The PlayStation VR2 is even more expensive than the most expensive PS5. But it's really a bit too expensive. We are at the doorstep of a new era of VR. Meta just released the high-end Quest Pro, Sony will release PSVR2 in February, and it is rumored that Apple will soon launch it

PlayStation VR2 is even more expensive than the most expensive PS5. But it's really a bit too expensive.

We are at the doorstep of the new era of VR. Meta just released the high-end Quest Pro, Sony will release PSVR2 in February, and it is rumored that Apple will soon launch its own VR/AR headset. I'm finally ready to buy a VR device, and I think this is a good time for me to buy. But I was shocked when I saw the actual price of these devices. The price of

PSVR2 $549.99 is already very high, plus the starting price of PS5 $399.99, which means the minimum cost of PSVR2 is $950. The Quest Pro is a VR all-in-one phone that costs $1,499.99. Don't expect Apple's headset to be cheaper; it could cost more than $2,000, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gulman.

To be fair, these devices are equipped with advanced technology. The PSVR2 has a significant upgrade over PSVR, with an OLED screen, four built-in cameras to track your movements, and a huge improvement to the controller compared to the PS3-ea mobile stick that PSVR relied on. Quest Pro is more stylish than Quest 2, with an inward-facing camera that can enable eye tracking and face tracking, and you can also see full-color direct-through videos. It is rumored that Apple's headsets can even allow you to pay with your eyes.

If VR is to become mainstream, it needs a more mainstream price

But if VR is to become mainstream, the top priority for hardware companies is to match all this fancy technology with the price that ordinary people are willing to pay. The initial $299 price of Quest 2 seems more reasonable. This is a landmark VR all-in-one that you can use to play games and fitness apps, just like some people may already be playing the $299 Nintendo Switch.

According to IDCh data, Quest 2 is also very popular, with nearly 15 million units sold as of June. Meanwhile, Sony has just announced that 25 million units have been sold in the PS5. This means that VR, as a relatively new product category, is getting smaller and smaller from the world's most popular game consoles. But Meta has recently raised the Quest 2 by $100, but that's still easier to accept than the $1,000 you have to invest in the next generation.

Quest Pro/The Verge

It is worth mentioning that Meta positioned Quest Pro as a device that is mainly aimed at work, not a product targeting ordinary consumers; for most people, compared to Quest Pro, Quest 2 is the VR device they should buy (at least until Quest 3 is released next year). But if Quest 2 is good enough for many people, do we really need tech companies to promote extremely high-tech and high-cost VR devices? Is the Quest Pro really more than three times the value of the Quest 2?

But for those who want to try high-end headsets, these companies require people to invest a lot of money on platforms that are basically still in their infancy. In the process, Meta acquired many famous VR studios instead of developing killer applications on its own. This is different from Nintendo ( Nintendo ) and Apple, where Nintendo's hardware is weird, but it's very obvious how to use it, and Apple is known for its excellent hardware and great software. But we also have to see if Apple can successfully launch a VR headset.

This is probably why I am most optimistic about PSVR2, although it is expensive. In the initial PSVR, Sony went out of his way to create great games that were meaningful, and I think so would PSVR2. My colleague Victoria Song was very satisfied with Sony's PSVR2's masterpiece, Horizon Call of the Mountain, a game specially developed for Sony's hardware. Sony is committed to making video games for a VR device focused on video games, which may mean those games will be great.

PS VR2/The Verge

Unfortunately, PSVR2 is not compatible with many games on the first generation of PSVR platforms, so you can only start from scratch from your own PSVR2 library and hope that developers can continue to develop games for this hardware platform.If you buy it when the game is released, then you are making a big bet on the future of this platform.

I saw the amazing price of the PlayStation Edge controller, but I was still surprised how much it would cost for users to play games with PSVR2. Based on our personal experience, it seems to be worth the price, so there is a good chance I will do my best to book on November 15th, even if I wish I didn't spend that much money. At least I already have a PS5.