PlayStation VR Pre-Orders Sell Out In Minutes At Amazon (roadtovr.com) 92
An anonymous reader writes: Once seen as the underdog, Sony's PlayStation VR headset continues to hold its own against PC-based competitors Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The company announced last week that they won't ship the PSVR headset until October, but they also announced an attractive $399 price compared to the Rift at $599 and Vive at $799. And it appears the company's existing addressable market of 36 million PS4 owners are ready to get on board; Amazon U.S. opened pre-orders for the PSVR Launch Bundle this morning and sold out of its stock allocation in less than 10 minutes. Walmart befell the same fate quickly thereafter, though several other retailers in the U.S. are still showing pre-order stock.
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3d already gives me motion sickness (Score:3, Interesting)
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I thought that was where all the research goes into -- making it motion sickness-free and intuitive to use. Otherwise its just a phone display glued to your face.
The only application I have in mind is to be immersed in 360 panoramas (ideally 360x180 actually), from my own albums, or from other people being on mountains, in the ocean, from the ISS, all-sky surveys of the galaxy.
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I wonder what degree of motion sickness a vr helmet would do. One idea i had for a vr game was being suspended by a 3drange of motion harness. Do movements like you're in space in an iron man suit playing a game of soccer... The queasiness of vr and being spun around would probably outweigh the coolness factor.
I had an idea for that, and even set one up in my basement.
It was two parallel lines of square stock, and two more in a "cross" formation, hung parallel to the floor from 4 cables. Each cable went up to the ceiling, right angle through a pulley, around a motorized pulley, out to another pulley further out, and down to the opposite arm of the cross.
The user lies on the cross face down, and the motors running the pulleys can tilt the cross left/right and up/down. An LCD mounts below the user, so that he can s
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Or, at least, that's what you told prospective viewers it was when you were trying to sell your house.
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Is that the same PS4 VR headset that has a much higher refresh rate than the HTC Vive?
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Actually, properly done a motion harness -should- decrease motion sickness in most cases. VR motion sickness tends to be caused by your eyes disagreeing with your inner ear with respect to motion and orientation and such. As a result a 3-degrees of motion or 6-degree of motion harness has a strong potential to reduce the motion sickness.
I use terms like 'should' and 'strong potential' because this assumes that the software is all doing its job properly. Obviously if when you turn right in VR the harness lag
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Well, I've already patented my VR Vomit-Inducer. I'll make millions!
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Supermodels around the world will rejoice.
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Lets hope the gpu, cpu, "4k ready" as computer hardware and VR 90 fps can keep up and most users feel ok due to advances in hardware and software
As a wider selection of users report in with different VR designs and support it will be interesting reading about the more common physical reactions to the VR again
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It depends, if you use a very low processing power computer like a PS4.... pretty bad.
Having tried it myself (Score:1)
It depends on your genes, I guess.
I've tried "roller coaster" in Oculus Rift (first version).
It was fine and quite fun.
Then colleague started another demo without stopping previous one (which kept holding control) so that when I was rotating my head "world" was rotating with it.
I got VERY strong nausea which lasted for several hours (although, that kind of environment is probably irrelevant in normal conditions).
One of my colleagues who tried VR felt sick for about 2 weeks (!!!). Although that was one out o
Anyone a little concerned about VR Zombies? (Score:2)
We all know that video game addiction can reach some pretty amazing levels. Even way back in the early days of Multi-User-Dungeons (MUDs) I knew some people who were so addicted to these games that they wouldn't leave the house for weeks just to play them non-stop. With VR entering the picture how deep will the addiction and weirdness go?
Right now for any reasonably popular multi-user game there are huge subcultures on youtube, reddit and elsewhere dedicated to the finest intricacies of the game and liter
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Re:Anyone a little concerned about VR Zombies? (Score:4, Funny)
One issue - apparently it makes you the verbs.
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It might be impossible for you to use VR for more than 10 minutes - and it would probably be the same for me. I get vomitous playing Metroid Prime on a small TV. Other people don't seem to have this problem.
Re:Anyone a little concerned about VR Zombies? (Score:5, Funny)
Let's hope so. I've beaten Netflix and now I'm looking for some new entertainment.
Re: Anyone a little concerned about VR Zombies? (Score:2)
He was pretty chill, actually.
