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The Big Three: PlayStation VR vs Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive

Release dates, prices, specs, and requirements for all three of the major VR devices.

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VR seems to be the great technological bet for the current generation of video games, with three manufacturers now well positioned to try their luck in the new virtual arena. After Oculus and HTC revealed the details regarding their respective devices, now it was the turn of Sony to disclose the launch plans for the PlayStation VR, completing the circle of mainstream premium choices that players will have available to them when navigating the world of virtual reality. However, there are large price differences, and it may not always be clear what the differentiating factors are, so we created this short guide so you can see specifics of each of the three devices, side-by-side.

Release date and launch countries
Oculus Rift: March 28
At first the Oculus Rift will be appearing in: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States.

HTC Vive: April 5
Vive will launch initially in the following countries: The U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Ireland, Sweden, Taiwan, China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

PlayStation VR: October 2016
Sony's PlayStation VR headset will be landing in: the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Russia and Czech Republic.

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Price
Oculus Rift: €699.99 / £410 (actually, with import fees and whatnot, that figure is closer to £500)
Includes headset, motion sensor, remote control, cables, and an Xbox One controller.

HTC Vive: €899.99 / £689
Device includes two motion sensors, two wireless control cables and a junction box.

PlayStation VR: €399.99 / £349
It includes device processing unit cables.

As you can see above, there is a big price difference between the three devices, with the PSVR costing half of what HTC does, but there are reasons for this. The HTC Vive is being sold as a complete package, which only requires a sufficiently powerful computer that can connect to. The sensors and everything you need for the virtual reality experience are already all included in the box.

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As for the Oculus Rift, does not yet include their specific controllers, which have to be purchased later. The only one that's included is the Xbox One controller. As for the PlayStation VR, doesn't include any controllers either (PS Move will be the most suitable for virtual reality experience, but the DualShock 4 will work with most games) or the PlayStation camera, which acts as a sensor for the device. On top of all this, the HTC Vive is also technically superior handset, hence it is considerably more expensive.

The Big Three: PlayStation VR vs Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive

System Requirements
Oculus Rift:
GPU - NVIDIA GTX 970 or equivalent
CPU - Intel i5-4590 or equivalent
Memory - 8 GB RAM

HTC Vive:
GPU - NVIDIA GTX 970 or equivalent
CPU - Intel i5-4590 or equivalent
Memory - 4 GB RAM

PlayStation VR:
Playstation 4
PlayStation Camera

If you want to jump aboard the virtual reality express, you will have to invest in a powerful computer. Both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift require capable hardware, as you can see from the requirements above. But the PlayStation VR has been designed from scratch to work with the PlayStation 4, so it is of course the cheapest and easiest solution for anyone wishing to enter the realm virtual reality without spending too much money.

The Big Three: PlayStation VR vs Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive

System specs
Oculus Rift:
Resolution - 2160x1200 (1080x1200 per eye)
Refresh rate - 90 Hz
Field of view - 110 degrees
Presentation mode - OLED
Sensors - three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer
Weight - 470g
Sound - Integrated

HTC Vive:
Resolution - 2160x1200 (1080x1200 per eye)
Refresh rate - 90 Hz
Field of view - 110 degrees
Presentation mode - OLED
Sensors - Lighthouse (2 lasers issued by devices)
Weight - 555g
Sound - Exterior
Space - 1.5 x 2 metres (or 5 x 6.5 feet)

PlayStation VR
Resolution - 1920x1080 (960x1080 per eye)
Refresh rate - 90 Hz
Field of view - 100 degrees
Presentation mode - OLED
Sensors - three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer
Weight - 610g
Sound - Exterior

The Big Three: PlayStation VR vs Oculus Rift vs HTC Vive

What to play?
There are games coming to each of the virtual reality headsets in droves, with PlayStation VR having over 100 games confirmed so far, and the Oculus Rift to have 30 titles release as the headset comes out. Many people might not know where to start. Fear not, because we have done all the legwork for you and found a few of the best games coming to each headset.

For the PlayStation VR, there is quite a vast line-up of games confirmed to be on their way, but a lot of the games will be compatible with other VR headsets too. In terms of exclusives, you've got Gran Turismo Sport, a beautiful looking racing game that will probably work extremely well with VR. We don't know a great deal about the game yet, but the little bits of footage we have seen confirm that the game will certainly look nice. Next up on the list for PSVR titles we have Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, a rail shooter set in the same universe as the recent story-driven PlayStation-exclusive, Until Dawn. It's set in what looks to be an abandoned theme park and the game will most certainly be a creepy but enjoyable experience.

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The Oculus Rift has had 30 confirmed launch titles for when it begins shipping at the end of the month, and there are definitely a few stand-out titles amongst them. Perhaps the most prominent Oculus launch title is the ever popular Elite: Dangerous, which has been optimised to perform best when using the Rift. The space exploration game promises some intense and wondrous moments. Next up there is The Vanishing of Ethan Carter, a first-person story driven adventure game. Like Elite: Dangerous, this one has been out for some time but promises an even more immersive and atmospheric experience for the Oculus Rift version.

Finally, there's the intense-looking space survival game Adrift, which puts the player on board a destroyed space station and has them struggling to survive. This game has not been released previously, and people will be able to get their first taste of the game when the Rift actually drops.

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The HTC Vive is going to be the most technologically advanced of the bunch, with the "room scale technology" enabling it to turn a room into a 3D space within the headset. Like the Rift, the games for the Vive won't be exclusive, as it's likely that whatever can be played on this headset can be played on the Rift too. The games for the Vive are also a lot more ambiguous as of right now, and we don't know for sure what the best titles will be. One game that certainly looks very interesting is named Vanishing Realms: Rite of Steel, which is to be a fantasy adventure game with elements from Dungeons & Dragons and Zelda.

Another that we know about is a survival-horror-shooter called The Brookhaven Experiment, which involves shooting zombies and makes use of the Vive's unique controllers. Valve themselves have chimed in on the game front too, and are releasing a series of fun and clever mini-games set in the Portal universe under the collective name 'The Lab.'

Here it becomes evident that there's going to be a quality difference between the Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive, compared to PlayStation VR. The display resolution of the two PC devices is much higher, in addition to offering a slightly wider field of view. The HTC device is also distinguished by using two sensors to detect the movement of the player, and these can be placed in various corners of the room.

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Furthermore, the Vive can identify objects and tell the player before they clash with them. The headset can simulate an entire space in which the player can interact (cue our dreams of walking in the holodeck) while the Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR are more limited in terms of the freedom of movement they offer the player (as in, you'll be sitting down for the most part).

Conclusion

If we have to offer a definitive opinion on which device is best, the HTC Vive is the most proficient from a technical perspective, but it's the most expensive, while the PS VR will be the most economical choice, but it's also the most limited. However, there are other factors to consider, such as accessibility, image quality, the controller options, and the type of experiences that will be available. Hopefully this article has answered some of your questions, and we'll be back with more in-depth opinions on all three devices (and the rest, more and more headsets are being announced) in the near future.



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