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Demo PlayStation VR at Select Best Buy Stores (Every weekend through December)

Shancake

Junior Member
One demo unit in Brick, NJ. A line of "one" in front of me..

The Sony rep is running into issues getting it set up and running.

bDA8pEK.jpg

Get him to double check that BOTH hdmi cables are plugged in. Just had that issue with the person setting up our unit.
 

DarkWish

Member
Battlezone (Cockpit hover-tank game)
Eve Valkyrie (Cockpit dogfighting game)
VR Worlds(Underwater Observation Experience)
SuperHyperCube (abstract puzzle game)

VR Heist is only available in Gamestop as there's too many f-bombs dropped and too violent for BB.
Must depend on your store then because my Best Buy was letting people play Heist yesterday.
 

Josh378

Member
Nothing like picking up Fallout 4 brand new for $20 at Best Buy and not wait in line to play the VR demo...the experience is amazing!!!
 

Priz

Member
One of the most amazing and innovative titles for VR is the classroom aquatic. My first real experience with it was at Tim Schaeffers Day of the Devs up in San Francisco back in 2014. You need to use the oculus to look around at others tests to see what answers they put down and cheat without getting caught. It really stood out among the games I saw there.

I went to PlayStation experience and did the Playroom VR demo. You would go lineup and they would put you on a system of whatever was free so I did that with two other people. One person would wear the headset and the rest of us would have controllers; we played three different mini games. I didn't think I could wear my glasses but it actually fit ok with them out was just snug. Slight OCD here so one thing I noticed in the trade show lights they have is that even though they cleaned everything else between users the part that rests on your nose was extremely shiny from Peoples facial oil and they didn't even notice that or clean it. I mentioned it to the employee before I wore it.

As I was walking out of that one demo I saw the guys from classroom aquatic were in the next row so I walked over and talk to them. We were discussing about bringing their game for PSVR and they were pretty cool. Since I knew their game and they weren't that popular because people want to try the other games instead (and have never heard of theirs) they asked if I wanted to try. Again just as much fun as the oculus version but I noticed a problem - just as Marty said the screen resolution or something made it so the tests were incredibly hard to read. The one close up behind me was OK but the person across the aisle to my left or right I just couldn't make anything out. So I had to guess and I actually knew one or two answers and scored eight out of ten! Hopefully by the time the system and games are released will figure out a way to make it easier to read as it is on the oculus.
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
No RIGS (yet).

EVE: Valkyrie and Battlezone seem to be the top picks amongst people who've tried it.

People also seem to enjoy the Ocean Descent demo in PSVR Worlds for a more passive experience.

Thanks. Those were the ones I was planning on trying based on impressions.
 
Bruh, this lady was flipping the fuck out when the shark started attacking in the water demo. Buy when the shark tore a whole wall off and the shark was trying to craw it way into the cage to bite.......bbbrrrooooooo,
SHE
FLIPPED
THE
FUCK
OUT.
screaming and the whole nine. The Sony dude had to jump in and end the demo. The crowd around us was fucking cracking up. Shit was bananas.
 
Just finished playing eve and the oculus demo (had no idea this existed). I'm so fucking pumped for VR now.

While the Oculus demo was somewhat boring with the exception of a jump and slip in the climb. EVE was fucking amazing! While the enemy ships were sometimes hard to track and keep up with, the dog-fighting was fun and exciting.

The display was fine and I did feel VERY immersed but there are some negatives, some from it just being a demo. While they let you adjust the band and adjust the display to your face, you can't adjust the focus. They told to move the bands back and forth till I got a clear image.

Though I did get a clear image, I could see the light/floor at the bottom of the headset. I'm sure if I owned the unit this wouldn't be an issue. A thing I found weird about the display was that while it was clear and not blurry, it felt a little grainy (not sure how to describe it).

But the good thing is that once my ship took off and I was out it space it was like those issues disappeared even as I looked down and around. There was no line when I first arrived, but after me and an employee played and long line started to form. I hope I can try out all the games. I'm fucking so excited for this now!
 

Thewonandonly

Junior Member
Bruh, this lady was flipping the fuck out when the shark started attacking in the water demo. Buy when the shark tore a whole wall off and the shark was trying to craw it way into the cage to bite.......bbbrrrooooooo,
SHE
FLIPPED
THE
FUCK
OUT.
screaming and the whole nine. The Sony dude had to jump in and end the demo. The crowd around us was fucking cracking up. Shit was bananas.
Hahahaha that's incredible man should have recorded it ;)
 

border

Member
Most of my concerns about the headset were soothed by the demo. Image quality is just okay, but I didn't really get any screen-door effect and you quickly stop noticing the pixelation. The headset is relatively comfortable to wear. Of course, it may just be that EVE Valkyrie hides a lot of the visual problems.

