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| प्लेस्टेशन VR2 का विश्लेषण दूसरी बार आकर्षण है। Analysis of PlayStation VR2 |
In a few days the second generation of Sony's virtual reality helmet will be among us. The Japanese company once again bets on this technology to offer a differential peripheral on its desktop console, in this case PlayStation 5, and the expectations it has generated are quite high, although the surprise factor has been slightly lost. Therefore, it is time to convince the user with a proposal that smoothes out the rough edges and errors of the first PlayStation VR, and that justifies a price that is not particularly accessible.
A lot has happened since what we initially knew as Project Morpheus was first presented, and the generational leap that we have been able to experience after a few days testing the new device is substantial. Sony has managed to make a fantastic virtual reality helmet, and in this article we explain both the sensations we have had with it and the experience it has offered us, the impressions that its first games have left us and, why not, the doubts and small details that stand out in this new adventure within a market segment that, paradoxically, continues to be alien and strange to a large part of the public.
Hardware
When removing the device from the box two things initially stand out. The first, and this will delight users of the first PSVR above all, is the absence of the connection box and the tangle of cables, because this time the headset is connected using only a USB-C cable (four and a half meters long). , more than enough to offer a comfortable experience) to our PlayStation 5. The second is that, despite being made of plastic, the construction quality is excellent, with premium finishes and a very light weight, also improving the rubber that covers the eyes so that keep outside light out. Those good finishes, by the way, also extend to the new controls, which are light years above the old PS Move but also inherit some questionable aspects, such as a somewhat limited battery life.
It is inside where the most important changes are. The most notorious, and the one we'll talk about in more detail later when describing the experience, is the screen. It uses OLED technology, has a very high resolution and is also compatible with HDR, offering a field of vision of one hundred and ten degrees and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. The helmet now also has integrated cameras, which means that we don't have to connect any external device to the console (goodbye, PS Camera) and that we can see our surroundings (in black and white, but with enough detail) without having to remove it from the head, simply by pressing a button.
Finally, a piece of information that I suppose you all already know, but it never hurts to remember. PlayStation VR2 doesn't work on its own, and requires a PlayStation 5. It's not like the Meta Quest 2, a headset that we can use wirelessly, running the games on the device itself. And, although this would be a very positive point for him, it is not compatible with PC either; As of today, if you plug it into your computer, you cannot use it to play SteamVR titles or to give it other uses. Whether Sony will reconsider this in the future or whether hackers will reverse-engineer it to make it compatible remains to be seen. As of today, PSVR2 is an exclusive peripheral for PS5, nothing more.
Finally, a piece of information that I suppose you all already know, but it never hurts to remember. PlayStation VR2 doesn't work on its own, and requires a PlayStation 5. It's not like the Meta Quest 2, a headset that we can use wirelessly, running the games on the device itself. And, although this would be a very positive point for him, it is not compatible with PC either; As of today, if you plug it into your computer, you cannot use it to play SteamVR titles or to give it other uses. Whether Sony will reconsider this in the future or whether hackers will reverse-engineer it to make it compatible remains to be seen. As of today, PSVR2 is an exclusive peripheral for PS5, nothing more.
The experience
The first impression, of course, is far superior to that of the first PlayStation VR. The helmet connects with a single USB-C cable to the console and when it is turned on we are presented with a small and brief process to leave it configured for later use. If you've used a Meta Quest 2, all this will be familiar to you: the controls are synchronized, the user interface is explained to us and a scan of the room is carried out with the external cameras to delimit the playing area. The only step that was not done with other helmets is the configuration of eye tracking, looking at specific points on the screen when indicated by the system.
Once this is done, which should not take more than a few minutes, and after finishing adjusting the helmet to our head with the buttons (plus the distance between the eyes, with a regulator), we are ready to start playing. And it is then when the system begins to display its benefits, to teach what it is capable of and, most importantly, to demonstrate the many reasons that justify its generational leap.
The first thing that stands out, never better said, is the notorious increase in the quality of the screen. With a much higher resolution (2000x2040 pixels per eye), the dreaded screen door effect is non-existent and all graphic elements, including text and HUDs, are perfectly legible, with no sharpness issues. The most revealing thing, in any case, is what the use of OLED technology contributes; the blacks are totally pure, the colors intense and the contrast and brightness simply excellent. The best way I can describe the PlayStation VR2 display is simply that I found it to be the best of all the VR headsets I've tried so far (that doesn't include the older headsets for what it's worth). thousand euros that have been launched on the market in recent times).
