Trying to Decide between PS VR and a Switch (1 Viewer)

[Dave Scarpa]

I have a PS4 and I've been thinking about getting the VR headset, but I also think I might enjoy the Switch I've been a fan of portable gaming in the past with the PSP and Vita. Looking to getting a Gift for myself for Xmas, but not sure which one. Both have games I'm interested in, of course I've never used VR before not sure how I would take it, I am a glass wearer if that makes a difference.

 

[Bryan^H]

Super Mario Odyssey is hands down one of the most fun/best games I have ever played. It is the reason to own a Switch. Also Zelda Breath of the Wild is amazing. Two masterpiece games for the Switch both with the great sense of exploration, and discovery. Personally I'd go with the Switch, but VR is pretty amazing too.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The Switch isn't quite a handheld. It's more of a portable console. So if you like Nintendo's first-party console games, then the Switch is a good bet.

However, PSVR is also amazing and offers a very unique set of games that you won't find elsewhere (though a lot of the offerings are on PC VR headsets). The one huge difference between VR and Switch is, well, portability and ease of use. VR takes time to set up initially and use, whereas the Switch goes from "off/rest mode" to "in the game doing stuff" within like 3 seconds.

What kind of games or experiences do you prefer? Have you owned a Nintendo system in the past and enjoyed Mario, Zelda, etc.?

 

[CraigF]

I did the same thing, waffled between both when they were the same price (here). Both have interesting aspects, not really the same thing at all, but still I get your position, like the PSVR is the opposite of a portable gaming system. I did end up getting the PSVR very recently, and have only used it wearing glasses, no problem with that, they actually tell you to keep your glasses on in a few places during setup.

If you go with the PSVR, try to get a v2 headset, it seems very well-designed/"refined" now, for how it's intended to be used at least. You could say the PSVR is also a portable "large" display system, in that as long as you have an HDMI source (e.g. movies on a laptop) you can use it (with headphones/buds) without the PS4.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

a portable "large" display system, in that as long as you have an HDMI source (e.g. movies on a laptop) you can use it (with headphones/buds) without the PS4.

hows watching movies on the thing ?

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Watching movies is not really preferred. The unit is comfortable for interactive VR, not stationary video-watching. I mean, it works, but it's not better than just watching the TV that the PS4 is plugged into. And you wouldn't want to bring it around.

Regarding the v2 headset, the only big benefit is if you have an HDR TV.

 

[CraigF]

It might be useful for watching movies if you travel a lot. Or if other people are using your main display, you want external silence, privacy, who knows, there are uses and circumstances. Not everybody everywhere in the world has space for a large display. The PSVR gear itself fits in a pretty small case. The thing is it works, and is way better for watching mvies than on a typical laptop display IMO, for those not used to that being their only/main way of watching movies (which is actually a lot of people these days). For myself, I prefer no-headset movie viewing and have no plans to change that. Taking off the PSVR headset and watching on a regular display is like I just got a brand new set of eyes. Kicking up the gen-2 PSVR to at least full "regular 1080p" per eye will be a big diff, the future will be good for this tech. But for the price, and the apparent build quality, this is a very undisappointing system IMO.

There are lots more practical conveniences to the v2 headset than just HDR passthrough, which is probably the least of the convenience feature upgrades. It's not that hard to swap an HDMI cable (for HDR), but the changes to the headset controls and long headset cable you live with all the time. Anything that reduces the "effective weight" of the headset is good by me. May not be worth buying a v2 if you have a v1, but nobody with a v2 will be giving it up for a v1... I don't recall if I came right out and said it in another thread, but I speculated/inferred there were "other" changes in that little control box between v1 and v2, and my speculation that the version change had more to do with that than HDR passthrough. Let's face it, Sony knew and implemented HDR before the PSVR v1 came out, so it's not like it was a surprise to the tiny clueless inexperienced Sony who knows nothing about displays and has no industry influence re standards...I have my own ideas from what I see on some of what they did.

 

[Sam Posten]

Switch for sure. Switch is a mainstream portable console with arguably 2 of the best games of this generation, on any platform. PSVR is an enthusiast accessory with a deep catalog for sure but will never have world class game of the year contenders.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

While I generally agree with Sam that the Switch is probably the better option, and I'd go further in saying Mario Odyssey and Zelda: Breath of the Wild are two of the best games EVER (not just this generation), I would just like to point out that Resident Evil 7 has gotten on a lot of "top X games of the year" lists, primarily because of the VR integration.

But yeah, Switch is probably the best option.

 

[CraigF]

You could hook the PSVR up to your Switch. "Portable" big-screen gaming...sort of. The PSVR is an accessory, in my mind, it isn't a gaming system, just another tool of many. Don't really see how the Switch and PSVR compare, it's a decision of money allocation rather than function.

For myself, I have great confidence the second-generation PSVR will be the "good" one, like for most Sony new product lines, the gen-2 version is the best value for performance and build and function. Gen-3 tends to get too cheapish in every way, but does perform, gen-2 is the keeper. That's why I was waffling re Switch/PSVR, but what the heck, I took the small jump and the money would just have been otherwise wasted on food or heat or something equally disposable. I really wanted to try VR at home and was getting antsy about waiting for something that suited my wants "perfectly". I'm thinking the gen-1 PSVR has sold well enough that a gen-2 is probable, but I have no info re that.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I think Craig is seriously overstating the portability and functionality of the PSVR. It's great as a VR add-on for the PS4 and, let's be honest, not much else.

 

[Sam Posten]

The next generation PSVR will not be a mainstream success either.

 

[CraigF]

I think Craig is seriously overstating the portability and functionality of the PSVR. It's great as a VR add-on for the PS4 and, let's be honest, not much else.

