Let me first off say that there is no way for anyone to convey the “worth” of a product to another person. However, what I can do is try to lay out of basic facts and toss in a few opinions here and there to maybe give you a glimpse in to the PSVR 2 that otherwise you may or may not of have thought about. So without further ado, let’s give it a go and see where we all land on the subject.
Going in to this purchase for me was really one single factor. I bought and enjoyed the PSVR 1. I really should have thought that one through a lot more but nevertheless I did not. Since I didn’t seem to give it much thought, I decided on a whim basically to experience this next generation of greatness. So that is exactly what I did on February 24, 2023, two days after release, or my first opportunity to find it available on PlayStation’s website.
When my PSVR 2 arrived, I was immediately taken back with the actual quality and care that they put in to the packaging over the PSVR 1. It was actually an improvement and felt as if you were opening something more special than its predecessor. As we all are well aware, looks can be deceiving… (more to follow on this). The initial connection to the PS5 and set up was so seamless and easy that I was ready to jump in to a game long before the game had finished downloading. It was a very surreal experience coming from someone that set up the PSVR 1. If you know, you know.
Sony has done a tremendous job with the care and quality of the PSVR 2. The passthrough sight is phenomenal and a game changer for those of us used to only the console VR experience. It made getting everything ready and aligned so much quicker and was truly the only reason that I was able to beat the game downloading. The controllers came with a little bit of a charge, basically enough to play a around a bit in game and get your first look at things. All around, you could just tell you were in for a much better experience. One that you just felt like, there is no way this is going to be a waste of money…
Well here we are, a little over 400 days later and I’m starting to question some of my initial thoughts. Don’t worry, I am going to explain my side of things and as I said before, what I find “worth” it or not may differ from you. However, I am willing to provide my examples and reasoning for my conclusions. I would love to hear yours in the comments.
First, we are going to compare the pricing for the PSVR 1 to the PSVR 2 and then all the content at around 400 days.
To get the full experience out of the PSVR 1 you needed the Move controllers. Now, if you were like me and found them to be nothing more than a gimmick back in the PS3 days, well you didn’t have a pair just lying around. In came Sony to the rescue and sold you a bundle that included the Headset, Camera, and Move controllers along with a Free To Play PSVR game aptly called “PlayStation VR Worlds”. You could get this bundle for around $499.99. I have to assume someone within PlayStation was like, how are we selling our VR headset but with no way to use it, and that is when they came around with this bundle for launch. Needless to say this bundle would be the starting point for a long lifecycle of fun.
The PSVR 1 had around 149 titles. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) made their name known in this space too. During the first 400 days of release, Sony Interactive Entertainment published a total of 12 games or 8% of the 149 games. Of these 12 games, roughly half of them were PlayStation IPs, albeit mostly smaller titles but still a decent push to start the launch.
To get the full PSVR 2 experience all you needed was the initial bundle of the headset and Horizon: Call of the Mountain. This bundle set you back a total of $599.99. You could if you wanted to spend an additional $49.99 and get the charger for the controllers but there are much better options available for you on Amazon. So as you can see the cost of entry here is higher than the PSVR 1. That is to be expected due to economic issues and better tech. Not really a deal breaker at this point considering pricing is only about $100 difference between the two, so it’s very negligible.
The PSVR 2 had around 202 titles in it’s first 400 days. Out of those 202 titles, here is the most telling part, only 3 titles were published by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) or a 1.5% of the 202 games. Not sure of why PlayStation has taken a back seat with this new generation of VR. Of the 3 games published by SIE, 2 of them were new experiences and the 3rd was a free update to a PS4/PS5 cross play title. It simply does not seem like the effort is here. At least not in the same sense it was the first time around.
And this is where I get the feeling of “worth it” creeping in. I know there are a total of 202 games on the PSVR 2 tab, but out of those 202 games, how many of those are “new” experiences for the PSVR owners only. I ask this because if you own any PCVR or Oculus Rift you’ve likely played a lot of titles as well on here. So my question really is for PSVR 1 and 2 owners. There are a total of 144 new PSVR 2 titles to play and 58 “remastered” titles from the PSVR 1. Clearly if you are looking for quantity then the PSVR 2 would all be worth it. However, if you are looking forward to PlayStation’s input in the matter or their games then you may be seeing a different picture. When there are 202 games available and only 3 of those are from Sony Interactive Entertainment, then there seems to be an over reliance on 3rd party to support.
This harkens back to the Vita days and more. PlayStation seems to have a knack (no pun intended) in creating another device or platform but then basically abandoning it and trying to allow it to survive on 3rd party alone. I would argue that it didn’t work out too well for the Vita and I don’t see it doing any better with PSVR 2. I know I’m not the only one out there that is questioning the “worth” of my purchase. I know any time I see someone mention it, there are so many replies with “are you just blind to the many games releasing on it?” and answers like that. No, no I’m not blind to this. I am playing some of them and my daughter loves the Vacation and Job Simulator games. Not sure how this is so controversial to say, but Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) is not pulling their weight at all when it comes to the platform they created.
Imagine if you will, you just bought your PS5, and 400 days have passed and all you had to play from PlayStation was only 3 games they’ve published. One of which was just a “free upgrade” to the PS5 version of your PS4 game and the other two were a new game in a franchise but considerably smaller in scale and a multiplayer game. Would you be sitting there thinking, man this is what I wanted from PlayStation? I doubt it. The PS5 launched with 29 titles, of those 5 of them were not only published by PlayStation but in fact their own 1st party games. This is what we PlayStation owners have come to realize is that when PlayStation puts out a product, they will stand behind it. It’s been that way with all their home consoles, the PSVR 1 and that seems to be where it stops.
So why is this happening? We can no longer just sit back and act as if only 3rd party and indies is good enough to consider “SUPPORT” for this peripheral, can we? We have to ask ourselves, is this peripheral worth it from a financial standpoint but also from a practical one. It sure doesn’t seem like PlayStation has its faith behind the product, otherwise there would be more published games from them. Let us know what you think about this and more
