Earlier this week Sony unveiled its latest addition to the console gaming community, the Virtual Reality headset for the Playstation 4 console. For a couple of years now we have been hearing rumors and seeing snippets of the next step in gaming, Virtual Reality, however so far these pieces of hardware have been in their Beta stages or have been outrageously too expensive for the casual console gaming market to warrant spending the money on. But now, Sony have changed the game with their VR headset which is due for release in October 2016 with an exact date yet to be confirmed.
Some of the features of the Playstation VR include;
- 5.7″ OLED display (Organic Light Emitting Diode)
- 360^ Audio
- “Precise Tracking and Control.”
- External power (via cable to the PS4 console).
The OLED display was interesting as I had never heard this term before. The OLED, or Organic Light Emitting Diode, is a screen that works without a backlight. This means that in dark environments, like the VR headset, that the screen can display deeper levels of black and achieve a higher contrast ratio than a standard LED LCD display. This enables high quality graphics and smooth transitions in the darkness of the enclosed headset, capable of putting out 1080p resolution and 120fps.
The Playstation VR is currently on preorder sale for only $549.95! This is a lot cheaper than I was expecting and well within the budget for your average console gamer. The VR is also set to fit in seamlessly with Sony’s other PS4 optional hardware including the Playstation Camera and the Playstation Move systems, allowing for a more enjoyable experience.
Sony has also revealed a list of roughly 30 games that are currently compatible with the VR unit some of the bigger titles being;
- ARK – Survival Evolved
- Dead or Alive Xtreme 3
- Final Fantasy 14 (the Demo 🙁 )
- Gran Turismo Sport
- Paranormal Activity VR
- Project Cars
- Star Wars Battlefront (VR Experience)
- Tekken 7
- Until Dawn – Rush of Blood
The first shipment of Sony’s Playstation VR is set to arrive in October 2016 with an exact date yet to be revealed, however the first shipment was sold out before 5pm on the first day of sale! Sounds like a repeat of what happened when Sony released the Playstation 4 console for preorder……But do not fear ladies and gentlemen because the second shipment is set to arrive sometime in December 2016. In my opinion, depending on how pre-sales go and depending on how many of these units Sony can manufacture before the release date in October, I have a feeling the first shipment may end up containing a whole lot more than the initial numbers that Sony released to retails for pre-sale.
