Going to try PS4 Virtual Reality: Please Help (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

So what VR games are people actually recommending as "a good game"? Besides just being possibly a good VR experience. At first I'll go for the wow/new factor of course, but for me, the game's the thing, even if the VR experience may not be top-notch. A VR game thread? I'll accept your own definition of "good" as fine...

Craig,

That's tough for me.

I am not really a gamer. I haven't really played all the games I bought yet. To date, I really like Until Dawn: Rush of Blood.

I found that BestBuy game ratings helped me quite a bit in selecting the best VR titles.


EDIT: I have Resident Evil. Have not played it yet. But everyone is telling me that is one of the best games out there. Thanks, Tino for chiming in. Forgot about that one.

 

[CraigF]

amazon.ca doesn't even have any new copies of the Resident Evil game, guess I'll have to wait for the "Gold" edition (Dec. 12 here, current case pic doesn't promote the VR aspect like the original, so need to check on that). Rush of Blood I can get at BB now.

Other people mentioned the shortage of some VR games. Same thing in Canada, the PSVR has been a very hot item around these parts this "season", based on how quickly the online stock numbers deplete, and how quickly the "in stock" notation disappears from stores within even "unreasonable" driving distances from me.

 

[Tino]

I’m a big proponent of downloading games as opposed to buying them. The convenience of not having to get up and switch discs every time I want to play a different game is very handy. And I never have to worry about it being in stock.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

​

The real value of my VR purchase came to fruition early this morning as I played, complete, Batman: Arkham.

What an absolutely amazing experience this was to play. This was the very first time I truly felt I was completely in another place.

I don't want to ruin too much of the game, but the first time I descended into the Batcave, I was in complete awe. The scope of what I was about to enter was immense. It was so life-like that I began bumping into furniture because I wanted to explore the entire cave on foot. It was the very first time that I wished I had a larger room to play in. With more room, I could absolutely have walked into more areas of the cave, looked down over the railing, and gotten more of a sense of its immensity.

Those scenes in the batcave are memorable.

The rest of the game is pretty decent, but man, I wish there was more combat than simply a detective/puzzle story. I did have to stop twice and consult a YouTube walk-through to figure out how to proceed at pivotal points. Upon reflection, I could have solved it on my own had I just been a little more patient and experimental.

Up until this point, I have never felt as if the outside world didn't exist. I was completely inhabiting this dark, twisted world. As you near the end of Batman: Arkham, you enter the asylum. That is where I thought the gameplay and immersion really took off. I loved the asylum check-in desk and all the things that happened moving forward. My body was continually moving around and there were several times that I lost tracking because I had moved completely out of game field. I had no idea where I was standing in the real world.

The final minutes of Arkham is just sick, as you find yourself isolated with your worst fears. It was so unbelievably awesome because the VR made it seem so real.

The only downside is that I often lost camera tracking and my hands disappeared. It's very easy, with the visual scope of this game, to walk out of the playing field. Tracking may be a huge issue for some. I had to readjust the camera several times.

That being said, this was the crowning touch on my VR experience. You can sit here and say that the Sony Playstation VR is "dumbed down" in graphics and power compared to other systems. However, the quality of the graphics never come into play as far as I am concerned. In fact, I think they look top-notch --- certainly real enough to feel as if you are part of something quite elaborate.

This is an absolute MUST BUY! The best game I have played thus far, though I still have to look at Resident Evil and the VR experience of Star Wars: Battlefront.

 

[CraigF]

I’m a big proponent of downloading games as opposed to buying them. The convenience of not having to get up and switch discs every time I want to play a different game is very handy. And I never have to worry about it being in stock.

I'm a bit old-fashioned in that I like to have stuff in a hard format if possible. But yes, a lot of my stuff is only available as a DL and it's never been a problem either. I don't have the right type of "attention span" to be able to switch games, mostly I just play one until I'm done with it. I guess with the new VR stuff (when I get it...) I'll probably be changing discs a lot at first. Getting up is such a pain...we need digital beer.

I see what you mean though Tino, at e.g. amazon.com you have the option to buy many PS4 games via DL, which amazon.ca doesn't offer. Probably the PlayStation store has many (all?) of them...I rarely go there...will have a look.

[Edit: the PSVR came today after all, funnily enough just after I decided to take the Pro out of the bag and set it up sans PSVR (wasn't sure of PSVR cable lengths, wanted to do both together).]

 

[Tino]

View attachment 42208​

The real value of my VR purchase came to fruition early this morning as I played, complete, Batman: Arkham.

What an absolutely amazing experience this was to play. This was the very first time I truly felt I was completely in another place.