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You beat Netflix? Cool! Was the end guy hard?
That's Redtube, not Netflix
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I'll wager that you use immersion VR in public space at your own risk. Pickpockets will love it.
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What we really need to be afraid of is VR headsets that we can't remove without getting our brain fried. MMORPG games could be quite dangerous if it happened.
He's dead, Jim. (Score:1)
Re: pre-orders (Score:1)
That term, it does not mean what you think... (Score:2)
Why would you, buy something that isn't ready, has not been previewed, reviewed and is price inflated?
(a) Sony has shown they mostly ship things that are production (but honestly with VR being so new who cares if it's still a bit beta? Software updates can fix most things).
(b) It has been previewed which is why I pre-ordered one.
(c) You seem to be confused as to what "price inflated" means. I will get one at launch for $499. If you want one anytime before next January you will pay a LOT more. Explain to m
Augmented (Score:5, Funny)
I'm saving my money for a Sybian VR.
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It's actually 499 (Score:4, Informative)
It's actually more (Score:2)
Just to be extra pedantic you have to pay local sales tax from all sites offering pre-orders, so it's more than $499 also.
Missing Info (Score:5, Insightful)
This article would be infinity more informative if we were told what Amazon's allotment was. Selling 100 units of VR equipment on a major console in a short amount of time would be completely unimpressive. Selling 100k would be very impressive. Without the numbers the only thing this tells us is we can't buy the VR gear from Amazon.
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Nobody would know, except for Sony and Amazon.
Though I do know that Sony initially intended a June/July release. When they realised the demand, though, they decided to release in October so they can manufacture more units. Now, knowing Sony's experience in tech manufacturing, I guess we can reasonably assume they'll have 500k units available by October. Perhaps 200k of those assigned to the US, and, I don't know, 20-40k for Amazon? It's a rough guesstimate.
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This article would be infinity more informative if we were told what Amazon's allotment was. Selling 100 units of VR equipment on a major console in a short amount of time would be completely unimpressive. Selling 100k would be very impressive. Without the numbers the only thing this tells us is we can't buy the VR gear from Amazon.
This,
I'm thinking that Sony did it's old trick of only releasing 20 units then claiming "sold out in record time".
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It's currently the number 4 seller on Amazon in the video games category, ahead of The Division and No Man's Sky. Unless they're gaming their system I'd say they sold a pretty significant number of them. Also, this was apparently the significantly more expensive launch bundle that comes with 2 move controllers and a PlayStation Camera; I'm not sure how valid the "but it's cheaper" argument the summary makes is. The real answer is probably one that PC gamers will hate to hear: there are many, many more PS4s
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many more PS4s in the wild than there are PCs that meet the minimum specs of the Rift.
Then again none of those Playstation 4s reach it either .. So.. Guess the PC players got that covered anyway.
Now if we talk PCs who reach the computing performance of the Playstation 4 there will at-least be more of them (than the better performing ones), whatever that's more than the PS4s I don't know, possibly? Likely? I don't know what the sales are of the graphics cards, could likely rather easily find some.
I'm not sure how valid the "but it's cheaper" argument the summary makes is.
It is very valid.
$399 doesn't include camera and move controllers but $550 does. The PS4 is $350
Just so I get this right... (Score:1)
There will be no boycott this year? Is this thing going to be safer than a Sony CD [trekcore.com]?
Re:dumber than the average slashdot poster. (Score:5, Informative)
Do you realise that the finished PSVR was demonstrated to most game journalists and game developers in the recent Game Developers Conference? All reviews from this have been amazingly positive of the experience, except for one or two that complained about lag with the Move controller. They were _all_ very positive about the headset hardware itself, and its performance.
Now, perhaps 20% of those journalists may fit into your category of "stupid enough to fall for marketing hype". Not all, though. Certainly not the game devs. Those guys know what they're talking about.
My brother is a graphics programmer and a game dev. He was at the GDC. He tried the Sony headset. He was very impressed with it, rating it above the Vive for graphic quality, despite the PSVR having lower resolution. Believe me, he is no idiot.
The PSVR undoubtedly works well. Development has been years in the making, starting even before the Rift kickstarter, and it is now finished. The only ones who bore the development costs are Sony themselves. All is left now is manufacturing and distribution. Preorders help the manufacturer know what demand there is for the product, and how much effort they need to go to for manufacture. People putting their money down early is the best way for a manufacturer to gauge what demand will be like. The preorder numbers are invaluable for the high level of manufacturing needed for this.
