Sony's PlayStation VR has some big advantages on its side in this burgeoning VR space. For starters, you don't need a US$900 gaming PC to power it, settling instead for the cheaper PS4 that's already sitting under many gamers' TVs. You can add another huge advantage to that list, as PSVR costs "only" $399.
Update: You can now read our PSVR and gaming impressions from the event.
The "only" is because that's $200 cheaper than the Oculus Rift and $400 less than the HTC Vive. When combined with the cheaper mothership (PC or console), that's a promising recipe for quick consumer adoption.
That doesn't, however, include the PlayStation Move controllers, and Sony's image of "what's included for $399" also didn't show the PlayStation Eye camera, which should be required for positional headset and controller tracking. The actual price may end up being a hair closer to that of the Rift than Sony would have us believe.
No matter how the math works with the accessories, though, the $349 PS4 price makes even minor differences in headset cost turn into bigger total package differences.
One tick in the minus column, though, is that PSVR isn't launching until October of this year. At that point, the Rift and Vive will have been available for six months, and Oculus Touch (Oculus' motion controllers) will likely either have already launched or be launching right around then.
We're on the ground at the PlayStation VR event, and will have some hands-on impressions of over 20 different games before long. Check back at Gizmag.