Sony needs to get PlayStation VR into consumer’s hands if it’s to sell them on its VR kit. Fortunately it looks like the company will be doing just that next week.
US retailing giant Best Buy has put up a page for this year’s E3, which takes place in Los Angeles, California from June 14th – 16th. You can expect to see plenty of new games listed for purchase over the next few days but, right now, the page is advertising PlayStation VR. In fact, it reveals that the kit will be on display at physical retail outlets starting on June 17th and 18th, just days after E3 itself draws to a close. You can even find your closest demo through the site.
All of this goes to suggest that Sony will be launching its full marketing offensive for PSVR at E3. That makes a lot of sense given that the kit is likely to have a big show and will be launching in four months’ time in October. You can expect in-store demos such as this to play a big part in that marketing; getting people to actually try VR is easily the best way to really sell them on it. Without doing so we’re left with 2D trailers and on-stage demos that don’t really communicate what the medium can do.
Still, PSVR has some key advantages over its competition going into launch. For starters, the kit is half the price of the $799 HTC Vive at $399, and significantly cheaper than the $599 Oculus Rift. Granted that doesn’t include the necessary PlayStation Camera and recommended PlayStation Move motion controllers, though these are also available in a $499 bundle.
The kit also runs off of the less expensive PlayStation 4 hardware instead of high powered PCs, though it remains to be seen how the now-confirmed upgraded console will impact the device. Sony is also preparing several exclusive games for PSVR, including last week’s new announcements: Tethered, How We Soar, and Statik.
We don’t know which other retailers Sony has partnered with for in-store demos yet, but hopefully we’ll find out more at its press conference at 5:00 PDT on June 13th.