Virtual reality has been a dream for a lot of people. Sony's PSVR has made that dream relatively affordable. Don't be a dick and call them dumb.
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What a sad individual you are. Look at the effort you go to to vent anger over a fucking consumer level product. You need help. That much angst and anger is not healthy. Get a fucking life and ignore the crap others enjoy if it's not something your interested. What they spend their money is nothing to do with you.
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what anger are you talking about?
i'm not angry at all, not emotionally involved in any way.
sorry that you feel so offended by someone pointing out the obvious truths about the idiocy of pre-paying for non-existent products.
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Yes, you don't know me or my brother, so you can choose to disregard his informed opinion if you like. Yes, some journalists rush stories, or aren't quite knowledgeable as they should be, so you can choose to disregard what those journalists say. You can even believe that the end consumer product may not be as good as what was shown at the GDC. That's your belief.
The "morons" who have prepaid for it have read the opinions of people of many people that have experienced the product. They're basing their p
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The "morons" who have prepaid for it have read the opinions of people of many people that have experienced the product. They're basing their pre-purchase on the fact that all people who have tried it, have approved of it. This is an informed purchase.
Remember those Gamergate dildos who were ranting about "ethics in gaming journalism"? They're especially dildoish because there has never been ethics in gaming journalism. Most gaming journalism is utter bullshit. Gaming reviews are consistently excessively high (8 and 9 scores for games that are barely playable) precisely because of the factors described in the GP comment, including reviewers who want to continue reviewing so they say nice things, and pre-release demos which are carefully constructed to av
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Really? Most gaming journalism is utter bullshit? Methinks you have a penchant for hyperbole, my friend.
Sure, some game journalists may lack ethics, but I'm pretty sure it's not as pervasive as you make it out to be. Not that I read every game article in the world, I suppose, but the articles I do read, on the sites I visit, are often quite good and not afraid to call out bullshit when they encounter it. It also helps to realise that game reporting, for the most part, is a subjective issue. It's next t
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Really? Most gaming journalism is utter bullshit? Methinks you have a penchant for hyperbole, my friend.
Oh, I do, but this time I'm being quite literal. Most gaming journalism is indeed entirely bullshit.
Besides, as far as the PSVR is concerned, I also have the word of my brother, who works in the field of computer graphics, was at the recent GDC, and actually tried the headset there. If you can't trust family, who can you trust! OK, I may regret that last sentence.
I went to GDC once because I could get a pass and go for free. I saw a lot of things that never showed up again at all, and a lot of things that didn't turn out to be as awesome as the demo implied.
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I don't think they'd deliberately make the product worse. (not unless they planned to release an improved model in the near future, and a) there's no evidence of that and b) such a move would almost certainly backfire by killing the market).
I do think it's possible that the demo unit was finely tuned or hacked up to work just for the demo and isn't anywhere near as good in general non-demo use.
There's a long history of this happening with computer products. The mockup demo has so long a history that it qu
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The mockup demo has so long a history that it qualifies as both "traditional" and "completely normal and expected".
I remember the first time I saw a Macintosh computer. It was on a table at the mall in front of the computer store running a word processing demo. See how nice it prints? See how nice the font looks? See how you cannot type anything in on the keyboard? What a useful computer!
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Don't be a dick and call them dumb.
That would be dumb... but can we call them dicks?
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Ask me why you don't get invited to many parties.
The thing you are totally overlooking with your Uriel level nerd rant is that Sony and game makers are going to put forth a lot of effort to make sure the thing works as well as possible. As mentioned already the GDC unit were really good - they may have been optimized to some extent but you ALSO overlook that the GDC units are before several months more of development goes into the shipping product. So no matter how "tuned" cdc units were, shipping units w
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Stop listening to your mother.
There has never been any evidence that being too close to a screen - or indeed... anything you might see in the ordinary course of a day - is damaging to your eyes. Your eyes have this amazing thing called "focus" and when something's too bright they hurt and make you look away. Apart from UV, pretty much anything else is fine to look at so long as your eyes do not complain themselves.
Also, no your face won't stay like that, you won't go blind, and, no, the bogeyman won't cut