I am now the owner of a big sweaty helmet.
I'd been toying with the idea of getting a PSVR for a while, and the combination of a fairly significant price drop as well as improved hardware tipped me over the edge. I've never even seen a film in 3D so was a bit unprepared for the experience - I know everyone's a bit cynical about VR but honestly I think it's absolutely amazing.
So yes, it's bit cumbersome (lots of leads, camera setup is a bit fiddly, the range isn't great) but it's not too hard to set up and the headset is surprisingly comfortable, more so if you use your own headphones. And for about 5 minutes you'll feel totally self-conscious. And then after 5 minutes you'll find yourself completely absorbed.
It's just been one great experience after another so far. Wipeout's incredible. Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is like having a ghost train in your living room. Statik is one of the cleverest puzzle games I've seen since Portal. And I haven't even tried half of the "big names" properly, like RE7 and Skyrim. The VR effect is uncanny for anything that's close to you, slightly less convincing at a distance due to the low resolution of the headset, but generally plenty good enough. It's honestly the kind of experience I can't believe you can just walk into a shop and buy and then play at home any time you like.
I'm sure it won't last, I'm sure the novelty will wear off, but even if it does, I'll have played enough interesting and unique games to make it worth the outlay. What should I be playing?
It's a weird one. The novelty doesn't wear off so much as the actual effect itself. I still like using it, but the sense of presence has declined a huge amount, to the point it feels sort of strangely disassociating. That said, I think Wipeout VR is excellent, and possibly a system seller.
Other transformative experiences are probably Allumette, Batman VR, a demo of a dude playing a violin, the platformer in the Playroom thing, Skyrim VR using a bow with the Moves, Doom or Farpoint with the gun, the X-Wing thing in Battlefront, Rez and possibly something really terrifying like R7.
I'd gorge now. Play everything. Revel in it. Enjoy some amazing experiences while you can.
Wipeout VR is certainly call to me.
I've only had limited experience with VR - two iterations of the Oculus Developer Kit - and both of them gave me significant motion sickness.
It's still something that really tempts me, though - I've heard great things about Elite in VR (my limited experience with a basic head tracker assures me that it would be amazing) - but I would have to try it before I could even consider dropping hundreds of pounds on a sweaty headset of my own.
I want the PS4 version of Elite to support VR so, so much. Not sure it ever will though.
You can just tell the next generation of this is going to be amazing, though. It's only really the lowish resolution and the rubbishy Move controllers that let it down. Although to be honest it's quite impressive the way Sony has cobbled all this together out of some old PS3 motion control experiments and a PS4 camera no-one used; and that it works as well as it does genuinely took me by surprise.
I've had no issues with motion sickness so far but I've been quite cautious, keeping play times low and not playing anything too notorious. I was quite surprised and pleased that Rush of Blood didn't trigger any nausea, because I thought a bumpy ghost train ride would be guaranteed to set me off, but then again I guess you are seated by design in that game so maybe the visual feedback you're getting ties in with what your body thinks is going on. Or maybe I'm just lucky.
In my experience, the motion sickness was immediate and acute. One 3D platformer had me ripping the headset off as soon as the camera moved.
Only the DK1 made me actually throw up (Team Fortress 2's Scout is a little too active), though, so they are getting better - and it does heavily depend on the game. That EVE fighter combat game was pretty good because your character is strapped into a chair, which massively reduces the disconnect between body and perception.
One drawback I hadn't really considered about VR and it's really obvious when you think about it is how isolating it is. I mean you're basically sat there and you can't see anything and you can't hear anything and you're totally caught up in something no-one else can see and even if someone does get your attention there's a big scramble of taking things off your head before you can react to anything. It's actually remarkably hard to find suitable times when you can play it, it's a bit odd to go off and do that unless you're alone in the house on a regular basis and even then you've got to be fairly sure that you aren't going to need to answer the phone or accept a delivery or anything. There's no way around it really and if there's a barrier to mass market acceptance then it's going to be that rather than cost or motion sickness or any other problem that will eventually be overcome.
Try sticking your head out of the window while you're driving around the track in Driveclub. That'll sort your nausea out for you.
I own a big sweaty helmet on the PC. The heft and weight of it is marvelous and there's nothing quite like the pounding that it gives me.
Superhot VR is, as far as I'm concerned, entirely mandatory.
Bound is lovely.
I never played the game in twood, but in VR it's a visual marvel. I have no idea what the gameplay actually consists of, but it's worth it for the main character's animations alone. It also has a very clever VR-sickness solution, with sort-of-fixed camera angles, that works very well. (In addition to full movement vomfest if you so choose.)
I can't even remember why I own it – was it PS Plus at some point? Anyway, whack your sweaty helmet on and give it a go.
Got a slightly needy survey to fill out asking why I hadn't used my PSVR recently. I had to come up with several creative ways to say "it's been too bastard hot over the last few weeks".
Still hovering over the push to buy button on this one. On the one hand, Im excited by the gadgetry and experience, but on the other can't help thinking that I wouldn't actually play any games. Are there any killer apps out?. Plus I get seasick stepping in a puddle so that's another worry.