The sound is also outstanding, although here I must make an observation and speak of a small disappointment, because instead of using built-in speakers (as the Meta Quest 2 did, with fantastic results) PlayStation VR2 opts for in-ear headphones with cable type "buds" that are attached to the bottom of the helmet. The sound quality and its spatiality (with a convincing surround effect) are good, but it is not the most comfortable solution and sometimes its fit is not perfect (despite various sizes of ear pads being included in the box, to better fit the size of our ear). A curious detail, yes, is that we can replace the helmet headphones with the Sony Pulse, and surprisingly they are very comfortable even when placed on the helmet. If you have some at home, they seem like a better option than the standard headphones.
Another aspect in which an exponential qualitative leap can be seen is in control. The first PlayStation VR reused the old PlayStation Move from PlayStation 3 at a time when other headsets already offered much more advanced controls, and that significantly penalized the experience. PlayStation VR2, on the other hand, includes two new Sense controllers with a design very similar to that of the Oculus Touch, in which both the DualSense haptic vibration (revealing in some games and situations) and the detection of the position of the fingers are implemented. . This last aspect isn't perfect and occasionally produces a strange effect (perhaps fixable in a future software patch?), but it generally works great and really emphasizes the immersion in the virtual worlds of the games.
Both the controls and the helmet, in fact, are excellent in terms of ergonomics. You can tell that Sony has worked hard to make both extremely comfortable, and the results attest to the success of that effort. The helmet in particular has seemed very good to me in that sense; Its halo design allows the weight to be distributed very well on the head, making the visor not annoying at any time, and making it feel light. While I still don't think VR is best for multi-hour gaming, the ergonomics of PlayStation VR2 mean long gaming sessions aren't uncomfortable or tiring. The helmet, by the way, also includes haptic vibration; It's not as direct as the controls and its intensity isn't overwhelming, but it's certainly a plus to keep in mind when developers take advantage of it when designing their games.
It is also worth taking a moment to look at one of the main innovations that PlayStation VR2 introduces compared to the competition: eye tracking. Some sensors inside the helmet detect the position of our pupils at all times and, therefore, towards which specific point on the screen we are looking. For the user, this means that many games include a new control method using only the gaze, for example in Horizon: Call of the Mountain to navigate through the options or select weapons, or in Rez Infinite to aim our shots. And surely in the future we will see new, more innovative implementations that enrich the playable experience. However, there is another more interesting implication from a technical point of view: what is known as foveated rendering. The idea is that the part of the screen on which the gaze is focused is rendered with a higher resolution, while the more peripheral and to which we do not pay attention is rendered with a lower resolution. It is an elegant solution that allows you to optimize performance in games (something essential, since a drop in frame-rate can translate not only into a loss of visual fidelity, but also in dizziness) and that when gaming is totally imperceptible. In an external capture (in the GT7 trailer, for example) you can see this loss of resolution in certain elements, but when playing the game it is not noticeable (as soon as we look at those same elements, their resolution increases in a matter of milliseconds, without the change being perceptible) and the image is always sharp.
Another detail that is appreciated, and that personally I have always considered very interesting in virtual reality devices, is the theater mode. PlayStation VR2 allows you to play all 2D content and PlayStation 5 games on your screen, representing them on a kind of giant virtual screen. It is something that the first PSVR already offered, but with questionable results due to its low resolution. Now, the situation is diametrically different: that virtual screen is much clearer, perfectly usable and, in the end, it is like having a giant screen in the living room, with the added advantage of being OLED (which translates into pure blacks and colors very vivid), compatible with 120Hz content and with HDR. If you are one of those who play on a small screen or an old television, it is an option to consider, with not perfect but quite remarkable results.
The software
Every new device needs its killer app, and the one for PlayStation VR2, at least for its first months of life, is going to be Horizon: Call of the Mountain. The spin-off of the popular Guerrilla Games franchise leaves behind the open world in favor of a more linear structure, in which combat is combined with large mechanical creatures (obviously, although there are not as many as it might seem), puzzles and sections of climbing. Despite there being a clear intention on the part of its developers to give it entity and that it is not a simple technical demo, it is evident that they are also very aware that their game will be the one that will serve many to launch the new helmet.
Horizon: Call of the Mountain falls short of Half-Life: Aloyx, but it does feel similar at times. Beyond its impressive visual section, one of the most spectacular I've seen to date in a virtual reality game, what stands out most about it are the small details that are not possible in a standard experience, such as feeling the flow of the water when putting your hand in a river thanks to the haptic vibration of the controls, or a nearby explosion with that of the hull itself. What I like most about it, in any case, is that everything - and it's not a little, because Call of the Mountain is full of little things to take advantage of PSVR2 - always seems subordinated to being another chapter in the Horizon saga, with its narrative contribution, more than a simple amusement park. Sometimes it does, sometimes not so much, but if you're going to buy the new Sony, it is clear that the game with which you should release it is this. It will surprise you, a lot.
