Sony needs to get the price right for the PSVR 2
After a series of rumors and expectations from fans, Sony has finally announced PSVR 2 during the company’s presentation at CES 2022. The next-generation VR headset designed for PS5 from the ground up, PSVR 2 will be the successor to the widely popular PSVR. The specs are really impressive for a console headset, matching even the best alternatives currently on the market.
With top Sony talent like Guerilla Games working on games from Popular PlayStation franchises like Horizon for platform, Sony looks set to dominate this relatively nascent market. That said, the Japanese giant will have to look very carefully at the pricing of the upcoming VR hardware.
Ambitious setup for PSVR 2
The PSVR is a great initiative by Sony in bringing this technology to consoles, although it was obvious from the start that the corners had to be cut to get the price right for the system. There isn’t any in-headset tracking on the PSVR, done through the use of an external PS Camera. This, in turn, limits player movement and due to the nature of the PS Camera – it is entirely possible that some movements may not be registered. Furthermore, the system’s per-eye resolution was blurry to some fans, which hindered the system’s appeal to some extent.
Sony corrected the criticisms aimed at the PSVR and then did some work to give players a better experience from the start. PSVR2 has four cameras in the headset, allowing for more precise tracking of player and controller movements. The resolution has been increased to almost four times the original, which should provide sharper images. In addition to the new and powerful haptic feedback pipeline of the controller and headset, as well as the one-wire setup, PSVR 2 is looking to be another ambitious device from Sony It’s an evolution of today’s most popular headsets.
Why price is the most important factor for PSVR 2
Sony has yet to reveal the PSVR 2’s pricing, but that’s certainly the biggest question. VR technology has always been, and to some extent, still an expensive thing for some people. So when Sony announced an attractive price point for the original PSVR, it became a key factor in cementing the Japanese giant’s position in the market. PSVR’s success lies in its accessibility, not in the technology that powers it – and as a result Headphones have had impressive sales five million.
Sony has made the right improvements, but they’ll need to keep accessibility at the forefront of the PSVR’s design to capture the same fan base. Unlike the time of PSVR’s release, the VR market has no shortage of accessible headsets – with Meta Quest 2 being a great example. Plus, with games like Half Life: Alyx and Resident Evil 4 VR available to play on the PC platform, fans don’t have to own PlayStation 5 and PSVR 2 to enjoy high-quality VR games.
Another notable factor is that Sony is once again relying on a lot of first-party studios to create compelling games for the PSVR 2. Guerilla Games and Firesprite Games announced Horizon: Call of the Mountain, which is supposed to change what it means to develop AAA VR in the future. Sony London is most likely also hard at work developing a VR game for the new headset. All in all, Sony is betting heavily on the headphones being popular with fans, which again – keeps the price down.
Given the way its immediate competitor Meta Quest 2 starts at $299, perhaps Sony will do its best to hit this number. The hardware is quite similar to the Quest 2, and as such, there’s a good chance the price will end up somewhere close to that as well. Anything over $400 can be a tough sell because the console itself starts at that price point. The stage is set for Sony to dominate once again and it would be really great to see Sony pricing again.
The PSVR2 slated to release in 2022 for PS5.
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https://gamerant.com/sony-playstation-psvr2-pricing-balance-important/ Sony needs to get the price right for the PSVR 2