PlayStation VR GDC live report
Sony's San Francisco press conference, as it happened.
Updated on
Join us live from GDC 2016 in San Francisco as Sony reveals key details on PlayStation VR!
We've heard pricing and release details on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive - now it's Sony's turn. After the eye-watering prices of those virtual reality headsets, all eyes are now on Sony to provide a more affordable alternative.
Hopefully we'll also get a better glimpse at some of the games headed to PlayStation VR, and announcements from some of the other developers supporting the technology.
Could a few fan favourite PlayStation franchises also be shown?
The show is due to start at 9pm UK time, and Oli is on the ground to report the announcements as they happen.
Our live coverage of this event has finished.
Welcome to our live reporting from tonight's PlayStation VR event in San Francisco! There's no livestream, but Oli is in the audience for us.
_LarZen_: Don't you think it's strange that it's behind "closed doors?". If they are going to show some new content and finally say the date and price wouldn't it be beneficial for Sony and PlayStation for fans around the world to see it?
GDC is primarily a developer event but we're still expecting the news we're all waiting for - and Sony still has E3 for a more public showing.
Smart money would put the price at or around the same RRP as the PS4 itself - although Sony will want to aim as low as possible to avoid another "$599" moment.
We're one hour away! (Although Sony press conferences have a time-honoured tradition of starting late).
Games we're expecting see demoed today include Until Dawn's PlayStation VR follow-up Rush of Blood, and hopefully more of VR exclusives Rez Infinite and Psychonauts: In the Rhombus of Ruin.
Ubisoft also has a trio of VR projects - aerial flying sim Eagle Flight, some kind of Assassin's Creed movie tie-in experience and today's just-announced multiplayer VR game Werewolves Within.
Hi everybody! I'm in!
I say in. I'm sat outside on the roof of a mall next door to the Moscone conference hall. It's a typically crips sunny San Francisco day. We'll be filing in to the presentation in 10 minutes or so.
I reckon this will be a fairly short presentation - I believe it'll come straight from PlayStation's boss of bosses, Andrew "big fish little fish cardboard box" House.
I'm definitely expecting price and date, or at least a release window. All eyes will be on that price after the eye-watering cost of Rift and Vive - but can Sony really make their VR headsets any cheaper? The hardware's similar, and Sony are shipping an extra processor box too.
Of course, a PS4 is a good deal cheaper than a VR-ready PC.
I don't know if we'll see any new game announcements today, but I hope so. We've got hands-on demos after the presentation.
Rez Infinite is a dead cert - Tetsuya Mizuguchi is just over there, looking cool in black today.
The real question, you're me, is how much more time in virtual reality I can take. I've come straight from a morning of back-to-back Rift demos. It was fine - until it wasn't.
Anyway I'm going to queue to get a good seat now. Wish me luck!
Kables: Anything less than £500 and i'm in. The me of 30 years ago would be squealing in delight about now.
We're betting on £399 here.
$499 dollars or Euros. There, I can't take it back now.
I'm sat down. This is a pretty intimate gathering as these things go - maybe 300 press here.
I can confirm that Sony are still keeping the manufacturers of intensely blue spotlights in business.
busta.rhymes: ok now how about release date? what you people predict?
I'm going.... September.
Today's mood music is acid jazz. GDC doesn't do dubstep. It's too chill.
It's gone a bit more ambient now. The sort of music you'd expect to play in the reception of an LA oxygen bar, with 4K screens showing slow-motion video of porpoises.
Here comes Andrew House!
Awkward pause - his mic's not working.
And we're back. Andy's bragging about PS4 sales.
It's been a long road for virtual reality, he's saying. PSVR started in 2010 as individual passion projects for a few teams throughout the world.
House says it reminds him now of the anticipation they all had when building the first PlayStation.
"We've always used technology to push the boundaries"... oh god he mentioned the Emotion Engine, didn't he get the memo
More emotions from VR: fear, exhilaration, curiosity, power and joy.
Sony has more than 230 devs building content for PSVR.
There's a common thread that connects them all, Andy says: a wide-eyed enthusiasm for a new medium. "VR is a big part of the future of games."
It;s a game showreel. There's something caled VR Worlds which seems to be a demo compilation. Harmonix Music VR, is that new?
A few names I didn't recognise there, but nothing major.
Andy showed a side of the final hardware - it looks very much like the prototype. Processor box confirmed. Bunch of other pack-ins, mostly cables and headphones and the like.
Andy's talking tech specs now, but as far as I can tell it's all the same as the specs of the prototype hardware.
October. $399, 399 Euros, £349
Round of applause for that. Way lower than I expected.
44,980 Yen, as well.
This is huge. A very aggressive move against the PC headsets.
They've targeted October, House says, to ensure there are enough games and that they can manufacture enough hardware to meet demand.
Cinematic mode: you can play standard PS4 games or enjoy Netflix on a virtual big screen at three different zoom levels.
More details about "entertainment content" in the coming months.
There'll be a new media viewer app for VR photo and video support.
The Playroom VR will also be a free download for all owners.
Star Wars Battlefront
There'll be a special version produced by EA, LucasArts and DICE exclusively for PSVR. Big.
Also, Sony's tracking 50 PSVR games for release between October and the end of the year.
Thanks, he says. I think we all thank him back, no?
Very impressive. Sony's electronics production might - and perhaps, its willingness to take a loss on hardware - brings a pretty attractive price. They said it would be around the cost of a new console, and it turns out they meant it.
As a lot of you are pointing out, this means a potential PSVR vs Nintendo NX clash at retail this Christmas.
Lots of questions still. How much for a bundle with Move and a camera? And where are the massive first-party PlayStation games?
Though bringing Battlefront in answers the AAA question to a great degree - and leaves Sony free to concentrate on the really important part, innovation.
Sony's record with PlayStation add-ons and alternative platforms isn't great, though. And the mass market appetite for VR is completely untested.
fredrikpj: @Oli Welsh, give Keighley a hug from us!
If I can do it without getting arrested, I will.
Sorry, pulled away for a brief chat with the PR. Right, I'm going to go play some demos. Huge stuff from Sony tonight - a really big win. I'm interviewing Shu Yoshida tomorrow, so if you have any questions for him, ping me with an @Oli here, private message me on the site, or tweet me @oliwelsh.
Peace!