Topic: What is going on with PSVR

@johncalmc I've got to disagree a little, while PSVR has sold through stock in most places, it has usually taken a day or two and I've constantly seen stock pop back up. Anyone who really wanted a unit would have had one by now.

On top of the Currys link I put up you could also check Shopto as they sell it with a game and it's in stock, Argos had some a few days ago, Smyths are reporting stock is incoming, it drops in and out of stock all the time on the Tesco website. As I say, it is available and relatively easy to obtain for anyone who really wants it without paying scalper fees.

@Dichotomy I think when anyone has to actively search and check stock levels on a near daily basis it is clear there is a stock problem.

I know that it's possible to pick them up - one of my friends got one a couple of weeks ago - but I've done more than most people will to find one and I've yielded on results. It's tough to find these things, and that can't be helping.

@Rudy_Manchego That is why I disagreed a little, I know they aren't sitting in shop warehouses freely available all the time, but it isn't the other extreme either, like we've had with understocked Nintendo products in the past.

What I find strange though, having looked a bit further into why PSVR can both be hard to get hold of and considered a possible failure, Sony have said that they haven't sold the numbers they were looking to and a 2 million estimate has been dropped to about 750000. The only reason I can think for the shortages tying in with Sony's comments is that Sony has a warehouse full of units, but retailers are reluctant to stock them, in fear of being left with expensive items on their shelves. It is also odd for Amazon not to have a listing on items it intends to stock, even if it says 'Expected in 2-3 weeks'.

On top of this we also have heard nothing of the Final Fantasy VR experience which was announced when there was hype for VR, but seems like it won't happen now. I also seem to remember Tekken was going to be VR compatible, but I don't remember seeing that mentioned of late either. With Sony basically having gone quiet on VR too it is looking like VR is struggling before it has even been given a chance and my outlook on it has dropped considerably after a bit of research. The entire topic is strange in itself, in that we are talking about the demise of something a mere 3 months after its launch, but the only way to stem this kind of discussion is for Sony to come out and show us how silly we are. However they are silent on any news that might give people faith in the technology so the speculation will just grow.

1m units sold to a potential audience of 53m is less than 2%. Regardless of the stock issue at the moment, even if it goes on to sell 2m globally, that's 96% of PS4 owners that haven't got a Headset. We don't know if the 'demand' is for 1m more units or 200k, we don't know if those being snapped up are by those trying to sell the units at over inflated prices or by those who genuinely want the Headset. I know if I was desperate for one, I could probably get my hands on one.

A new Ferrarri sells out often before the first one rolls off the production line but they aren't 'popular' purchases - not compared to Fords. You don't struggle to buy a new 'Fiesta' for example. Like I said, there was a long waiting list for the Elite controller when MS launched that and you can't buy the Gears 4 version either - that was sold out before Gears 4 launched but that doesn't make it more popular than a 'standard' controller.

Point I am making is that if retailers are only getting a handful in each month, and these are 'selling', it may seem more popular than getting a warehouse full of consoles and selling 75% of their stock. The consoles could be selling 50+ units to every 1 headset.

What is somewhat disconcerting is the lack of news, the lack of things to really look forward to. I know January is quite quiet generally anyway but I can't recall much said during PSX. It appeared that Sony hasn't made enough headsets to meet the demand - whether that's for 3% of the potential market or 20%. I assume that the Pro, which launched after the Headset, has sold more units and possibly in greater demand. Had Sony made 10m of each, would the Headset sell as many units a week? Who knows. The only thing we do know is that Sony appear to have not made enough for those that wanted one - whether its 1.5m or 10m people. VR was one of the 'big' things of 2016 and whilst I don't think we have seen the last of VR or that its dead at all - the potential of it is massive and nt just from a gaming perspective, it does seem to have gone rather quiet. I can't think of any major news on other VR headsets either so its not just PSVR. PSVR is, I believe, the most popular selling headset of the 3 main companies (Sony, HTC and Oculus) offering more advanced VR (not including those that require a mobile to use) so it seems that very few have bought into VR so far. For a developer/publisher, that's not great. It means that developing a game exclusively for VR (let alone one for a specific platform) is unlikely to sell anywhere near as many copies as a non-VR game. We have talked about Nintendo and its (lack of) sales, and how that impacted on developer support. Its a double edged sword isn't it, the hardware needs support to sell but developers may be reluctant to support it until the install base is high enough. I know its very different from Kinect but the same principal applied there too.

@Dichotomy In terms of figures, Sony hasn't commented on them and basically said we won't because they will be misleading and the 2m and 750k figures are analysis completed by analysts and hard to quantify. They may well be right but just wanted to be clear that it was clearly impossible for 2m to be sold when stock seems to have been throttled at <1m. Sony may have warehouses full of stock that aren't being stocked but at the same time, that is costing them a lot of money and would have to be written off on quarterly/annual figures. It is unusual for retailers to stop stocking a product completely so quickly but they may well have reduced their order size.

I would completely agree though that the whole situation is strange - 3 months in and radio silence. Even with product failures, you would normally expect to see at least a push for 6 months and then see it taper off after a year maybe. Something is going on under the surface with PSVR.

@BAMozzy Your analogy of a Porsche is very apt and I think, in the first year or so, this is a niche luxury device. I don't see how it could be anything but a luxury product and I think Sony should have expected it as such. As for game development, right too - no publisher is going to invest in meaningful experiences without some encouragement from Sony or Sony investing first party support. I think what would be healthy is subsiding VR modes, like RE7 on some major games that are suitable and then fund some more of the more innovative games first party or via Indies. I've actually enjoyed the indie titles more on PSVR than the larger more expensive games.

