Shuhei Yushida, a veteran of Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), is “sorry for the mistake” he made about PS VR2. He described working on the first headset as his “most fun ever”. From just before the launch of the PlayStation in 1993, Yoshida led the program to license third parties for that console. He was appointed Vice President in 2000, then President (in 2008) of Sony’s Worldwide Studios division. This role he held until 2019 as he led the PS3/PS4 division throughout the PS3/PS4 generations. Yoshida’s first appearance since his retirement from Sony was on Thursday on Kinda Funny Gamescast. Greg Miller, at the very end of the conversation asked Yoshida a direct question. “What’s the story with PS VR2, Shu?” “, prompting his “Let’s move on” reply.
Clip from Kinda Funny Gamescast.
Shuhei Yoshida:
“PS VR was the most fun I had, personally. “two hour interviewGreg Miller:
“Why? “
Shuhei Yoshida:
“Well, you know, that’s another one of collaboration between the game team and hardware team. Santa Monica Studios was the God War Team in PS3 Days. They customized PS3 God War and added PS Move to the video player. Then they created a VR Headset. They put me in. Kratos was me. This was a great experience. It led me to think: we could do VR on the PS4 Generation. The studio team came up with the idea, and
was also a hit among the hardware team. “Greg Miller:
“I remember that. I remember it. This is something I talk about all the time. “[in the headset]Shuhei Yoshida:[it]”I’m sorry I was wrong – PS VR2 didn’t become PS2. “Shuhei Yoshida :
I’m so sorry, I made a mistake – PS VR2 did not become PS2. What happened to PS VR, Shu? “Shuhei Yoshida:
“Uh, well…. let’s move on. Miller then asked Yoshida, shortly afterward, what words PlayStation VR2 made him think of, since he was asking about other PlayStation Hardware. Yoshida’s response was:Shuhei Yoshida :
“Two Games. Super, super lovingand
. If you own a PS VR2, I urge everyone to play these two incredible, wonderful games. “
Greg Miller:
“Oh yeah, I was sobbing! “
Greg Mill:SynapseOh yeah, that’s me! “Before Your EyesShuhei Yoshida:“Me too. Only twice have I cried while playing a game. First, I played Journey. Then it was Before Your Eyes. This is a wonderful, incredible story. “
Greg Miller:“Totally, yeah, 100%. It’s likely that Yoshida didn’t comment because the game was released three years ago, just after he resigned as President of SIE Worldwide Studios. However, his comment apologizing for “being wrong” suggests he believes the headset’s market reception failed to meet his expectations.
PlayStation VR2 Pricing & Content IssuesWhile Sony delivered strong launch content with AAA titles like
,
PlayStation VR2, and
, the company has failed to deliver anything like this since. Sony has released only one new game in almost two years (apart from
), and it was so badly received that they had to release Horizon Call Of The Mountain.Gran Turismo 7A couple of weeks after its first anniversary, Sony closed the Horizon Call Of The Mountain studios, as well as the developers behind the original PSVR blockbuster Blood & Truth. Bloomberg announced that Sony would be Resident Evil Village in order to get rid of a large backlog. My First Gran Turismo launched in November, followed by Firewall Ultra and the studio’s closure in December, a strong season for the platform.
Arguably the main issue with PS VR2 though has been its pricing. The headset costs $550, which is significantly more than its predecessor and even more than the PS5 console required to use it. This has limited the appeal of the PS5 in the highly competitive console market. The PS5 is already a high-priced product, and this further limits its appeal. Sony reduced the price for the PSVR 2 headset to just $350 over the summer. This was followed by a sale of PSVR 2 devices on January 10, which was more than what one retailer sold in the previous year. Sony did the same $350 deal again in laid off employees during the holidays, but this time Horizon Call Of The Mountain was included. UploadVR has heard from multiple developers that PS VR2 sales have increased during this period. We’ll pay close attention next month as the headset celebrates its second anniversary.