[bananaoomarang]

Not sure why this is being downvoted... perhaps it is documented somewhere they are not selling this at a loss but ordinarily both Sony and Microsoft sell consoles at a loss indeed.

I think ordinarily peripherals are not sold at a loss, but it would make sense that a pricy VR headset would be the exception.

[smoldesu]

It's a hard sell. There are cheaper 120hz headsets on the market, and the experience of tethering yourself to another machine is pretty antiquated in 2022. Unless someone's only option for VR gaming is through their PS5, they'd probably be better-suited with anything else.

[TheHappyOddish]

> the experience of tethering yourself to another machine is pretty antiquated in 2022

What a strange take. 3 of the top performing consumer headsets (Vive Pro 2, HP G2 Reverb, Varjo Aero) are all tetheted, two of which came out this year.

I believe only the Quest 2 has 120hz over wireless, and even that was only added 12 months ago and was still classed as "experimental" until a few months ago.

[jklinger410]

Where is this 120hz headset that doesn't pair to another system for a comparable price?

The META quest is MSRP $1,499 and Zuck says they are shipping THAT at a loss.

[ChuckNorris89]

You might not know this but the Meta/Oculus Quest 2 (120Hz) has existed since 2020. I got my Quest 2, 2 years ago, when it was still labeled Oculus on the box, for 350 Euros. I think now it's 450 Euros, inflation and all, but at least the storage is double at 128GB.

Great device, saved my sanity during the winter lockdowns.

[TheHappyOddish]

I believe the Quest 2 only added support for 120hz last year. And Airlink only became officially supportd a few months ago.

[jklinger410]

Ok right, but the current Oculus model is $1500.

[ChuckNorris89]

There is no "current" Oculus, as the newer "Quest Pro" does not replace the older "Quest 2" but both are available being sold in parallel at different price brackets, like iPhone 14 Pro Max and iPhone SE.

And the Quest 2 alone is superior to the PSVR since it has the "gaming console" built in, while being far cheaper than the PSVR whiteout even accounting for the extra cost of the PS5 in the equation.

Pricing aside, Meta had a decent product with the Quest 2, as they went all-in and it was designed form the start as a stand alone cordless platform and focused and polished the entre VR gaming experience around that from the ground up even buying dedicated VR game dev studios, while for Sony, the PSVR is just a corded accessory to the stationary PS5, but not the main product and so it's not their main focus for PS5 gaming, and we'll see this reflected in the amount and quality of VR titles they'll put out.

The PSVR does win in the graphics department thanks to the processing power of the PS5 but that comes at the cost of reduce mobility thanks to the stupid cable keeping your head tied to the PS5 and ruining your immersion. In fact, I'm calling it right now: the cable tether will make it a fail for most users. I expect the return rates to be high followed by low retail sales and people dumping them on ebay after a few months of gathering dust, same like with the last PSVR they made. It will flop as hard as the Quest Pro.

For people wanting to dip their toes in VR and play Beat Sabre and Pistol Whip, 450 Euros is far easier to stomach than invest 1300+ Euros in a PlayStation VR setup and then hate it because you'll always have to take care of not tangling yourself or tripping on the cable. We saw the same with Valve's VR gear. People just didn't want to put up with the hassle of having an expensive and corded setup just to play Half-Life Alyx.

Meta/Oculus moved the goalposts so far with their cordless self-contained devices, that any new VR gear still needing cables and a separate PC/console to function is an instant fail. I expect Apple's VR gear will also be cordless, powered by their excellent mobile Mx chips.