Huge fun last night with Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, one of the most unconventional games I've played in a long while. One player wears the PSVR headset and sees themselves trapped in a room with a bomb, covered in wires, keypads and puzzles of various descriptions. The other players can't see what the PSVR player sees, but have a 24-page bomb disposal manual (viewed via a laptop, tablet or - ideally - a printout) giving instructions on how to defuse the various tricks and traps. So the whole thing becomes a frantic race against time as the PSVR player tries to describe what's in front of them and the other players frantically leaf through their manuals to try and solve the puzzles, relaying the solutions back to the player with the headset.
It comes across as a strange kind of variant of the Escape Room games that have become popular recently, and it's a great way of engaging a room full of people and getting everyone working together towards a common goal. It's surprisingly tough as well with some very tricky puzzles and tight time limits, so there's a real sense of accomplishment with every narrow escape.
Worth noting that this doesn't strictly require VR but it was clearly designed around it, and the way it completely isolates the player with the bomb from everyone around them is really very effective. We can't wait to get everyone together and play some more.
We played this on a laptop, and it still works really well. Morse Code blocks can get fucked, though.
Last time I played this, my ex died three times in a row, accused me of calling her stupid (I didn't, this comment bemused both me and my daughter who was also playing) and then stormed out of the room. I haven't played it since.
Would be nice to play it with someone normal. :)
Anyone here a) got PSVR and b) into MOBAs? I just got an early access code for Dark Eclipse… never heard of it, but it's a PSVR MOBA. I won't use the code, so happy to pass it onto anyone who wants to use it.
Astro-Bot Rescue Mission is absolutely incredible. I've only played the first couple of levels and it's already hands-down the most impressive thing I've seen in VR.
I was going to break out my VR to play it this weekend, but I'm holding off - my room is cluttered enough with Christmas presents for folks, I don't want to piss my folks off any further by trailing cables everywhere.
Once I get my own place again - which will hopefully be soon after Christmas at the latest - it's first on the list.
I'm hoping there's a Black Friday VR sale. I want Astro Bot, Moss and Tetris Effect.
Astrobot is fine. The widespread acclaim for it being transformatively amazing is very peculiar.
I now have AstroBot (thank you kind soul), and I agree with the critics to be fair.
Take the VR out of it and it's a simple but hugely entertaining platformer with Nintendo levels of polish. Maybe it was the mushroom level early on, but Nintendo was a name that kept coming to mind actually. The brilliantly catchy music, the sheer joy of the animation, the minute attention to detail. The animation work in particular, which I always think is something Nintendo excels at, is good enough to rival anything in Mario Odyssey.
But then you can't take the VR out of it. And the VR really does make for a transformative experience. Trying not to sound like too much of a hyperbolic twonk (because just last week I said Red Dead 2's world was a once-in-a-generation moment)… but AstroBot feels the same way. The things it does with the headset – simple things maybe, and things that we'll laugh at in 20 years if VR takes off – are just mindblowing in the moment.
There's a bit in the very first level where the camera doesn't follow your avatar far enough, and he disappears behind a wall. So I leaned forward and peered around the wall. I navigated this (completely fake) physical object, and it was utterly convincing. It was the simplest thing in the world, but when I realised what I'd done I let out a genuine belly laugh. Maybe I'm just a bit odd (I definitely am). But the developers 100% knew what they were doing there. They had orchestrated the smallest little moment to teach me the new rules, and it'll honestly stick with me.
Any title that can make a game-changing moment from a wall needs a bit of recognition, in my book.
Yeah, I'm with MPH. It's a great little platformer (surprisingly good) but the VR aspect of it is an absolute game-changer.
I love the way the player character is a presence in the game world, over and above Astro himself. I noticed on the first level that you can see the player shadow but it goes much further than that. You can peer over things and under things; when Astro was teetering high up above me I actually stood up and got a better view of what he was doing. Astro can activate switches and lifts to move you around the level and you can return the favour by headbutting obstacles out of the way!
Also, the sense of scale is unreal. The game conditions you to look at these tiny little characters running around and they feel absolutely real and tangible, like a toy set come to life; then it opens up suddenly and it's breathtaking. The boss at the end of the first world is absolutely enormous, the sheer size of it is almost overwhelming. Then World 2 opens with you climbing an enormous beanstalk that stretches up into the sky further than you can see. It really has to be experienced.
My current favourite thing: spending coins on collectable dioramas. In most games this would be a pointless pursuit but here, with the little models spinning right in front of you like you could just reach out and touch them, it's totally delightful.
Those describing this as the Mario 64 of VR aren't wrong. It maybe isn't the equal of that title as a game, but it's got the same feeling of change, freedom and sheer possibility.
Completely agree about the dioramas. In most games I unlock a few, spin them around once then forget all about them. But here it's like having an actual collection of Amiibo to admire.
Speaking of your presence in the world, nothing has better illustrated that for me than the water level in world 2, where you spot yourself in a mirror. I can't even explain the things it does to your brain – you're utterly convinced that you're looking at yourself, despite knowing you're in a dark bedroom with a ridiculous helmet on, hoping you don't accidentally headbutt one of your cats.
I think it's good - perhaps I'm burnt out on VR games generally. The sort of "delightful" playing with the third wall stuff feels rather tired. But that might just be my cynicism - I found the mouse one that I've forgotten the name of (platformer recently) a similarly yawnsome experience.
Moss, you're thinking of. If you couldn't find even a twinkle of delight in that then yeah, it might be you. A bit, anyway. 
Has anyone played Beat Saber? The video on Eurogamer makes it look exhausting, but in a good way.
