seen how it looks like yet.

Oh and in fact SONY already has a goggles system.

Only that it's lower res,has worse overall specs,it misses features,and costs about 6 times more than the Rift. Because VR is a new thing and SONY wants everyone to pay uber-premium price just because.

 

[shiajun]

I have a tiny little niggle with the article. While, yes, the Occulus Rift has been talked about a lot, and prototyped on a bunch of things, it's hard to dominate a market when the actual product hasn't even been released.

 

[Racecarlock]

Reports that it will be called the "Morculus drift" are unconfirmed.

 

[NuclearKangaroo]

im not sure the PS4 has the power to truthly make good use of VR

 

[Nouw]

Not sure how they'll pull it off, or how well they'll pull it off, but it's nice to see them trying nonetheless.