PlayStation VR PS4 PlayStation 4 Sony Virtual Reality 1

It's almost make or break time for PlayStation VR, the ambitious PlayStation 4 peripheral that promises to make us a part of virtual worlds. Sony's said that the potentially expensive accessory will launch in the first half of 2016, which means that it's less than six months away at the time of typing. The manufacturer's kept many of the device's more specific details under wraps – price, release date, launch titles – but I'd be shocked if it didn't hold a press conference imminently to outline everything that we need to know.

And that's going to be a pivotal moment for both the headset and virtual reality as a medium. While the likes of Oculus and HTC are also set to join the party over the next year or so, there's no denying that Sony has the best opportunity to make VR mainstream; people already own PlayStation 4 consoles, the Japanese giant has a brand that people can relate to, and it has the established retail presence required to make its product stand out. It's an exciting time for the platform holder, but it's not without risks.

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PlayStation VR PS4 PlayStation 4 Sony Virtual Reality 2

I've tried PlayStation VR and it's legitimately impressive. It's unbelievably difficult to explain why the peripheral's so promising with words, but I'll give it my best shot: virtual reality stimulates your body in a way that traditional games don't. I've played thousands of titles over the course of my gaming career, and I've felt happy, sad, scared, bored – a spectrum of emotions. But I've never felt a sense of presence quite like I have with Sony's peripheral.

"PlayStation VR successfully tricks your brain into thinking that you're somewhere else"

That's a marketing buzzword, but it's the best way to describe the sensation: PlayStation VR tricks your brain into thinking that you're somewhere else. I'll try to give you an example: I played the infamous Kitchen demo, where you're strapped to a chair and being pursued by a serial killer. At one point, The Grudge-esque serial killer points a knife towards your neck, and my instant reaction was to recoil in order to get out of the way.

It's worth noting that when I tried PlayStation VR I was in a sweaty closed-off room on a noisy convention show floor – I knew that I was not being actively attacked by a mass murderer. But this is the power of virtual reality: it deceives you into thinking that you're somewhere else, and that's a paradigm shift. With PlayStation VR, I can imagine the ordinary becoming extraordinary again: walking through a room, throwing a ball, having a conversation – it's a game changer.

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And it works, so why the cautious optimism? I'm worried because I'm starting to see potential that may never be realised. Sony's said that it will be pricing the headset like a new console, so it's not going to be cheap. And we all know by now that without a meaningful install base, it's hard for publishers and developers to justify investment in add-ons. But virtual reality needs investment – it needs the very best creators working on it to solve problems and justify its existence.

I guess I'm worried that said potential will never be realised, and that PlayStation VR will be left to wither on the tree of expensive accessories that never really received the support that they deserved. Sony's been on fire lately, so I pray that my concerns are misguided and that it's got a masterplan up its collective sleeve. I'll be crossing everything, because the closer that we get to virtual reality's arrival, the more I'm beginning to think that this is the innovation that gaming desperately needs.

Are you optimistic that PlayStation VR will succeed, or do you think that Sony's barking up the wrong virtual tree with its upcoming accessory? Enter another world in the comments section below.