Sony admits PlayStation VR doesn't have 'high-end' power of Oculus Rift
This is for the 'mass market'
Sony's PlayStation VR won't be able to match the quality of Oculus Rift's virtual reality tech, PlayStation executive Vice President Masayasu Ito has said.
Speaking in an interview with Polygon, Ito said that PS VR won't have the "high-end quality" of the Rift, but pointed out that Sony's device is a different proposition.
"If you just talk about the high-end quality, yes, I would admit that Oculus may have better VR," he said. "However, it requires a very expensive and very fast PC. The biggest advantage for Sony is our headset works with PS4. It's more for everyday use, so it has to be easy to use and it has to be affordable. This is not for the person who uses a high-end PC. It's for the mass market."
It's no secret that the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive have a higher screen resolution and wider field of view than PlayStation VR, so Ito's comment isn't a huge revelation. However PS VR has a higher refresh rate than its rivals at 120 Hz - Oculus and Vive operate at 90 Hz.
With the Rift priced at $600 and the Vive at $800, we're hoping PS VR will cost no more than $400. That's also based on comments made by Andrew House, President and Group CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, who said the headset would be priced at around the price of a "new gaming platform".
Sony is set to reveal more information about PlayStation VR at an event on March 15, which will hopefully include price and a concrete release date. We'll be there to bring you the news as it happens.
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Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.
Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.