I had the opportunity to pick up the PS4 Pro and the PSVR this week. Here are my thoughts.
PlayStation 4 Pro:
I had a PS4 and I do not have a 4K TV, so why the hell did I do this? I am seeing more and more releases that will support the Pro performance boost especially with the PSVR games. I did not want to get in a position where I get subpar results with newer games & SPVR games and decided to take the plunge. I was not 100% sure on how big a difference I would see on my 1080p gaming TV with the PS4 Pro, but it ended up being a lot more that I thought. 4K upscaling/output is just one piece of the puzzle, the extra processing for texture enhancements and better/stable frame rates on supported games is a great enhancement and noticeable. This by no means feels like a “new” console release. Its more like a how Apple iPhones feel between releases. Its not a new platform but more of a updated, faster and new feature set platform.
I booted up my original launch PS4 and deleted all the disc based games I had and did the backup process using a ethernet cable between the old PS4 (I hate calling it that) and the PS4 Pro. With in 40 minutes I was up and running with my profile and digital games all running fine.
PlayStation VR:
Right off the bat, this thing was package like an Apple product. It seems like it was packed with such care and felt like a “premium” product. The instructions were very well written and easy to follow. I was up and running with in 20 minutes or so. The was an update for the PS4 and also for the PSVR (The hardware does get updates that are different from the OS updates) that needed to download and install. 2 reboots later I had the VR demo disc downloading.
I am not going to go in to it to much in this post but, I was really taken back by the immersion and quality of the VR experience. There are so many mixed reviews of it on the net and I think I figured out why so many don’t give it the praise it deserves. Many of the people online that have been very vocal about the quality of the PSVR have also played with the Vive & Rift on really powerful PCs. I do not feel like the PSVR is a direct competitor of these other VR devices since a PS4/PS4 Pro do not have the same hours power and GPUs that a nice gaming PC rig would have. Since the PSVR is the only VR device I have ever tried, its the only thing I know, from what I have seen/felt with the PSVR is not short from amazing. It really is amazing we are now able to have a consumer friendly VR device that can be used in the comfort of our home.
Rambling.. If you have not tired it yet, DO IT! Its a blast. I will be adding some posts on various VR games I like playing.