It's Thursday, February 23rd. Happy Emperor's Birthday to all who celebrate. This year I choose to restrain myself and write another issue of Multicore instead.
The PlayStation VR2 has officially landed. I've put a bunch of time into it this week and thought I'd share my initial impressions.
The design is sleeker and about as comfortable as before. This generation of PlayStation VR feels appropriately refined, though the basic rest-against-your-forehead-and-tighten-at-the-back design is the same. I always found the first PS VR to be the most comfortable headset out there because of its weight distribution, and while this isn't necessarily better, it's no worse for me either.
It's much less fatiguing to use than the front-heavy Meta Quest 2 with its awful default strap, and I'd give it the edge over the Quest 2's "elite" strap too. People can have totally different experiences with VR headsets based on their head size and shape, though — all I can say is this one works for me the same way the original PS VR did.
The setup process is a breeze. After more than two years I still find the PS5’s UI to be pretty overwrought, so the PS VR2's effortless setup flow was a nice surprise. You pair the controllers one by one with a USB-A-to-C cable, plug in the headset to the PS5's USB-C port, and you're set.
Unlike the Quest 2, which makes you draw lines around your playing space to identify safe areas, the PS VR2 figures it out just by having you look around the room, effectively mapping obstacles in 3D. And the passthrough mode, which lets you see your surroundings, is hugely better than the Quest 2's. It's still in black and white, but it's much higher resolution and rendered with impressive 3D depth. There's also a dedicated button for it on the underside of the headset, so you can quickly make sure your pets aren't destroying the living room in your virtual absence, for example.
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