PS VR2: Sony's next attempt to mainstream virtual reality gaming

Is virtual reality the future of gaming?

It's a question that industry insiders have been debating for quite some time, with passionate arguments on both sides.

There's nothing like a brand-new piece of equipment to reignite the debate.

With the release of PlayStation VR2, one of the industry's biggest players claims that virtual reality will play an important role in the industry for years to come.

Some speculated that Sony would abandon their virtual reality experiment after failing to invest in many blockbuster VR games, implying a lack of faith in their initial foray into this space.

The original PlayStation VR was uncomfortable, clunky, and a cable-tidier's worst nightmare

When Tetris Effect was released in 2016, it provided players with genuine moments of joy, eliciting wide smiles. Resident Evil 7 is hands-down the most terrifying and traumatising gaming experience I've ever had.

Those memorable moments, however, were few and far between. A lack of truly must-play games, particularly those exclusive to the device, was an issue that was never resolved. Despite this, it is estimated that five million units were sold worldwide.

The PS VR2 is unquestionably slicker, lighter, and more comfortable than its predecessor. It intends to position itself in the middle of an increasingly crowded VR market.

To use it, you must already have a PlayStation 5. If you have one, it provides a virtual reality gaming option that is less expensive than the high-end Valve Index (which requires a top-drawer PC to run). Despite this, it provides more impressive technical performance than less expensive options such as the Meta Quest 2 Advanced [All-In-One Virtual Reality Headset] 256GB would cost around ₹54,990.00 (Amazon.in)

So, does its release help to answer the question that has dogged gaming since the release of Nintendo's Virtual Boy in 1995? Is this how all gaming will be in the future?

Scotland's pre-eminent games critic, Jordan Middler of Videogames Chronicle (VGC) spent time with the device prior to its release.

He claims that he has always desired a more immersive VR experience than what is currently available. "From a hardware standpoint, it's incredible, a really impressive headset," he says to begin. "The price (£529) may put some people off because it is more than the PS5 console itself, but for the graphical power in that headset, it is more affordable than its PC equivalents."

Sony denied last month that it had significantly reduced sales projections for the headset due to a low number of pre-orders. It was claimed that the company expected to sell 1.5 million devices rather than two million by March 2024.

As impressed as he is with the headset, Middler is concerned that the same complaint that has dogged VR gaming since its inception will persist: what will people play? He claims that there aren't many unique experiences available for the device. "You can only get Horizon: Call of the Mountain as a true PS VR2 exclusive. "Where are all the other big Sony titles that make the PlayStation so popular? "Is there a Spiderman VR game or a Last of Us VR experience?"

A lack of so-called "system-sellers," titles so good that they entice people to buy new hardware just to play them, is a common criticism levelled at many virtual reality devices.

At the moment, games for the original PlayStation VR are incompatible with its new sibling. This means that players who have amassed a library of games for that device will have to start from scratch if they decide to upgrade to a PS VR2, or wait to see if a solution is offered.

It's one of the reasons Middler believes this is a headset that will appeal to "the hardest of the hard-core players" who believe virtual reality gaming is the way of the future.

He claims that given how the previous iteration was "abandoned" near the end of its life, players will need to have "a lot of faith in PlayStation" to invest time and money in making more games.

This device does not provide any definitive answers, so the role of VR in the future of gaming is likely to be a topic of conversation for those in the industry for some time to come.

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Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures India represents its 1st ever virtual popstar- 'Polar'

Mumbai (India), Aug 09: Sony Entertainment Talent Ventures India (SETVI) has signed their first ever virtual talent, the celebrated international popstar -Polar, exclusively in India. SETVI is India’s first talent and metaverse advisory business and would represent her for Metaverse and Web 3 opportunities worldwide.

Swati Bhat

A virtual influencer is a digital character that is created using cutting edge technology. This character is then given a personality and will at all times act on social media platforms as if he/she is the influencer.

SETVI would help Polar unleash different marketing and promotional potential across leading brands. She can be leveraged as ambassadors for digital films, promotional v-fluencer for different marvel movies, creating covers of latest Indian regional songs, can participate in social media #ReelChallenges, be a part of the virtual fashion shows, events in metaverse and the list is endless. To add, SETVI is also planning to launch a virtual concert with Polar to give an exclusive sneak peak to its audience into this metaverse world.

Created by Anastasiia Vinogradova, Producer at Soul Publishing, Polar is a 16-year old V-fluencer, who is known for her striking turquoise hair, unique TikTok moves and a mesmerising voice. She hides her real identity on stage behind a unique mask and wants to take her place on the musical Olympus along with other platinum artists like Ariana Grande, Marshmello and Olivia Rodrigo.

As an emerging artist and a teenage riot, Polar releases original music and covers of popular songs such as ‘Bad Guy’ by Billie Eilish and many more. In terms of her originals, she has recently released ‘Redhead girl’ and ‘Euphoria’; an electronic high energy track which follows the huge success of her first three singles; ‘Close To You,’ ‘Boom Ballon’ and an electro-pop cover of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’. She is soon going to launch her upcoming human and virtual human collaboration with Rasster, a well renowned platinum musician.

Anastasiia Vinogradova, Producer at Soul Publishing, comments, “We were ecstatic when SETVI came to collaborate and represent Polar. The virtual artist was just an initial thought and now when I see her gaining fame and recognition all across the world and now in India, she is nothing less than a dream come true. SETVI is India’s first ever talent-metaverse advisory company and being the best in this business, we couldn’t have trusted anyone else.”

Commenting on onboarding SETVI’s first ever virtual talent, Vijay Singh, CEO, SETVI, says, “Polar is going to upscale the virtual artists’ space by leaps and bounds and holding the baton of familiarising the audience with metaverse, we had to hop onto it. Soul Publishing is an award-winning global digital studio and our exclusive partner for India, that is known to produce the best in class entertaining and organic content for its audience. Polar would be a pathbreaking intervention which would give a broader spectrum of experimentation in Web 3 and metaverse opportunities as marketing solutions to many leading brands of the country.”

Polar and her popularity has risen the bar for all the human artists where she is close to hitting 1million followers on Spotify and has more than 600k subscribers on her YouTube channel. The meta space for artists doesn’t only have Polar, but many other artists like Lu do Magalu (Brazil), Barbie, Knox Frost (a male influencer from Atlanta), Anna Cattish(Russian Animator and Illustrator) and many more.

#thecommunique #tc #tcn #polar #sony #metatainment