It's looking like the PSVR 2 may very well be the quality headset it's priced to be, as Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey has expressed glowing optimism for the new VR headset.
In a Twitter reply to PlayStation's head of indies, Shuhei Yoshida, Luckey stated he "was blown away" by the PSVR 2 headset, which was recently demoed at CES 2023. He added that he thinks the original PlayStation VR was "arguably the biggest success of the generation," and looks to have high hopes for the PS5 peripheral which launches on February 22.
While PSVR 2 has been getting plenty of positive buzz from hands-on previews, it bodes well that one of the VR industry's leading figures has spoken so highly of the device. Oculus has undoubtedly been instrumental in bringing VR to the mainstream, with headsets like the Oculus Quest 2 sitting firmly among the best VR headsets released to date.
I was blown away when I used PSVR 2 recently! The first PSVR was arguably the biggest success of the generation, this version will do even better.January 11, 2023
What does this mean for PSVR 2?
PSVR 2 seems like it's shaping up to be everything we'd hoped, then. That's quite the relief considering it's even more expensive than the PS5 console itself. And while we lament the headset's lack of backwards compatibility and no PC support at launch, its impressive specs give us confidence it'll likely be a great bit of kit in itself.
If PSVR 2 is as powerful as we think, then, the sky's the limit for the kinds of software we could end up seeing for the VR headset over the next few years. Exclusives like Horizon: Call of the Mountain are leading the charge at launch, but fascinatingly, we're seeing that some of the best PS5 games are receiving PSVR 2 modes and features.
Among those are Resident Evil Village and Gran Turismo 7, the latter of which will also be updated with PSVR 2 support at launch. Resident Evil 4 will also have PSVR 2 content, so we know that the headset can handle industry-leading tech like Capcom's RE Engine.
But what other titles could we see potentially grace PSVR 2? Personally, I'd really like to see more PS5 games be updated with PSVR 2 modes. While Returnal's fast-paced roguelite gameplay may be at odds with the intimacy of VR, I'd love the chance to explore its drop-dead gorgeous environments up close. Though something a bit slower-paced, like the Demon's Souls remake, could benefit from VR thanks to its dreadfully atmospheric locales.
Still, I have to agree with one of the more common requests I've seen; and that's to bring Valve's superlative Half-Life Alyx to PSVR 2. Considered the quintessential VR experience by those lucky enough to try it on more powerful hardware like the Valve Index, it'd be a potential killer app for PSVR 2. Since Valve is no stranger to porting its releases to console, I don't think Half-Life Alyx is out of the question here.
