In addition to talking about Gravity Rush with Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida at Tokyo Game Show, our very own Heath Hindman also brought up the newly named PlayStation VR.
Scheduled to launch in the first half of 2016 for PlayStation 4, with a price like a new gaming platform, Shuhei revealed that PlayStation VR has “many” games Sony has yet to announce when asked about their software support for the device:
Mmmmm, that’s a good question. Of course, we know exactly what we are developing, and we are developing a variety of titles. Many, we have not disclosed as yet. In showing games from different studios, there are games for core gamers for VR. We could show more from first party, but luckily, third party is very active now, and I’m very happy to see that almost all Japanese publishers are working on VR versions of their IPs like Final Fantasy XIV and Danganronpa and Hatsune Miku.
It’s important to note that Square Enix commented on Final Fantasy XIV VR during TGS, saying, “This is a demo that’s been created for TGS. We don’t have any plans for an official release.”
Shuhei continued by talking about how he’s personally encouraging small developers to create games for VR’s launch next year:
Looking at it, because it’s so new, you can create a really totally amazing experience with small resources if you have the right idea. One example is a game called Head Master, it’s a soccer game I’m sure you remember from E3. This game was developed by small indie development, but everybody really enjoys that game. You have your headset and you see the goal and the ball and you practice heading the ball. So, from now to launch, we still have lots of time and I’m encouraging small developers that even if you start now, with the right idea, you can get the game done for the launch of PlayStation VR. Some developers are reacting to that. I have a very optimistic view of the variety of games and experiences available at launch.
Yoshida was also asked in a roundtable interview PSLS attended about how he thinks VR will influence the games industry. According to him, “Well it will definitely realize the developers’ dreams to get the players in side the game. It’s gonna be a huge option for game developers. Every game, developers try to create something amazing and new to wow people, but with VR is so easy, it’s almost unfair. It’s like the ultimate weapon. I think it’s gonna be a hugely powerful weapon for developers to create new, exciting experiences.”
Stay tuned to our full interview with Yoshida set to come up later this week.
