I was able to spend some quality time with the PlayStation Virtual Reality system the other night and at the risk of sounding cliche, it was everything that I hoped for and more. That being said there’s a few issues that deserve a fair bit of attention, which I’ll discuss momentarily. However, I’m confident they’ll be addressed in future systems and updates, and for the most part they rarely detract from the overall experience. The owner of the system had three games for us to play through: Farpoint, Racket Fury: Table Tennis and Beat Saber. In the interest of testing the PSVR capabilities—including comfort, responsiveness, graphics, and user-friendliness—I was fortunate to have such a unique catalog of games to dive into. Let’s take a look at the categories mentioned above and see how the PSVR fairs overall.

Comfort

The PSVR is considered much more comfortable than it’s leading competition, the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. The light weight frame is relatively well distributed, and over the course of a few hours this makes a large difference compared to its more clunky, forward heavy counterparts. Easily twist the dial on the rear band to adjust the fit, then pull the visor towards your eyes while adjusting the focus button until the VR becomes perfectly clear. The PSVR Aim Controller (the gun) also feels comfortable over for longs periods, as does the Move Motion Controllers. Overall I’m surprisingly impressed with the comfort and ergonomics.

Responsiveness

I was overly impressed with PSVR in this category. Each game felt perfectly responsive with only minor variations in system lag. Its truly amazing how far this technology has come in such a short time and the PlayStation Virtual Reality is no exception. While emulating ping pong paddles in Racket Fury, the PS Move Controllers felt like extensions of my hands. I found zero issue with motion tracking, and the game (versus NPC) felt fluid and natural. Just make sure to keep the PS4 controller well away from the sensor path while setting up each game, as the client will easily confuse as to which controller your attempting to operate the game with.

Graphics

I am beyond impressed with how far Virtual Reality graphics have come in such a short time. At the moment I would place PSVR graphics close to early PS3, and it’s only fair to compare against current generation, hence the lower score. However, if the growth of video graphics continue exponentially, it won’t be long until it becomes equal with modern consoles. The graphical difference between Racket Fury and Farpoint is actually quite large though, so not all games will compare well to others. Despite dated graphics, it’s unbelievably easy to become entirely integrated into PSVR’s virtual worlds. I shudder to think of the future applications.

User-Friendliness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGCF0m3bRMo By standing on the shoulders of the giant console companies before them, the PSVR has a massive leg up in user-friendliness. Most game-play mechanics are nicely polished, and the in-game huds and controls are relatively simple to use. There’s also some interesting user friendly faculties that are specific to the world of Virtual Reality. For example, while moving around your room during game-play, a ‘pre-determined’ grid overlaps the games interface and gently reminds you of your location in relation to the sensors and the room that your in. I found the only real issue to be the size and location of the classic PlayStation buttons (X,O,Triangle, Square and Analog Joystick). Even after a few hours of playing, it still felt awkward locating and using the controls while wearing the visor. Its important to remember that Virtual Reality consoles are still in there infancy. Whichever issues myself and other users encounter will slowly become optimized or pushed out. As of now, however fun, it’s not at the point of over-taking console and PC gaming, but based on what I’ve experienced, it certainly won’t be long until it does.