My thoughts on the Playstation VR.

After playing Resident Evil 7 in it's entirety in VR, i must say that i'm absolutely in love with playing FP games in this fashion. The possibility to aim with my head and physically be able to peek around corners is amazing, and it changes the game completely. I could absolutely not imagine playing a game like this any other way now, and I really hope that Res7 will be the proof of concept. The problem with Res7 is that the game is to scary to use as a statistic, because people are too afraid to play it in VR. Hell, i usually don't get scared in regular mode and i almost could not enter the house in VR. Therefore we who have ventured inn to the abyss need to speak up at this amazing technology.



VR is definitely the future of gaming in my opinion. Even though you would consider this the ultimate anti social way of gaming. It is also the most immersive you will ever get, taking control of almost all your senses.

It’s almost impossible to explain how VR works or feels, but i'll give it a try. Imagine that instead of a screen being projected in front of you. A virtual environment if created around you. And your point of view is controlled buy where you look and where you move your head. This is all rendered in two images to give you stereoscopic vision. And you brain really has a hard time convincing you that this is not real. Also the sound in VR is really important. That's why the headset has its one audio plug. If you move you head to a door and try to listen, it will be like listening through a door in real life. But even this explanation does not do it justice. There is something magical about VR that has to be experienced. Like feeling the warmth of the exploding spaceship or flame thrower on you skin. This is only your mind playing tricks on you because of what you hear and what you see and that is the true magic of VR immersion.

I was taken aback at how little uncomfortable VR it is for my eyes. I used to get eye fatigue really fast with 3D TVs, sut for some reason i can wear the PSVR helmet for hours without getting any discomfort. Also i was surprised to learn that apparently i do not get the motion sickness from VR.

The Playstation VR is really easy to set up and stow away. The VR box unit sits comfortably on or beside your P4 unit. The headset with its 3 meter extension cord can easily be connected or disconnected from the VR box and stowed away when you're not using it. Also you don’t need as much free space as one might imagine. 2 meters or 6 feet from your TV is more than enough.

There are two ways to use VR; standing or sitting.

In standing mode the game will mostly leave you in one spot urging you to move around physically in front of the camera. To play like this you have to clear out a space approximately two by two square meters or 6x6 feet. That probably mean that the coffee table has to be moved while your playing. This is the game mode you would want to use move controllers to interact with the environment. Batman VR or Job simulator is the prime examples of this way of playing. And maybe also the ideal way to showcase the VR. But this way of playing leaves you with some of the same problem as using wii-motes or the PSmove. Your standing and being physical, and you're more likely of being fatigued. Also, when your standing, motion sickness is much more common because your legs would like to compensate. Ask yourself, would you stand on a rollercoaster?

I believe that the more common way of playing in the future is sitting. In this mode you only need 140 cm or 4.5 feet in front of your camera. This would be the way to play any game where you're sitting in a cockpit or moving your point of view freely. This would include cockpit games like Driveclub and Eve Valkyrie, or FP games like Farpoint and Resident Evil 7. But also third person games where you are more the casual observer floating in the sky. I also think that In this mode you’re less likely to get sick. Think of it like sitting in a carnival ride; you're comfortably seated yet the ride moves around.

If you get easily motion sickness (by car, boat or carnival rides) the possibility of you getting VR sick is very high. If you usually don’t get motion sick you might not get sick in VR either or you might just need a short session to adjust to it.

So not everyone are affected by the dreaded motion sickness, and even if you are; some game takes a lot of precautionary measures to make it les discomforting. Luckily, as i said, I found i am not affected by motion sickness while playing VR, and could play sitting, with all the VR sickness options off, for a very long time without getting tired.

So what about the setup? Some reviews complain that the setup process is to tedious. But i did not find it that difficult. Yes you will have to do an initial setup every time you want to play but this is really easy to do.

1. Connect your helmet to the VR box. 
2. Start your headset with the power button on the cord. 
3. Hold the PS button for 3 sec to open the quick menu 
4. Select Playstation VR and Confirm your position. Make sure that the camera is centered to where you want to stand or sit. 
5. Put on the headset and sit/stand comfortably, look straight and hold option for 2 sec to center the VR view. 
6. Your now good to go.

The VR headset in itself is grate. It’s easy to put on and adjust, and it sits comfortably in your head. But checking you real environment with the headset on can be a challenge. I do wish it had a tilt function for the visor, like the motion one would find on nightgoogles. The only real alternative here is to take it off or alternatively extend the google from you face as far as it goes. This gives a viewing gap under and over the visor. I found myself doing this a lot to check my phone or find the remote.

By the way: If you want to take a drink while playing you might need to use a straw.

Playstation VR has a lower resolution than its competitors, but even though this is probably the first thing to fix in version 2.0 it's not that bad.

In the beginning i thought everything was out of focus, then i realized that i had the helmet to low. Thing is that that the lenses of any VR unit distorts the viewing screen to simulate a wider view.That means that the edges of the viewport will be stretched, leaving them with less resolution than the center of the image. This will result in a blurring effect in the edges of a viewpoint. If your regular view is blurred you might only need to move the visor higher up or lower down so that you eyes aline with the curve of the lense. When it's perfect, just use the dile in the back to tighten it so it does not move around.

Then it’s the tracking which works great... when the light is ideel. Unfortunately I found that there can be several thing distracting the playstation camera's tracking, leaving my image pulsing. Reflective surfaces and light sources in the background should be avoided. Some LED bulbs might also flicker to the camera and give a funky effect so turn those of. Direct sunlight will also set it off so use the curtains. One would think playing in the dark might be a good idea, but actually no: The light from the headset and controllers would spill everywhere tricking the camera. What is best is to have a normally lit room. I do hope that vertion 2.0 will take advantage of IR led bulbs like the vive, bacause thats alot easyer to track correctly. But again, when it works, it works great.

Also remember that this peripheral is close to your eyes and sweating forehead, so you will need to clean the unit on a regular basis. Luckily the rubber light shield can easily be removed and washed thoroughly under warm water. And the pho leather can be cleaned with soap and a moist cloth. Just be careful when cleaning the lenses, use the dry microfiber as much as possible. Sony tells you not to use any liquid on the lense, but i would risk some lense rinse now and again, like the one you use for your glasses and camera lens,

If you got guest over to try the PSVR unit, it's smart to have some bacterial wipes to use on the helmet after every use (not the lense). This is because eye infections is a real possibility if you or your guests are unlucky.

When that’s said; Beware when buying a used headsets. The previous owners smell might be embedded in the fome and light shield.

I am so excited for the future of VR and really hope that it won't die out like so many have predicted.

They say that you could not just convert a first person game to VR, but I would love to see older games patched for VR just to see if it would work. Games like Firewatch, Bioshock, Gone Home, Dead space, Soma, Alien Isolation, Layers of fear etc. are all perfect for this medium.

And i can't wait to see what’s next.

What do you guys think. Did you play Resident Evil 7 in VR?