PSVR

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I picked it up yesterday as it dropped £100. I've still needed to sell stuff as well as use all my upcoming birthday and Christmas pressies, but the price drop made it possible for the first time.

 

I've been utterly fascinated by VR since childhood and do believe that VR and augmented reality will play a large part in society going forward. Until then though, GAAAAAAMES!.....Well, mostly demos.

 

Playstation Words:

OCEAN DESCENT: Nice li'l underwater look around in the coral reefs. Awwww it's a TURDLE! Down a bit lower and I suddenly get a sense of depth and size and realise that I have a fear of depths and of big things. Not done the shark attack dive yet.

DANGER BALL: 3D pong in a Tron setting. Meh.

LONDON HEIST: 30mins, most of it with little action but the scene in the pub opened up to me the possibilities of VR. It looked SOOOO good. Shooty bits were fun too. Loved it.

SCAVENGER'S ODYSSEY: Starts very promisingly sat there with your blue arms. Then as I started moving around I got bad motion sickness. I've never had motion sickness before and I didn't like it at all. So I stopped and won't play it again.

 

VR Playroom:

It's soooo preddy and cutesy. ROBOTS RESCUE is very short but utterly charming and gave me loads of Oooohs and aaaahs.

 

Statik (demo):

Hands stuck in a box in a laboratory. Fits perfectly with sitting down with hands on controller. Really felt like I had a box in my hands, turning it around and trying to solve the problem. Very cool.

 

Tethered (demo):

Kinda God-sim Settlers style game but, again, so beautiful. I'll be buying the full version.

 

Super Hot VR:

Bought this. Very easily to get totally immersed into. My heart rate went up. Very satisfying when you do call slow-motion shooty-throwy stuff, but frustrating (in a good way) at other times. Very very cool.`

 

I have the "Kitchen" video for my coworker to play 'cos she loves horror stuff. I will be getting Skyrim and Fallour 4 on it. Otherwise, does anyone else have PSVR and if so what games do they recommend?

I'm well getting disconnect for a while after I leave VR though. Everything feels weird in real life for a bit after.

[Your Mom]

I'd love to get into it but it feels like there isn't enough to do yet

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I think a lot is still glorified tech demo and "this is what could exist" stuff and I think a lot of games will be shorter than regular games because of the extra programming needed, 

[apsham]

I was super excited when it came out - looked promising and then a bit load of nothing. Things are starting to land now but I'm skeptical of experiences like Skyrim VR - moving around in those games is not natural, so there are some really fun things you can do dependent on genre and if the game is built specifically for VR.

[Baddar]

The Until Dawn VR game (Rush of Blood?) is free on plus at the moment. Don't know how good it is, but you can't beat free. 

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Traded a bunch of PS3 games in to get Skyrim VR today.

[Meacon Keaton]

@ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster

What all do you need? The headset obviously, but do you need the PS Camera and the little handle things? And if you don’t need those how does it work without them?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

You NEED the camera.

You don't need the Playstation Move controllers, although some games do need them and they really add to the immersion in others. I had the Move controllers already because I had them for PS3 and you can use those.

[Kaney]

How does it feel playing it? Like is it pretty uncomfortable to play for any decent amount of time? I have the Samsung Gear VR for my phone but outside of sitting still watching Netflix, it gets disorienting pretty quickly. I don't imagine you could really spend hours in Skyrim or fallout or whatever?

I'm curious I guess mostly cos you're using controls to move around rather than sitting still.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Upsettingly Skyrim was pretty nauseating to play. It was pretty cool when it loaded up and you're there in the cart, heading to execution. Turning and seeing people right next to you always makes me jump too! The dragon was ridiculous though and I imagine that some of those caves, tombs and dungeons are going to be pretty freaky at times and dragon fights will become pretty epic. Big enemies are going to be much more impressive.

 

I found it pretty....blurry....raggedy with some of the textures, which is unsurprising really as it's basically a port of a 6 year old game never made to be closely looked at. Still, it's decent enough to draw you in. I liked that you just had to look at an item to be able to press to pick it up - means it's easier to search for items or to pick them up quickly.

 

Back to the nausea though, apparently the more you play VR the better it gets, but I've struggled with a couple of games (albeit the most famously nauseating). It's the movement. It makes my eyes hurt, headache, feel a bit sick. They darken the edges of the screen when you move to try and allow you to focus more on a point, however folk are saying that the main movement issues of VR are to do with not being able to subconsciously see your nose, the fact that the screen doesn't blur as you move your head, unlike your eyes blurring in real life to keep your brain sane. Also, all the inner ear liquids and brain input just get confused.

 

You can change movement settings to teleport which looked a bit rubbish in videos but I might try that, or increase the darkened edges when moving. Games like Super Hot I can play for an hour or so (although it gets my heart pumping and can be frustrating!) and some of the other less movey games too. I'll keep you posted as to whether more play means more comfort. I got to the torture chambers when escaping the dragon so not very far before getting headachy and sick. I'll give it another go tomorrow and see.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Played it for maybe 45 mins last night. Used the Move controllers and teleporting which really helped with motion sickness although removes a little immersion.