So as per Sammy's video, stock is an issue for Pro as well. Symptomatic of an overall supply issue at Sony?

A shame because Resident Evil 7 is getting good feedback on the use of VR and a VR bundle would have helped move stock!

I'm a bit late to this thread and the PSVR party in general but as the system is finally back in stock everywhere does anyone think that it'll take off a bit more now. I know from my perspective Game now appears to have a dedicated section for it after months of having no shelf space whatsoever. Also PS4 Pro could be behind the muted first few months as they had to sell 2 new systems and customers generally wouldn't buy both.

I think the future is positive and it's Resident Evil that is showing the way, the game is great and around 10% of players are using VR and this could mean that up to 250,000 players are playing in VR. Capcom are proving that games don't necessarily need to be produced exclusively for VR to be great on it, which is good news as developers will have less financial risk and we gamers get more choice. Personally having experienced it in VR I would never choose to play it on the TV again and beyond this we have a steady stream of games finally coming. Firstly Psychonauts has arrived and with the likes of Stardust, Syrens and Star Trek Bridge Crew in the next couple of months it's not looking too bad, let's just hope that Sony announce more at upcoming events

@carlos82 I think, once stock has settled, it needs a push from Sony now to get it back into everyones consciousness. It needs a presence at some of the big conventions etc. I think they may use the release of Farpoint as that jumping in point.

As a VR convert, I love it and will be getting Resi Evil 7 at some point. I think that is the way to support VR, incentivise adding VR modes (to games where to do so makes sense - something like COD is just going to be a vomit train if they had a VR mode).

I think resi has proven that you can make conventional games work well in vr if you add enough comfort options to accommodate people.
Some people (mostly kids) seem completely immune to vr sickness and I'm sure they'd love something mainstream like cod.
I can play rigs for hours on end after getting a feel for it, so pretty sure I could handle an fps done right.
Problem is how you balance it for vr players vs someone on TV with sensitivity at max. A vr only aaa shooter won't sell enough right now so you got to cater for everyone.

I have the switch above this in terms of my next "console" purchase, and that will be when I can afford it. I think the big deal with this is that I don't want to get it until I try it - which seems to be virtually impossible as none of my friends have one and they didn't do a good job making this available all over the place. I live near one of the biggest malls in America and they never got one of these - I checked like every other week. The nearest place to me that had one was like an hour away, which I would almost be willing to try - except it's only available on one day a week and it didn't fit with my work schedule.

@DeWiz kids are lucky as motion sickness isn't something that develops until later on, I wonder if this could hold it back in Japan as I've heard they are more susceptible to this with even games like Mario Galaxy causing issues.

For my part of struggle with Resi from time to time and I don't want to turn all the comfort options on, the 30 degrees turning helps as does standing. No other games have affected me apart from Eve Valkerie in which I felt sick immediately but Star Wars had no effect so I'm not sure why.

I can't see fps games pitting VR users against TV for quite some time but the flying sections on Battlefront for example could work.

My hope is that the mainstream games can help leverage VR sales by incorporating these modes to the point where the user base make it attractive enough to create VR focused AAA games on a regular basis

@ztpayne7 That is a huge problem point for PSVR, you really do need to try before you buy. I was lucky enough to live (near ish) a Sony pop up experience in a nearby mall (this is in the UK) a week or so before launch. I've had two friends try it and go out and buy/preorder it straight after.

I think I needed that demo to check whether or not I liked it so I can see why you'd not want to get one without trying and since you can't try, why buy? I think Sony needs to promote try outs more.

@ztpayne7 strangely I basically did the opposite, I had the Switch pre-ordered but realised I was buying just for Zelda until Mario came out at Xmas so cancelled and got VR. I had to go in blind but I had a little experience in the Gear VR which in reality turns out to be nothing compared to this.

Sony do really need to make these easier to try as it's not really something that can be shown in a video, or know how comfortable you will be playing. From my point of view I have no regrets in changing my mind and it feels like the first genuine step forward in gaming for a very long time, probably since the PS1/N64 days

@carlos82

My hope is that the mainstream games can help leverage VR sales by incorporating these modes to the point where the user base make it attractive enough to create VR focused AAA games on a regular basis

That's the only plausible route to VR being a success I reckon..Unfortunately I'm not sure I see it happening either..

@Rudy_Manchego yes they do!

@carlos82 my immediate switch plans went away when my PS4 started acting up. Ended up getting a pro. So I may not even get that until Christmas. Which tells you how far away a vr purchase is unless they can find a way to wow me. Which means showing it to me.

That price point keeps me at bay for the moment along with the peripherals I would have to invest in, i will wait for the price drop considering ps4 came with camera in bundle.
400 bones for just the device itself just doesn't work to sony favor nor mine.

Yeah the price is hard to justify unless you're a hardcore gamer, a tech lover, or just have money to burn. It's definitely too high for it to catch on with the mainstream.

However, I think early adopters have proven that the demand is there for both tech and games if they can get the price and performance right.
Vr itself is great and appeals to a wide market, it's just going to take time to all come together.

So went into GAME today to pick up GT Sport.
I was shocked to see PSVR relegated to the corner of the store were it was sharing shelf space with the Occulus.
The shelf itself was smaller than the preowned Xbox 360 shelf.
A month ago it had a massive shelf right by the till.

Hope my GAME is an anomally. Shelf presence is important if VR is to penetrate into the market, but that is a worrying sign right before the all important holiday season.

It probably doesn't help that I assume the majority of VR users are buying their games digital.

@Fight_Teza_Fight Shelf space comes at a premium in stores like GAME, and like you say, I imagine a large proportion of games sales are digital.