If you think Sony isn’t in a fantastic position to be a leader in Virtual Reality with their upcoming PlayStation VR device, think again.

Pre-order sales for the Oculus Rift went live today at a steeper-than-expected $599 asking price (in late 2014 Palmer Luckey said “We want to stay in that $200-$400 price range.”), which includes two games and an Xbox One controller. The cost of entry for that VR experience extends to buying or building a VR-capable PC, which Oculus and Nvidia agree hovers near $1000. All told, that’s an “all-in” cost of about $1600 for the Oculus Rift. 

GPU maker Nvidia estimates that when the Oculus Rift ships later this quarter, there will only be 13 million PCs that are able to run an optimized VR experience.

Jason Paul, general manager of Nvidia’s Shield, gaming, and VR business, has insight into the hefty demands for gaming in Virtual Reality. Speaking to VentureBeat, he said: “If you look at your typical PC gaming experience, 90 percent of the gamers out there play at 1080p. For a smooth experience you don’t want to go below 30fps. Compare that to VR where the displays are about 2K, but you have to render closer to 3K, and you don’t want to go below 90fps. It’s about a sevenfold increase in raw performance to render for VR versus traditional PC gaming.”

Meanwhile, we just learned that Sony’s $349 PlayStation 4 continues to sell briskly, with the company approaching 36 million units sold globally. Every PS4 sold is capable of running the PlayStation VR (formerly Project Morpheus) experience. On the most basic level, that means there are 36 million PS4 systems in the wild right now, capable of running an optimized VR experience (“optimized” since there’s only one platform with uniform specs to develop for).

Sony is in a ridiculously strong position right now. Nvidia’s above estimate means there are nearly three times as many VR-capable PS4 consoles as there are VR-capable PCs. Granted, their numbers are sourced from just PCs driven by Nvidia GPUs, but consider that Nvidia does own the majority of that market share. The actual collective number is probably higher, but not high enough to influence the argument.

Michael Swierczek of Evercore ISI tells me the research firm expects Sony’s PlayStation VR to launch at about $350, and my own sources suggest it won’t release any higher than $499. So, for consumers who want a VR experience on PlayStation, their “all-in” cost shouldn’t exceed $850 in a worst case scenario, which is nearly half the “all-in” cost of an Oculus Rift. 

Adding fuel to that fire is a newly published study by SuperData Research, specifically this slide which suggests console players are willing to spend more money on VR than their PC playing counterparts:

Now of course PlayStation VR isn’t capable of delivering the highest-fidelity experience against competitors like the Rift and HTC
Vive, especially taking into account the near-limitless horsepower of a dedicated gaming PC. The thing is, the majority of consumers don’t care about that. It’s the core reason consoles remain dominant in the living room: They’re approachable, accessible, and affordable.

VR won’t be going mainstream in 2016, and probably not in 2017, but in order for that critical mass adoption to happen, all the guesswork needs to be removed. Confusing system specs and competing products certainly won’t drive VR adoption forward on PC as quickly as it could on a more uniform console environment like the PlayStation 4.

I think it’s perfectly plausible that PlayStation VR could even successfully branch out beyond gaming and offer the range of apps that are needed to capture the mainstream’s attention and really propel VR into the limelight. Multimedia experiences, shopping apps, virtual theme parks, and non-game simulations of all kinds. Much in the same way consumers flocked to the PS2 for its DVD player.

Sony is coming into this market, technically speaking, with a much higher potential installed base than Oculus Rift or HTC’s Vive, and a much more affordable cost of entry.

source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2016/01/06/sonys-playstation-vr-stands-to-be-almost-3x-more-popular-than-oculus-rift-in-2016/

TL:DR version:

1) estimated price of a new pc + OR => 1600$,  estimated (highest) cost for PS4 + PS VR = 850$.  So its about half the cost of entry to get a VR ready system.

2) Nvidia estimates there are nearly three times as many VR-capable PS4 consoles as there are VR-capable PCs.

3) SuperData Research, find console players are willing to spend more money on VR than their PC playing counterparts (marketing research).

4) in order for that critical mass adoption, all the guesswork needs to be removed. Confusing system specs and competing products certainly won’t drive VR adoption forward on PC.

Do you guys agree?

Will Sonys PS VR sell more than 3 times the amount the Oculus Rift does in 2016?

Yeah if Sony gets this thing out for $400 or less it's advantage them

Install base.

It makes a lot of sense, if Sony price it right it will probably outsell both OR and Vive combined...at least until prices go down.

Even if Sony launches VR at 499, it will be 100$ cheaper and connect ready without any other expense. Still a pretty steep price considering that it is an accessory for ps4. Also we don't know how much of support it will get from developers. I think ppl hoping for 399 are gonna be disappointed (but sony can still do it yet at great loss)

3 x 222 = 666. Price of $222 confirmed.

BTW, WTF is a Hardware Gamer?

I couldn't agree more. As I'm always saying, PSVR will easily be the best-selling VR-headset at the beginning of the VR boom in 2016/2017. Despite the fact that there will be several other VR headsets on the market that are hardware-wise clearly superior.

And there are other very good reasons for this that are not even mentioned in the article, like the fact that unlike all other VR headsets, it will be possible to use PSVR both on PC and the by far most popular video gaming console, the PS4. It's the only VR headset that can be used in both worlds, which is a unique selling point.

Oculus is targeting specific audiences which will make it more meaningful to players on the market. PS VR seems more like a gimmick and something that will be used for about 2 years and abandoned just like PS Move. Oculus Rift may require more money to get started, but it is set up to meet a certain standard. PS VR seems to be the acceptable route for mini games and casual type games. I haven't see anything worth while from PS VR.

How many games for Oculus Rift are in developement or out now? that are really decent budget games?

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-35249215

PS VR has more than 100+ titles in development for it.

You have that backwards in my opinion.

Its going to be the otherway around, sony s PS VR is getting massive support.

check out this thread:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1044658

Hardware-wise, Oculus Rift is clearly superior when compared to Oculus Rift - but in the end, all currently announced VR headsets are early-adopter products that people will replace with technically far superior products in just a few years.

So in the end, the early adopters who are considering to buy a VR headset already now at the very start of the VR boom can only decide how much money they're wasting for a product that in a few years will be considered an inferior early-adopter gimmick anyway.