Despite the fact that Call of the Mountain is the great launch title for PlayStation VR2, there are other slightly more modest games that allow you to get an idea of the possibilities offered by the Sony helmet, or of the evolution compared to its predecessor. Enhance, for example, showcases the benefits of OLED screens with Tetris Effect and Rez Infinite, two games that make good use of pure blacks and HDR brightness and color to deliver a pretty impressive sensory experience. Rez Infinite also has an eye tracking mode for aiming, which is quite revealing and works surprisingly well. Other games, like Moss Book 1 and 2 or Thumper, illustrate the leap in visual quality and fidelity by rendering at a much higher resolution that helps to significantly improve immersion in their worlds.
There are some more proposals that we have not yet been able to play, but that we will try to comment on as soon as we have the opportunity to try them. Two of the most anticipated are undoubtedly the free updates for Resident Evil Village and Gran Turismo 7, which will be released on launch day. Capcom already left very good feelings with the adaptation for the first PlayStation VR of Resident Evil 7, and everything indicates that Village will be even more impressive, both for the graphics and for the immersion possibilities offered by the haptic response of the new controls. The highlight, however, will be the exclusive Polyphony Digital title; With the possibility of playing all the modes in VR, an impressive graphic quality and greater freedom, the best car game on PlayStation 5 will surely also be one of the proposals that will get the most out of the new device.
But although the new native titles for PlayStation VR2 leave a good feeling and glimpse a hopeful future, one of the most criticized aspects of the device cannot be ignored even before its launch: the lack of backward compatibility. The great asset of PlayStation VR as an ecosystem was its interesting and varied library of video games, and not being able to access it is both disappointing on a consumer level and objectionable in terms of preservation. Sony alludes to technical reasons to justify this omission, but since virtual reality is a fairly niche market, it does not seem like the best idea to ignore the considerable financial investment made by users who opted for its first generation. And on the other hand, losing things like the VR version of the WipEout Omega Collection is a tragedy. Just like that.
Spectacular, but not within everyone's reach
Sony's approach with PlayStation VR2 has many points in common with its first proposal in the field of virtual reality, although it also presents a substantial difference that can make the difference. With PSVR, the many sacrifices that had been made on the design table to ensure that its price was as reasonable as possible were evident, while its successor goes the other way, betting on cutting-edge technology that is not exactly cheap.
That brings us to the crux of the matter. The PlayStation VR2's credentials are beyond doubt, and anyone looking for a great virtual reality experience is going to find one of the highest quality currently available on the market here. But the price to pay is not cheap: with a cost of €599 for the helmet, to add to the €549 for the console (one hundred less if you opt for the Digital Edition model), PSVR2 is within the reach of a more limited audience. especially in the current socioeconomic context. I honestly believe that the hardware is worth the money, but also that this raises some questions in terms of mainstream adoption (and not just for PSVR2, but for VR in general).
Be that as it may, for whoever can afford it PlayStation VR2 hits pretty much all the right keys. Whoever comes from the previous PSVR will find in it a true generational leap, with tremendously superior hardware, a much more satisfactory experience and a catalog of video games that, although for the launch it abuses a bit of the rehash of previous titles, it is also exciting and leaves glimpse a hopeful future (Sony, let's remember, confirmed some time ago that there were already more than a hundred confirmed titles, with which short/medium-term support is guaranteed). And anyone new to virtual reality has before them one of the best options to experience a revealing moment for the first time, in which a whole new dimension is discovered for a medium that we took for granted as being very different. Time will pass judgment and will determine if the Japanese company's commitment to virtual reality was the right direction or if, as on previous occasions, things will remain in a more niche market. Attractive and spectacular, without a doubt, but niche after all.
| PlayStation VR2 | PlayStation VR | Oculus Quest 2 |
|---|
| Basic System | PlayStation 5 | PS4/PS4 Pro | No / PC optional |
| Screen | OLED/HDR - 90Hz/120Hz | OLED/SDR - 90Hz/120Hz | LCD - 90Hz/120Hz |
| Resolution | 2000x2040 by eye | 960x1080 by eye | 1832x1920 by eye |
| Field of view | 110 degrees | 100 degrees | 90 degrees |
| Sensors | Accelerometer, Gyroscope, IR Proximity | Accelerometer, Gyroscope | Accelerometer, Gyroscope |
| Camera | 4 for helmet and controller tracking - 2 for IR eye tracking | 1 (externa) | 4 for hull and controller tracking |
| Vibration | internal engine | No | No |
| Interface | USB-C | USB/HDMI con outer box | USB-C
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