Why am I overstating it? It's a tool, an accessory, and I wanted to see what it could do. Everything I said it can do, least with the v2, it's a general-purpose HDMI input that you can use in "cinema" mode without control from the PS4 (which is done via the USB connection you won't have). None of my VR games had arrived yet, must have been a run on them, and they all showed up on Tuesday night, plus I went to buy some that day too. So I played with what else the PSVR could do. Hooked it up to the PS3 where I'm playing Skyrim now, and it was fine. Don't need the dark, don't need to expend the electricity for the plasma (power is very expensive here before 7pm, and my TV does suck that juice, so did the OLED). The PSVR has uses that others may find convenient in certain circumstances. Obviously it's intended as a beginner's VR system and priced accordingly.

 

[CraigF]

The next generation PSVR will not be a mainstream success either.

By whose standard? I bet Sony is laughing, there's nothing at all expensive in that PSVR, this ain't no fat PS3, they'll be cranking these suckers out as long as they can. Gen-2 could be half the price and much better, if they follow their typical process. Or perhaps they want to keep it as a premium product, because the "competition" is more expensive and there's no pricing pressure yet. IMO the relative paucity of quality game titles could be the more serious problem, they better get on that. In the meantime, I may find other use for the PSVR.

 

[DaveF]

I’d buy the Switch over the VR. No deep reasons, just that I have several friends telling me how awesome the Switch is and that I should get one. And that includes my friends with the PS4 and PSVR.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

The PSVR has been a pretty decent success even if it wasn't mainstream. Kinect was a more mainstream success, and even that was kind of a failure because of the lack of support. The one big benefit that PSVR has going for it is that developers don't have to make a game solely for PSVR, but rather can make a VR game for Vive, Oculus, and PSVR at once, giving them a broad enough audience that justifies the investment. Also, adding VR to non-VR games has worked pretty well so far.

While you can certainly use the PSVR headset as a portable personal video display, I think it's not a very good selling point. You can buy a small TV for less than the PSVR. Nobody, realistically, is going to have an HDMI video source that they bring around with them and think, "Shucks, if only I had a personal video display that sat on my face so I could watch this." It isn't a realistic scenario. And if you want to play the PS3 version of Skyrim on-the-go, you could always get a Switch instead.

 

[CraigF]

I am thinking of "portable" in the more general sense of something smallish/light you can carry easily enough and take it with you. Rather than as something battery-powered that I'm going to use in public where I probably can't get an electrical outlet. I really doubt most of us are 7 years old and are going to be playing a Switch in a public space, we'll most likely have an AC source, so can forget that practical aspect of "portability" as it relates to electronics.

I am pretty sure that most of the people reading this forum are not in the demo the PSVR is aimed at. I bet most of us are (a lot) closer to 40 than 20, or even may barely remember 40... I bet most of you/us don't live in the smaller places (or circumstances) that the demo who are typically buying PSVR live in. They get the other uses of the PSVR, that's why there are already so many "carrying solutions" for it, heck they even carry the whole PS4 around with them too, apparently. OTOH, I built a "portable" smokin' gaming PC, it has handles and everything, and it sure won't run off batteries...different definitions of "portable"...if it fits in my car and I can carry it there, it's portable enough... (it's actually not that big, but is somewhat heavy)

I've never said much specifically about it, but if you read between the lines, you could tell I'm not much of a PS4 fan (even though I have 2 now). Or maybe you could tell by how little I say about it... And you need a PS4 to use the PSVR for actual VR of course. The PS3 on the other hand, now that is a tool. The older the PS3 and the older the firmware (to a point) the better a tool it is. You can do so much more with it and so much easier too. And it plays games. I bet there are (were?) an awful lot of PS3s that have never been used to play games. So you're not going to find me talking-up the PS4. Nothing bad about it, it just seems so "restrained" and limited compared to the PS3, the hand of Sony is always present. It works very well for games though, I like the controllers better than the PS3 ones, refined and slick, and the PS4 Pro seems nicely built/solid and runs reasonably cool/quiet compared to the PS3s (though the very very last and "rare" iteration of the ultra-slim PS3 that I have is virtually dead silent, unlike the earlier two ultra-slim PS3 versions, the noisiest of which gave up its space for the Pro, no loss...).

So the question if you're talking about gaming is PS4 vs Switch. A better question if you want to talk accessories might be Switch Pro controller vs PSVR...a big price diff, but add-on vs add-on. I mean, you need the first part before the accessory part even become relevant. The first part is about the games available for the console, very important. The accessory part is for more enthusiastic proponents. And let's face it, at this point any "home VR" gear is mostly for screwing around, and I'm trying to do my part with that...

 

[Sam Posten]

I really doubt most of us are 7 years old and are going to be playing a Switch in a public space, we'll most likely have an AC source, so can forget that practical aspect of "portability" as it relates to electronics.

You are making a lot of assumptions that don't seem to be true. If you are embarrassed to be gaming on the go, that's on you.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I don't play my Switch "in public" but I certainly bring it on trips and play it often. It's perfect for flying and staying at hotels. I have an external battery that I used to recharge it when I can't get to an AC outlet and it's worked quite well on the several occasions that I needed it.

"Young people" don't actually bring their PSVR around that much. Or their PS4s. Those carrying cases certainly exist but...I mean...how many of them do you think they actually sell? I know people who will bring their PS4/VR to a friend's house so a bunch of people can play it at a party, but I wouldn't call it a "portable" device in the same vein as the Switch.

The Switch is a good home console and a great portable system. The PS4 with VR is a good home VR system. Don't think about the VR as portable.

 

[Clinton McClure]

I take my Switch to work in my backpack and play most days during lunch.