I think some of the variability we're reading about just comes from the variability of vision. Everyone's eyesight is so different, that how they focus, what they can see clearly, must have a pretty significant impact on how they experience PSVR. It's all about fooling your perceptions, but people all have different baselines.
It really may have to be that they every has to experience it for themselves.
I also think even just the demo conditions could be ruining the experience for some. I only have a Gear VR but I know how easy it is to smudge the lenses, and even if you use cleaning wipes or fluids you usually have a layer of that stuff that even when it evaporates leaves smears or just an overall layer of fuzziness. It's easy to get the lenses to this state, possibly even more so when they're being purposefully cleaned between each and every person. The difference between a properly cleaned and smear free screen and one that isn't is a MASSIVE one.
I imagine most people demoing the unit just accept whatever it looks like once they've done basic adjustments, and then just play the game, not wanting to be awkward and keep adjusting if they don't feel it's just right. And yeah getting the sweetspot locked in on VR is hugely important (with Gear VR the phone can sometimes be misaligned, only by a millimetre, but it totally fucks up the image and causes you to get headaches, that's one example of how delicate the sweetspot and fit can be to getting it working as it should for you).
I honestly would discount some of these negative reactions as probably down to a dodgy rushed setup...
Then there's the visual fidelity issue even when it is set up correctly. I guess the really negative comments are largely from people never exposed to VR before. And it is a fair comment for them to make since the social screen view does just look so much sharper and like a traditional game image quality as we know it. In VR that obviously gets stretched right across your vision and yeah it can be quite disappointing not to have super bold, super clear imagery like on a tv. That stage will come of course but for now it's a compromise.
Having had experience with Gear VR and time to adjust my expectations there's plenty of experiences I've had in Gear VR that actually feel much sharper than the tech should be capable of (Smash Hit, Ocean Rift, the Obama 360 video in Yosemite, Google Photos app, especially the 3D rendered photos in there, some of which are incredible, and watching video or Twitch streams in the Ocukus cinema app). When the stars are aligned these headsets can do good things, and equally so badly made demos can easily become jaggy riddled shimmering messes. The fact some apps with text can look clear as day and other apps barely legible shows some people know what they're doing and others don't.
From all accounts PSVR has a better quality screen and lenses, better field of view, and less noticeable screen door effect over Gear VR so for me I know roughly what to expect and with the games I'm seeing I know some are going to look pretty damn good. Better than Gear VR, with positional tracking, higher framerate, and positionally tracked controllers to interact with the VR world... I cannot wait. Get to try it, finally, this Sunday coming.