I still don't think I've really experienced what VR enthusiasts call "presence". Maybe that's something that is hard to get if you're sitting in the middle of a big-box store, aware of the fact that half a dozen people are watching you. It just feels like playing a game on a big screen TV to me, with your head controlling the camera.

I didn't have time to do any other demos, but the Sony rep said that you can play as many of them as you want provided you wait in line every time. I really wanna try Super Hyper Cube and the ocean descent. Do any of the demos use motion controls? They had some move controllers set up, but since everyone inevitably picks EVE or Battlezone I never saw them put to use.
 
Anyone have any luck finding a Gamestop with a demo? Apparently there are some select stores that have them. Went to the Marketstreet Gamestop in SF, but Sony hadn't arrived with the unit yet :(
 

Bunta

Fujiwara Tofu Shop
Anyone have any luck finding a Gamestop with a demo? Apparently there are some select stores that have them. Went to the Marketstreet Gamestop in SF, but Sony hadn't arrived with the unit yet :(

I find one in Louisiana and went earlier, but didn't feel like standing around for an hour or more waiting. I might go back before 4:30pm after I get some studying in. They won't have another session until next weekend and I won't be around for it.
 
Bruh, this lady was flipping the fuck out when the shark started attacking in the water demo. Buy when the shark tore a whole wall off and the shark was trying to craw it way into the cage to bite.......bbbrrrooooooo,
SHE
FLIPPED
THE
FUCK
OUT.
screaming and the whole nine. The Sony dude had to jump in and end the demo. The crowd around us was fucking cracking up. Shit was bananas.

I can't wait to put my Mother on this. It's going to be epic.
 
For those who have tried both, how does it compare to the Vive? Obviously the Vive holds the advantage when it comes to room-scale, but I'm still really interested in how the PSVR compares.
 

Thoraxes

Member
Dang, wish I could've made it today.

Anyone who owns a Rift or Vive: How does it stack up? Edit: see above haha.

I'm probably going to keep my PSVR preorder and just have two headsets I'm thinking. I already have a Rift and am debating whether or not to get the touch controllers first, or just get the PSVR headset.
 
Had a chance to try this out, having spent some time playing with a CV1 Oculus from a friend. It's maybe a little below the Oculus experience, the tracking not quite as solid (especially the DS4 tracking. While not essential to the demos I was trying, it was extremely fiddly and most of the time didn't work at all, and while I could chalk that up to maybe a sub optimal demo environment, the rift comparatively encountered virtually no such issues) The reduced FoV from the rift is also apparent, and the flickering from the low resolution is noticeable as it is on the rift (though not egregious). But it's close, really close to being great. Damn sight better than GearVR. I could easily see gen 2 devices down the road being nearly perfect if the resolution gets a good enough bump, though I've yet to try the Vive or any sort of motion controlled VR demos, so I'm even more excited about that. As it is though I'm still loath to buy into these, not only because these aren't quite good enough with, IMO, not enough content to justify then, but also because we can be fairly certain that far better stuff will be out within the next 2-3 years if the Rift's DK's are any indication. If you've just gotta have VR, go for it, but I'm not ready yet to invest with the kind of money being asked for.
 
Slow in Silver Spring, MD. I got to try all three demos. Very happy that I've preordered, and I'm excited to see where VR goes.
 
What resolutions is the headsets???


Man, what was shown on the TV and the headsets were worlds apart.

On tv, it looked 1080p, but in the headset, looked like 480.
I was like..................eeewwwwwww. Everything was so pixelated and blocky looking that things in the distance were just a single fucking pixel in that eve game.

ZThis is the best example of how it looked to me. With the PC picture is how it looked on the TV and the xbox is how the game looked in the headsets.
Ij1xFdc.png



I would like to try this on a high end PC with the Vive.

I walked away from that demo, less than impressed. The tech itself was superb though.
The spacial awareness was amazing. Looking around in that space ship, felt like I was actually fucking there. The depth of field, like how it looks in real life, I was like, holy shit. But the low end graphics was killing it for me though, and the low view angle, I was able to see the edges of those lens, so I tried to get the device as close to my eyes as possible, but since I wear glasses, that wasnt happening, but Everything else was amazing.

Im sold on the VR techology, but I dont think itll be getting a PSVR though. Especially if they have to lower the graphics so far to get that 60 solid frames in all games. I guess im going straight to the high end shit, The VIVE.
 