People have praised the archery (you basically do archery motions with your hands) but it's really tricky.

 

I was standing last night and although I stood on a cushion to ensure I didn't lose track of where I was, I ended up facing totally away from the PS4 and camera and so motion sensing all went wafty.

 

However, I'm feeling more positive after that. Negative is the graphics, just too raggedy still which kinda hurts my eyes a little as they're trying to focus. I think it shows what CAN be done on VR though with the sheer vastness of the world (it's an actual proper full game and not a 30min-4hr VR game) and Fallout promises to be a better experience and one I'm looking forward to a lot.

[probablyoliver]

Just bought one! Getting delivered tomorrow.

I've picked up Superhot, Surgeon Simulator, the Batman experience thingy and Resident Evil VII to get me started, and it comes with a copy of Worlds, so I'm pretty set.

Any other games you've played since that are worth picking up @ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster? 

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Superhot is a beautiful game, totally draws you in.

 

I've had a lot of fun with Tether which is more of a strategic "God" game but is very pretty and WILL make you go "woooooow" as you play it.

Job Simulator, of course, is amazing just because there is so much freedom in what you do in each setting. NEEDS PLAYSTATION MOVE.

Statik is an incredible little puzzle game where you are sat on a chair with the PS controller becoming a box that has been locked onto your hands. Really draws you in to the puzzles.

Skyrim VR of course too, I haven't played since the graphical upgrade though but after a while I was getting slight headaches from it due to some fuzziness, BUT, that said, it's FULL Skyrim in Virtual Reality and suddenly the dungeons and caves are legit creepy.

 

Other games I've been meaning to get include:

Wipeout (but a bit worried that I'd get motion sickness)
Star Trek Bridge Crew (bit pricey still though)
Accounting (mental little game by the looks of it)

Just In Time Inc (cheap, you play some guy who is trying to stop your clients from being murdered - cartoony, boxy graphics)

Island Time VR (supposed to be amusing - stuck on a tiny desert island with a crab, try to stay alive as long as you can - think minutes rather than hours!)

Moss (everyone was singing its praises)

Keep Talking And No-one Explodes (multiplayer - VR wearer tries to disarm bomb while others can read the bomb manual on screen to help them)

I Expect You To Die (a kind of James Bond game where you try to escape dangerous situations)

 

 

If you pay for online then we should download Rec Room which is a free game where you play weird little games with others online.

Also, with Worlds, play the gangster one first and you will see just how good PSVR COULD be. I believe there's a game coming that is trying to be like a full version of it. 

[probablyoliver]

It's phenomenal. Everything I hoped it'd be and more.

I haven't had a chance to do too much so far, but what I have tried has been amazing.

Ocean Descent is a nice little introduction to what VR is and what it can be, it's not very interactive (if at all), but the views you get are jaw-dropping. You basically go under water in a cage to see some wish and stuff and multiple times I found myself reaching for the bars to hold onto. It's super weird.

London Heist, as Hammy mentioned, is a great look at what VR can one day be, it's very bizarre how much it tricks you into thinking you're really there. A little touch and go as far as the tracking was concerned, and gunplay is going to take a while to feel natural, but it's a great little tech demo.

Batman Arkham VR is the first killer app I've played so far. A little shorter than I'd like it to be but there's apparently a buttload of extras, but it just feels so smooth. Genuine holy shit moments that have already crept into my favourite gaming moments of all time.

So far, it's the best purchase I've made all year. Cracking stuff.

[Liam]

I have a friend who said watching porn with it is quite interesting.

Just putting that out there.

[Meacon Keaton]

“A friend”. Indeed.

[probablyoliver]

24 minutes ago, Chip Pisser Byrne said:

I have a friend who said watching porn with it is quite interesting.

Just putting that out there.

Ha!

Alright, yeah, we're all friends here, and pornography shouldn't be a dirty word. Liam is referring to me, I also tried VR porn.

It's... odd. I mean, it's good but yeah, it's odd. Very disconcerting, but I can totally see that that's going to be a very lucrative and profitable market for the porn industry in the next few years.

[Liam]

1 minute ago, Ollie said:

Ha!

Alright, yeah, we're all friends here, and pornography shouldn't be a dirty word. Liam is referring to me, I also tried VR porn.

It's... odd. I mean, it's good but yeah, it's odd. Very disconcerting, but I can totally see that that's going to be a very lucrative and profitable market for the porn industry in the next few years.

I might not have been referring to you.

EDIT: All jokes aside, it is always interesting to see where the porn industry goes. They had a big say in the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD battle, so they have a lot of sway in how hardware/software develops and is used.

[probablyoliver]

Yeah but you were though.

And also I'm not ashamed.

[Liam]

2 minutes ago, Ollie said:

Yeah but you were though.

And also I'm not ashamed.

Good lad.

As I said, it is intriguing to see what impact this could have on the future of porn, or development of hardware/software etc. A big step...forward, I guess.