Article: Popularity of Sony’s PlayStation VR Surprises Even the Company
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/26/business/sony-playstation-vr-sales.html?_r=0
Now, I'm a side-line supporter of the PSVR... Oculus doesn't consider them to be competing in the same market, but rather raising overall VR awareness while catering to a market that likely wouldn't be buying PC-based VR systems anyways. I'm inclined to agree..
But this article had me cringing. Mainly, because Sony is getting nothing but positive reactions and praise for being in a remarkably similar situation to the one Oculus was mercilessly criticized for: Not being able to immediately supply enough units to meet demand at product launch. Why the journalistic double-standards?
That's not the only thing worth rolling eyes at, though. Like citing figures from the infamously unprofessional SuperData Research..
Or claiming that "Oculus executives have sought to shift the conversation from first-year sales to the technology’s long-term potential", when we all know that's what Oculus was promising from the very beginning, to both the public and its own investors? (To my knowledge, Valve and the manufacturers of grocery-store-shelf mobile VR devices are the only ones whose business strategy revolved around "first-year sales")
They also cite the VR industry as suffering from "limited high-quality content" ... guess we know which VR system the NY times owns, eh? :wink:
At the article's close, Sony even gets into the revisionist history game:
At this point is there any company that WASN'T allegedly "working on" VR technology prior to Oculus? It's incredible that they all kept their technology under wraps for so long without a single rumor being leaked, and that they were only inspired to release that existing technology after Oculus demonstrated their own prototypes. :smirk:
Whatever. Cynicism aside, I'm glad that Sony is introducing so many people to VR. That should help get the world past this new technology's teething phase, and show people that it's worth spending money on. Once that is established, there will naturally be people who are willing to spend MORE money for a more premium / less restricted experience, and that means that Oculus can only benefit from PSVR successes.
Now, I'm a side-line supporter of the PSVR... Oculus doesn't consider them to be competing in the same market, but rather raising overall VR awareness while catering to a market that likely wouldn't be buying PC-based VR systems anyways. I'm inclined to agree..
But this article had me cringing. Mainly, because Sony is getting nothing but positive reactions and praise for being in a remarkably similar situation to the one Oculus was mercilessly criticized for: Not being able to immediately supply enough units to meet demand at product launch. Why the journalistic double-standards?
That's not the only thing worth rolling eyes at, though. Like citing figures from the infamously unprofessional SuperData Research..
Or claiming that "Oculus executives have sought to shift the conversation from first-year sales to the technology’s long-term potential", when we all know that's what Oculus was promising from the very beginning, to both the public and its own investors? (To my knowledge, Valve and the manufacturers of grocery-store-shelf mobile VR devices are the only ones whose business strategy revolved around "first-year sales")
They also cite the VR industry as suffering from "limited high-quality content" ... guess we know which VR system the NY times owns, eh? :wink:
At the article's close, Sony even gets into the revisionist history game:
While Oculus has made a big splash in the industry, Sony began officially working on its headset in 2011, before Oculus announced its efforts, said Richard Marks, a Sony research fellow.
At this point is there any company that WASN'T allegedly "working on" VR technology prior to Oculus? It's incredible that they all kept their technology under wraps for so long without a single rumor being leaked, and that they were only inspired to release that existing technology after Oculus demonstrated their own prototypes. :smirk:
Whatever. Cynicism aside, I'm glad that Sony is introducing so many people to VR. That should help get the world past this new technology's teething phase, and show people that it's worth spending money on. Once that is established, there will naturally be people who are willing to spend MORE money for a more premium / less restricted experience, and that means that Oculus can only benefit from PSVR successes.
