Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.Get ready to get closer than ever to a galaxy far, far away.
Virtual reality headsets used to be the kind of things you'd only see in movies. But gaming companies are making it possible for you to bring them to your home.
Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced this week a $399 PlayStation VR headset, its first virtual reality system, and a $499 bundle will be released in October 2016. The company said developers are currently working on more than 160 optimized software titles, including the spaceflight simulator EVE: Valkyrie, PlayStation VR WORLDS and Star Wars Battlefront VR, a new version of the action shooter video game that will be made available exclusively for PlayStation VR.
Details about the new games were not revealed. A reboot of the popular Star Wars: Battlefront game series, available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC, hit stores in November, about a month before the release Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first movie in the series in a decade. The game contains the new planet Jakku.
Star Wars Battlefront experience coming only to PlayStation VR -- more news to come in the months ahead
? PlayStation (@PlayStation) March 15, 2016
"The LEDs around the PlayStation VR headset, on the DUALSHOCK 4 wireless controller, and the PlayStation Move motion controller are tracked by the PlayStation Camera, providing an incredibly precise capture of your natural movement in virtual space," the PlayStation VR website states. "3D Audio with PlayStation VR means that you'll be able to pinpoint sounds above, below, and all around you. Instinctively turn your head to the source of a single footstep and be able to judge its distance, just as you would in real life."
"When you play EVE: Valkyrie you are no longer a gamer staring at a television; you are a space fighter pilot. You are there, it is real, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, developer of EVE: Valkyrie, was quoted as saying.
The PlayStation VR bundle will include the device, cables, headphones, discs, a camera and move motion controllers. Pre-orders for it are set to begin on March 22 and another wave will take place this summer. The core system will not be available for pre-order as of yet.
Oculus Rift and HTC Vive had previously announced their own virtual reality headsets, but they are more expensive. Both are set for release in April. The Oculus Rift virtual reality headset costs $599.99 and the Vive virtual reality system will retail for $799.