Sony plans to make virtual reality – long the stuff of films set in the distant future – mainstream with the October release of PlayStation VR headgear.
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The Playstation VR will retail for $399 or roughly P18,500 – that’s a good bargain considering the price for the Oculus Rift is at $599 and Valve‘s HTC Vive is at $799.
Why did Sony Choose October for PlayStation VR launch? Oculus will also sell bundles that include an Oculus Ready PC and a Rift for preorder in February starting at $1,499.
Sony surprised the gaming world on Tuesday evening with the comparatively low price of its virtual reality headset. Coincidence or not, each of the three types of headsets is $200 more expensive than the last, a win-win situation in my book for both the consumers and the manufacturers as there will be no overlap.
Andrew House, CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment said: “Ever since we unveiled PS VR during the 2014 Game Developers Conference, we’ve received a tremendous response from gamers and developers alike”.
In addition to playing immersive, 360-degree games, PS VR will feature a cinematic mode allowing users to broadcast traditional games and content on a virtual big screen within the headset.
Sony said that there are now 230 publishers and developers working on titles for the PlayStation VR.
As for why the base package doesn’t include the camera, PlayStation president of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida said many PS4 owners already own the camera.
Meanwhile, gaming company Ubisoft has also announced two of its new games – Eagle Flight and Werewolves Within – for the PlayStation VR. Players can download the Playroom VR at the PlayStation store and can play six games for free.
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Playstation VR still needs the Playstation Camera to fully operate and will not be included with the unit at launch. Electronic Arts, DICE and Lucasfilm are collaborating in the making of Star Wars Battlefront title for PlayStation VR.
