Sony just did what the PC headsets could not: it made VR affordable and plugged it into a box millions already own. PlayStation VR launches this week at $399, about half the price of a Rift or Vive, and it runs on the PS4 sitting under your TV. No high-end gaming PC required. You plug it in and you are in.
Trade-offs and scale
The trade-offs are resolution and tracking. PSVR is softer than its PC rivals, and the PlayStation Camera is not as precise as Lighthouse or Constellation. The comfort is excellent, though, the barrier to entry is dramatically lower, and the launch lineup goes beyond tech demos into actual games. The installed base of PS4s turns PSVR into the largest VR audience overnight.
The trend for the year ahead
Console VR brings the first mainstream buyers who will never touch a gaming PC. If the games deliver, PSVR could be the thing that turns VR from an enthusiast hobby into something people actually talk about at dinner.
PSVR is not the best VR headset you can buy. It might be the most important one, because it makes VR easy and cheap enough that normal people will actually try it. Scale beats specs, every time.
Part of Two Decades of XR, my running diary of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality.