PlayStation VR launches on October 13th, but today is review day and we've got a detailed PSVR review ready for you! For those who don't want to dig into the full review, here's our handy summary. For the rest of you, we've got 2,000 words awaiting your eyes. [irp posts="45155" name="Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality"] [irp posts="45624" name="HTC Vive Review: A Mesmerising VR Experience, if You Have the Space"] PlayStation VR Review Summary PlayStation VR is a strong start for virtual reality on consoles, showing that it not only can be done, but it can be done well; the system is home to some of the best VR content I've played yet. Powered by the now three year old foundation of PS4, I'm blown away by the visuals that have been achieved through PSVR. I'm especially interested to see how things improve further with the launch of PS4 Pro. [irp posts="52848" name="Sony Announces Powerful PlayStation 4 Pro with Enhanced PSVR Support"] PSVR's 1920x1080 OLED panel resolution might be lower on paper than the headset's two major competitors, but with its RGB pixel structure, it's perfectly capable of creating powerfully immersive experiences and beautiful virtual worlds, despite a few display flaws. The ergonomics of PlayStation VR feel class-leading in many ways when compared to the Rift and Vive, with a design that maximizes both field of view and comfort. However, I really would have liked to see built-in headphones to eliminate an extra cable, not to mention bulk, from a pair of headphones not designed to be worn with a VR headset. PSVR's visible-light camera-based tracking system is likely to be its biggest challenge going forward. It feels only just over the 'good enough' line and is notably less accurate and responsive compared to the more expensive Rift and Vive. By no surprise and no mistake, PlayStation VR is in a big way all about the price. Consoles have always been about value. And despite being based on demonstrably less powerful hardware, PSVR delivers a VR experience that punches above its weight class and makes a strong argument for both existing and new console players to jump into VR right now. Update (11/7/16): PlayStation VR on PS4 Pro PlayStation VR works just as well on PS4 Pro as it does on PS4. For now, we’re seeing minute improvements in visuals at best, while tracking performance is unchanged. Loading times on PS4 Pro seem snappier and that also translates to less noticeable texture pop-in in some cases which is a bigger deal in VR than regular games because of how closely you can inspect the world around you. There’s also an extra USB port on the back of the PS4 Pro which is really handy for hooking up the PlayStation VR breakout box without stealing one of the front ports which are best saved for connecting and charging controllers. Keep in mind that pretty much every PlayStation VR title launched to date was made with the PS4 in mind. We expect in the future to see more significant visual improvements for PSVR titles running on PS4 Pro as developers have more time to optimize their titles (and begin building new ones from scratch) for the extra horsepower. While the 1080p display and poor mura correction are the biggest bottlenecks to the headset’s visuals, increased supersampling can do wonders if applied appropriately to a well optimized VR game. [irp posts="55428" name="PlayStation VR on PS4 Pro vs. PS4 Comparison"] Hardware Sony's years of hardware design experience shines through on PlayStation VR. Right out of the gate back when the company announced (the formerly named) Project Morpheus, the headset's ergonomic design was already matured very close to what you'll get out of the retail box. It's an elegant design that feels more sophisticated than the Vive and more ergonomic than the Rift. That elegance may however lead to some fragility however. Unboxing Unboxing the PlayStation VR 'core' headset (the package without the camera and Move controllers) was a fun experience. The outer box design mimics that of PlayStation's overall playful branding, but slides away to reveal a strong inner cardboard box that's thoughtfully designed around the elegant headset within. From the minimal grey exterior to the blue interior and and the diagonally-opening lid held in place with a white ribbon, Sony is conveying a sense of uniqueness to what's inside, and for many people who are opening what's ostensibly a $400 or $500 peripheral (depending upon which package was purchased), it certainly should feel special. [irp posts="53802" name="PlayStation VR Unboxing"] After cracking the diagonal shell open, players are greeted with a series of smaller boxes which contain cables aplenty. All are removed easily with finger holes, and reveal the pearl within the box, the PSVR headset itself. There's a surprising number of cables and bits in the box, but most of it is in service with connecting the PSVR's breakout box to the PS4; fear not, only a single cable will run away from the breakout box to the headset, and setup is actually pretty painless (more on that later). For what will be the first VR headset for many people, I think Sony did a good job with a memorable unboxing experience, and that inner box will serve as a good storage place for the headset and an occasional transport box (though for more substantial transit there's more robust options). Design & Ergonomics Materials Plastic is the predominant material found on the headset, and while it's elegantly designed, it doesn't have quite the premium feel of the Rifts svelte fabrics or the firm feel of the Vive. The overall impression the PSVR leaves is of greater fragility than it's PC powered counterparts. Part of that has to do with the materials, but a larger part is likely due to the design of the headset which has a fairly large display assembly connected by a relatively small mounting strut. With the leverage provided by the display assembly, there's some flex to PSVR's overall shape. This may have been a necessary sacrifice in order to have the comfort of a hanging-style design that's also highly adjustable (which we'll talk more about later). Generally speaking, you're unlikely to feel comfortable tossing PlayStation VR around like you might one of the PS4 controllers, but then again, neither of the other major headsets out there feel quite ready for that level of handling either. The inner padding of the headset that rests on your forehead and squeezed behind your head is squishy and comfortable, providing a lot of wiggle room when it comes to tightening the headset your comfort. Because the display assembly doesn't rely on resting against your face like the Rift and Vive, the shielding around the lenses is made of a lightweight and highly flexible rubber that will quite easily defer to the frame of a pair of glasses, making PSVR potentially the most glasses-friendly high-end VR headset out there. Fit & Comfort As I wrote previously, I think PlayStation VR stands among the most comfortable headsets out there. The 'hang-down' design of the very different than what the Vive and Rift bring to the table, and the result is a headset that puts almost no pressure on the sensitive muscles in your face. I explored the differences in head-mount approach between the three systems: At 470 grams, the Rift relies on a semi-rigid strut and strap system that grips the crown of your head, to which it transfers much of the display enclosure’s weight via a strap running over the top of your head. The display enclosure then rests somewhat on your brow, with just a bit of pressure on your cheeks (when properly adjusted). At 555 grams, the Vive takes a straightforward goggle-style approach (much like the Rift development kits) where flexible straps are pulled tightly to squeeze the unit against your face with force applied from the back of your head. Like ski goggles, the pressure from the headset is felt largely in the brow and cheek areas surrounding your eyes. Both the Rift and Vive end up putting a fair amount of pressure on your face. This isn’t ideal as the face is filled with muscles that like to move, especially in the cheeks and around the eyes. They don’t quite like bearing pressure either; poor placement of a headset on your face can hold the muscles in non-resting positions which is notably uncomfortable, sometimes leading to twitching. If you’ve ever squinted or opened your eyes widely while putting on one of these headsets, you’ll immediately notice the discomfort of having the muscles in your face unable to reach their natural resting position. Sony’s approach is very different. PlayStation VR uses a ‘hanging’ style display enclosure which doesn’t rely at all on pressure from your face to keep it in place. Instead, the display hangs down from the structure of the headset while transferring a great majority of the weight to the top of your forehead (which, if you poke around up there a bit, you’ll notice has very little muscle compared to your face). From your forehead, the circle of the headset’s body wraps low behind your head to act as an anchor for the forehead section. Headphones Sony opted to go with a 'Bring Your Own Headphones' approach, and they include a pair of inexpensive earbuds with PSVR. Headphones can be attached via a 3.5mm port on the side of the inline 'remote' that sits along the headset's cord. The PlayStation VR breakout box spits out spatial 3D audio to whatever headphones you plug in there. The included earbuds didn't fit me very well initially, but there's a pair of smaller and larger rubber tips that you should try on for size before giving up on the earbuds all together. I took the the smaller size and have mostly enjoyed using the earbuds rather than adding the additional weight and bulk of a pair of over-ear headphones. No matter which approach I took, I was still left itching for an integrated headphone solution like those found on the Rift. Dealing with an extra headphone cable is already bothersome, but so too is fiddling with the headphones to find the right/left while the headset is already on. For those with expensive headphones of your own that you'd like to employ with PSVR, I'll remind you that the Rift's headphones are removable for that purpose as well, giving us a good model for how audio on a VR headset should be done. Cable Placement Placement of both the cable coming out of the headset and the inline remote seems off to me. The cable mounting for PSVR's tether points it out behind the headset, but I found it more comfortable to let the cable run in front of my shoulder and straight toward its home near the PS4 in front of me rather than behind my shoulder. The inline remote—which houses a power button, volume buttons, and the headphone jack—seems placed at a very odd length down the cable; it seemed to like to rest around the height of my chest which made it awkward to grab and manipulate. Placing it longer down the cable (maybe around waist-height) seems like it would make it easier to use. It's likely that Sony wanted it fairly close to the head to try to minimize the distance between the headphone jack and the player's ears, but that's just one more point in favor of going with the built-in headphone approach. [button color="black" size="large" type="3d" target="" link="https://www.roadtovr.com/playstation-vr-review-psvr-console-vr-has-arrived/2/"]Continued on Page 2 - Specs & Performance[/button] Specs & Performance Tech Specs Product Name PlayStation VR Product Code CUH-ZVR1 series Release Date October 13, 2016 External Dimensions VR headset: Approx. 187×185×277 mm (width × height × length, excludes largest projection, headband at the shortest) Processor unit: Approx. 143×36×143 mm (width × height × length, excludes largest projection) Mass VR headset: Approx. 610g (excluding cable) Processor unit: Approx. 365g Display Method OLED Panel Size 5.7 inches Panel Resolution 1920×RGB×1080 (960×RGB×1080 per eye) Refresh Rate 120Hz, 90Hz Field of View Approximately 100 degrees Sensors Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer) Connection Interface VR headset: HDMI, AUX, Stereo Headphone Jack Processor unit: HDMI TV, HDMI PS4, USB, HDMI, AUX Processor Unit Function 3D audio processing, Social Screen (mirroring mode, separate mode), Cinematic mode Included VR headset × 1 Processor unit × 1 VR headset connection cable × 1 HDMI cable × 1 USB cable × 1 Stereo headphones × 1 (with a complete set of earpiece) AC power cord × 1 AC adaptor × 1 Display & Lenses Of the three 'big three' VR headsets, Sony's PlayStation VR is the only one that has opted not to use a Fresnel lens which eliminates one of our biggest gripes about the lens system on the Rift and Vive which is the light ray (aka god ray) artifact. Despite this, PSVR still manages an impressively wide field of view, and one that I suspect will be reported as the largest among the three headsets because of its ease of adjustment. [irp posts="45155" name="Oculus Rift Review: Prologue to a New Reality"] Field of View Field of view is tough to measure because there isn't currently an agreed upon method of measurement, especially because facial structure can play a big role in how wide a field of view can be seen by each individual. With that said, Sony quotes the PSVR field of view at 100 degrees, same as the Rift. And while it's tough to track down an official field of view figure for the Vive, it has been shown to be wider than the Rift. Despite that, I think that many reports will state that PlayStation VR has the widest field of view, not because it has the largest on-paper field of view spec, but because of how easy it is to adjust the lenses very close to your eyes. Because PSVR uses that 'hanging' style display assembly mount, which doesn't rely on the display assembly pressing against your face to hold it on your head, the display assembly is free to move back and forth as needed, and Sony has built in a handy button under the bottom right of the assembly which allows you to slide the entire thing back and forth a significant amount. [gallery type="rectangular" ids="54163,54162"] The maximum extended position is handy to be able to peek at your smartphone or to get your orientation on the controller you're holding. Conversely, the minimum extended position lets you bring the lenses very close to your eyes, giving an impressively full field of view that, to me, feels as large, if not larger, than that of the Vive. IPD Measurement Tool While PlayStation VR doesn't have a physical IPD adjustment (to change the distance between the lenses to match a user's eye spacing), it does have a software IPD adjustment which can help improve clarity and comfort in VR. You can manually dial in your IPD if you already know it, or you can use the PlayStation Move camera to do an approximate measurement. You'll find the option under Settings > Devices > PlayStation VR. The tool works by snapping a stereo image of your eyes as you stand near to the PlayStation VR camera. After taking the photo, the software will attempt to automatically detect the center of your pupils, and you'll be given the opportunity to fine