Home » Sunday » Technology
Sony to release affordable VR headgear
Print Edition
SONY plans to make virtual reality mainstream with the October release of PlayStation VR headgear priced at US$399.
“Virtual reality represents a new frontier for gaming, one that will forever change the way users interact with games,” Sony Computer Entertainment chief executive Andrew House said during a press event in San Francisco.
Sony chose October for the launch of PlayStation VR to allow time for making enough units to meet anticipated demand and to let developers get games ready for the headsets, according to House.
The headsets are designed to plug into PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles.
Sony touted PS4 as its fastest-selling console ever with more than 36 million of them bought since they hit the market in late 2013.
But there is competition and Facebook-owned virtual reality start Oculus is set to begin shipping its Rift headsets later this month.
Oculus has been taking orders for Rift at a price of US$599 and has worked with computer makers to certify machines powerful enough to handle the technology.
Pre-orders have also been taken on bundles combining Rift with compatible gaming computers starting at about US$1,500. Buying a PS4 and PlayStation VR would add up to about half that price.
“We are proud of the price point we have been able to achieve,” House said.
PlayStation VR users will still need to buy camera and controller accessories, pushing the price up slightly, but it is considerably less expensive than rival headsets, according to Gartner analyst Brian Blau.
“The cost of ownership of PlayStation is going to be a lot more affordable than the PC counterparts,” Blau said.
And, since millions of PS4 have already been bought, the price of adding virtual reality is comparably lower for owners of those consoles since no computer upgrade is needed.
More than 230 developers and publishers are working on games for PlayStation VR, with some 50 titles expected to be available by the end of this year, according to Sony.
The list included French video game titan Ubisoft, which is creating an “Eagle Flight” game that lets players virtually take wing, and a collaboration between Electronic Arts, DICE, and Lucasfilm on a new “Star Wars Battlefront” title for PlayStation VR. House has promised more information on “entertainment content” in coming months.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