I don't want to ruin too much of the game, but the first time I descended into the Batcave, I was in complete awe. The scope of what I was about to enter was immense. It was so life-like that I began bumping into furniture because I wanted to explore the entire cave on foot. It was the very first time that I wished I had a larger room to play in. With more room, I could absolutely have walked into more areas of the cave, looked down over the railing, and gotten more of a sense of its immensity.

Those scenes in the batcave are memorable.

The rest of the game is pretty decent, but man, I wish there was more combat than simply a detective/puzzle story. I did have to stop twice and consult a YouTube walk-through to figure out how to proceed at pivotal points. Upon reflection, I could have solved it on my own had I just been a little more patient and experimental.

Up until this point, I have never felt as if the outside world didn't exist. I was completely inhabiting this dark, twisted world. As you near the end of Batman: Arkham, you enter the asylum. That is where I thought the gameplay and immersion really took off. I loved the asylum check-in desk and all the things that happened moving forward. My body was continually moving around and there were several times that I lost tracking because I had moved completely out of game field. I had no idea where I was standing in the real world.

The final minutes of Arkham is just sick, as you find yourself isolated with your worst fears. It was so unbelievably awesome because the VR made it seem so real.

The only downside is that I often lost camera tracking and my hands disappeared. It's very easy, with the visual scope of this game, to walk out of the playing field. Tracking may be a huge issue for some. I had to readjust the camera several times.

That being said, this was the crowning touch on my VR experience. You can sit here and say that the Sony Playstation VR is "dumbed down" in graphics and power compared to other systems. However, the quality of the graphics never come into play as far as I am concerned. In fact, I think they look top-notch --- certainly real enough to feel as if you are part of something quite elaborate.

This is an absolute MUST BUY! The best game I have played thus far, though I still have to look at Resident Evil and the VR experience of Star Wars: Battlefront.

Wait until you play Resident Evil Ron.

Talk about full immersion. Its a full fledged 12-15 hour game. Playable in both 2D and 3D VR.

Its terrifying. And gross. And scary.

In short....awesome.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Ron - are you mostly playing games standing or sitting? I overwhelmingly play sitting, so I didn't have quite as many lost-tracking issues as you did with Batman. It's a little less immersive and I have to sit in a regular chair versus on the couch (otherwise you hit the couch and cushions while doing stuff) but it makes the experience easier.

Resident Evil 7 is the first "regular great game made even better by VR" that I can think of. However, it's not exactly easy (not hard, either, but you will be challenged to some extent if you're not much of a gamer). It is a really immersive experience and works great.

If the RE7 Gold Edition case doesn't advertise the VR aspect, it's probably because some of the DLC was not VR-capable. The Gold Edition has all of the DLC so I don't think they would want to advertise it as "VR" unless ALL of it was in VR.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Ron - are you mostly playing games standing or sitting? I overwhelmingly play sitting, so I didn't have quite as many lost-tracking issues as you did with Batman.

Morgan,

Perhaps I am not seasoned enough to say this, but I believe standing up provides a more realistic VR experience.

I am trying to imagine how you could possibly play Batman sitting down. The game requires that you constantly turn around to see what is happening from all directions.

Looking forward to RE7. If I get stuck, there are always YouTube videos.

Thanks for the advice as always, Morgan.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The demos of Starblood Arena and Raw Data were fun. I haven't picked up the full games yet, but they're on my list.

Starblood is essentially a FPS in three dimensions with no gravity, so those with nausea issue might want to steer clear (or at least try the demo before buying).

 

[CraigF]

Lots of stuff to charge (geez those Moves are slow). Do you guys use a charging station? One specifically designed for the PSVR? If the latter, have they changed the connectors on Moves from Mini to Micro USB, so that I need to be careful what I order if I get one of those (my Moves are Micro)? [I ask because whatever info sources I used before getting the PSVR talked about Mini connectors on the Moves, though lots of people get the names/types wrong.]

I really prefer a charger with an external power supply. I usually charge all my gaming stuff on my PC, plenty of ports. But I need a place to put the PSVR stuff when not being used, so a purpose-built charging stand might make sense in this case, though I usually prefer general-purpose chargers.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

CraigF - I have a 5 port USB charger in my entertainment center. I already have plenty of cables from various devices, so I plug in however many I need to charge a lot of stuff all at once.

Ron - If you play VR games sitting down, there are control changes that allow you to turn 90 or 180 degrees with the tap of a button. I don't think this is available for standing play, but I could be wrong.

