All the news from Sony's PlayStation VR event

One of the best surprise games of last year was Rocket League, which can be succinctly described as "soccer with rocket cars." In a similar vein, PlayStation VR's Rigs: Mechanized Combat League juxtaposes two disparate ideas — in this case, mech shooters and something I'm generously calling basketball — to produce something that surprisingly works. It's ridiculous, it's frenetic, and it happens to be a very effective showcase for those wanting just a taste of VR gaming.

The conceit of the "sport" is fairly simple: two teams of three try to overload their mechs (by collecting power orbs or, more often than not, shooting and punching the opposing team). Once in overload mode, you have to throw yourself through a large ring hovering in the center of the arena. The match I played took less than ten minutes, which was a perfect amount of time for me to get a feel for the controls and then actually start feeling like I was able to contribute ever-so-slightly to my team.

Yesterday, PlayStation VR finally joined the ranks of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive after Sony announced a release date and price. Sony’s headset will be cheaper than the competition at $399 — provided you already own a PlayStation Camera — and will also be available later, with a planned October release, several months after the Rift and Vive hit shelves. We sat down with Shuhei Yoshida, president of worldwide studios at Sony, following the announcements at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco to learn a bit more about the present and future of virtual reality, why PSVR doesn't come with a Move controller, and why the three big VR companies aren’t actually in direct competition.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Today Sony showed off the first consumer version of its PlayStation VR headset, revealing that the device will cost $399 and ship in October. But when will the next iteration come out?

Previously, the company has said that it's treating the release of PSVR the same as a new game console launch. Typically several years separate new consoles; the PS3 launched in 2006, while the PS4 followed in 2013. But virtual reality is different: it's a rapidly changing technology where new, important advancements happen regularly. Even the PSVR itself has become much more sophisticated since it debuted two years ago. And according to Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's worldwide studios, this means that PSVR might not have the same kind of upgrade cycle as a traditional game console.

You might have noticed that the display showing Sony's final PlayStation VR setup included the PlayStation camera, which has been around since PS4's launch. That is indeed a required accessory, and it is indeed... sold separately. A Sony spokesperson noted that many people already have a PlayStation camera, but for those who don't will need to note that it's a necessary purchase. (The Move controllers are also sold separately, but that's less a concern given many games can use a DualShock 4 controller.)

The PlayStation VR will go on sale this October for $399, but those who don't already have a camera will have to pay up to $59.99 MSRP for the camera (though you can almost assuredly find it on sale for less). Sony Move controllers, which will be required for some content, are also excluded from the base model of the PlayStation VR. Sony tells us they're planning to release PlayStation VR bundles, and that these might be included in some of those, but the company's waiting to announce exact details.

Today at its GDC virtual reality keynote, Sony revealed which experiences will graduate from tech demos into full-fledged PlayStation VR titles. Well, we got confirmation on some of them. We already had some sense of what this list would look like as PlayStation VR marches toward retail availability in October (for $399, in case you didn't hear), but Sony gave its GDC crowd another peek at the company's bold plans for the medium and games it hopes can separate the PlayStation experience from competing products from Facebook's Oculus, Samsung, and HTC / Valve. "VR is a natural evolution of the experience we at PlayStation strive to deliver to gamers," Andrew House said. Sony expects 50 games to be released between PlayStation VR's launch in October and the end of 2016. 20 of those titles are playing at GDC, but Sony didn't reveal a full list.

Allumette

Just minutes after Sony announced the price and release date for the PlayStation VR system, behind the stage the company unveiled a display showcasing the full PS VR system. It's not any crazier than other VR setups — camera, controllers, extra cables, etc. — but the processing unit is notably sizable. Makes sense, though, to keep both the headset light and the PS4 running at maximum potential.

We're gonna go back more photos, but please enjoy these for now.

Sony has finally announced that the PlayStation VR will cost $399, and it will be available in October 2016. The company shared the news this afternoon during a short keynote at the 2016 Game Developer Conference in San Francisco, CA.

That price could almost be considered cheap if you already own a PlayStation 4, and even if you don't, the total cost is much less than Sony's VR competitors. The Oculus Rift starts at $599 and Valve's HTC Vive will sell for $799, but both of those headsets require powerful PCs that can cost much more than the $299 PS4.