Sony starts the year 2022 on the hats of the wheel by unveiling (in part) its new virtual reality headset. The Playstation VR 2 will offer a high-end experience thanks to its impressive technical characteristics.
[Mis à jour le 05 janvier 2022 à 15h59] The CES 2022 (Consumer Electronics Show) is taking place right now in Las Vegas, and is once once more an unmissable event for lovers of new technologies. Sony did not miss the event since it presented there on the night of January 4 to 5 its new virtual reality system. A relatively brief presentation rather centered around the technical characteristics of the VR headset and the various studios that will participate in the development of its catalog of games. Among these, we find Guerrilla Games, the studio behind the Horizon franchise, which will offer us a new experience specially designed for the Playstation VR 2 and of which we have been able to see some images. All information in detail.
The technical characteristics of the Playstation VR 2
Failing to see the complete design of the new virtual reality system that will accompany the Playstation 5, the Sony conference at CES 2022 taught us a little more regarding the specificities of the Playstation VR 2 (that’s its official name) . This new VR headset will offer a very high-end experience thanks to its 4K HDR OLED screens (2000×2040 per eye) that can reach a display frequency of 120 Hz and offer a field of view of 110 °. A step forward compared to the first Playstation VR headset released in 2016, which offers a resolution and display twice lower, but also compared to its biggest competitor on the market: the Oculus Quest 2.
On the functional side, the Playstation VR 2 will benefit from some technological innovations such as the monitoring of the user’s eyes which will allow in particular the foveal rendering technology to optimize the image quality where the player lays his gaze. For the controllers, the haptic feedback so dear to the Playstation 5 DualSense controllers will also be integrated on the Playstation VRSense to greatly improve the immersion in the game. The entire helmet will be equipped with a vibration system offering the player a more experience. “visceral” than ever. Note that the Playstation VR 2 will not be wireless but connected to your game console by a USB type-C cable.
Horizon on Playstation VR 2?
In addition to the announcement of the technical capabilities of its new virtual reality headset, Sony wanted to address the subject of its catalog of games. It is true that so far few major franchises have looked into the fairly closed world of VR and that triple A titles are rare. However, this era is over if we are to believe the Japanese manufacturer, which announced the arrival of the Horizon franchise on its new VR system. Through a short video barely a minute long, Jan-Bart Von Beek, one of the directors of Guerrilla Games, announced the release of Horizon: Call of the Mountain. This is a game designed only for virtual reality, set in the world of Horizon, which will allow the player to discover one of its regions. For now, the images are meager, but we can expect a triple A title that will undoubtedly be the flagship of the Playstation VR 2. Watch the teaser for Horizon: Call of the Mountain:
What release date for the Playstation VR 2?
For now, Sony has been very stingy with information. As we told you a little earlier in this article, no official image of the headset itself was unveiled during Sony’s presentation at CES 2022. We might only see only its Playstation VRSense controllers and a part of its technical sheet. It is therefore very complicated to come up with a possible release date for the Playstation VR 2, and particularly nowadays. Indeed, the shortage of microcomponents still greatly affects the gaming console market, and VR headsets are no exception. A situation which makes the year 2022 and the beginning of 2023 still very vague, even for a manufacturer of the stature of Sony.
Playstation VR 2 or Oculus Quest 2?
This is a question that all gamers interested in virtual reality legitimately ask themselves: what is the difference between the Oculus Quest 2 and the Playstation VR 2? So for now know that the information on the second is extremely limited, apart from some of its technical characteristics. However, this is sufficient to situate it vis-à-vis its Facebook counterpart, the Oculus Quest 2. First, note that the Oculus Quest 2 is a wireless headset, unlike the Playstation VR 2 which must be connected to the console by USB-C. Second, the OLED screens of Sony’s future VR headset are superior to the LCDs of the Oculus Quest 2, with a resolution of 2000 x 2040p for each eye compared to 1832 x 1920p for the Oculus Quest and a refresh rate of 120Hz. once morest 90 Hz for the Facebook headset. Unfortunately, the lack of further information on the Playstation VR 2 prevents us from continuing with this comparison.