 

[WillG]

View attachment 42208​

The real value of my VR purchase came to fruition early this morning as I played, complete, Batman: Arkham.

What an absolutely amazing experience this was to play. This was the very first time I truly felt I was completely in another place.

I don't want to ruin too much of the game, but the first time I descended into the Batcave, I was in complete awe. The scope of what I was about to enter was immense. It was so life-like that I began bumping into furniture because I wanted to explore the entire cave on foot. It was the very first time that I wished I had a larger room to play in. With more room, I could absolutely have walked into more areas of the cave, looked down over the railing, and gotten more of a sense of its immensity.

Those scenes in the batcave are memorable.

The rest of the game is pretty decent, but man, I wish there was more combat than simply a detective/puzzle story. I did have to stop twice and consult a YouTube walk-through to figure out how to proceed at pivotal points. Upon reflection, I could have solved it on my own had I just been a little more patient and experimental.

Up until this point, I have never felt as if the outside world didn't exist. I was completely inhabiting this dark, twisted world. As you near the end of Batman: Arkham, you enter the asylum. That is where I thought the gameplay and immersion really took off. I loved the asylum check-in desk and all the things that happened moving forward. My body was continually moving around and there were several times that I lost tracking because I had moved completely out of game field. I had no idea where I was standing in the real world.

The final minutes of Arkham is just sick, as you find yourself isolated with your worst fears. It was so unbelievably awesome because the VR made it seem so real.

The only downside is that I often lost camera tracking and my hands disappeared. It's very easy, with the visual scope of this game, to walk out of the playing field. Tracking may be a huge issue for some. I had to readjust the camera several times.

That being said, this was the crowning touch on my VR experience. You can sit here and say that the Sony Playstation VR is "dumbed down" in graphics and power compared to other systems. However, the quality of the graphics never come into play as far as I am concerned. In fact, I think they look top-notch --- certainly real enough to feel as if you are part of something quite elaborate.

This is an absolute MUST BUY! The best game I have played thus far, though I still have to look at Resident Evil and the VR experience of Star Wars: Battlefront.

Sounds like a pretty glowing endorsement. But are you actually required to walk around to play this. I ask because if I were to get a PSVR I would probably have a limited space issue.

In general are there limitations to where you can place the PS4 camera (like, does it require a "traditional" placement like on top of or in front of your television) or can you place/angle to where you have the most space to move around in.

Also does anyone know if the Doom bundle has the v2 headsets. I really want to avoid the skyrim bundle since I don't need the two move controllers which jack the price up like 80 bucks.

 

[Sam Posten]

‘An amusement park conversion’. Count me out.

http://www.pcgamer.com/doom-vfr-is-more-like-visiting-an-interactive-doom-exhibit-than-playing-doom/

Until we can make full forward motion workable at speed without motion sickness,conversions like this will do more harm than good

 

[Steve Y]

People should have the option to have a "smooth, fast, and kinetic" experience in VR, so in that sense Doom VFR is a disappointment for some. However, smooth rotating and strafing movements in VR are extremely unpleasant for me, to say the least. That kind of movement in VR makes me feel so sick (almost instantly) that I have no interest in trying to "build up a tolerance" or "grow VR legs."

That said, I think VR games that require the player to traverse more than a single chair (or room) should provide players with either option: teleportation (like Batman or Doom) OR smooth locomotion (like Windlands or Farpoint). Skyrim VR smartly provides players with BOTH options, and they're still patching the game to include even more smooth movement options.

Developers are learning what works and what doesn't. This is very much in the early stages, working with infant tech, so it's exciting to see people learn as they go.

Resident Evil 7 is great for its sense of atmosphere (truly disturbing), but it's a game that requires a lot of fast movement, running, hiding, and shooting targets. I tried playing it for a while in VR, but switched back to standard play when my lack of skill came up against the limitations of VR controls. If you're like me, and aren't very skilled at first-person combat games, the boss encounters (in particular) can be very confusing and punishing.

PSVR may have a small software library as compared to Rift and Vive, but in my opinion it has the highest quality games of any "mainstream" VR platform, so that more than makes up for the size of its library, which is growing every month.

 

[CraigF]

In general are there limitations to where you can place the PS4 camera (like, does it require a "traditional" placement like on top of or in front of your television) or can you place/angle to where you have the most space to move around in.

I'm going to find that out. It's not a space issue for me, but rather a limitation of the camera's cord length (~2m/6.5', it's actually quite short in practice), my preferred PS4 placement, and (what really matters...) my convenience. I put the camera on top of my front right speaker (which is ~6' high). Ron linked to an article that said camera height is "key", whereas the PSVR manual suggests that the camera being central is more important. We shall see.

