One of the worst experiences I’ve had in virtual reality was rolling in the credits Half Life: Alyx. No games – mind you – that’s awesome. No, I hate tossing credits into the game because I know this phenomenal VR AAA experience is over and I don’t know when I’ll ever have another VR adventure of that caliber again.
Anyone who has ever worn a VR headset can tell you that the technology is promising. Anyone who owns a VR headset can tell you how slowly the industry has delivered on that promise. I love creative services like Defeat Sabre, Superhot VR, and Pistol Whip. Those entertainment diversities make me happy to have a headset, but they only provide one type of experience. I still crave meat-based, story-driven VR adventures. Things like Half-Life: Alyx and… and… and not many other examples.
Some of my favorite games from last year are Deathloop, Metroid Dread, and Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Sadly there aren’t as many games as in VR. But there should be! Thankfully, the recent announcements about Sony’s PlayStation VR2 have rekindled my hopes that we might be getting more big-budget VR titles soon.
During the CES 2022 conference, PlayStation President Jim Ryan suggested details about PlayStation VR2. Its specs are solid. The PSVR2 will have an OLED display with 2000×2040 resolution per eye and run at 90hz or 120hz, a higher level of fidelity than the Quest 2 or Valve’s Index. Sony’s new system also uses advanced rendering, which means it uses eye tracking to deliver the most amazing graphic details to your live field of view. After all, anything on your periphery doesn’t have to be crystal clear. Theoretically, this should provide higher visual fidelity without sacrificing performance. Furthermore, Sony says its kit will use high dynamic range technology, making games look better and brighter.
If that weren’t enough, Sony’s suite also includes haptic feedback onboard, so your headphones can vibrate with each virtual explosion or sword swipe to the head. I’m a bit skeptical about this technology. In theory, it could immerse players even more in their virtual world. But, I hardly imagine that these vibrations won’t aggravate some players’ motion sickness. However, Sony probably wouldn’t spend money to produce the technology if they didn’t think it worked to some extent.
I can complain that the system still needs to be plugged into your PS5 via a cable (not plugged into it) or the field of view could still be wider (even if 110 degrees is more important than most commercial sets), But I won’t complain. Not yet. I want to be positive because Sony is putting a lot of money into virtual reality and that’s what I want to see from more developers. In addition to all this hardware, Sony announced that it is working on some big budget games using some of the big Sony franchises, such as the new Horizon game from Guerrilla Games and Firesprite. That is only announced the PSVR2 project so far, but I expect we’ll see more big announcements in the coming months.
After all, many of Sony’s properties are ripe for VR implementation. I would love to play a new Uncharted game where you feel like you’re hanging your fingernails from a cliff. Or the image of playing the game God of War and throwing Kratos’ ax and watching it return to your hand. Or what if you could walk through a concrete jungle like Insomniac’s version of Spider-Man. Finally, imagine setting off some fat beats in the new PaRappa the Rapper VR experience. Okay, that last one might not be a perfect fit, but I’ll get a new PaRappa but I can get it.
We still don’t have a price or release date for PlayStation VR2, but the technology sounds promising, will allow many developers to create amazing VR experiences, which is all I wanted. Maybe by this time next year, I’ll have a few more high-budget VR experiences to work on. Until then, I guess I’ll go back and replay Half-Life: Alyx.
PS Hey Sony, Half-Life: Alyx is going to make a great app for your new headset!
