VR for all its faults is back in the public spotlight, after Oculus Rift and others made big splashes during the year announcing new headsets and experiences for the medium everyone is calling ‘the next big thing’. However, the initial kick off to the VR revolution—or lack thereof—have left many with devices that cause nausea, gaming experiences that lacked any sort of value and most of all, several hundred out of pocket.
With Sony jumping into the fray, one has to wonder why Microsoft haven’t launched their own VR headset for the Xbox console yet. Since the PlayStation 4 is capable of VR experiences, surely the Xbox can do so too to some degree? Well yes, but according to Phil Spencer during an interview earlier this year, he feels like VR isn’t there yet as a technology. I tend to agree with him. Looking at reviews for the latest VR headset to release—the PlayStation VR—one sees a worrying trend among sentiments by reviewers; PlayStation VR is okay, but not worth it.
Microsoft was smart not to jump into this experiment too early. It’s already known that the Xbox Project Scorpio console that will launch next year will be VR ready, and with 6Tflops at the ready, VR will have ample room to shine. The biggest issue with PlayStation VR isn’t the fact that Sony managed to shoehorn a square VR peg into a round PlayStation 4 hole at $400, it’s that they cut way too many corners and will suffer greatly for that. The PlayStation VR features extremely low resolution displays—1080×960 per eye compared to 1200p on other headsets—comes with a barrage of cables and additional boxes to help it stutter along on slow and outdated hardware and overpriced gaming experiences that last minutes to an hour.
Xbox Project Scorpio will usher in true ‘living room’ VR with exceptional build quality and enough power to compete with VR experiences on PC and Daydream VR. Sony on the other hand will have to upsell their users to the ‘next’ stumble up the stairs to keep relevant in the VR race since the PlayStation 4 Pro barely meets the minimum requirements. Not to mention the rendering shortcuts Sony and their developers are taking to reach their lofty expectations. No wonder reviewers are getting sick. On top of this, since Microsoft is running Windows 10 subsystem on the Xbox One consoles, you will be able to choose the VR headset that fits your budget and requirements when Scorpio launches.
For me, VR is still a niche fad that might survive these early stumbles out of the gate. It remains to be seen if Sony will actually help or destroy any hope VR had in the living room, not to mention their spotty support for peripherals in the past. As for VR on PC, it remains a healthy side project like the Apple TV was to Apple, and thanks to a thriving indie market VR will have a bright future on PC. But on console it’s still spotty at best. My money is still on AR, with the Hololens showing us how truly innovative augmentation really can be.
PlayStation VR will sell, but it’s better to just wait for the Xbox entry into the market, it will make you way less sick than the current iteration from Sony, and maybe even last longer.
Dreyer was a regular ICXM contributor between 2016–2017, publishing 139 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @dreyer_smit.