Sony’s Tokyo Games Show press conference is over, and the big news is that Project Morpheus as we knew it will now be known as Playstation VR. Subsequent to that announcement, Sony have released a promo video which gives an intersting insight into how they’re approaching the marketing of this new platform as part of the Playstation brand.
The new video, launched after Sony’s Tokyo Games Show press conference, shows various people donning what’s now known at the Playstation VR, and features them playing various titles such as Rigs: Mechanized Combat League, and the latest installment of the London Heist Demo.
Among the painful shots of glee from the video’s featured actors, Sony’s representation of the headset itself in relation to the player is interesting. They fade out the headset itself, allowing the viewer to the players’ face, leaving the wire frame representation in place. It’s an interesting approach that may be an attempt at combating VR’s current public perception, that it is isolationist. Shots of families enjoying party games (in this case Playroom VR) on the couch with their families is an obvious nod in addressing this image problem.
As Sony transitions it’s VR brand from the prototypical Project Morpheus, to the retail ready Playstation VR, it’ll be interesting to see how marketing and PR evolve to try and make VR seem appealing to non enthusiasts.
This video is of course to be designed for the Japanese market, but it’s likely that the above approach makes it into western marketing campaigns as well as we approach Playstation VR’s release window of Q2 2016.