[quotemsg=11501050,0,612006][quotemsg=11500306,0,1321540]If it doesn't have head tracking, it can't even be compared to the Oculus Rift.
However, this Sony head mounted display has the advantage in actually being able to make it to market. Oculus' use of crowd funding makes me more than a little skeptical that the Oculus Rift will ever be available at the consumer level at or even close to their target price of $300. The developer version doesn't have to be profitable. The consumer version does.[/quotemsg]
I'm thinking a guy like Carmack would not be so involved in the early days, and then end up taking a CTO position with the company if the possibility of the Rift making it to market was unlikely. Yes, it is crowd sourced, but it has been very successful in doing so. I have yet to see any report that the Rift is in any sort of danger, or that progress has stalled due to a lack of funds. Sure, they don't have the pockets of Sony's R&D that could bang it out in 9 months, but the company has always seemed pretty happy with where they are at and the pace at which it is developing. I also think the time they have taken so far has more to do with getting software and developer support to a level that they want it to be at, and not so much about not having the funds to push the hardware forward. Sony on the other hand, would be just as happy throwing mega bucks at a headset to make the hardware great, get it out by Christmas, and then end up have extremely little support for the device, just like 99% of all $100+ add on peripherals for consoles.
If the partnership that the article mentions is true, I think Sony could do well working with Oculus to license tech for a PS4 headset. The Oculus team have tons of man hours testing, tweaking, tuning, and getting feedback from a wide range of users and developers. From talking to my friend in the industry that has first hand experience using the Rift, he has said nothing but amazing things about it, and that that only "drawback" is the current screen resolution and a bit of ghosting. All of which a company like Sony could easily fix by implementing their own HD screens. At the same time, licensing can give the Oculus more than just the crowd funding to do bigger things.
I'm really excited for the Rift! And I'm sure I'll be at least following the progress of this Sony HMD.[/quotemsg]
This echoes my feelings on this almost exactly. The Rift has garnered amazing support, not only from potential customers and backers through the kickstarter, but from the industry. Bringing somebody like John Carmack onto the project is a massive boon to them and given the level of support from all angles I have no doubt that they will make it to market. Will it be profitable at $300? It is using mostly off the shelf hardware, so I think that it is doable. The profit margin will likely be very tight for them at first, but it will be there.
Hoping Sony is licensing Rift tech as well, that would be incredible and would give the Oculus team a HUGE inroad with the console market. The Rift is already a very hot topic, having their tech in console OEM devices would guarantee a lot of user buy in. However, I am hoping for something more along the lines of actual Rift support on the PS4 and XB180 in the future. Or, at least cross compatability with the PC on the OEM devices. (More likely to happen from M$ than Sony, but stranger things have happened)
Also, from what I have heard, the latest prototypes (with a combined resolution of 1080p) have solved the ghosting issues and provide far superior image quality than the current developer kits. I am definitely waiting for the consumer device, even though it is incredibly tempting to order a development kit now.
If the PS4's HMD comes anywhere close to the Rift it will be a huge hit, and could actually open up the market even more for the Rift. Exciting times ahead, indeed.
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