Sony's E3 presentation is still hours away, but Wired just spilled key details on what's certain to be one of the biggest PlayStation keynote highlights: Project Morpheus. Sony's virtual reality headset will launch in the first half of 2016 for "several hundred dollars." The exact price isn't mentioned, but tonight you'll be getting a very exhaustive look at what's coming. Sony plans to showcase at least 20 "games and experiences" during the company's E3 presentation.
Among them will be a first-person shooter — the genre that's proven difficult for developers to master in the VR realm. It's being created by a new studio, Impulse Gear, and takes advantage of numerous Sony technologies including PlayStation Move. Wired says this isn't (yet) an official game; it's instead meant to prove that playable and fun FPS titles can be built for Morpheus. And from the sounds of it, developers are experimenting with what else is possible on Sony's VR platform. Adam Boyes, Sony's VP of publisher and developer relations, told Wired that game makers aren't limiting themselves to typical genres. In all, Sony is tracking development of 30 games for Morpheus.
There are small puzzle games. Relaxation games. First-person exploration games. Networked games where you can play with other people. Games where you can play a different game in a tabletop display — which, just to remind you, is in the virtual space. That is, you’re in a VR environment, playing a game you might have once played on a regular console. It’s like a 3-D version of picture-in-picture.
The full Wired article has more details, and we'll get a much better sense of Sony plans to challenge Oculus and the HTC Vive with Project Morpheus only a few hours from now.