Quick what game should I try. Everyone is doing EVE should I just do that

I want the best one to really show VR.

The best VR experience would probably be the Ocean one, but you literally do nothing in it though but look around. But the EVE one gives you the best gaming experience for playing an actual game in VR though. So I went with EVE since Im a hardcore gamer. I wanted to know what it'll feel like to use the controller, press buttons, while aiming and looking around and shit.

Also, the flight controls are inverted in the EVE demo, that fucked me up. Trying to look up and was looking in all kinds of other directions. Shit was making me mad.
 

Shoeless

Member
I still don't think I've really experienced what VR enthusiasts call "presence". Maybe that's something that is hard to get if you're sitting in the middle of a big-box store, aware of the fact that half a dozen people are watching you. It just feels like playing a game on a big screen TV to me, with your head controlling the camera.

I'm curious about this reaction. Do you mean to say that you didn't see the images in 3D at all, and had no sense of depth? It felt like you were just in a room looking at a big 2D image on a screen?

It may be that you're right and you didn't have a "proper" experience. The first time I tried a PS VR unit, it was in a big rush at E3, so I didn't have the luxury of spending a few minutes micro-managing the fit of the headset, so it it didn't feel all that comfortable, and, because I wear glasses, was pushed too close to my frames, so I could feel them pushing against my face. A lot of that contributed to my not really being able to appreciate "being there." But when I got another try at the headset, I had a better experience because I knew what I needed to compensate for to achieve better comfort.
 

A.R.K

Member
What resolutions is the headsets???


Man, what was shown on the TV and the headsets were worlds apart.

On tv, it looked 1080p, but in the headset, looked like 480.
I was like..................eeewwwwwww. Everything was so pixelated and blocky looking that things in the distance were just a single fucking pixel in that eve game.

ZThis is the best example of how it looked to me. With the PC picture is how it looked on the TV and the xbox is how the game looked in the headsets.
Ij1xFdc.png



I would like to try this on a high end PC with the Vive.

I walked away from that demo, less than impressed. The tech itself was superb though.
The spacial awareness was amazing. Looking around in that space ship, felt like I was actually fucking there. The depth of field, like how it looks in real life, I was like, holy shit. But the low end graphics was killing it for me though, and the low view angle, I was able to see the edges of those lens, so I tried to get the device as close to my eyes as possible, but since I wear glasses, that wasnt happening, but Everything else was amazing.

Im sold on the VR techology, but I dont think itll be getting a PSVR though. Especially if they have to lower the graphics so far to get that 60 solid frames in all games. I guess im going straight to the high end shit, The VIVE.

What? Is it this bad? The other impressions in the thread have been a lot more positive. Anyone else thought it was this bad?
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Bruh, this lady was flipping the fuck out when the shark started attacking in the water demo. Buy when the shark tore a whole wall off and the shark was trying to craw it way into the cage to bite.......bbbrrrooooooo,
SHE
FLIPPED
THE
FUCK
OUT.
screaming and the whole nine. The Sony dude had to jump in and end the demo. The crowd around us was fucking cracking up. Shit was bananas.

You should've taken a video. Goddammit!!
 

Afrikan

Member
Bruh, this lady was flipping the fuck out when the shark started attacking in the water demo. Buy when the shark tore a whole wall off and the shark was trying to craw it way into the cage to bite.......bbbrrrooooooo,
SHE
FLIPPED
THE
FUCK
OUT.
screaming and the whole nine. The Sony dude had to jump in and end the demo. The crowd around us was fucking cracking up. Shit was bananas.

too bad she didn't have an Asshole Boyfriend/friend. They could've grabbed her shoulder JUST as the shark bit the cage. >:)
 
don't listen to him.

try it for yourself.

The few games I've played look great.

There is definitely a sweet spot though. When the person puts it on you have them keep adjusting until the font is clear. Initially I couldn't read anything on screen, so I can only imagine what the games would look like had I kept it that way.

Battle zone was a lot of fun and my body was getting tricked a bit when I was strafing and looking another way.

Also these demos are probably old builds compared to what the final product ends up being so I am hoping at least some more optimization occurs.
 

kinggroin

Banned
Just tried it and Battlezone. Impressions from a current Vive owner.


+Zero SDE. This is a Godsend. The image quality was incredibly clean compared to the Vive, but the in-game resolution was pretty low and made for a soft overall picture.
+Framerate was flawless.
+HMD was practically weightless. I could use this set for hours. Can't do that with the Vive, even when strapped properly.

-Peripheral tracking was NO WHERE NEAR as fast as The Vive's lighthouse system. The PS4 controller model lagged behind my real hand movement by at least 30-40ms. No effect on gameplay since it's controller based input, and not 1:1 hand interaction, but causes some disconnect.


