Virtual reality is certainly about to hit us in a big way. One of the ‘major players’ is about to unleash its ‘VR’ device onto the gaming world. Sony is about to release the PSVR on October 13th and the chatter around it is definitely increasing.
Of course, for any major gaming device to be successful you need to have something to play on it. Gamers would certainly be pissed if they spent £350 to have it collect dust in a cupboard somewhere.
So it’s not a surprise that Sony are announcing exclusives to the PSVR device, at least for a little while. Keen eyes over on NeoGAF and Reddit have spotted what looks to be a timed exclusive for Resident Evil 7 VR in the form of a poster advertising the game. The main Resident Evil 7 game, set to release January 2017, will be released on PC, PS4 and Xbox One but the VR mode of the game is seemingly exclusive to Sony’s new ocular device, at least for 12 months.
It is important to acknowledge that VR in Resident Evil 7 is classified as a “mode”. Will it be substantial enough to justify, not only the noticeable price tag of the device, but also the, I imagine, hefty exclusivity price tag. Given that there aren’t many VR devices on the market, all requiring initial investments in another piece of hardware (console or PC, capable of running VR). Not only that, Sony are the only company on the market with a console touting VR as a selling point. Whether Project Scorpio will be VR enabled, and come with one for that matter, if yet to be seen. So is it all worth it? We will see in the New Year it would seem.
But with Batman Arkham: VR just being announced to be only 60 minutes long in its core game, is this the start of a new Kinect/HD remake trend; games receiving a VR mode instead of investing in a fully fledged VR game because the financial risk is too high, similar to the reasoning for the original Xbox One including Kinect on day one release.
It is still early days for VR and it is an exciting concept, but it is at such an early stage that lack of investment and commitment may lead to its downfall.
What do you think to the latest VR news? Do you think it will be worth it and do platform exclusives help you make your decision? Let us know in the comments below or on the RGM Forums.
