PS VR2 was designed from the ground up specifically for PS5 – so you’ll notice that some key features, like HDR, headset feedback, eye tracking, adaptive triggers, and haptic feedback (other than rumble), are not available when playing on PC
Adaptive triggers make sense because not many games use it even on PS5 and it's a very specific function that isn't replicated by any other hardware yet; but why doesn't eye tracking or HDR work with existing software on the PC side?
Because their eye tracking and HDR software are made with proprietary licenses they don't want to pay to port over from PS5's flavor of BSD to whatever OS you run on PC.
Someone told me adaptive triggers work in some games on PS5 controllers, I don’t know why the VR controllers couldn’t do the same. Maybe I just heard wrong
I'm new to VR. Over the past few months I was considering a Meta Quest 3, specifically because I wanted to finally play Half-Life Alyx. However, I really didn't want to give Meta money/data (I deleted Facebook back in 2019), so that's why I've held off for so long in hopes that either Valve updates the Index or another option comes out.
Could you elaborate what I'm missing with some of these features compared to a Meta Quest 3 or Valve Index from a PC perspective? In my eyes, playing this on PS5 is a bonus to me.
HDR - I understand colors won't be as deep and brightness/blacks as high/deep which is a bummer considering the OLED screens inside the PSVR. I don't think the Meta Quest 3 had HDR? Neither does the Index?
Headset feedback - vibration on head? I'm assuming the other headsets don't have this, so I'm not missing much from PC games that don't leverage this.
Eye tracking - I don't believe Meta Quest 3 has this, neither does the Index? So it's in parity with the PC feature set?
Adaptive Triggers - I have a PS5 and when this feature turns on, it's kinda cool for a second but then it gets old fast. The only really good execution of Adaptive Triggers I've experienced so far is in Returnal. I just finished up FF7 Rebirth and the adaptive trigger sequences in there seemed dumb and unnecessary.
Haptic feedback - is this just a more detailed rumble?
I guess my main question is, doesn't this seems like the better option when compared to a Valve Index or Meta Quest 3? For my particular circumstance,I don't mind being tethered by a cable (at least I don't think I will, again I'm new to VR. Besides I'd be tethered anyway using a meta quest 3 on PC) and the headset screens on the PSVR2 seem to be really nice compared to the others.
It really depends how the release turns out. Eye tracking is often used in social VR games like VRChat, and it can help increase peformance, but that often requires setup. The other "features" are not standard or completely lacking in PC VR, like "headset feedback" or adaptive triggers. These wouldn't be used in any games even if the hardware/software was capable of it.
Compared to the Valve Index, the PSVR2 has a higher screen resolution, OLED, no finger tracking (different controllers), and inside-out tracking instead of base station tracking. It looks like a really good option, at a really good price (compared to other "consumer" PC VR headets like the Index). From what I can tell, you're not really "missing" any major hardware features when using PSVR2 on a PC compared to an Index (depends on implementation, will be obvious at release). Although the lack of eye tracking when the hardware is capable is kind of a bummer.
Wait this one out for initial reviews, but if those are good, the PSVR2 seems like a very good option for PC VR (Although only "casual", like playing games, social vr, etc. compared to "competitive" like very high level play at Beat Saber, shooters, etc).
Do note that this is just looking at PC VR exclusive headsets. "Standalone" headsets like the Meta Quest lineup offer similar VR hardware specs at a similar or lower cost. These come with the downside of having to "stream" from a PC rather than using raw display output (for games not natively supported on the headset). The privacy aspect of standalone headsets needs to be considered too. Most run a version of Android, which comes with just as much (or more) telemetry as an average Android smartphone.
As for being tethered, you get used to it pretty quickly. The main problem is that the cable is being used, and will break after some time. They are often expensive to replace, like on the Index. With standalone headsets, the cable is often USB-C and a lot cheaper to replace. I don't know how replacement cables for the PSVR2 are handled.
As someone who just has a PSVR2 and a PS5, I agree. I think being able to include those features in PCVR games might entice VR developers to provide more feature rich ports of their games to PS5. Here's hoping it just needs some kind of official driver or something.
Yeah that's quite the letdown. I've been hoping to upgrade my VR headset from a Quest 2 and I was looking forward to this so I could get away from Meta, but those features were a big part of the appeal of the PS VR2. I don't own a PS5, so buying a headset that should be able to do all these things but can't would kinda sting. It seems this was intended as more of a bonus for existing PS VR2 owners rather than an attempt to drive sales to PC-only players. I hope those features do make their way to PC eventually, because HDR on the OLED screen would make this an amazing PC VR headset and I really wanted that. I'm going to have to pass on this headset for now though.
I still wonder if they will eventually go the other way around, too, and let me use my Quest with the PS5 for things like RE4 VR. Doing the remote play method is jank af.