An aside; the rep was awesome and I had some great conversations with some of the gamers waiting on line. Answered questions about VR, based on the Vive, as well.
 
Just tried it and Battledome. Impressions from a current Vive owner.


+Zero SDE. This is a Godsend. The image quality was incredibly clean compared to the Vive, but the in-game resolution was pretty low and made for a soft overall picture.
+Framerate was flawless.
+HMD was practically weightless. I could use this set for hours. Can't do that with the Vive, even when strapped properly.

-Peripheral tracking was NO WHERE NEAR as fast as The Vive's lighthouse system. The PS4 controller model lagged behind my real hand movement by at least 30-40ms. No effect on gameplay since it's controller based input, and not 1:1 hand interaction, but causes some disconnect.


An aside; the rep was awesome and I had some great conversations with some of the gamers waiting on line. Answered questions about VR, based on the Vive, as well.
Thanks for your impressions!

Reading reactions like these make me feel like I might need to get two headsets.. Damn.

I wish Sony would invest in better VR-specific controllers. Maybe they were concerned with inflating the cost further?
 

kinggroin

Banned
Let's be real here.


If you are a picture quality whore. Like, this can make or break an experience for you, wait for gen 2 VR. Seriously.
 

Bunta

Fujiwara Tofu Shop
Let's be real here.


If you are a picture quality whore. Like, this can make or break an experience for you, wait for gen 2 VR. Seriously.
Probably have to agree here after trying Eve. The picture quality wasn't great which I was expecting. I didn't notice any screen door really but the resolution was poor. Eve itself was pretty boring, I couldn't figure out if they had a boost button, the ship felt extremely slow and most of the time I was just looking forward. I wouldn't recommend it for the demo.
 
I went to the Arrowhead Best Buy in Arizona yesterday. Only to find out the store was dropped? Nevermind the fact that I even called to confirm, an hour before the demo was going to start, and was told a Sony rep was going to be there. I didn't feel like driving to the Avondale or Camelback store. So, I guess I'm out of luck... =/
 

paulogy

Member
Thanks for your impressions!

Reading reactions like these make me feel like I might need to get two headsets.. Damn.

I wish Sony would invest in better VR-specific controllers. Maybe they were concerned with inflating the cost further?

The new PSVR aim controller hints that there might be more input-devices coming - but they're likely all going to be visible light/camera capture based, as that's what the PS4 camera, PSVR, and move controllers all use. At this point I suspect there's a certain amount of latency you just can't get away from with that solution.

Hopefully Dr. Richard Marks is working on some future tech to reduce the latency even further, though :)
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I disagree with this statement. I've spent countless hours in the Rift and Vive both professionally for work and for play and what PSVR offers is on-par with both. I'd say exceeds in some cases, just because of how comfortable the HMD is.

If anything, what PSVR is will lag behind is in graphical fidelity, but one of the many things you learn devving for this medium is that realistic graphics isn't a requirement for presence.

Any thoughts as to God rays on PSVR? How do the lenses compare to rift/vive for sweet spot etc?
 

kinggroin

Banned
Also, I didn't notice much in the way of God rays that I do with Vive and Oculus CV1. I'm guessing Sony isn't using fresnel lenses?

Must say, if I had a choice, I'd much rather play my Vive games with the PSVR headset.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Any thoughts as to God rays on PSVR? How do the lenses compare to rift/vive for sweet spot etc?

That was another surprise for me. Those godrays that you get with high contrast light on dark scenes in the Vive and Rift are not visible. Or at least, I didn't notice any. It's said what causes that is how both the lenses are made for the Vive and Rift.

Sony must be doing something different with their solution.

The sweet spot in my opinion is the same as Vive and Rift. It's pretty wide and I was rotating my head frantically at times to try and break it and it kept clear. No complaints here at least from a dev perspective.

Also, I didn't notice much in the way of God rays that I do with Vive and Oculus CV1. I'm guessing Sony isn't using fresnel lenses?

Must say, if I had a choice, I'd much rather play my Vive games with the PSVR headset.

This X1000. The Vive headset is an amazing piece of tech, but goddamn does it feel uncomfortable even after 5 minutes. I'm just tired of headsets resting on my face.
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
What resolutions is the headsets???


Man, what was shown on the TV and the headsets were worlds apart.

On tv, it looked 1080p, but in the headset, looked like 480.
I was like..................eeewwwwwww. Everything was so pixelated and blocky looking that things in the distance were just a single fucking pixel in that eve game.