tune that detection by moving a cursor on each photo of your eye to the exact center. The result will spit out an IPD measurement in millimeters and automatically plug that value into the IPD setting. In my experience the IPD measurement seemed inaccurate by one or two milimeters, but the UI during the process does warn that it's an approximate measurement only. Don't Listen to People Who Say PSVR Has a Bad Screen Door Effect and Low Resolution I'm fairly certain PSVR is going to generate reports of "bad screen door and low resolution," but these reports are going to come from people misattributing what they're seeing to the wrong causes. Screen Door Effect The screen door effect (SDE)—the black unilluminated spaces between pixels—is impressively unobtrusive on PlayStation VR. While some tend to think that PSVR's lower 1920x1080 resolution (compared to 2160x1200 on the Rift and Vive) must mean there's a greater SDE, that doesn't seem to be the case, or is at least if it is, it's extremely difficult to detect. You can make out individual pixels if you have good eyesight and focus very carefully, but it's almost impossible to see the (RGB) subpixel structure. Poor Mura Correction If you hear someone saying that PSVR has bad screen door effect, they're probably talking about bad mura correction. Mura is an artifact that could easily be misconstrued as the 'screen door effect' if you asked someone to infer what 'screen door effect' looks like by it's name alone. In reality, SDE and mura are two different things with different causes. A hypothetical ideal display is capable of emitting the exact same amount of light from every pixel on the screen. This means that when you set the pixels of the display to a specific color value, they all look exactly the same. In the real world however, most display have small discrepancies in the amount of light output by each pixel at the same brightness setting, causing a slightly different (brighter or darker) shade from one pixel to the next, even if the software driving the headset has asked for all pixels to be the exact same color and shade. [caption id="attachment_40411" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Click to enlarge. An exaggerated visual approximation with (left) and without (right) the mura artifact.[/caption] The larger the range in brightness between pixels that are supposed to be the same color and shade, the more mura artifact you will see. The result tends to look like a thin layer of linen over the image, and in most cases it's exacerbated in darker scenes, especially when the pixels are set to their darkest lit value, where the user will see a field of grey speckled with lighter not-so-grey pixels. Because the mura artifact is a result of an imperfect manufacturing process, the mura pattern is essentially random, making it an especially bad artifact for a stereo view, because when you see it the mura pattern won't line up in each eye, creating an uncomfortable stereo conflict. The mura effect looks to my eye to be more noticeable than we see on the Vive and Rift. The good news is that you probably won't notice it in well lit scenes. You'll probably see it (and get that uncomfortable stereo conflict) in games and experiences that like to fade to grey between scenes and loading, but this is something that can be effectively designed around once developers catch on, except for experiences that want to put you in dimly lit virtual scenes. Aliasing If you hear someone saying that PSVR has bad resolution, they're probably talking about aliasing. [caption id="attachment_51076" align="aligncenter" width="679"] Photo courtesy Rayce185’s excellent primer on aliasing and anti-aliasing[/caption] Aliasing commonly takes the form of jagged virtual edges that result when you try to represent a vector line of unlimited detail using a finite number of pixels. [caption id="attachment_54151" align="alignright" width="308"] Photo courtesy Mwyann (CC BY-SA 3.0)[/caption] Anti-aliasing is the art of treating those edges to make them appear more smooth. In the exact same number of pixels, not doing any anti-aliasing will make an image look terrible compared to something that's properly anti-aliased (see right). Good anti-aliasing takes technical know-how and requires a good bit of processing power. A poorly optimized VR experience probably isn't abiding by best anti-aliasing practices from the get go, and isn't going to have much overhead for anti-aliasing when all is said and done. [irp posts="51073" name="Oculus CTO Shares VR Dev Tip: 'The Formula for Avoiding Aliasing'"] On PSVR I've seen some very poorly optimized and poorly anti-aliased experiences which really do not flatter the PSVR's capabilities. On the other hand, I've seen some absolutely impressively crafted experiences, like Batman: Arkham VR, which stands as an excellent benchmark for how good console-powered VR can look through the PlayStation VR headset as powered by the standard PlayStation 4. The truth is that a 1920x1080 display is sufficient for an impressive VR experience and the resolution will not greatly distract you unless the experience throws anti-aliasing out the window. Muted Colors & No Black Smear To my eyes, the PSVR display has slightly muted colors, especially in darker scenes. This is one of those problems that can be quite effectively designed around once developers catch on by using brighter, more vibrant and contrasting colors. Thankfully, I haven't spotted any black smear from PlayStation VR, which was a problem that plagued the Rift DK2's OLED display, causing black parts of the scene to 'smear' into lighter parts as the users moved their head (due to a slow response time from the pixels that were turned off completely to achieve true blacks). The muted colors and lack of black smear may be interrelated, as Sony may have opted to prevent the display's pixels from going to true black (thereby reducing contrast, but eliminating black smear). Sweet Spot PlayStation VR's lenses seems to have a spacious sweet spot (the range of the area where things look sharp through the lenses), but it seems to be somewhat limited in the vertical direction (up and down on your face). When donning the headset you'll want to tighten everything most of the way and then make a last second adjustment for clarity by moving the headset up and down a bit before making the final crank. If you access the PlayStation VR settings menu in PS4 you can have it display a screen with text to help you judge the clarity and your position in the sweet spot before heading off to your VR experience. [button color="black" size="large" type="3d" target="" link="https://www.roadtovr.com/playstation-vr-review-psvr-console-vr-has-arrived/3/"]Continued on Page 3 - Tracking & Controllers[/button] Tracking PlayStation VR's tracking system uses the PlayStation Camera to track visible-light markers on the PSVR headset, PS4 controller, and PlayStation Move controllers. And while the system works well enough for a solid VR experience, it performs notably worse than the tracking we see on the Rift and Vive, and may be PSVR's biggest downside in an otherwise impressive system. Calibration & Alignment You can (and should) calibrate the PSVR tracking system using software that's built into the PS4. Through the PlayStation VR settings menu you can find the option which will ask you to hold the headset up to the camera and align it with an on-screen outline of the headset. This will be repeated for the front, sides, and back of the headset. The calibration process is similar for the PS4 controller and PlayStation Move controllers. Camera alignment seems very important to achieving the best quality tracking the PSVR is capable of; unfortunately the system does a poor job of instructing the users how their camera and tracking space should be set up. Instead of just telling you how far you should be seated from the camera, the instruction booklet tells you a bunch of seemingly arbitrary distances, like to distance from the camera to the front of the tracking volume, the width of the front of the tracking volume (which doesn't match the width of the rear of the tracking volume) the distance to the rear of the tracking volume, and, quite confusingly, doesn't show the ideal angle or altitude of the camera at all (the booklet diagram could almost be misconstrued as telling you to place the camera on the floor at your feet). Optimizing the camera placement for seated vs. standing experiences was also not clear. Does one placement work best for both or should I move the camera? Only through experimentation did I find that mounted atop my TV seemed to be the best place, but even then it was tough to set the angle of the camera to work well for seated and standing experiences. Sony would probably do well to be more instructive about helping users set up the ideal camera placement to achieve maximum tracking quality. Tracking Quality After getting a properly aligned camera and calibrating the system, the positional tracking quality of PSVR does not consistently hit that sub-millimeter accuracy mark that we've become accustomed to with high-end desktop VR headsets like the Rift and the Vive. On the other hand, the rotational tracking latency is spot on and feels every bit as good as the Rift and Vive. Headset The PlayStation VR headset itself, with 9 tracking lights, is the most accurately tracked object of the system, with the PS Move controllers coming in second, and the PS4 controller coming in at a distant third. Face-on, the headset's tracking is decent, but it has a visibly apparent jitter inside that will make you feel a little wobbly from time to time, especially for standing experiences. For the most part, the tracking quality is good enough that I wasn't getting nauseas in the headset, which is good, but you should feel your balance sway a bit here and there, especially when there's nearfield objects floating close by (as you can see them jitter in relation to your head, even when you are hardly moving). Things get worse when you turn your head a significant amount, giving the camera less tracking lights to work with. I found that tracking jitter increased with fair consistency when turning my head, and when moving my head backward and forward perpendicular to the camera, the camera would often think I was moving closer to it by a few inches as I did so. More than anything else, I found this not-so-precise tracking more distracting than discomforting. PlayStation Move The PlayStation Move motion controllers suffer from a similar problem, and appear to have more tracking jitter than the headset (likely owed to their singular tracking light source). They still work well enough for intuitive motion gaming, but don't have the same impressive accuracy that we've seen with the HTC Vive or Oculus Touch controllers. Fast movements especially (like swinging a sword or throwing things with much vigor) seem to be eschewed by most of the content we've seen so far, possibly due to limitations with the tracking. Some PSVR experiences cause you to raise the Move controllers up in front of your head (like when aiming a gun), which can easily occlude the small number of markers on the headset, causing it to jitter more until you put your arms down. DualShock Controller The PS4 controller seems to be the least accurately tracked of object of the bunch. As such, it tends not to be used in experiences which require accurate tracking. However at least one game I tried, Tumblr VR (which is a pretty cool game), can be played using the DualShock controller to balance blocks atop one another, but it's jittery tracking can really detract from the experience. Thankfully the game supports the Move controllers which makes a huge difference. While the tracking might not be what we're used to from the world of high-end desktop VR, PSVR experiences that are designed with the limitations in mind have proven to be effective and extremely fun. Drift Drift is something that's common among IMU-only tracked VR headsets (like Gear VR and Cardboard), but it's been effectively eliminated on systems that use outside-in tracking (like the Rift and the Vive) because those systems have a static frame of reference against which the drift can be corrected. Curiously, despite also using an outside-in tracking system, I've still seen a fair share of drift of Playstation VR. The good news is that Sony has made it easy to reset at any time by holding the Options button for a few seconds (however some apps seem to only treat that reset as a positional calibration and not a rotational recentering). Why it drift happens in the first place on PSVR though is a bit of a mystery to me. I haven't been able to put my finger on it just yet, but it seems to happen worse in some experiences than others; it could be a case of newer drift-correction code not yet being applied globally. Whatever the case, there's hope that this could be improved through software with later updates. [button color="black" size="large" type="3d" target="" link="https://www.roadtovr.com/playstation-vr-review-psvr-console-vr-has-arrived/4/"]Continued on Page 4 - Setup & Experience[/button] Setup & Experience Not So Scary After All When you first take everything out of the PlayStation VR box, you're gonna be looking at a lot of individual cables and pieces. There's a big instruction booklet included, but thankfully there's big pictures and one step on each page. Most of the cables are in service of connecting the PSVR breakout box to the PlayStation 4. The breakout box has an HDMI cable that goes to the PS4 and an HDMI cable that goes to the TV. It also has it's own power adapter and a USB cable that needs to run to the PS4. So over by your TV you may have a big of a table mess, but the headset itself has one thin cable that runs from the headset to the breakout box and plugs in with two ends. The whole thing took me about 10 minutes to set up as I lazily followed the big pictures in the instruction booklet. Once I hooked everything up the PS4 already knew all about the PlayStation VR system—like long-lost best buds—I didn't have to download any updates or install anything to start using PSVR right away. Experience Once you're ready to pop the headset on, pull the back strap outward and loop it behind your head, resting the remainder of the unit on your forehead. The back strap goes down low around the crown of your head and you can give the crank on the back a few turns to start tightening things up. Using the button under the right side of the display assembly, slide the lenses in as close as they will comfortably get, then adjust up and down to find the sweet spot where everything is sharp. Once done, give that crank a few more turns to keep everything in place. Now you're ready to game. One very cool feature of PSVR is the ability to operate your entire PS4 on a virtual big screen. Before even launching a game or putting in the demo disk, you're able to see the usual PS4 home screen inside the headset. You can launch and play any and all PS4 games, apps, and content through the headset as though you're sitting in front of a massive TV (you can adjust the size of the virtual screen to small, medium, and large). Gaming Gaming is of course the major highlight for VR on a game console, and Sony has arrange an impressive launch lineup with some surprisingly strong debuts. Batman Arkham: VR One game that has particularly impressed me is Batman: Arkham VR. Developed by Rocksteady—the same studio that kicked off the popular Batman: Arkham series—the game is a filled with intuitive and satisfying VR interactions that are well designed for PlayStation VR and the PS Move controllers. As the studio's debut VR experience, I'm blown away by the proficiency in virtual reality interaction design. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SlrEUAJej4 Batman: Arkham VR puts you in the boots of the famous masked detective and literally equips you with a belt of gadgets: you'll be using a forensic scanner with two modes as well as the classic batarang and grappling hook. These all end up being effective tools you'll use to find out what's happened to Nightwing and Robin. While Rocksteady's prior batman games had you brawling with thugs from a third-person perspective. Batman: Arkham VR has you doing mostly detective work. Now I'm not even a big Batman fan—I've never read the comics—but I was thoroughly impressed with interaction-heavy approach to virtual reality. Almost everything you do in the game is controller with natural motion interactions, from throwing batterings to pressing buttons to firing your grappling hook to move, all of the intuitive engagement with the world around you made it feel very immersive and satisfying. Beyond it's design merit, Batman: Arkham VR stands out as a stunning example of what a talented developed can do with VR on the PS4. The game is up there among the best looking real-time VR experiences I've seen on any platform, VR or otherwise. Its biggest flaw? It's too short. They made an impressive VR game, and I want more. Thumper Thumper is a beautiful escape into a stylistic and somehow action-packed rhythm game. At the time of the review I was only able to play a taste of the game from the PSVR demo disk, but it was easily among the most memorable titles I've experienced on PlayStation VR to date. The game has you racing up an infinitely long pathway toward a whirling abstract... actually, you know what... I'm not even going to try to explain it with text. Just watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eThoazvS8_0 It's beautiful, visually and sonically, and once again shows how pretty something can look on PSVR when it's made by a talented developer. Your milage may vary depending upon how much you like rhythm games, but Thumper may emerge as a sleeper hit for me, depending upon how the game progresses from the demo stages I had access to. PlayStation VR Worlds https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vclKhHjL2Q PlayStation VR Worlds is Sony's collection of excellent VR showcase content that every PSVR owner should have in their collection. Among the five small experiences is some of the best designed interactive VR content out there, and the included games cross a wide swath of player tastes, making it perfectly suitable for showing friends and family how cool VR can be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSED6QFwiVg The London Heist in particular, like Batman: Arkham VR, has created a firm foundation, but we want need more! Summary PlayStation VR is a strong start for virtual reality on consoles, showing that it not only can be done, but it can be done well; the system is home to some of the best VR content I've played yet. Powered by the now three year old foundation of PS4, I'm blown away by the visuals that have been achieved on PSVR. I'm especially interested to see how things improve further with the launch of PS4 Pro. The 1920x1080 might be lower on paper than the headset's two major competitors, but it's perfectly capable of creating powerfully immersive experiences and beautiful virtual worlds, despite a few display flaws. The design and ergonomics of PlayStation VR feel class leading in many ways compared to the Rift and Vive, with a design that maximizes field of view and comfort. Though I really would have liked to see built-in headphones to eliminate an extra cable and bulk from a pair of headphones not designed to be worn with a VR headset. PSVR's tracking is likely to be it's biggest challenge going forward. It feels only just over the 'good enough' line and is notably less accurate and responsive compared to the more expensive Rift and Vive. By no surprise and no mistake, PlayStation VR is in a big way all about the price. Consoles have always been about value. And despite being based on demonstrably less powerful hardware, PSVR delivers a VR experience that punches above its weight class and makes a strong argument for both existing and new console players to jump into VR. Disclosure: Sony provided Road to VR with a PlayStation VR headset, PS4 system, and accessories for review.