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My year of PlayStation VR - Reader’s Feature
PlayStation VR – worth hanging onto

A reader that bought PlayStation VR the day it was released reveals his favourite games and his hopes for the future.

Well what a 14 months it has been for my PlayStation VR. As a day one adopter I was initially very impressed with the demo disc, the Kitchen download, and a couple of months later Resident Evil 7. What a game that is – the PlayStation VR made it a fabulously scary experience that I could only play for about an hour at a time before needing to take a break.

Then I hit a fallow time, the cinema mode is good but no 3D games was disappointing after the quality of the 3D experience on my HMZ-T1. This was more down to my poor research, I thought 1080p would be better than the 720p of the HMZ and didn’t understand the difference between the two systems.

I had started to contemplate selling it, as the games were short term and, as many have said, often no more than a glorified demo.

Why did I change my mind and keep it?

DiRT Rally. Immersive, fast-paced, exciting, and one of the best racing experiences I have ever had. Played with a wheel it really is an absolute blast of a game, and showed the potential of the headset.

Then I read reports of Skyrim and Doom coming later in the year. I have never really enjoyed role-playing games, The Witcher 3 is the nearest I have got to playing one for more than five or six hours. I just seem to struggle to get into the world and enjoy the story that is playing out.

At that point it was that games were being developed, and that Sony did not appear to have abandoned the system, that kept me going, just continuing to play DiRT Rally on a regular basis.

Then five weeks ago Skyrim caught me completely by surprise. One of the subscribers to a Facebook channel got the game early and was blown away by it, and also had not enjoyed the genre previously. So more on user reviews than websites, I took the plunge and bought it.

Basically, I love it and that has really taken me aback. The difference in VR is quiet staggering, the sheer scale of some of the buildings is breathtaking. I have found myself looking at the sky, watching waterfalls, and sometimes sitting in the bar listening to songs and conversations that are going on. This is what I would normally just breeze past.

Archery is skilful, and I have found myself going into the game just to practise my accuracy against a tree or something. It also makes me very respectful of the time and effort game developers go to. Yes, the graphics are older and in VR they are life-size, so little room for error. The detail in the eyes, arms and clothes of the characters is very impressive for a game of this age.

I would keep PlayStation VR just for this game, 30 hours in and it is one of the best games I have ever played.

Then over the last few weeks the games seem to be coming and WipEout is a real favourite. It was superb in 3D, so VR has the potential to be mind-blowing and hopefully no need for a sick bag!

Sales seem to be on the rise and hopefully the future is bright. Hopefully I will be getting Doom and Farpoint for Christmas, and at 48 it is good to be this excited about a gift again.
So a turbulent 14 months, but for me the top games have been top of their genre. I did not buy the latest DiRT as it had no VR mode, and if GT Sport expands their VR mode this could be the best circuit-racing game.

Finally, it reminds me of the first generations of consoles and that I am watching the start of a new form of entertainment. Exciting times lay ahead in the next five years if it continues to catch on.

Happy holidays to all the readers, and I hope you get the games/devices that you have wished for.

By reader Ian

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The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

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