ZThis is the best example of how it looked to me. With the PC picture is how it looked on the TV and the xbox is how the game looked in the headsets.
Ij1xFdc.png



I would like to try this on a high end PC with the Vive.

I walked away from that demo, less than impressed. The tech itself was superb though.
The spacial awareness was amazing. Looking around in that space ship, felt like I was actually fucking there. The depth of field, like how it looks in real life, I was like, holy shit. But the low end graphics was killing it for me though, and the low view angle, I was able to see the edges of those lens, so I tried to get the device as close to my eyes as possible, but since I wear glasses, that wasnt happening, but Everything else was amazing.

Im sold on the VR techology, but I dont think itll be getting a PSVR though. Especially if they have to lower the graphics so far to get that 60 solid frames in all games. I guess im going straight to the high end shit, The VIVE.

I thnk you might also be disappointed with the vive - the critical part is the display resolution so (almost) however good your image is, things in the middle and far distance will be reduced to blobs of a few pixels.
 

Reallink

Member
I disagree with this statement. I've spent countless hours in the Rift and Vive both professionally for work and for play and what PSVR offers is on-par with both. I'd say exceeds in some cases, just because of how comfortable the HMD is.

If anything, what PSVR is will lag behind is in graphical fidelity, but one of the many things you learn devving for this medium is that realistic graphics isn't a requirement for presence.

Sounds like the primary issue with PSVR is a lack of Supersampling and AA. Rift/Vive games that don't use very high levels of both also look disgustingly low res and "480p", while jumping to 1.5x+ SS looks like a generation leap in HMD's. That would jive with early comments about Neo existing primarily to keep PSVR from being shit-tier, as adding SS and AA would be ridiculously easy.

How does the SDE compare to Rift/Vive and are there any lens artifacts (god rays, fresnel rings, more edge blurring/chromatic aberrations)?
 

mrklaw

MrArseFace
Also, I didn't notice much in the way of God rays that I do with Vive and Oculus CV1. I'm guessing Sony isn't using fresnel lenses?

Must say, if I had a choice, I'd much rather play my Vive games with the PSVR headset.

Wow (and thanks Soi Fong too). I guess the resolution will be lower and the tracking doesn't sound ideal but overall very positive. I'm now a little nervous about getting mine as I don't want the comfort and optics to make me not like playing with the vive.

Hopefully we see some third party straps for vive because it really isn't a comfortable headset for me.
 

Soi-Fong

Member
Sounds like the primary issue with PSVR is a lack of Supersampling and AA. Rift/Vive games that don't use very high levels of both also look disgustingly low res and "480p", while jumping to 1.5x+ SS looks like a generation leap in HMD's. How does the SDE and lens artifacts (God Rays, Fresnel Rings) compare to Rift/Vive?

I didn't notice any SDE from my time with it. Lens artifacts are nowhere in sight unlike the Rift and the Vive. I know with the Rift, the godrays are very apparent. No such thing that I saw in PSVR.

My opinion guys though is from a dev perspective. I know how fucking hard it is to run these games already on beastly PC's so I don't even think about SS and the like. More than half our time is spent optimizing after all so the framerate always remains consistent.

In VR, framerate is KING and Sony seems to have prioritized that. Period. Otherwise, people will just take off the headset.

Wow (and thanks Soi Fong too). I guess the resolution will be lower and the tracking doesn't sound ideal but overall very positive. I'm now a little nervous about getting mine as I don't want the comfort and optics to make me not like playing with the vive.

Hopefully we see some third party straps for vive because it really isn't a comfortable headset for me.

After you try out PSVR, you're gonna have an incredibly hard time going back to the Vive's straps and HMD. I can wholly guarantee you that.
 
Just tried it and Battledome. Impressions from a current Vive owner.


+Zero SDE. This is a Godsend. The image quality was incredibly clean compared to the Vive, but the in-game resolution was pretty low and made for a soft overall picture.
+Framerate was flawless.
+HMD was practically weightless. I could use this set for hours. Can't do that with the Vive, even when strapped properly.

-Peripheral tracking was NO WHERE NEAR as fast as The Vive's lighthouse system. The PS4 controller model lagged behind my real hand movement by at least 30-40ms. No effect on gameplay since it's controller based input, and not 1:1 hand interaction, but causes some disconnect.


An aside; the rep was awesome and I had some great conversations with some of the gamers waiting on line. Answered questions about VR, based on the Vive, as well.

Did you demoed just one game ? In that case the peripheral track lag couldn't have been a problem tied with just that game rendering ecc.? I remember that with the move peripherals some game had a quite good response time while other gave you a more lagged response
 
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