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The motto of E3 rings true: 'content is king'
We already knew that PlayStation VR would arrive in October, but now Sony has given us an official date - October 13.
That's when it will arrive in North America, at least. The UK release date has yet to be confirmed.
During its E3 2016 keynote, Sony reminded us of the other unique advantage that it holds over Facebook and HTC in the virtual reality race: content.
Some may say that Sony's mic drop moment of this E3 was the reveal of Hideo Kojima's new game, but I say that it was the absolutely most appealing game catalog of any VR headset to date.
Sure, the two PC headsets have co-op Star Trek in VR, but that's just one game against an onslaught of veritable dream gaming scenarios come to life from Sony. Now, let's look at the five reasons Sony just gave its 40 million PS4 owners and beyond to buy into PlayStation VR.
Farpoint
I'm just hoping and praying this turns out to be the Mass Effect in VR that it looks like right now. Developed by Impulse Gear, Farpoint sees you explore an alien world after an expedition to investigate an anomaly on Jupiter goes wrong.
The visuals, which are hopefully representative, look incredible and would only add to the immersion factor of such an engrossing premise for VR. Here's to Farpoint amounting to more than just a sci-fi shooter and emphasizing the exploration potential of VR.
Star Wars Battlefront: X-Wing VR Mission
Not much of anything was said about this one nor was an official trailer even released for it online, but not much needs to be said. You'll soon get to pilot an X-Wing in VR.
Need Sony say more?
And here we were all excited about EVE: Valkyrie. Jokes aside, it's star power like this that's going to seal the deal for PSVR in the long and short of it.
Batman VR
This was yet another reveal with little to nothing indicating gameplay but merely setting the tone. Interesting considering the game is coming October 2016, according to developer Rocksteady.
Come on, you can't sit there and tell me that getting to play around in Batman's very suit isn't enough to get you to try PSVR. That's like a five-year-old, front-lawn fantasy come true – even Mark Hamill is involved!
But, surely this is it, right? There can't be anything else this big coming to VR through PlayStation.
Final Fantasy XV VR Experience
Guys and gals, even the long-awaited FF15 will offer a PSVR experience later this autumn. That might not be the most exciting news to yours truly, but countless fans will no doubt want to experience the RPG splendor of Final Fantasy from this new angle.
That said, first-person Final Fantasy will take some intense learning. It's almost like putting turn-based battles into Skyrim, or something like that.
Resident Evil 7
The next entry in seminal horror franchise Resident Evil was clearly inspired by a spectacular game demo shown off at last year's E3 to coincide with series rival Silent Hill: P.T. But, developer Capcom is taking that one step further with an insanely immersive-looking VR implementation.
The trailer is truly gripping, albeit in not the most original way. We'll see how Capcom manages to balance the horror factor that it's already established with such an over-the-top story to continue.
Bah! Who are we kidding? This game is going to be strapped to your face – at least a few thousand pant wettings are guaranteed.
Follow the rest of our E3 2016 coverage for the latest critique and commentary all this week.
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