One of the included manuals suggests trying to remain seated while playing, but others say standing is often better. Clearly there's lots of room for experimentation and personal preference.

It has been reported in a couple places that the Doom bundle includes the new version headset. When I bought a PSVR (a few days ago) the Doom bundle without Moves cost more than the Skyrim bundle. I didn't really want the Moves either, but what the heck. (The manuals for them say they don't work with the PS3, but the Moves still have PS3 switch labeling and work with *my* PS3 that I accidentally synched them to. At least somewhat as far as I tried, which is all the Moves ever did with the PS3 anyway...)

 

[Aaron Silverman]

I'm pretty sure that the PS camera has to be centered, either above or below your TV. They recommend above, I think, but mine does just fine sitting on the same shelf as the TV.

No PS VR games require you to actually move your feet in any way (aside from maybe turning to look around, but you wouldn't want to turn more than about 90 degrees for that anyway, since you'll get tangled in the cords). You can sit or stand as desired for most (all?) of the games.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Does the Farpoint/Aim bundle for ~US$80 sound like a good deal? I noticed a few people mentioned that game in the thread and I know nothing about it...but a "Move" shaped vaguely like a gun might make some "sense". [Edit: apparently the Aim will work with Doom VFR, somebody will confirm or deny very soon (you'd think they'd show an Aim in the box pictures if a viable accessory). Some of these "alternate" controllers didn't work with too many games on the PS3, why I'm a bit hesitant. Farpoint itself sounds like I will probably like it.]

$80 for the Farpoint is the normal price for it. So it's not good or bad, it just is the normal price. Although you could say it's a good deal just becasue it is available, which is 80% of the difficulty in getting it to begin with.

Yes the Aim controller is compatible with Doom VFR, although I don't think it supports free movement with that controller. I could be wrong about the free movement thing, but I know for a fact you can use Aim with Doom.

Sounds like a pretty glowing endorsement. But are you actually required to walk around to play this. I ask because if I were to get a PSVR I would probably have a limited space issue.

No, in fact Batman is designed for you to be standing in one spot. The only thing you would walk around for is if you really were curious and wanted to just see what's over that ledge or something like that, it's not designed to be that way. In fact, in most vr games you can 'break' them by walking around, i.e. put your head straight through a wall in the game and see what's on the other side.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Someone asked about a charging station. I spent quite a bit of time pouring over Amazon reviews. The one Playstation makes is okay, but many reviews suggest that the headset droops on the stand.

I ended up buying this charging stand. It's excellent, and the lighting on it is an added bonus. It's currently unavailable but I would suspect it will be back in stock soon.

Regarding sitting or standing while playing BATMAN. I already stated my preference, but again I will reiterate, if you have the room size, you will be tempted to actually walk around the BatCave and other landscapes. You can actually do it, and that is something you cannot do sitting down. I really think you get a more realistic experience in all games when you stand rather than sit.

 

[CraigF]

$80 for the Farpoint is the normal price for it. So it's not good or bad, it just is the normal price. Although you could say it's a good deal just becasue it is available, which is 80% of the difficulty in getting it to begin with.

Yeah, I realize that now... The game itself is less than US$30 cheaper (in Canada) than the combo, so you're paying a fairly small premium for the Aim. I am going to assume that the comments made by some about using the Aim with Doom VFR are exactly the reason why Sony didn't promote the Aim as a "recommended accessory" for it on the PSVR/Doom combo box.

Re centering the camera: it really does want to be centered for the "calibration" routine. I mean, you can really lean over to the side to get your face centered in the required boxes, it's doable, and it works, but probably not ideal. I've been playing with it that way for a while anyway, and I'm impressed. Easily worth the $$, and I haven't even really done anything with it...

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Regarding sitting or standing while playing BATMAN. I already stated my preference, but again I will reiterate, if you have the room size, you will be tempted to actually walk around the BatCave and other landscapes. You can actually do it, and that is something you cannot do sitting down. I really think you get a more realistic experience in all games when you stand rather than sit.

Standing vs. Sitting is completely situational depending on the game you are playing. I prefer sitting just because it's more comfortable in the long run and will always play a game sitting if it's possible.

Batman is designed to be played standing up, and I did stand for that one. Job Simulator is another one that needs to be played standing up as there are a lot of actions that require turning or reaching down.

Rush of Blood should be played seated, as your character is seated in a roller coaster. Similarly, mech type games, driving or piloting games where your character is in a fixed position make more sense when seated.

So there's no direct singular answer to "Should I play seated or standing?"