The halcyon days of Virtuosity and Lawnmower Man are gone, and in their place are real life virtual reality devices. While Oculus has the Rift and HTC has the Vive, Sony has the boringly named “PlayStation VR” and yesterday was the day we finally learned the gritty details. The only speculation from here on out will be how Sony’s entry into the VR landscape changes the way studios develop games and if their competitors over at Microsoft and Nintendo feel like trying their hand at something similar. This is an exciting time in gaming and PS VR has the potential to move the genre forward, but let’s find out exactly how it works and when you can get your hands on it with the top 5 things we learned!

Price 

400 American smackaroos will get you a shiny new PlayStation VR later this year, coming in a full $200 lower than Oculus and half the price of HTC’s Vive. But if you’re missing the main piece that makes the whole thing work, the PlayStation Camera, you’re in for another $45. Throw in a couple of Move controllers and you’re well past $500, but most games will take use of the DualShock 4 you already have. Still, this is by far the lowest price to enter into the brave new VR future and with over 40 million PS4’s sold worldwide, Sony has the install base to make a huge splash right out of the gate. And when is that gate, you ask?

Launch Date

October is the month, with an exact date probably coming at or around E3 in June. This is actually a bit of a delay, given their initial promise of Q2, but still right before the insane rush that is November/December. This helps Sony tremendously, as the current release schedule has a huge hole in it around the holidays. A hardware launch is always a big boost for morale and it gives Sony almost half a year to react to whatever stumbles Oculus and HTC are destined to make with their products, due out in March and April, respectively. Showing up a little later to the party with a lower price has become Sony’s calling card, but hopefully skimping on the tech in order to charge such a low price won’t bite them in the end.

Specs

When the Rift and Vive were announced, most people were immediately turned off, as the hardware and graphical requirements were beyond what the majority of PC gamers currently own. But the PS VR just plugs into your PlayStation 4 and works, and given the power limitations of a home console, this means certain features will not be as amazing as the aforementioned headsets. The PS VR includes a 5.7 inch OLED screen, with a 1920x1080 resolution that offers 120 and 90 Hz refresh rates. Nine LED’s help the 360 degree head tracking work, and the approximate field of view is around 100 degrees. The latency clocks in at 18ms, which is slightly higher (and therefore not as good) than the competition, but not by much. All in all, it is clearly an entry-level device, but one that will still do the job, assuming the games are up your alley.

Games 

Believe it or not, but there are already nearly 160 games in development for the PlayStation VR, and that’s not including the yet-to-be revealed projects currently brewing behind closed doors. Developers from around the globe are involved in a big way and every genre from golf to rhythm games is slated for release sometime in the next year or so. Launch titles are yet to be confirmed, but some of the bigger and more likely games to ship close to launch include Rez Infinite, Eve: Valkyrie, Rigs, Tumble VR, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, and Playstation VR Worlds, a nice little mini-game collection that compiles some of the tech demos they’ve been showcasing at various events into a tidy package. No prices or details on physical copies have been made just yet, but there is little reason to think these won’t be full priced games.

The Future 

Yesterday’s event was extremely short and sweet, but a few glimpses at the future were unveiled. A partnership was announced between Lucasfilm, EA, and Sony, culminating in a Star Wars Battlefront game specifically made for VR. No footage has been revealed, but the above video showcasing something Lucasfilm is working on for the HTC Vive should give a glimpse into what a Star Wars VR adventure could look like. All non-VR games will be playable wearing the device, throwing the video into a “cinematic” mode that displays them on a virtual screen that covers your entire field of vision. And finally, a free title will be available at launch, entitled The Playroom VR. If it’s anything like Sony’s original Playroom, the streaming implications might be gamechanging. With E3 around the corner, the future is bright for virtual reality, and thanks to Sony, the barrier to entry is low enough that we all might be able to play before the year is over.

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